Reviews with content warning for Sexual violence - Lady of the Lake

Reviews tagging 'Sexual violence'

Lady of the Lake by Andrzej Sapkowski

25 reviews

godelewa's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny sad medium-paced

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

4.0

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steph7n's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

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

0.25

I had wanted to love the book saga. I truly do. I love the three prequels, especially Season of Storms. I can tolerate the first two books, trying to reason that it’s a "world-building stage" serving the same role as the first three Harry Potter books. The third book is a bit more enjoyable, save for the pointless, long Ciri in the desert chapter in the middle. But the fourth book really soured me. I came into the fifth book hoping that it would get better.

Unlike many readers, I actually already know the plot of the final book through some intentional research. I know the kind of ending that it offers. I personally don't mind the tragic ending because, despite the author’s insistence that the game isn't canon, I treat it as such, and therefore, many of the tragic ending is actually undone in the game.

What sours me is not the plot per se but the way the plot is delivered. It seems to me that throughout the five books, Sapkowski is trying different writing styles to see what sticks. That doesn't do it for me. My major criticism for the second book is related to how the author jumps not just from the perspective of one character to another but also jumps from one timeframe to another without much indication to the readers. This book only makes it worse by jumping the universe on a whim.

I decided to cut my losses at 26% in the middle of Chapter Four. Thanks to ChatGPT and various internet sources, I pretty much already know what I need to know regarding the plot. I believe the rest are fillers and details that I will probably forget once I get to my next book anyway.

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kubuskwal's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark tense slow-paced

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

4.0

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ayamawa's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny sad

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

3.0

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geekmom's review against another edition

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3.5

This was a fine ending to the series, but looking back over the past few books I'm annoyed that there was so much... I don't know... dithering about? Lots and lots of pages - even entire books - where the storyline I was actually interested in didn't move forward and the characters just wandered around doing things that felt random. And the resolution to the big story arc of the series

with Geralt and Ciri was okay, but the way this volume was written wasn't satisfying for me. I can't ignore the rampant misogyny and the almost complete lack of agency Ciri ended up having at the end of this whole story. She's the chosen one! She is the one who is going to change the world! Because... she can be impregnated? Sigh. It's also disappointing that various central characters were simply killed off within a few pages... Not to mention that a large part of this book focused on the Big Battle to end the war that's been happening in the background of the series, but because none of the central characters participated, it was told through the POV of various minor side characters (many of whom were introduced just before the Big Battle) which made the whole thing feel detached and unimportant. I was hoping to see more of the interesting and fun ways of subverting fantasy tropes that I found in previous books, but I didn't really find them here. Oh well - I'm glad I finished the series, and I may even read the other, standalone novel, but I wish this one had been less disappointing.

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