Reviews tagging 'Child death'

Murtagh by Christopher Paolini

13 reviews

gen_wolfhailstorm's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring 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

5.0

It took me many, many months to get through this, but my gosh it was a fantastic read. Murtagh has always been my favourite morally grey character and to have a whole 600+ page book dedicated to him and Thorn was everything I could have wanted (besides just being back in this world again). 

Getting to learn more about Murtagh's character arc and see where life took him and Thorn after all the events that transpired throughout the Inheritance Cycle  was fascinating. I felt as though we were really given a chance to get to know them as more than 'the vilains' and it was beautiful.

To see how their tortured past (especially with Galbatorix) triggers them still was heartbreaking and so realistic in a person. The empathy I felt was overwhelming at times - I just wanted to reach through the pages of the book and give them both a big hug. It warms my heart to know that they are least have comfort in each other.

The character growth from both of them in this novel was incredibly impressive, working through the torments of their memories and wanting and trying to get through the other side was so inspiring but what really drove that inspiration further was that it wasn't done overnight. With Thorn especially, we really got a deeper understanding of how his forced growth as a hatchling and cruel trials Galbatorix made him go through affected him still and how he struggled awfully with confined spaces because of that. It was was heartbreaking to see his frustration and fear, being stuck in the cruel moments of the past that brought the fear on.

A theme I really enjoyed in Murtagh was the significant role dreams played - I believe that was also a concept in TSIASOS, so I found it intriguing to see how differently Paolini explores that theme in his sci-fi and in his fantasy, respectively.

A little side note here, but I couldn't help but love the little notes of "mmm", or 'hrmph'.. It just felt so intrinsically human.

I loved getting to see more of the world and did get annoyed at Murtagh's endless curiosity always getting him into trouble, but the things we discovered about the goings on after what we hoped would be a long lasting peace was worrying and I'm so eager to find out what happens next!

What else is in store for Murtagh and Thorn?

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, War, Panic attacks/disorders, Emotional abuse, Religious bigotry, Violence, Torture, Kidnapping, Xenophobia, Death, Slavery, Confinement, Child abuse, Grief, Genocide, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Fire/Fire injury, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Physical abuse, Gore, and Gaslighting

jasonpatrickg's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional tense 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

5.0

A long-awaited return to the world of Alagaesia details the adventures of Murtagh and the dragon Thorn after the events of Inheritance. Murtagh, ever the foil to Eragon, the titular hero of the first four books, is a refreshing take on all things high fantasy. This book explores complex themes of self, loss, mental and emotional trauma, change, religious zealotry, and more! I thoroughly enjoyed this novel and only wish it could have had even more in it! (Darn you Paolini for your cliffhangers!)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture

Moderate: Confinement

Minor: Child death

This books deals with adult themes, including torture, post-traumatic stress from torture, and the death of children at the hands of a mind controlled main character.

offtheraels's review against another edition

adventurous dark slow-paced

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

This book has all the usual issues of a Paolini story and had NO RIGHT being that long—but I had SO MUCH fun re-entering this universe and hanging out with my fave broody, poetry-writing, dragon-riding bad boy with parental issues. It was also good to read a YA fantasy sequel/spinoff that admits to the extensive PTSD of its characters, and I would have liked to see more ~healing~ instead of the more ~trauma~ (especially with Thorn, has he not been through enough???)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Blood, Mental illness, Animal cruelty, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Violence, Confinement, and Murder

Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Grief, Abandonment, and Slavery

Minor: Death of parent and War

kattila'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? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

dude, you mean to tell me the "enslaved guy who was enslaved and doesnt want to be enslaved again" is THAT careless when it comes to a cult he knows buys slaves and has a leader who's a powerful with? His decisions caused me immense pain whike the book othervise was great lol at least some good came out of tge temporary enslavement?

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Blood, Physical abuse, Bullying, Slavery, Torture, Drug abuse, Animal death, Violence, Drug use, Murder, Death, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Child death, Trafficking, Alcohol, Animal death, and Child abuse

k_rose95's review against another edition

adventurous dark hopeful 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

5.0

I was really excited to return to the world of Alagaësia and this blew me away. Any expectations I had were just blown out of the water.

I loved the totally refreshing perspective as Murtagh and Eragon are both so different. 

And then we have the cult and the witch herself. By far exceeded my expectations of the enemy set up for the continuation of the Inheritance Cycle.

Can't wait to see what's next.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Blood, and Death

Moderate: Torture, War, and Gore

Minor: Child death, Child abuse, and Emotional abuse

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

greenrequiem's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional reflective medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Confinement, Torture, and Kidnapping

Moderate: Mental illness, Child death, Panic attacks/disorders, Child abuse, War, Blood, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, and Violence

Minor: Injury/Injury detail

natashalg's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-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

3.75

The visions and the antagonist of the book really creeped me out. It was also a little slow in the beginning and somewhat drug on like the previous books.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Murder, Gaslighting, Religious bigotry, Gore, Child death, Blood, Death, and Torture

Moderate: Trafficking and Slavery

erafact's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad 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? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Physical abuse, and Torture

Moderate: Drug use, Death, Murder, Slavery, and Religious bigotry

Minor: Grief, Child death, Fire/Fire injury, Death of parent, and Violence