Reviews tagging 'Sexism'

Ship of Magic by Robin Hobb

26 reviews

readwithbells's review against another edition

4.0

I give this a tentative four stars. I love (and hate) the characters of this book, I am incredibly invested in their lives and relationships. Hobb transitions well into the third person POV and the world she creates is expansive and devastating and real. I don’t think I have ever viciously hated a character as much as I hate Kyle. The depiction of domestic violence is difficult but well done, as is the depiction of how women slowly lose their power in an oppressive place. It reads like a punch in the gut, hard to escape into so be aware of that going into it, but it’s a good story. 

That being said. A primary focus of this book is slavery, specifically the slave trade on ships. While I do think Hobb did her research and had good intentions, I also take issue with a white woman writing so extensively on slavery. It’s just a little icky?? And very hard for me to put into words. I think this book would have been just as good, if not better, without slavery as a plot device. I think it’s done tastefully, truly. But it gives me the ick and that’s a real bummer because I want to love these books and I am weirdly conflicted in my feelings for them. These are older books and I can acknowledge that Hobb was likely bringing attention to something not a lot of other authors were talking about, but at the same time it gives me an uncomfortable feeling. So. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Child abuse, Slavery, Sexism, and Misogyny

Moderate: Sexual assault, Blood, and Vomit

skyeoak's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional slow-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery, Child abuse, and Sexism

Moderate: Sexual assault

talonsontypewriters's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Alcohol, Animal death, Child abuse, Drug use, Grief, Misogyny, Slavery, Trafficking, Violence, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Sexism, Murder, Physical abuse, and Terminal illness

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Kidnapping, Miscarriage, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Domestic abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Pedophilia, Rape, Suicide attempt, Torture, Abortion, Suicide, and Child death

Minor: Ableism, Body shaming, War, Excrement, and Fatphobia

Needles (tattooing). Illness, unsanitary. Hunting and skinning. Slut shaming, discrimination against sex workers (frequent use of "whore"). Sexual/romantic relationships between pre-teen/teenage girls and adult men, with some victim blaming attitudes toward this. Forced abortion, stillbirth.

kaziaroo's review

adventurous dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Sexism, Toxic friendship, Drug use, Toxic relationship, Gore, Slavery, Alcohol, Blood, Child abuse, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Medical trauma, Misogyny, Trafficking, Violence, Abandonment, Death, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Murder, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Sexual assault, Alcoholism, Excrement, Confinement, Vomit, Sexual content, and Rape

Multiple graphic limb amputations

kfox's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Emotional abuse, Blood, Bullying, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Physical abuse, Sexism, and Slavery

Moderate: Death of parent, Xenophobia, Child abuse, Blood, Abandonment, Bullying, Gaslighting, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, and Trafficking

Minor: Abandonment, Toxic friendship, Rape, Pedophilia, Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Torture, and Sexual assault

bluejay21's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious slow-paced

• 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Sexism, and Slavery

Moderate: Death, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, and Drug use

indi72547's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Violence, Sexism, and Slavery

Moderate: Sexual assault and Rape

tythebooknerd's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional slow-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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Sexism, and Slavery

Moderate: Sexual content, Violence, and Drug use

rayreyes's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional mysterious reflective sad tense 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? No

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery

Moderate: Colonisation, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Gaslighting, Murder, Physical abuse, and Sexism

Minor: Alcohol, Bullying, Blood, and Excrement

wolfthorn's review against another edition

adventurous dark sad tense slow-paced

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

2.5

It's taken me 19 days, but I've finally finished this book. All 897 pages of it. It wouldn't have taken me so long if I'd not switched to reading something else part-way through! I am rather glad to be done with it, it is so incredibly grim. The entire book is full of misfortune and there's only one truly happy moment that I can think of. There are so many irritating characters, even the main two - Althea and Wintrop - are annoying. I think possibly the Vivacia is about the best character in the whole book. But the most infuriating bit was the fact that the book just stopped. It didn't finish with some parts of the storyline resolved, no, it just ended. Grrr. I don't know if I will read the second book. Part of me wants to see Althea get her ship and Kyle get the comeuppance he truly deserves, but I don't know if I can deal with any more misery. Especially not another 850 pages of it.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Bullying, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, and Slavery

Moderate: Addiction, Chronic illness, Death of parent, and Drug use

Minor: Alcohol, Death, Excrement, Gore, Physical abuse, and Violence