2025 & 2026 Reading Challenge discussion

This thread is to discuss The Blade Itself, the first book in the First Law series by Joe Abercrombie.

Pages: 515 pages

Length: 1 month (April)

Participants: Rebecca, Michelle1, M

Everyone reads at their own pace during a Buddy Read. Because participants can be at different parts of the book at different times, it is extremely important to mark spoilers so that the book is not ruined for someone who is not as far along as others!!!

Mark spoilers by placing {spoiler} before the text and {/spoiler} after the text but use the < and > instead of the { and }.

My Libby hold came in early for this ebook so I plan on cracking into it come the 1st if not sooner :)
Happy reading ya'll!

Happy reading. I estimate that I'll be starting this one in about a week. I'm listening to A Song for Arbonne before I start this one.

I've not had a ton of time to read this last week but when I have a few minutes, this is the book I'm picking up (even put down some Murderbot to get to this one instead). Needless to say, I'm really, really enjoying this so far.
Every character is interesting to me and not a single point of view has bored me yet.
I read Abercrombie's Half a King a month or two ago and didn't really love it (YA is very hit and miss for me) so I'm glad that this has held my attention.
So far so good! :)

I’m finally starting this one tonight. I needed a palette cleanser between fantasy books before I could start this one.

I am thinking of joining you on this one. I bought the book. If not this month, I’ll try to catch up.

I've only got about 50 pages of this one left and I'm totally avoiding it, haha.
For being "grim dark" I'm surprised at how often I've chuckled out loud while reading this. Yes, it's violent but so is war in so many historical fiction novels I've read and by comparison to GOT f***ed-upness, this isn't even close in my opinion.
I'm glad I started here for this grim genre because it's been a fun ride and I'll certainly continue with the series.

Lorraine, if you get a chance to join in, I hope you enjoy it too!

I'm actually really enjoying this one. I put it aside for a few days because I kept putting it down for The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness, but so far I'm like, this is the kind of fantasy book I really enjoy reading. My hubby read this one last month and he said (view spoiler)[ it ends on a big cliffhanger and he plans on reading the next one. (hide spoiler)] I'm listening to the audio, and the narrator just does a great job with it.

Ooh I bet that's an interested but not all surprising read. I can't imagine being a kid growing up these days with social media, etc.

I finished this last night and your hubby is right. But the journey to get there was so enjoyable and interesting to me that I didn't mind and immediately put in a request at the library for book 2, haha.

I am at 25% of the book and I really enjoy it so far. I will certainly continue the series if this book stays as good, but I wont be able to join you for book 2 next months. Too many commitments! I will follow your discussion though.