Reviews tagging 'Emotional abuse'

Murtagh by Christopher Paolini

20 reviews

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

ayanaj's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Violence, War, Physical abuse, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Emotional abuse, Torture, and Slavery

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail and Kidnapping

Minor: Child death

theinkwyrm's review against another edition

adventurous dark fast-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

3.5

As someone who considers The Inheritance Cycle series one of my favorites, I was both excited and apprehensive about this book and after finishing this, I still think both of those emotions are warranted. Let me start by saying that I am so bummed because I was all ready to really love this book, but I don’t just think that this is as good as the original Inheritance series (but that might be because I prefer Eragon as a character to Murtagh). I also think that this should be read as a companion novel rather than a continuation of the original series, by which I mean that if you have really good memories of the original series, you might want to skip this book because it really did change how I look back on the first four books in a not super great way. That being said, this wasn’t a terrible book and it still had that very bingeable reading quality that the first four books did, it just felt like it was trying to do too much, particularly in the last 1/3ish of the book where it felt like 10 pounds of plot in a 5 pound bag. While Murtagh and Thorn end up with a lot of great character growth, the plot has so many loose threads that it feels almost guaranteed that this is the beginning of a spin off series (which Paolini acknowledges and basically confirms in the acknowledgments section at the end). I’m honestly not sure if I’ll continue reading more books from Murtagh’s POV in the future.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Physical abuse, and Emotional abuse

linselus's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse

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

Minor: Blood and Slavery

paperviking's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful sad 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Violence, Emotional abuse, and Physical abuse

exhaustrovert's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

If you enjoyed the Inheritance series, this book feels like reuniting with an old friend. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Torture, Violence, Slavery, Gore, Blood, Forced institutionalization, Abandonment, Confinement, Animal cruelty, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Kidnapping, Murder, Dysphoria, and Genocide

Minor: Toxic relationship and War

v_neptune's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious tense slow-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Torture, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Mental illness, Death, Child abuse, Animal death, Bullying, Grief, Confinement, Murder, Animal cruelty, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Trafficking, Child death, and Domestic abuse

fromjuliereads's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful inspiring sad slow-paced

• 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

4.0

It was fantastic being back in the world of Alagaesia! I found parts of the story a bit slow but the insight into Murtagh and Thorn as characters were absolutely fantastic! There were parts that I cried when they recounted their experiences and trauma. 
I'm interested to see what Paolini will do next in the Inheritance Cycle!

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal death, Grief, Torture, Death, Violence, Mental illness, Gaslighting, Fire/Fire injury, Physical abuse, Blood, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and Confinement

PTSD

cherub__'s review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious fast-paced

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

3.75

Re-reading the Inheritance Cycle after so many years is an interesting experience. I could feel the prose changing as the author grew up -- after all, Paolini was only a teenager when Eragon was published. The prose grows with the characters, the plot becomes more complex (if just as derivative), motivations become more fraught, etc. Murtagh continues this trend, just fast-forwarded by a decade. While not a masterpiece, it's a step forward into a new phase for this series and it sets up some interesting conflict down the road.

My main complaint is that Murtagh feels somewhat rushed, or abbreviated. I can see where the author is coming from, because this is meant to be a bridge between Inheritance proper and a future "official" "Book 5", but at the same time, there are heavy issues touched on but not given proper time to marinate.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Torture, Physical abuse, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Gore, and War

Minor: Kidnapping and Slavery

bibliomania_express'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? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

Wow, this book. It starts a bit slow, but the slow build is necessary to balance all the wild emotions in the second half. Murtagh and Thorn face challenges beyond anything in the Inheritance Cycle, and I was so mad at this book for putting them through it, even as I was awed by the depth of feeling and complexity in thos book. 

I cried. I yelled in anger. I paced my apartment, afraid to pick it back up but unable to resist because I needed to know what happened next. 

I love that we got to see more of Murtagh's past, how the court of Galbatorix functioned and shaped him. Paolini gives shape to Murtagh's bond with Tornac, and it's so fundamental and beautiful, even with its tragic end. 

There's a lot of triggers for this book beyond your general death and gore. Both Murtagh and Thorn are dealing with PTSD, and Thorn suffers from intense claustrophobia. There are scenes of torture, mass death, and intense isolation and captivity. 

I obviously won't spoil the end, but I will say it was so necessary after everything this book put me through. Now I have to lament the years before Paolini write the next book in this world, as there are some loose ends yet to be tied off.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Confinement, Violence, Gaslighting, Physical abuse, Animal death, Religious bigotry, Torture, Panic attacks/disorders, and Murder

Moderate: Kidnapping, Gore, Blood, and Slavery