Reviews tagging 'Death'

Royal Assassin by Robin Hobb

62 reviews

prairieraven's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

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

3.0

I didn't enjoy this as much as the first book. The treachery, plotting, and kniving nature of the antagonist grates at the reader and the main characters which is for good writing. Again not very diverse cast and there is a bit of a slow start but quickly speeds up. 

There is a new wolf character introduced and I'm not too much of a fan. It doesn't fit as well as Fitz. However the purpose and reasoning of this character unfolds later in the book. There is much more violence and gore in this one than the first.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Murder, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Miscarriage, Blood, Vomit, Dementia, Cannibalism, Abortion, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Alcohol, and War

bluejay21's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Fitz is really going through it, huh

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Drug use, Torture, Violence, and Grief

Moderate: Blood, Murder, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

anaguana's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, Physical abuse, Rape, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Pregnancy, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Drug use, Miscarriage, Sexual content, and Abandonment

Minor: Child death, Confinement, Slavery, and Suicidal thoughts

ellipalmer's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.5

I'm still really enjoying this series overall but this book really dragged for me. Partly I just haven't had as much energy for reading which has nothing to do with this book. But also it felt like this book could have been shorter or something. It's not that there isn't a lot that happens but somehow it still feels like it didn't need almost 700 pages to do it. There's a lot of Fitz whining and being moody, I think we could have gotten much of the point with less repitition of plot points. <Spoiler> Yes Regal is conniving, yes Shrewd is dying, yes the raiders are mysterious and bad. </Spoiler> I think the impact of those plot points is almost lessened by how much time we spend returning to them without much development.  The ending happened really fast, but was good and has fully left me hungry for the third book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide and Torture

Moderate: Ableism, Death, Miscarriage, Violence, Blood, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, and War

Minor: Alcoholism

emsavors's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Cannibalism, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Murder, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and War

ailsaod's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

 Not gonna lie this book was a chore to read. I really enjoyed 'Assassin's apprentice' and was so hyped to read this book I pinched it from my dad and then quickly discovered why he had stalled halfway through. This book can be divided into three main segments: 1. sexy times and forbidden love, 2. political maneuvering and Regal being infuriating and 3. horrible atrocities committed by the Forged ones/the Outislanders. None of which I enjoyed.

The sex scenes were numerous and while vague managed to tell you way too much! I really did not want to know about Fitz's sex life and the pressures put on his relationship with Molly just made me wish they weren't together.

The sections covering the struggle for power in Buckkeep were very frustrating to read - why put yourself through this when you could just watch people being awful on the news?! I spent most of the book wishing I could smack Regal (and I very much enjoyed the scene where Verity slaps him)!

There are also a number of battle scenes, most of which are fine to an extent but there was one in particular that was extremely unpleasant and put me off my food for the better part of a day (content warnings for gore, cannibalism and child death). Just thinking about it now, over a month later I feel queasy.

There were however some good things about this book: the prologue had me weeping in a way I don't find disagreeable and the ending section was very tense. These parts and the characters of the Fool, Kettricken and Verity made reading this book bearable, though they sadly didn't take up a large enough portion to make the experience enjoyable! I don't think I'll be looking to read book 3 for some time, though it certainly isn't on my no read list.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Gore, and Cannibalism

Moderate: Death and Terminal illness

Minor: Drug use, Misogyny, and Torture

emmeline's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious slow-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Drug use, and Blood

Moderate: Miscarriage, Terminal illness, and Excrement

lemonlemonster's review against another edition

adventurous tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Second time reading this one and I just love these books and the characters so much. I love how the Fool and Fitz's relationship evolves in this one and I'd forgotten how silly and playful Nighteyes can be. I especially noticed this time around how Fitz's decisions can be so rash and emotionally driven but also how much trauma he's already been through at such a young age. Whenever I read any of the ROE books it's all I want to do, and this book was no exception.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture and Violence

Moderate: Death and Suicidal thoughts

booksandtea997's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Death, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, and Violence

Minor: Alcoholism, Miscarriage, and Sexual content

elliekg's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny sad tense slow-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, and Blood

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, and Confinement

Minor: Miscarriage, Rape, Slavery, and Grief