Reviews tagging 'War'

Royal Assassin by Robin Hobb

24 reviews

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

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

laurajeangrace's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Violence, Vomit, Blood, War, and Torture

Moderate: Cannibalism and Confinement

Minor: Pregnancy, Rape, Miscarriage, and Suicide

laraloops's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad tense 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

5.0

I loved this book, a great second book that like the first was rather slow and steeped in politics and slow torture of Fitz. The conflicts he encounters is reflective over his growth as a person and character.  

The book felt short to me as I was on my toes pushing through to see how things could get better for Fitz and how everything could crash down - the last 100 pages was quite the climax that didn't really let up until the last couple of pages. I definitely saw some twists coming but the story still unfolded in a way I wasn't expecting. The character work was fantastic and I'm excited to see how the trilogy will conclude. 

I loved the part when he goes "crazy" at the banquet - so violent and yet satisfying.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: War, Child death, and Torture

gabi_reii's review against another edition

dark emotional tense medium-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? It's complicated

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Terminal illness, Torture, Drug abuse, Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, Addiction, Alcoholism, Blood, Confinement, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, War, Child death, and Death

Elder abuse

mcosmic's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Bullying, War, Blood, Physical abuse, Torture, Child death, Murder, and Death

Minor: Pregnancy

the_magicians_librarian's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Death, Violence, and Blood