Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

Assassin's Apprentice by Robin Hobb

5 reviews

reddeddy's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Classism, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Physical abuse, Toxic friendship, Violence, Animal cruelty, Suicidal thoughts, Abandonment, Animal death, Confinement, Death, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Dysphoria, Addiction, Medical content, Chronic illness, Alcohol, Medical trauma, Drug use, Gaslighting, Gore, Kidnapping, Xenophobia, Bullying, Death of parent, Infertility, Pandemic/Epidemic, Blood, Colonisation, and Drug abuse

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , War, Body horror, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Cursing, Fire/Fire injury, Self harm, Rape, Slavery, Torture, Suicide, Pregnancy, Sexism, Sexual content, Vomit, Ableism, Excrement, and Toxic relationship

bea_reads_books's review

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction and Child abuse

Moderate: Animal death, Suicidal thoughts, Drug use, Cursing, War, Alcoholism, Grief, Sexism, Bullying, Death, Toxic relationship, Animal cruelty, Emotional abuse, and Gaslighting

Minor: Drug abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Blood, and Adult/minor relationship

princesspumpkinhead10's review

challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

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

0.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Abandonment, Murder, Gaslighting, Emotional abuse, Death, Animal death, Violence, Toxic relationship, Physical abuse, and Death of parent

Moderate: Alcoholism, Blood, Grief, and Domestic abuse

Minor: Excrement, Drug use, and Animal death

prairieraven's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious fast-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? Yes

3.75

Adventure fantasy right from the start. A full cast of interesting characters and a plot that twists into the next books. I would not say that the characters are not overly diverse but easily could have been. I love that dogs have been given depth in this book as their own characters. I haven't found too many fantasy novels as enjoyable to read lately as this series.  It has been a fun escape getting into this set of books. 

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Content Warnings

Minor: Violence, Toxic relationship, Physical abuse, War, Injury/Injury detail, Emotional abuse, Drug use, Drug abuse, Bullying, Animal death, and Addiction

mariebrunelm's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional inspiring mysterious reflective sad 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? Yes

5.0

My history with this book started some ten years ago, when my favourite bookseller pushed it into my hands. He was already my favourite bookseller, but I didn't yet know how grateful I would be to him. Assassin's Apprentice became my favourite book of all time after I first read it (and the following two books in the trilogy, and Hobb's other books in the same universe). There's something in this book I've never found again elsewhere, which makes each re-read like coming home. It's a home where not everything is perfect, some family members I'd rather stay away from, and sometimes I still get lost in some shadowy corridors, but at its heart are endearing, defiant characters I feel I've known for a long time, and places I know will always keep a warm spot for me. I first read the Farseer trilogy in French, proceeded to re-read them in English when I could get my hands on the covers illustrated by John Howe, and now I'm re-reading them with Magali Villeneuve's beautiful, smooth pictures. But it's not exactly my third time reading. Over the years, I've come back to Robin Hobb when I needed comfort, to read a page or a couple of my favourite chapters. A few lines were enough to wisk me back to that home, and although I couldn't place who was whom and what some people were doing there, I always found my warm spot to settle back in.
Something that astounds me is the amount of foreshadowing you can't possibly grasp the first time. But re-reading it when you seize those clues is doubly heart-breaking because you're already aware of the hardships waiting for the characters, you remember them before they even happen, and you can't do anything to prevent them. It may sound like a painful experience, but there's also much beauty and comfort to be found within those pages.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Animal death, Bullying, Grief, Mental illness, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Alcohol, Murder, Toxic relationship, and Violence

Minor: Drug use