Reviews tagging 'Drug use'

Royal Assassin by Robin Hobb

22 reviews

literate_caveman's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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

4.5

This is one of my all time favorite fantasy books and, I think, the best in the Farseer trilogy. Hobb does an excellent job of putting you in the head of people whose lives are shaped by traumatic events. As someone who enjoys slower-paced books, even I find the pace of this series to be a bit slow (that's just how Hobb writes). That being said, the tension increased dramatically towards the end, leaving off with a fantastic conclusion. There are several thought-provoking quotes in this book that I still think about, and Nighteyes has to be one of my favorite characters in all of fiction. It's definitely not for everyone, but I highly recommend this book (and series) to anyone looking for character-driven fantasy.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Torture, Violence, Animal cruelty, Cannibalism, Blood, Child death, Death, and Murder

Moderate: Addiction, Miscarriage, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Rape, Sexual content, Suicide attempt, and War

pagesofash's review against another edition

adventurous 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture

Moderate: Miscarriage and Drug use

geekberry's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• 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: Torture, War, Death, Murder, Drug use, and Blood

Moderate: Torture, Child death, Suicide attempt, and Religious bigotry

Minor: Miscarriage

adeliab'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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Gore, and Murder

Moderate: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Addiction, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Pregnancy and Rape

prairieraven's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious 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

3.0

I didn't enjoy this as much as the first book. The treachery, plotting, and kniving nature of the antagonist grates at the reader and the main characters which is for good writing. Again not very diverse cast and there is a bit of a slow start but quickly speeds up. 

There is a new wolf character introduced and I'm not too much of a fan. It doesn't fit as well as Fitz. However the purpose and reasoning of this character unfolds later in the book. There is much more violence and gore in this one than the first.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Violence, Torture, Physical abuse, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Gaslighting, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Vomit, War, Pregnancy, Miscarriage, Drug use, Drug abuse, Dementia, Death of parent, Death, Confinement, Chronic illness, Cannibalism, Bullying, Blood, Animal death, Animal cruelty, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Addiction, Abortion, and Abandonment

bluejay21's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Fitz is really going through it, huh

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Drug use, Grief, Torture, and Violence

Moderate: Alcohol, Blood, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, and Murder

anaguana's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Death, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Rape, Torture, Violence, and War

Moderate: Abandonment, Addiction, Alcoholism, Drug use, Miscarriage, and Sexual content

Minor: Child death, Confinement, Slavery, and Suicidal thoughts

emsavors's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• 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: Ableism, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Blood, Cannibalism, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Miscarriage, Murder, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Rape, Sexual content, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Vomit, and War

ailsaod's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark 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

 Not gonna lie this book was a chore to read. I really enjoyed 'Assassin's apprentice' and was so hyped to read this book I pinched it from my dad and then quickly discovered why he had stalled halfway through. This book can be divided into three main segments: 1. sexy times and forbidden love, 2. political maneuvering and Regal being infuriating and 3. horrible atrocities committed by the Forged ones/the Outislanders. None of which I enjoyed.

The sex scenes were numerous and while vague managed to tell you way too much! I really did not want to know about Fitz's sex life and the pressures put on his relationship with Molly just made me wish they weren't together.

The sections covering the struggle for power in Buckkeep were very frustrating to read - why put yourself through this when you could just watch people being awful on the news?! I spent most of the book wishing I could smack Regal (and I very much enjoyed the scene where Verity slaps him)!

There are also a number of battle scenes, most of which are fine to an extent but there was one in particular that was extremely unpleasant and put me off my food for the better part of a day (content warnings for gore, cannibalism and child death). Just thinking about it now, over a month later I feel queasy.

There were however some good things about this book: the prologue had me weeping in a way I don't find disagreeable and the ending section was very tense. These parts and the characters of the Fool, Kettricken and Verity made reading this book bearable, though they sadly didn't take up a large enough portion to make the experience enjoyable! I don't think I'll be looking to read book 3 for some time, though it certainly isn't on my no read list.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cannibalism, Child death, and Gore

Moderate: Death and Terminal illness

Minor: Drug use, Misogyny, and Torture

emmeline's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious slow-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Blood, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, and Drug use

Moderate: Excrement, Miscarriage, and Terminal illness