Reviews tagging 'Violence'

Royal Assassin by Robin Hobb

54 reviews

mirandaleighhhh's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional inspiring mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

4.5

I have so many swirling thoughts about this book, I'll need to return to this review later. 4.5 stars might not be enough, this might be a 5 star read... Every moment Hobb spends building these characters and this story, brick by brick, is worth it. You can sink into the story and grasp each character's thought process, even if you wish they weren't doing what they are doing. Hobb is a fantastic writer and I cannot wait to see where all the seeds she has constantly sown will grow and lead to. And the magic system is fascinating and constantly taking unexpected turns.

I am GUTTED for Fitz. Absolutely gutted. Pain pain pain pain pain! Constantly. Except for the brief weeks of love and joy he experienced.

It's enjoyable to read about a male main character written by a woman. The relationships and love stories play out in a much more relatable and layered fashion than many like this I have read by a male author.

Regal makes me FURIOUS. I am a bit surprised that so far, Regal seems to be a straight-up evil character. There is not much room to consider him to be morally grey like some of the other unsavory characters.

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Content Warnings

Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Death, Rape, War, and Violence

karlin0336's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad slow-paced

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

5.0

It's books like this that make me question whether any of the books I've rated five stars in the past really were five star books.
 This was an emotional rollercoaster, to say the very least.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Blood, Torture, and Violence

Moderate: Confinement, Child death, Murder, Alcohol, and Gore

Minor: Drug use, Miscarriage, Suicide, Rape, Sexual content, and Pregnancy

xan_reads1's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Violence

lastlostgirl's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Every word written about the Fool was my favorite word in this book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Violence, Child death, and Death

beautifulpaxielreads's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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? It's complicated

I can't rate or review this now, this book has left me an emotional wreck.  When I'm feeling a bit more rational, I'll come back and do this properly. (02/05/2024)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Alcohol, Animal death, Cancer, Blood, Death, Drug use, Suicidal thoughts, Mental illness, Murder, Pregnancy, Physical abuse, Confinement, Torture, Suicide, Violence, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Animal cruelty, Grief, Medical content, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Sexual content and War

Minor: Pandemic/Epidemic

brynalexa's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

Slow to start but worth it in the end. I’m unsatisfied by the ending but that just makes me all the more eager to pick up the next book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Death of parent, Torture, Addiction, Alcohol, Animal death, Blood, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Drug use, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Miscarriage, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Violence, and War

Minor: Slavery and Sexual content

ayealba's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Physical abuse, War, and Torture

lizziaha's review against another edition

3.75

One thing that Robin Hobb has gotten right with these first two books is the way she writes the last quarter of the book. I was reading this sort of concurrently with another book (If We Were Villains) that had tension that coiled tighter and tighter. This book has tension but it builds, getting bigger and bigger until everything near the end of the book feels larger than life. Everything falls apart for Fitz in a way that I didn’t expect. It felt much more complex than most other fantasy books, and I appreciate that Robin Hobb continually makes me think I know where it’s going, but the characters make it go somewhere completely different. Maybe that’s the genius of being so deeply entrenched in one character’s brain for the entire book. All this being said, the building portion, the slow burn, can feel boring at the time. Which makes it hard to enjoy the book as a whole. I also want to read more about the women in the series. Fitz’s world is a man’s world, and while the women are equally as complex, we don’t get to see that as much in this book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War and Torture

Moderate: Death, Blood, Misogyny, Murder, Confinement, and Violence

Minor: Child abuse, Pregnancy, and Miscarriage

kirstym25's review against another edition

adventurous emotional medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Violence, and Death

Moderate: Pregnancy, Miscarriage, and Confinement

Minor: Rape

bookswithcuppatea's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

4.0

This novel focuses a lot on perception, on how mental/magical action is perceived differently from tangible/physical action. Following Fitz the reader gains insight into the actions of other characters. A complex and challenging second part of the trilogy.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Terminal illness, Death, and Violence

Minor: War