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A review by willowbiblio
Before They Are Hanged by Joe Abercrombie
adventurous
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
“Fear teaches you caution, and respect for your enemy, and to avoid sharp edges used in anger… Every man who’s worth a damn feels fear. It’s the use you make of it that counts.”
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As with book one of the First Law trilogy, this was a potentially great book that suffered from writing that misaligned with the plot, character age, and overly prescriptive emotions/scenes/characters, and messiness.
The first chapter led with an odd and noticeable change to a character’s diction but then wasn’t consistent, so it was even more noticeable. Glokta’s internal dialogue was so distracting I actually began skimming it quite early on in the book. Quai read like an entirely new character. If I noticed that, how did the characters not also notice and respond to such an obvious change? It made no sense.
Some characters experienced surprisingly strong development while others stood still. I found the Longfoot character extremely perturbing because he would all but disappear from the book for dozens of pages even though he was very much a part of the group. It was like Abercrombie didn’t know what to do with him so he just ignored that he existed, which was so odd to read. Then he’d randomly pop up again 😂
The sex scene/physical intimacy read like a parody and was honestly just so offputting. I’m a completionist so I’ll finish the series but wow. Not that pleasant.
——————————
As with book one of the First Law trilogy, this was a potentially great book that suffered from writing that misaligned with the plot, character age, and overly prescriptive emotions/scenes/characters, and messiness.
The first chapter led with an odd and noticeable change to a character’s diction but then wasn’t consistent, so it was even more noticeable. Glokta’s internal dialogue was so distracting I actually began skimming it quite early on in the book. Quai read like an entirely new character. If I noticed that, how did the characters not also notice and respond to such an obvious change? It made no sense.
Some characters experienced surprisingly strong development while others stood still. I found the Longfoot character extremely perturbing because he would all but disappear from the book for dozens of pages even though he was very much a part of the group. It was like Abercrombie didn’t know what to do with him so he just ignored that he existed, which was so odd to read. Then he’d randomly pop up again 😂
The sex scene/physical intimacy read like a parody and was honestly just so offputting. I’m a completionist so I’ll finish the series but wow. Not that pleasant.