Reviews with content warning for War - Before They Are Hanged

amazing follow up to the first book. I enjoyed this one a lot more, especially because of the character development of Jezal and Ferro (kinda). West went from me liking him to cheering him on to me being disgusted by him and I love it (get your misogyny checked tho, you're being insufferable).

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garrpla's review

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adventurous dark sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.75

From The Blade Itself spawns Before They are Hanged- a novel worthy of being its successor in the sense that it succeeds in almost every aspect that The Blade Itself was lacking.

Further development into the characters reveals a softer side of them, even those such as Jezel who I originally despised! It is also significantly darker and more violent than the previous novel, though the action for me added to the entertainment.

Before They are Hanged truly starts and continues to shape the direction of the trilogy, though the ending is not what we readers expect.

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deathmetalheron's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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lostkorok's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

An improvement over the first book, with more stakes and a bit more of the mysterious past disclosed to the readers.

Yet I feel political intrigues could have been better developed; some characters were removed without having had sufficient importance to the reader to actually care for them, the implications of their disappearance later explain by the author through other characters' dialogues. Not a good way to make one feel the stakes, or to connect with the situation.

There's also some sexual relationship starting in this book that feel a bit abrupt in their flourishing, as if they were written just for the sake of adding them, and not because character development or plot really built up to them (in my opinion).

All in all, still a good read, better than the first book I feel, but still short of a 5 for what I expected of this genre.

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chogangoof's review

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adventurous dark funny tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

This was everything I could ask for. The first book was great but I realize now that it's really just the first act and this is where the series comes into its own. The action, the political intrigue, the plot twists; it's all amazing.

I'm still impressed by how I enjoy reading every pov, every character is amazing. My least favorite pov from last book was one of the best in this book. It's VERY rare to have a fantasy book where you look forward to every single pov but this book does it. This series MIGHT go down as having the most well rounded cast of characters that I've read in fantasy.

I do have issues with it tho. One storyline, set around the siege of a city, felt like it ended a little too early, I understand that it's still kind of going on but it feels like we left too soon. One relationship is weird to me, it seems out of character for one of those involved; it feels forced to me but I have to see how it turns out to truly judge

My complaints are slight and don't get in the way of what is an absolutely incredible book. I would rate it 4.5/5 but that will probably go up after I finish the trilogy. Mr Abercrombie more than delivered.

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atalea's review against another edition

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adventurous dark medium-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

3.5

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