Before They Are Hanged

Before They are Hanged is an outstanding second book in the First Law Trilogy. I absolutely adored the Blade Itself and this book certainly didn't disappoint when it came to the followup of the story. For my review of this book I'm going to try using the CAWPILE system to give it as fair of a rating as possible while also trying out a new critical reading rating system.

Characters - 8.5
The characters in this book were absolutely the shining stars of the whole story, I was also incredibly impressed with how each of the characters developed over the course of this book Specifically Luthar, Glouchter, and West I think both of these characters went through pretty outstanding changes through the course of this book based on the challenges they faced and came out the other side a little wiser and a little more broken. As for the characters who didn't really change much in this book I.e. Logan, Biaz, Fero I still very much enjoyed the sections where they were given chances to shine. I won't say much about Kwai, the navigator and other supporting characters because honestly they were pretty boring and got wildly overshadowed by the far more interesting main characters.

Atmosphere/Setting - 9The setting of this book expands the pretty narrow settings of the last book and shows a vast swath of the world that builds it's history and it's Intrigue (Which I feel was the whole point of the book / the journey of 9-fingers and the rest of the gang). The Atmosphere of the North was abysmal and horrid, showing the logistics of a long drawn out conflict while Gurkle was it's opposite but not out of oppressiveness since it was brutal and fantastic as Joe Abercrombie usually is!

Writing Style - 7I very much enjoyed the writing style of Joe Abercrombie, he has a tendency to change his style based on the character perspective he's writing from which I deeply enjoyed. That being said the style and general narrativeness of the book is nothing revolutionary but kept me wrapped up the whole time.

Plot - 9The plot of this book is yet another standout. Each section of the story (Travel Crew, The North, Gurkle) are all fantastic leading into what I assume to be the lead up to the final book of the trilogy with the death of the remaining crowned prince the plot had me on my toes the whole time and generated quite a bit of tension for each of the characters as they had to deal with shitty situation after shitty situation.

Intrigue - 6I'd say that the intrigue of this book is really quite good though not incredible! This book was the lead up to book three (I'll call it the main intrigue book). A lot of the mystery involved in Gurkle especially was explained away very quickly by Biaz in other chapters so I was never quite set to ruminate on what was happening. This being said I'm very curious about the Bank situation with Glouchter and the “who done it” murder mystery of the other crowned prince.

Logic/Relationships - 4The relationships between characters in the book are not “weak” by any means however I think where this book really makes strides is in the solitude of its characters. For example the relationship between 9-fingers and Ferro is one that I really never had any kind of stake in even when she was “thinking” about going with him (honestly that was a super boring thing to add at the end of the book) however I much preferred West / Glouchter's stories as they trialed with adversity, the weight of the world on their shoulders effectively on their own.

Enjoyment - 8Much like the first book I very much enjoyed this book! I can tell that Joe is not afraid to kill off any of his characters which adds a level of tension that I very much enjoy. No-one feels safe and I love it. Also the dark nature and subject matter of the book, especially getting into the details of war was extremely interesting and engaging. Very excited to read the last book in the series but I also thoroughly enjoyed this addition.