timreadstoday's review against another edition
Graphic: Alcohol, Rape, Infidelity, Incest, Sexual content, Sexism, Abandonment, Blood, Violence, Vomit, Gore, Death, Torture, Religious bigotry, Sexual assault, War, and Cultural appropriation
akane_shio's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Child death, Classism, Confinement, Fatphobia, Grief, Slavery, Emotional abuse, Gore, Sexual violence, Body shaming, Medical content, Misogyny, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Sexism, Sexual assault, Violence, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Incest, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Pedophilia, Pregnancy, Miscarriage, Rape, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, War, Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, and Child abuse
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Abandonment, and Homophobia
Minor: Kidnapping
lqne's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
5.0
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Injury/Injury detail, Emotional abuse, Miscarriage, Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Grief, Incest, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Murder, Pedophilia, Pregnancy, Sexism, Slavery, and War
Moderate: Sexual content and Fatphobia
Minor: Racism, Body shaming, and Suicidal thoughts
zhanacox0920's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Overall pretty great writing, world building and amazing character development. I hate almost every character beside Eddard and Jon and Bran. Again, if you never seen the show, TAKE YOUR TIME WITH THE STORY. I would say write a summery after each chapter.
Graphic: Physical abuse, Abandonment, Animal death, War, Violence, Sexual violence, Sexual content, Misogyny, Murder, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Rape, Incest, Classism, Slavery, Sexual assault, Pregnancy, Miscarriage, and Injury/Injury detail
fifteenthjessica's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I'm still invested in a lot of the characters, both ones who played a major role in this book and ones who don't play a major role or even appear until later, but reading it when you know a lot of the shocking moves,
I have heard a lot of people praise his world building, and as an aspiring writer/actual dungeon master who has dabbled in world building her own fantasy settings, Martin's quality is very inconsistent at best. Daenerys spends a lot of time with the Dothraki over the course of five hefty books, but the culture comes off as very one dimensional and most members of it are forgettable. I don't think I'm alone in remembering all Dothraki characters except Khal Drogo exclusively in terms of their relationship to Dany and maybe a name because they are very unimportant. Heck, there's a short paragraph in one of Dany's later chapters that feels like Martin is just dumping the personality of the youngest of her future bloodriders (Aggo? The three of them really blur together) on us in place of letting it unfold naturally as he interacts with Dany. The culture is mostly a combination of raiding and horses, almost to the point of impracticality (how many horses do they keep if they need them for transportation, fighting, clothing, and meat, plus burn horses in the funeral pyres of their leaders so they have a mount in the afterlife? There's a reason real world horseback nomadic cultures usually herd other animals). This is especially bad if you compare them to the equally raiding focused Ironborn, who in later novels are fleshed out through four point of view characters and with a number of memorable side characters that show that not everyone is raiding every waking hour of the day.
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Incest, Physical abuse, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, War, Alcoholism, Death, Kidnapping, Pedophilia, Pregnancy, Sexism, Sexual content, Slavery, Adult/minor relationship, Domestic abuse, and Death of parent
Moderate: Racism, Alcohol, Abandonment, Torture, Rape, Injury/Injury detail, and Infertility
Minor: Self harm and Trafficking
trinidad_gondi's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Ableism, Abandonment, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, and Cursing