Reviews tagging 'Torture'

Royal Assassin by Robin Hobb

68 reviews

grets_reads's review

adventurous emotional mysterious tense slow-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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Violence

Moderate: Pregnancy, Miscarriage, Confinement, War, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Cancer, Addiction, and Blood

Minor: Slavery, Sexual content, Rape, and Xenophobia

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: Violence, Torture, and Death

Moderate: Chronic illness and Alcoholism

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

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

cappuccino136's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

4.5

This book picks up right where the first book in this trilogy ended. We see the internal politics and the crisis with the Red Ship Raiders playing out and getting worse. We stay with Fitz as the only point of view. The pace is slow and the writing style is descriptive and just what you want for fantasy. The core characters are so well drawn, they feel like they live and breathe. And that can hurt, because the stakes are so high and the author does not protect them from horrible situations. The infighting and intrigues never stop and the rift between the coastal duchees and the inland duchees keeps growing wider. The worldbuilding also unfolds a bit at a time as characters struggle to piece together knowledge from myth and history to search for sources of help and ways to deal with the raiders who are only getting bolder and stronger. Kettricken, Chivalry's new wife and now the Queen in Waiting, does not have an easy road trying to navigate this very different court and at first finds little support or friendship. Her character development is so interesting and she is a favorite of mine. We learn more backstory and see the relationships between the core characters change and grow, too. Regal is an out and out villain, no apologies and no sympathetic shadings. I like that about him. It is refreshing after reading a lot of the traumatized, angsty, or misunderstood style villains. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture

Moderate: Cannibalism

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, Grief, Torture, and Violence

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

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

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

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: Torture and Suicide

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

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

emmaahel's review against another edition

adventurous emotional reflective tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Violence and Torture

mariebrunelm's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional reflective 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

"Here we are, and here is always the place we must start from."
Each time I read this book, and it's been 4 or 5 times, I wonder why I make myself go through all that pain again. Robin Hobb isn't gentle with her characters. She pushes them to their limits, and then beyond, while keeping a firm grip on her story. But she's also a master storyteller, and a queen of character writing. I go back to her books because there are no others I can immerse myself as much into. I know Fitz, and I know the Fool, by some deeper knowledge than just words. I live for the conversations they have in this particular volume. Yes, there's one the characters I hate the most in all literature, but there's also fabulous friendships between people of all genders. It's a truth universally acknowledged that found family is my favourite trope, and I have an inkling that I first experienced its thrill with this series. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Child death, Drug abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Torture, and Violence