Reviews tagging 'Emotional abuse'

Murtagh by Christopher Paolini

19 reviews

gen_wolfhailstorm's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense slow-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

It took me many, many months to get through this, but my gosh it was a fantastic read. Murtagh has always been my favourite morally grey character and to have a whole 600+ page book dedicated to him and Thorn was everything I could have wanted (besides just being back in this world again). 

Getting to learn more about Murtagh's character arc and see where life took him and Thorn after all the events that transpired throughout the Inheritance Cycle  was fascinating. I felt as though we were really given a chance to get to know them as more than 'the vilains' and it was beautiful.

To see how their tortured past (especially with Galbatorix) triggers them still was heartbreaking and so realistic in a person. The empathy I felt was overwhelming at times - I just wanted to reach through the pages of the book and give them both a big hug. It warms my heart to know that they are least have comfort in each other.

The character growth from both of them in this novel was incredibly impressive, working through the torments of their memories and wanting and trying to get through the other side was so inspiring but what really drove that inspiration further was that it wasn't done overnight. With Thorn especially, we really got a deeper understanding of how his forced growth as a hatchling and cruel trials Galbatorix made him go through affected him still and how he struggled awfully with confined spaces because of that. It was was heartbreaking to see his frustration and fear, being stuck in the cruel moments of the past that brought the fear on.

A theme I really enjoyed in Murtagh was the significant role dreams played - I believe that was also a concept in TSIASOS, so I found it intriguing to see how differently Paolini explores that theme in his sci-fi and in his fantasy, respectively.

A little side note here, but I couldn't help but love the little notes of "mmm", or 'hrmph'.. It just felt so intrinsically human.

I loved getting to see more of the world and did get annoyed at Murtagh's endless curiosity always getting him into trouble, but the things we discovered about the goings on after what we hoped would be a long lasting peace was worrying and I'm so eager to find out what happens next!

What else is in store for Murtagh and Thorn?

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, War, Panic attacks/disorders, Emotional abuse, Religious bigotry, Violence, Torture, Kidnapping, Xenophobia, Death, Slavery, Confinement, Child abuse, Grief, Genocide, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Fire/Fire injury, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Physical abuse, Gore, and Gaslighting

daniber's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Body horror, Blood, and Confinement

Moderate: Murder, Emotional abuse, Animal cruelty, Gore, Animal death, Injury/Injury detail, Bullying, Child abuse, and Death

Minor: Panic attacks/disorders

lizziaha's review

3.25

This book has a different tone than the original series and lower stakes. Because Murtagh and Thorn have essentially exiled themselves, they don’t have many close relationships, and other characters from the original series only make brief appearances. That being said I do love some of the new characters and I did especially love Alin’s arc. But this read more as a prequel than a fantasy standalone. There is necessary growth for murtagh and thorn, but I’m more interested in where it’s going to go than the growth itself. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Child abuse, Blood, Kidnapping, Murder, Religious bigotry, Trafficking, Panic attacks/disorders, Injury/Injury detail, Confinement, Violence, War, Gore, Slavery, and Torture

Moderate: Classism, Animal death, and Abandonment

pensandpicks's review

adventurous challenging emotional mysterious sad medium-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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Panic attacks/disorders, Grief, and Emotional abuse

kattila's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense 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

3.75

dude, you mean to tell me the "enslaved guy who was enslaved and doesnt want to be enslaved again" is THAT careless when it comes to a cult he knows buys slaves and has a leader who's a powerful with? His decisions caused me immense pain whike the book othervise was great lol at least some good came out of tge temporary enslavement?

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Blood, Physical abuse, Bullying, Slavery, Torture, Drug abuse, Animal death, Violence, Drug use, Murder, Death, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Child death, Trafficking, Alcohol, Animal death, and Child abuse

damascus922's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Blood, Physical abuse, Torture, Emotional abuse, Violence, and Death

k_rose95's review against another edition

adventurous dark hopeful mysterious medium-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

5.0

I was really excited to return to the world of Alagaësia and this blew me away. Any expectations I had were just blown out of the water.

I loved the totally refreshing perspective as Murtagh and Eragon are both so different. 

And then we have the cult and the witch herself. By far exceeded my expectations of the enemy set up for the continuation of the Inheritance Cycle.

Can't wait to see what's next.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Blood, and Death

Moderate: Torture, War, and Gore

Minor: Child death, Child abuse, and Emotional abuse

sylexlibris's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Death, Emotional abuse, Confinement, Drug use, Torture, Animal cruelty, and Physical abuse

amanda_amidala_organa's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense medium-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

Murtagh remains my forever favorite character in fantasy storytelling, and this book is an absolute gift. I always felt like I deeply understood this tragic and tortured (yet somehow stubbornly hopeful) character - and Christopher Paolini’s writing confirmed so many feelings and theories. This was a powerful deep dive into trauma and choosing a more difficult but morally right path, and yet again I continue to be blown away so many years later by the world building and heart balanced in the stories of Alagaësia. Here’s to so many more ahead. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Emotional abuse, War, Trafficking, Violence, Death, Confinement, Gaslighting, Animal cruelty, and Blood

mighty_lizard_queen's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.25

Murtagh's next book should be on overcoming his new flaw of tripping so often. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Emotional abuse, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Torture, War, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Confinement, Kidnapping, Drug use, and Drug abuse

Moderate: Self harm, Murder, Slavery, Animal death, and Child death

Minor: Child abuse, Suicide, Alcohol, Vomit, Xenophobia, Bullying, Sexual harassment, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Excrement, and Domestic abuse

Drug use is forced Xenophobia relates to fictional races Excrement is an animal’s, one scene