Reviews tagging 'Murder'

Assassin's Apprentice by Robin Hobb

65 reviews

joysmith's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

4.75

I very much enjoyed this book, one of the best that I’ve read to be honest. The author writes beautiful descriptions of both settings and relationships between characters. The characters’ flaws feel very real and human, and there is just the right amount of mystery to keep the reader hooked. I took off a quarter of a star because it was slow at times, and difficult to follow at times. But overall, I would strongly recommend this book and I look forward to reading the rest of the trilogy. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Kidnapping, Grief, Violence, Animal death, Physical abuse, Murder, Mental illness, Injury/Injury detail, Emotional abuse, and Death of parent

s_nova's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad 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? N/A

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Child abuse, Infertility, Alcohol, Death, Grief, Murder, Violence, and War

mazzreads86's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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: Abandonment and Animal death

Moderate: Grief, Gaslighting, Medical trauma, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, and Violence

Minor: Blood, Bullying, Child abuse, Death of parent, Drug use, Infertility, and Injury/Injury detail

pandalesque's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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: Physical abuse, Animal death, Animal cruelty, and Murder

gabrieldorian's review against another edition

adventurous emotional sad medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Murder, Gore, Grief, Infertility, Animal cruelty, Alcohol, Medical trauma, Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, and Death of parent

lujisa's review against another edition

adventurous emotional slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse and Murder

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

kristinrdub's review

adventurous emotional mysterious slow-paced

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

5.0

Absolutely delicious classic fantasy! I cannot believe I’ve never read this series before but I can’t wait to continue. The story is a bit slow to develop but the world building is so well done that I was never bored. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence

Moderate: Animal death and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Abandonment, Blood, and Murder

crispr_breadboard's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted mysterious relaxing fast-paced

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

5.0

Ugh! I loved it so much. Was at Emerald City Comic Con a day prior to Robin Hobb being there to sign books. I was midway through the book then— finished it on the plane ride back. The last line made me cry SO DANG HARD. 

I won’t lie, I thought the riddle by the Fool was implying Regal was the face (mutt, aka bastard)! I was so sure of it! But I’m glad it was Galen— it made so much sense and still was a surprise satisfying enough that I couldn’t guess it correctly 😁

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Animal cruelty, Murder, Domestic abuse, and Animal death

beautifulpaxielreads's review against another edition

adventurous challenging 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

4.5

This may be one of the best fantasy novels I have ever read, and yet I can understand why others have had difficulty with it.

The pace is very, very slow, there is a lot of descriptive language and exposition to wade through, and even then, there isn't a whole lot of plot to be found, at least not at first. All these things considered, I can easily see why someone might get frustrated and give up.

But I found Assassin's Apprentice to be an absorbing, riveting, and immersive read - just what a good fantasy should be.

It also delivers in spades when it comes to political intrigue, which I also very much enjoy reading. The story is told from the POV of Fitz, who for

the first half of the book isn't even given a proper name

, and this was such a masterful move on Hobb's part.  You see him as he

grows from a child into a young man

. He's very observant of people and he has a

strong affinity for animals

. His keen observational skills (and at times judgmental behaviour) could make him unlikeable, but Hobb takes care to show us the other sides of him - his compassion, his kindness, his curiosity, and his thirst for knowledge all made me care about him and root for him as a character.

The other characters are well-developed too (even the villainous ones[

well, mostly</spoiler]), depicted as complex, flawed human beings, with many shades of grey.

The plotting was overall excellent, although did find the ending

rather rushed and not well-explained

, but I am willing to overlook that because of how much I enjoyed the rest of it.

4.5 stars from me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Bullying, Suicidal thoughts, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Medical trauma, Murder, Physical abuse, and Violence

Moderate: Eating disorder, Blood, Animal death, Animal cruelty, Alcohol, and Death of parent

Minor: Fatphobia, War, Alcoholism, Infidelity, and Xenophobia