Reviews tagging 'Drug abuse'

Assassin's Quest by Robin Hobb

8 reviews

brynalexa's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark 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

4.75

Wow, Robin Hobb can end a chapter! She left me reeling more times than not. Compared to the previous two Farseer books, this one moves quick! Extremely emotional, especially at the beginning and end. There was an odd twist at the end that was uncomfortable but it fits with the culture of the Six Duchies. Loved how it came together in the end. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Violence, Toxic friendship, Torture, Abandonment, War, Alcoholism, Blood, Genocide, Gore, Suicidal thoughts, Slavery, Addiction, Stalking, Alcohol, Death, Drug abuse, Grief, and Infertility

Minor: Sexual content, Sexual assault, and Rape

thoseoldcrows23's review

adventurous emotional slow-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

4.0

 I can not express how much these characters have stolen my heart. This is for sure a new favorite series for me, and I'm sure my love will only grow as I move forward with the rest of the Realm of the Elderlings. That said, I am giving this one a 4 instead of a 5 because it really is absurdly long, and all though, by the end I had forgiven it all its sins, I can't pretend that there wasn't about 300 pages in the middle of it that dragged on. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Miscarriage, Grief, Blood, Mental illness, Injury/Injury detail, War, Violence, Murder, Gore, Death of parent, Physical abuse, Drug use, and Death

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Ableism, Fire/Fire injury, Confinement, Torture, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Alcoholism, Addiction, Alcohol, Vomit, and Panic attacks/disorders

Minor: Rape, Abortion, Child abuse, Drug abuse, and Emotional abuse

gabi_reii's review against another edition

adventurous 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? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Drug abuse, Death, Alcoholism, Addiction, Injury/Injury detail, Emotional abuse, Drug use, and Violence

Minor: Miscarriage, Infertility, Infidelity, and Confinement

angstifies's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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

4.5

very slow book, especially at the beginning, but i enjoyed it anyway. Robin Hobb’s characters are so wonderfully written and the dynamics we got to see in this third book were even better crafted than in the previous installments. i absolutely loved the “quest” element that was very dominant in the story, and i found the ending flawless. i will absolutely be reading the other RotE books.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Blood, and Death

Moderate: Child death, Drug abuse, Grief, Miscarriage, Rape, Injury/Injury detail, and War

Minor: Addiction and Pregnancy

kaziaroo's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcohol, Animal death, Blood, Death, Drug use, Grief, Medical content, Murder, and Violence

Moderate: Alcoholism, Child death, Drug abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Miscarriage, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, and War

Minor: Homophobia, Infidelity, Outing, Rape, Pregnancy, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Transphobia

prairieraven's review

adventurous challenging slow-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? Yes

3.0

This one reads a lot slower until the end of the book again where so much happens in the last 140 pages that it feels rushed and some things glazed over after 2 books of build up (not sure if this trilogy is done yet). Overall the trilogy as a set is great, a bit plodding in parts but the characters make up for it. I grew to enjoy the wolf a bit more in this book. It left me wanting to know more about the wit and skilling so perhaps that will be in another book. Solid 3 stars for the series. Recommended for adventure and fantasy readers who like to dive into other realms when they read.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Drug abuse, Drug use, War, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Rape, Pregnancy, Injury/Injury detail, Emotional abuse, Death, Cannibalism, Child death, Alcoholism, Adult/minor relationship, Addiction, Abortion, and Abandonment

Minor: Miscarriage

lizziestudieshistory's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious 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

4.0

2021 Update - This book is A LOT better on a reread with the wider RotE as context. Moving my rating from 3 to 4 stars.

I wasn't as disappointed in the end as many people have been with The Farseer Trilogy. I thought the actual climax to the story was okay and, while not what was expected, suited Hobb's writing and storytelling style.

However, this book suffered with the awful pacing! The first half drags with all the travelling of LotR put into one novel. This led to a repetitive cycle of events (Fitz travels, is recognised, gets caught by Regal's men in an impossible-to-escape situation, Fitz escapes - bonus points for Nighteyes' help). The pacing really needed to be a bit faster. I love the slower, sprawling nature of Hobb's descriptive writing, but this was too much and there needed to be more variety of action to make the 800 pages of travel worth it.

I also struggle to re-read Assassin's Quest because of the new characters that are introduced, especially the women, which is really disappointing and makes the book a slog to get through. I've adored the women in the series before - particularly Lady Patience, Lacey, and Kettricken. The only women I've actively disliked is Molly. Yet Honey, the Caravan girl (her name escapes me), and Starling are all incredibly annoying, shallow, or contradictory in their actions. All the characters but the Fool and Nighteyes suffered in this installment - they made some really weird choices in places - but the new characters were too much and to have three very similar (any annoying) women was unnecessary! 

Saying this I did enjoy this book, and Hobb is a wonderful fantasy author. Her world is as rich as ever and benefits a lot from taking the time to show Fitz wander around the Six Duchies! I really enjoyed seeing the dwellings of the Elderlings and the lost city in the mountains - these details are a lot richer the second time round!

I also loved seeing the Fool and Nighteyes more! They are two of the most beloved (sorry) characters in the series and their presence really helps the poor pacing of this book in the second half. 

(Didn't proof read this... Sorry)

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Sexual violence

aseaoftomes's review

adventurous emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

For those of you who don't know me, the Realm of the Elderlings (RotE) is a series that means everything to me. It's impossible to review something I love and adore as much as I do. Anything I say about this book won't encapsulate the overall feeling and story, so I'm not going to do my normal routine (fully).

This is the third and final book in the Farseer trilogy and the third book in the overall RotE series and it picks up right where the second book left off. Fitz is recovering from the events of the last book with the help of Chade and Burrich and once he's well enough again, he goes off on a quest to seek revenge against the one who took everything from him, but ends up being commanded by his king to go to him and things go from there. 

Every element I normally do in my breakdowns (writing, plot, characters and world building) is just phenomenal. Hobb's characters and world building in particular are some of the best I've read. It's not a simple act of reading these books, you live them.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Grief, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Violence, and Animal death

Moderate: Rape and Child death