First and foremost: trigger warning for mentions of sexual abuse, violence, gore, animal abuse and killing, vulgar language
Rating: 3.5/5 stars
Sadly it took longer to finish than I expected, starting a new uni got my time totally screwed up, but finally I had time to finish it and finally I can bring you the review as well.
I have mixed feelings for this book. I really, really love the setting, I like that we get to follow an anti-hero, I like the whole plot and enjoy the story all together, but I have issues with the the language, with Jorg, with how the author isn’t seem to be able to portray women properly, except for two (Jorg’s mother and Miana). I’m torn between liking and loving this book and the series in general.
In this book we follow Jorg on his journey, now him being a king. I liked how the whole story was presented, that we see his past and his present in parallel. Though, it could get a little confusing at times but the tangles quickly got untied. This book was a bit slower paced than the first one, it felt to me at least. The fight scenes were great, and on the Hungarian cover they compare it George R. R. Martin’s famous Song of Fire and Ice series. I have to say that I slowly believe that Mark Lawrence kills off characters faster than George Martin does, and I think that says a lot! But as I mentioned above, unlike Martin, I feel like Lawrence has a great problem with writing female characters. Most of the time I had the feeling that they were only there to get Jorg to move forward. More often than not they are not more but the sexual desire of the main character, or some evil beings that try to seduce him onto the wrong road. The only clearly positive female character is Jorg’s mother. And as I mentioned above Miana, she is another great female charater who is young but very bright and doesn’t lack courage either. I personally still I don’t like Katherine. To me she is typically that one female character who thinks “she is not like other girls”. She feels flat, she could have been a good character but she feels utterly flat to me, even when she is angry. Another issue I had was that many side characters felt the same, they are only there to push Jorg forward, and I am kind of bothered by it.
What I liked that we get to see Jorg getting more and more mature, the story definitely deals with coming to age, becoming an adult and leaving childhood behind. However I don’t think this would be the book I would recommend to any teenager when they ask for recommendations of coming-to-age stories. Some people might disagree but I think it’s way too violent and vulgar.
In all, I weirdly enjoy the story, there were times when I couldn’t even put the book down and enjoyed seeing things through Jorg’s eyes. Looking at the other reivews on Goodreads and elswhere I’m definitely more on the critical side… I’m not 100% okay with this book, but I’m curious to see how the story ends for Jorg.
Na először is csak egy figyelmeztetést raknék ki a könyvvel kapcsolatban: szexuális erőszak említése, erőszak, véres jelenetek, állatok kínzása és megölése, vulgáris nyelvezet
Értékelés: 3.5/5 csillag
Sajnos tovább tartott befejetni, mint ahogy gondoltam volna, az új egyetem kicsit bezavart az időbeosztásával, de végre befejeztem és meg is írhatom róla az értékelésemet.
Még mindig kettős érzelmeim vannak a könyv, illetve a történet iránt. Nagyon, nagyon tetszik a háttér, amit a történet kapott, maga a történet is nagyon tetszik, de mégis problémáim vannak a nyelvezettel, Jorggal, és azzal ahogy látszólag az író alig bír egy épkézláb női karaktert összehozni, kb. kettő van, akire azt lehet mondani, hogy igen, ilyen egy női karakter. (Jorg anyukája és Miana). Szóval nagyon nehezen tudom eldönteni, hogy tetszik vagy esetleg szeretem a könyvet és a történetet.
Ebben a kötetben tovább követjük Jorgot az útján, aki most már végre király lett. Tetszett, hogy párhuzamosan láttuk a múltat és a jelent, ez mondjuk párszor kicsit összezavart, viszont ez általában gyorsan megoldódott. Számomra ez a könyv egy kicsit lassabban haladt, mint az előző. A csata jelenetek nagyon tetszettek, emellett a borítón George R. R. Martin Trónok harca sorozatához hasonlítják. Viszont lassan az kell, hogy mondjam, hogy Mark Lawrence gyorsabban öli meg a karatereit, mint George Martin és szerintem ez elég sokat elmond! De, Martinnal ellentétben, szerintem Lawrence nagy gondban van a női karakterek rendes megjelenítésével és kidolgozásával. Az idő többségében a legtöbb nő azért volt ott, hogy Jorgot juttassa előbbre. Többször, mint kevesebbszer nem többek, mint Jorg szexuális vágyának célpontjai, esetleg olyan gonosz perszónák, hogy elakarják csábítani és a rossz útra terelni. Az egyetlen ténylegesen pozitív női karakter az Jorg anyukája. És ahogy említettem, Miana még egy csodás karakter, aki habár fiatal nagyon okos és bátor is. Személy szerint pedig nem szeretem Katherinet. Nekem ő egy tipikus női karakter, aki “nem olyan, mint a többi lány”. Emellett pedig nagyon lapos karakter, aki jó lehetett volna, de még akkor is nagyon semmilyen, amikor mérges. Másik problémám pedig az volt, hogy sok mellékszereplőnek nagyon hasonló volt a karaktere, mintha ugyanaz az ember lenne a kettő és csak azért lettek volna ott, hogy Jorgot előre mozdítsák az útján.
Ami tetszett az az volt, hogy végig kísérhettük Jorgot a felnőtté válás útján, ahogy egyre inkább elkezdett felnőni. Mindenképp egy ilyen “coming to age” történet azzal, hogy Jorg lassan felnőtté válik és maga mögött hagyja a gyermekkort. Viszont nem hiszem, ha valaki ilyen típusú könyvet szeretne olvasni, hogy ez lesz az, amit ajánlanék neki. Valószínűleg lesznek jó páran, akik nem értenek velem egyet, de túl erőszakos és vulgáris a fiatal korosztálynak.
Összességében furán élveztem a történetet, voltak olyan alkalmak is, amikor alig bírtam lerakni a könyvet és tetszett, hogy Jorg szemén keresztül láttuk a dolgokat. A molyos és a Goodreads-es értékeléseket nézegetve elmondhatom, hogy megint csak a kritikus oldalon állok… Nem vagyok 100%-osan rendben a könyvvel, de érdekel, hogy milyen vége lesz Jorg történetének.
Great review. I don’t think this one is for me based on the animal abuse, problematic women characters, and if it’s gory. I’ll pass.
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Thank you! Yeah, I was shocked to see the animal abuse, it kind of took me back as well… This series is definitely not everyone’s cup of tea!
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eek I saw animal abuse and hmmmm probably not for me. I’m glad you kind of enjoyed the story though lol 🙂
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I can understand, especially that it was a dog.. I was really disturbed afterwards…
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Thanks for the trigger warning! Some of them don’t sit well with me so I’ll probably give this one a miss. Plus, I hate when representations are inaccurate. Glad you liked parts of it though!
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No problem! I definitely thought that this book needed to have a trigger warning on it. And me too, after reading so many books with great female characters this one is definitely a miss on that..
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I’ve been wanting to pick up a book by Mark Lawrence but I don’t think I will start with series. I’m interested in reading Red Sister by him.
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This series is definitely a questioning one. I hasn’t heard of Red Sister yet, though.
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Red Sister is about assassins!
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Oooo! I think I’ll look into that later then! 😀
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Definitely!
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Hmm not sure about this one, great review though!
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Thank you! Yeah, this book is quite dark to say the least. Some of my bookish friends love it absolutely, while I’m (again) more on the critical side.
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This probably won’t be making it on my tbr, but great review!!
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Thank you! I don’t blame you much on it hahaha
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I comment this like every single time but it doesn’t sound like my type of read. Great review though!! 😂
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I think most people feel the same with this! 😀 I am weirded out myself that I enjoy it as much as I do, really. Thank you!
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Thank you for the trigger warning. I probably won’t pick this one up since there’s animal abuse in it.
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You’re welcome and it’s totally understandable! I did think of putting it down at that part of the book.
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Sounds really different and interesting; I love that you included trigger warnings! The animal abuse aspect would most likely freak me out! Great review! xoxo
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This one has a lot of triggers, eek. I think I’ll let you have this book lol! Thanks for including the warning, really appreciate that!
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Hahaha, you are not alone, lots of people thought the same after my review. I’m glad it is useful! I would rather take time and mention than get people triggered while reading and all! 🙂
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We really appreciate it ❤
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I’m so glad! ☺️💚
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❤
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Great review I’m going to have to check this out it sounds interesting
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You are the first who thinks this from those who read this review. I’m glad you got interested, it’s definitely an interesting story!
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I saw that lol but the male POV interested me a lot since those
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Then you definitely should pick up this series! 🙂
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I added it to my TBR :)))) I loved the premise for all three I’m excited to read it
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Great!! I’m looking forward for your thoughts on it! 🙂
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BOUGHT THE BOOKS 😊😊
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Yaaaay! Looking forward for your thoughts on them! ☺️
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Just posted my review !!!!
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