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stephanieridiculous's review
2.0
The world? So interesting and fascinating. The Liveships? Exactly what I want them to be. The Dragons? Such a great take on them. The Characters??? W I L D L Y hit or miss.
We're still strugglin' and strainin' over the vastness of the cast, many of which you aren't supposed to like & Hobb does a great job of making that the reality. Our female cast continues to be used and abused, brutally and on page, and the suffering of all is boiling over at this point. I so desperately want to love this trilogy, and I do appreciate what it adds to the Realm of the Elderlings in a grander scale, but this segment has unfortunately shifted where Hobb stands in my list of favorites.
I appreciate that the Realm is populated by cultures with wildly different values and systems, but I just can't fathom the need for so much sexual violence on page. It is possible, believe it or not, to establish the struggles of women - and make really powerful commentaries on those realities - without abusing them on page. And certainly without repeatedly showing us that women are most effectively subdued by raping them. It's so unimaginative & unnecessarily triggering for potential readers. The cost of using such situations absolutely does not pay off for me; it mostly feels like lazy writing to invoke an emotional reaction that I know for a fact Hobb is capable of producing without resorting to such base tropes. The ongoing establishment of unbalanced relationships, be that via power or age or a combination, is a growing concern for me with Hobb's writing, and it's a sad discovery that I missed my first time through the Realm books, but is now a glaring issue at every turn. This existed in Buck with Verity/Kettricken, but is now coming to full heights with Malta/Reyn and Kennit/Etta, and I know continues with other pairings in later books. It's creepy, and I don't like it.
I sincerely doubt I will ever recommend the Liveship Traders series to people, and when discussing Hobb's work at large I'll be encouraging people to just read the wiki and skip it when engaging with the Realm.
The good here is a small list, but worth pointing to - Amber as always, I adore. Matla coming into her own is great. More dragons? Yes, please. More Rain Wilds? Heck yea.
I am committed to finishing this series, but I just can't wait to move on to Tawny Man.
Graphic: Trafficking, Toxic friendship, Sexism, Sexual assault, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, and Rape
luise96's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Graphic: Body horror and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Rape
errie's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
4.5
Graphic: Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Murder, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, Gaslighting, Torture, Violence, Blood, Adult/minor relationship, Addiction, Alcohol, Physical abuse, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, War, Rape, Toxic friendship, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Misogyny, Slavery, Toxic relationship, and Trafficking
atalea's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Between the two, I do prefer Ship of Magic over Mad Ship because I felt more was happening in that book. In Mad Ship we take a slower pace. Mysteries of the world are slowly being unraveled. Most of the book felt like set-up for the conclusion of the story and focused instead in character development. I don't mind a slow burn (I mean that's Hobb in a nutshell), but it was only 3/4 into the book that things started going down, so it dragged a bit.
I am very interesting to see how Hobb will bring everything together in the end and can't wait to start the final book in this trilogy.
Graphic: Violence and Slavery
Moderate: Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual violence, Sexism, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual assault, and Misogyny
Minor: Confinement, Animal death, Infidelity, Addiction, Child abuse, Alcoholism, and Drug abuse
readwithbells's review against another edition
4.25
This one does suffer from the middle book curse, and I was never super excited to pick it up, but once I did I was wrapped up in the story wholeheartedly. I love the experience of Hobb’s writing. She makes everything real and desperate and exciting. I’ll probably take a minute before the last instalment but it won’t be too far behind.
Graphic: Rape, Death, Injury/Injury detail, and Sexism
Moderate: War and Xenophobia
talonsontypewriters's review against another edition
- 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
4.25
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Pedophilia, Drug use, Slavery, Trafficking, Fire/Fire injury, Confinement, Rape, Sexual assault, Violence, Death, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Medical content, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual violence, and Physical abuse
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Kidnapping, Body horror, War, Abandonment, Grief, Sexual harassment, Sexual content, Animal death, Addiction, Drug abuse, and Alcohol
Minor: Vomit, Classism, Ableism, Excrement, Death of parent, Homophobia, Pregnancy, and Xenophobia
Sexual coercion, abuse of power; victim blaming/rape culture (challenged), complicity in assault and abuse. Descriptions of sexual abuse and rape in captivity as well as the aftermath thereof, but no graphic scene; attempted rape and discussion thereof in one scene. Withdrawal. Illness, epidemic. Earthquakes. Relationships between adult men and pre-teen/teenage girls, as well as allusions to relationships between adult women and teenage boys.bluejay21's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Medical trauma, Blood, Gore, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Sexual harassment, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Slavery, Confinement, and Misogyny
genny's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
- Malta. Never have I felt the urge to slap a child as strongly as when I read her POV - but that somehow changed and now all I want is to protect her. I actually feel bad for wishing she would learn a lesson. What?! 😆 I suspect I'll grow infinitely more fond of her in the next book.
- Out of all the "people" to be mad at, I found myself annoyed at Vivacia. And then eventually at Wintrow as well, because I hate that they're
siding with Kennit. I understand why, but I still hate it. Props to Hobb for making me accept a character's motivations even though I disagree with them. - I love all of the Vestrits, but I especially love Keffria and Ronica's brand of quiet yet unwavering resolve. This, after being so irritated by Keffria's naivety in Ship of Magic. Haha.
Graphic: Blood, Death, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Murder, Rape, Sexual violence, Slavery, and Violence
Moderate: Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Confinement, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Fire/Fire injury