- Author: Scott Lynch
- ISBN: 9780553588941
- Genre: Fantasy
I purchased this book. Actually, the Boyfriend bought it for me as part of our deal to get me through the Spring semester. I read it as part of the Gentleman Bastards read-along.
I’m ambivalent about The Lies of Locke Lamora. On the one hand, there were quite a few parts of the story that kept me reading, but, on the other hand, there were several when I easily put it down to read other books. I sometimes cared about the characters, but I also felt that I hadn’t gotten to know them well enough to be invested in them. The world building was fantastic, but there are a couple graphically violent scenes that put me off my lunch and made me reconsider continuing. I could continue with the waffling, but I’ll spare you. The main issue I had with this book is that I was apathetic about the story and the characters more often than not.
I wanted to love The Lies of Locke Lamora. I’ve read nothing but great things about it. It even has praise from George R.R. Martin right on the cover of the paperback edition I have. I looked forward to reading it, and I got excited when I heard about the read-along. Now I just feel “meh” about it, and I’m probably not going to bother checking out the next book from the library. It’s very rare that I feel this way about a book. I either like it, love it, or hate it, and I usually have lots of opinions as to why. This book, however, is like one of those relationships you stay in far past their expiration date because you don’t have a good enough excuse to end it. I actually feel kind of guilty.
Due to a lack of solid feelings one way or another about this book, I’m not sure who to recommend should read it. I love Game of Thrones, and so I assumed I would love this book too, but I didn’t. If you’re a fan of darker, grittier Fantasy like Game of Thrones, try this one out for yourself. I sincerely hope you have better luck with it than I did.