I HATE THIS BOOK (A Storm of Swords spoiler review)

The emotional damage A Storm of Swords by George RR Martin gave me is absolutely untenable 😭 Tell me the things you wish I would've mentioned below!

Channels mentioned
@readbykyle3082
@LienesLibrary

Chapters
00:00
00:47 - The red wedding
08:24 - Jaime Lannister
12:48 - I finally give my rating of this book
14:06 - Campfire (sponsor)
15:48 - Characters
30:06 - The purple wedding
31:25 - Some predictions
32:50 - Final thoughts

Socials

[gliduspyke]

i can't believe they cut Catelyn's hair, did they know that Ned loved it?

[ignaciocamps]

"Unfortunately I really like Jaime, which is personally devastating" – Everyone who's ever read A Storm of Swords.

[Gunleaver]

I read a blogger on Tumblr who said that when she was reading the Red Wedding, she realized it was about to go down, by the food. Now in Westeros, throwing feasts and doing it right is important among the nobility, and a poorly done feast is almost as bad for your social standing as your daughter being caught naked before she's married. According to her, from the description of the food being served, it was very plain that the Freys did not care about what the meal would do to their reputation (because no one would be around to tell), and they did not want to waste good food on people who were about to die.

Martin does not miss a trick.

[EumenesOCardia]

I think the best part about why Robb marries Jayne is that he's not just doing it because it's the honorable thing. More specifically, it's the one thing his father's ever done that Robb sees as dishonorable, having a bastard. He marries her to avoid the specific mistake Ned made. I think that makes it much more tragic, in the classical sense.

[seanrogers]

In Book 2, Dany has a vision in the House of the Undying in which she sees “a dead man with the head of a wolf” surrounded by corpses strewn about a feast. He literally describes the red wedding a book earlier!

[deezdgbt]

Arya pulling Catelyn out of the river as Nymeria and protecting her but not knowing why is the saddest shit ever

[Kollman]

Creepy tidbit of foreshadowing: before the wedding, when the northerners are being welcomed to the twins, Ser Ryman Frey says to Robb, ‘If you would follow me, my father awaits.’

Ryman’s father has already died in one of the battles at this point. He’s telling Robb he’s going to die tonight.

[roberthoeffer]

The Chapter with the Moon Door is a huge reveal because it is where you learn that Little Finger and Lysa kicked all of the events because they killed Jon Arryn. This book is so chalk full of major events, but that was such a huge shock to me

[QuinnTheGM]

Wholeheartedly agree with your thesis on the Red Wedding! The core of that event to me is the characters, and how Robb, Cat, and even Walder Frey have been well-established as people. Everything they do leading up to and in that chapter makes sense for what we know about them at that point. It's an event that is clearly foreshadowed and more importantly is based entirely on the consequences of characters' actions. It's not about shock, it's about cause and effect.

Very excited to hear your thoughts on Feast! It's an interesting book, and I would say the most divisive in the series. I wasn't a huge fan on my first read-through, but now it's my favorite in the series. I think it's the thematic core of Martin's work!

[jpa]

Robb dies twice. When the dagger goes into his heart, his eyes gloss over white. Then Greywind dies right after. He warg'd into his direwolf and died again.

[thatonemichael]

Another heart breaking foreshadowing to the red wedding is at the end of Catlyn chapter in A clash of kings, the chapter with Stanis and Renly, Catlyn see's her face reflecting in Renly's armor, and she thinks to herself that it looks like "The face of a drowned woman" just gives me chills everytime I read

[jadejdei]

Your analysis of Jaime as a victim of abuse at the hands of Cersei is spot on. Like, I think a lot of people overlook his abuse when they describe his "redemption arc", bc IMO his arc isn't about redemption, but instead about becoming his own person outside of his sister. There's that scene in SoS in the White Sword Tower where he looks at his page in the kings guard book and just thinks that he now can write what ever he chooses, demonstrating that he doesn't want to be controlled any more.
Also, the bear pit chapter is also my favorite chapter and it contains two of my favorite quotes from basically any book, so it made me happy to see that you also enjoyed that one! First of all, "In this light, she could almost be a beauty. In this light, she could almost be a knight." INCREDIBLE. CHILLS. And then of course, "I dreamed of you."

[gregfinkelberg]

Jon and Ygritte’s relationship was elevated so much by the actors in the show. Their on-screen chemistry was so good and the actors are actually married now.

[bjornerluffy]

Most people do not catch up that quickly on the fact that Jaime is 100% abused by Cercei. It is an eternally unequal relationship, because he loves her, but she only loves seeing herself in Jaime. Most people do not pick up on this until the next book or never, many people will still defend their relationship as not being abusive even after reading.

Either way great job on the video

[hjalmarbasile]

The Red Weddings are explicitly described one book before, as a vision by Daenerys in the House of the Undying.
It's so obvious after you have read ASOS, but reading it for the first time you might miss the actual meaning.

"Farther on she came upon a feast of corpses. Savagely slaughtered, the feasters lay strewn across overturned chairs and hacked trestle tables, asprawl in pools of congealing blood. Some had lost limbs, even heads. Severed hands clutched bloody cups, wooden spoons, roast fowl, heels of bread. In a throne above them sat a dead man with the head of a wolf. He wore an iron crown and held a leg of lamb in one hand as a king might hold a scepter, and his eyes followed Dany with mute appeal."

[Flammewar]

The way you describe how George manages to make you feel so intensely for the Red Wedding is my main reason for not wanting anyone else to finish ASOIAF. George's writing style and the way he weaves plot and characters together is such an important aspect of ASOIAF that I can't imagine another author replicating it

[Joggi]

A Feast for Crows is SO GOOD! A lot of people didn't like it when it was released because it was lacking all their favourite characters, but for me it's easily the most well written and interesting of the books. Amazing character development.

[nevaehaho]

The line for me that’s so telling of Jaime and Cersei’s relationship in Jaime’s first chapter is when he has Cleos shave his head and looks at his reflection and thinks “I don’t look so much like her now. She’ll hate that”. Cersei views Jaime as her reflection. She has all this internalized misogyny so she views Jaime as a perfect version of herself, except “Jaime never thinks”. Cersei doesn’t really love Jaime, she wants to have him because he’s a reflection of her, even having him shave his facial hair and wear his hair long to look more like her. She sees him as an extension of herself yet she is still superior because she’s the older twin that does all the thinking (at least that’s how she sees it). Jaime thinks it’s love though, which is really sad.

[CharlesBHamlyn]

One of my favorite games to play with new readers (when they are like halfway through Book 1):
"Who is your favorite character?"
"Probably Ned, or Drogo."
"Yeah, they're awesome characters."
"Why, who is yours?"
"Jaime"
"WHAT?!?! The guy that sleeps with his sister and pushes little kids out of windows?"
"Yup."
"Dude, what is wrong with you?"
"You'll see."

Re the Red Wedding: The thing that really hooked me on that was not only the thriller-genre shift, but the fact that we hear all these plans Rob has to take back the North. Surely we wouldn't be hearing all these amazing plans if Rob wasn't going to be able to actually carry them out right? Right? :(

[dee-taylor]

The scene with Brienne and Jaime in the baths at Harrenhal is one of my favorites in the entire series. I was worried the show wouldn't capture that feeling but they did, it was great. The show was good at one point...