Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

Assassin's Fate by Robin Hobb

9 reviews

briely's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Cried a lot. First half was incredibly difficult to read for all the dread it put in me, had to actually stop and take several breaks from reading like I hadn’t with all the others. Mostly I am just so sad this long, long journey is at an end. I’m going to miss these characters terribly. Would that I could better articulate how I feel about it right now, but currently I’m just an emotional wreck so that’s that.

I think what it is is the knowledge that Fitz and the Fool’s story is completely over front to back. It’s not like we leave them happy in a cabin somewhere and can imagine their life together after the end, or I mean you could if you imagine the skillstream as some sort of nebulous heaven where they can create their own space together, but we have no glimpse into what the other side looks like and while I’m okay with that in a sense it also makes me sad not to know because I wanted Fitz and the Fool to have maybe like an ounce more closure before going into the stone together. It’s weird to think that there’s no other room for speculation because we’ve been with them quite literally their entire lives. I dunno I just miss them already

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Torture, Blood, Grief, Body horror, Child abuse, Death of parent, Confinement, Death, Kidnapping, Physical abuse, Terminal illness, and Violence

Minor: Fire/Fire injury, Pregnancy, Suicidal thoughts, Slavery, and Sexual harassment

johannaplatt's review against another edition

adventurous emotional sad medium-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

4.5

The end of Fitz and the Fool's story made me very emotional. Of course the main plot point of this book is Bee's rescue, but it's also about an ending for our poor dear Fitz. Really enjoyed hearing more of the "echoes" of Nighteyes than in previous books.

It's heartbreaking that Fitz couldn't be the father he should have been for Nettle and Bee, but he'd been through so much at that point, used so ruthlessly by the Farseer throne and the Fool that it's no wonder he wanted his last act to be for his own choice. My only criticism is that I would have preferred their going into the stone wolf to have been from Fitz's POV, I think emotionally that would have packed a bigger punch for our last moments to have been with Fitz, Nighteyes and Fool.

Bee is a capable person who no doubt we will see more of. I think people are unfair when they say she is unlikeable - she's complicated and traumatised. She is a product of what happened to her and what she had to do to survive. She's flawed and interesting. Would love to read more from her POV. The subplot of the Live Ships was very engaging and I enjoyed the returning characters (though I had forgotten some of the plot points from those books as I read them a while ago!).

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Death, Drug use, Murder, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Pregnancy, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Child abuse, and Confinement

Moderate: Incest

Minor: Pedophilia

mqabbadbest'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? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I cannot put all I feel into words. What an incredible journey! FitzChivalry Farseer is one of the greatest characters not only in fantasy but literature overall! How his story is not talked about with the likes of LOTR and ASOIAF is sad and also almost fitting to the character himself.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Child abuse, and Murder

Moderate: Death of parent, Gore, Emotional abuse, Body shaming, and Kidnapping

lilly6042's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional inspiring reflective sad medium-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

5.0

Billing Robin Hobb for my therapy 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Rape, Terminal illness, Gore, Abandonment, Sexual assault, Death, Grief, Violence, and Sexual violence

philineselavy's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death and Torture

Moderate: Blood, War, Injury/Injury detail, Death of parent, and Confinement

Minor: Rape

talonsontypewriters's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad 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

5.0

what if we all blew up

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Animal death, Torture, Terminal illness, Body horror, Gore, Violence, Kidnapping, Grief, Physical abuse, Child abuse, Death, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Confinement

Moderate: Drug use, Panic attacks/disorders, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Dysphoria, Child death, Sexual assault, Rape, Classism, Misogyny, Alcohol, Sexism, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, and Ableism

Minor: Pregnancy, Vomit, Cannibalism, Animal cruelty, Suicide, Incest, Pedophilia, Sexual content, Bullying, and Infidelity

mariebrunelm's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective sad 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

The cruellest way to write such a dark story as the Fitz and the Fool trilogy isn't to go deeper into the blackest despair, but to let light filter through. In the first half of Assassin's Fate, Robin Hobb lets her narrative shine with characters' encounters and occasions of joy, even for poor Fitz. So when the time comes for the hardest step of his journey, at the end of the book, it can only get more heart-wrenching.

The conclusion of a 16-novels-and-a-few-short-stories series can only be bitter-sweet. Despite my reader's sorrow, I do think it's perfect. All the pieces of the puzzle click into place, all the strands are knotted to form the tapestry of the Realms of the Elderlings universe. Reading one book a month for a year and a half has had its highs and lows, but I think this ending will always make me cry because it feels so right.

Rep : polyamorous MC, genderfluid SC 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Murder, Terminal illness, Torture, Abandonment, and Death of parent

Moderate: Animal death, Injury/Injury detail, Body horror, Kidnapping, Blood, and Ableism

Minor: Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Gore, and Violence

catrionamayj's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

3.25

I really struggle to define how I relate to Hobb's works. 
Having read 16 of them (totaling well over 4 million words I believe) I obviously found them well worth the read. However I do find her style often directionless and meandering, I get the sense she writes through discovery without going through and doing the editing needed to make these tighter stories. 

How many times must we read about Bee trying to escape, failing and being beaten. How many times do we need to watch Fitz try and convince the rest of the gang to turn back

I feel the repetition of certain plot elements just lead to my frustration without moving the story or the character development forward at all. 
But also there was so much in this book to love, so many characters and settings I've been wanting to see either again or for the first time. All in all it was a very fitting conclusion to the RoTE series but I just couldn't love it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Slavery, Violence, Animal death, Death of parent, Forced institutionalization, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Child abuse, Blood, Body horror, Death, Fire/Fire injury, and Murder

achingallover's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Drug use, Excrement, Grief, Gore, Kidnapping, Murder, Rape, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Terminal illness, Violence, and Vomit