A review by chrisb913
Before They Are Hanged by Joe Abercrombie

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

I loved almost everything about this book. We continue on our journey following all our multiple pov's including (my favorites) Glokta, Logen, and The Named Men. Abercrombie continues to provide such a gritty dark world yet somehow incorporates so much humor into his writing. I was chuckling throughout this entire book. There is a bit more of a plot in this book than there was in book 1, so you are finally (kind of) understanding what the whole overarching plot for the series is but imo this continues to be a more character driven storyline.

Honestly the only thing holding this back from being a 5 star series is the absolute lack of depth to the women. Ferro is better in this book but is still really being played up as the angry woman trope. The other two women (1 introduced and the 2nd was recrurring) were again used only for plot points and did not really have much depth or personality outside of being love interest for men. I have heard that Abercrombie's women start getting better in the first standalone Best Served Cold, so we will see.

Overall, I am enjoying this series and I am excited for book 3!
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