Reviews tagging 'Chronic illness'

Before They Are Hanged by Joe Abercrombie

5 reviews

sophieamreacher's review

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

Definitely a middle book, really enjoyed reading but did find myself wanting to speed things up. As always with Abercrombie, the little twists and the way little details come back in the plot make it a brilliant read. 
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djthedj's review

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adventurous dark funny mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

My mans, my mans, my mans Abercrombie. Andrew asked me if this book had any heroes and I would say each POV character is a hero in there own right. Just not a good person… I admire Abe as a writer but as I read him more, I do begin to see his pitfalls as a writer. That which he used to so strongly characterize his POVs can come across repetitive if you read this quickly. Hearing Glokta lick his gums every time he shows up made me quirk a lip. But no matter because I enjoy every character. I’m invested in their story and I am very very excited to have everything come together. If he sticks the landing with the conclusion, it’ll be a 5 book for sure.
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singalana's review against another edition

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adventurous dark tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

Before they are hanged is deliciously dark fantasy with gritty characters. The book picks up pretty much where The blade itself ended, and follows mainly three plotlines: the fate of Dagoska, the journey to the Edge of the World and the war between the Union and the Northmen.

The cast of characters is vast, but the characters are interesting and feel real with all their faults. Reading these books, it definitely feels as though the characters are influencing the plot as much as the plot is influencing them. The story arc is complex, and you can’t just pick up a book in the middle of the series and hope to understand what is happening. This book ends up the same as The Blade Itself: the story is by no means finished. Therefore if you like books in a series to have clear endings, then you are not going to like this.

I liked this book very much, and the narrator in the audiobook was excellent. My only complaints are that this book could have been trimmed a bit, it felt like it was going on for ever (even though it avoided being boring). And the second complaint was that the sex scenes were a little bit awkward to listen to in the audiobook. Other than that, I enjoyed this very much and I can’t wait to see what happens in the final book of the trilogy. 
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jb567's review

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adventurous dark medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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saemiligr's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

Powerful. Was completely swept away. Was mildly amused to remember that Logan talked to spirits. Read so many books where this was a big deal, and for this character it was a just a minor foot note of a complicated person.  Jezal's transformation was good, while Glokta's entire story is fascinating. It's exactly what people have said, none of them are GOOD people, but they are FACINATING people. 

I absolutely cackled with horror when the enormous journey ended up being a waste of time. It felt like a painful reflection of life.



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