Reviews tagging 'Misogyny'

Assassin's Apprentice by Robin Hobb

18 reviews

kell_xavi's review

3.0

This tale follows Fitz, the illegitimate son of a prince, who is left to the royal family at the age of six. The book follows the boy from his young life as a stable hand and street kid to his teenage years, through his education in sword arts and writing, and to his teenage years training in the art of espionage, poisons, and the Skill. Fitz possesses both the Skill, the in-world name for a form of mind connection and control with people, and the Wit, a similar ability with animals. The Wit, Fitz' use of it with dogs he befriends, and the stigma that surrounds it, was one of my favourite elements of the novel. Sadly, this aspect of the character stays in the background except for its influence on relationships with other characters, and as a handy deus ex machina.

King Shrewd reigns over Buckkeep and its six duchies along a coastline, where there is growing trouble from Red Ship Raiders, who have an unusual method of terrorizing the people of the kingdom. This appears to be the main conflict of the series, though this initial book is largely putting all the pieces on the board. I came to realize through this book that the reason I've seldom sought out epics is the long timeline they cover, and my preference for relatively short, well-explored periods as opposed to broad swaths across ten years (which we have here). While there are strong emotions around education, the Skill, the Raiders, assignments as an assassin, and the royal house, a great many are navigated with more speed and less depth than was needed for me to care about the unfolding plot and setting. There is a trauma here, for inhabitants of the dutchies losing their people and homes, for the prince attempting to fight a war he hasn't the strength for, for Fitz when he is abused by a teacher; I was looking for a lot more sensitivity, concern, and attention on these aspects.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, and War

Moderate: Ableism, Drug use, Infidelity, Suicidal thoughts, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Alcohol

Minor: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Infertility, and Misogyny

wickedgrumpy's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes

3.0

I tried reading this book multiple times and put it down when I was uncertain how I felt about how it was progressing.  I’m glad that this time I persevered because it is a very engaging start to a story that lays a lot of groundwork for a tale that I think I’d like to follow.

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Content Warnings

Minor: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Sexism, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

immovabletype's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious sad tense 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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Bullying, Confinement, Death, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Abandonment, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Animal death, Infertility, Misogyny, and War

Minor: Rape and Suicidal thoughts

reddeddy'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? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Grief, Murder, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Addiction, Bullying, Chronic illness, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Infertility, Xenophobia, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Colonisation, Dysphoria, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Minor: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Cursing, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual content, Slavery, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Excrement, Vomit, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, and War

bookishgoblin's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Misogyny, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Abandonment, Alcohol, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

lizziaha's review against another edition

slow-paced

3.75

I’m putting my faith in the idea that this book is laying a very strong foundation for the 15 other books. Unfortunately, Fitz is a very lonely child, so the story only really picked up for me in the last quarter of the book, when he began establishing and using his relationships with others. This book has a very straightforward style of writing, which occasionally read as telling instead of showing. It’s a complex book with a lot of moving parts, and you have to explain them sometime, but it did result in somewhat dense chunks of text sometimes. I wasn’t sure at the beginning but I’m definitely curious to see where this goes. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Murder, and Abandonment

Moderate: Ableism, Animal death, Child abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Blood, Grief, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Bullying, Eating disorder, Infertility, Infidelity, Rape, and Death of parent

brynalexa's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad tense medium-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? No

4.0

Adorable and cruel magic system. Heart wrenching. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Blood, Grief, Abandonment, and Alcohol

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Violence, Medical trauma, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Rape

talonsontypewriters's review against another edition

adventurous emotional 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: Animal death, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Violence, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Confinement, Suicidal thoughts, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, War, and Classism

Minor: Alcoholism, Infertility, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Sexism, Suicide, Excrement, Kidnapping, and Fire/Fire injury

Corporal punishment/whipping. Poisoning and aftermath. Near drowning.

erebus53's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious reflective 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? It's complicated

4.25

I'm pleased that this was only the first book in a lengthy series. Being high fantasy it had a familiar format that made it an easy read, despite the story unfolding slowly. Conflicts of interest and clear training montages weren't actually boring! It was amusing to see the story of a child who comes from nothing and the internal logic of the court machinations he was subjected to.

Not everything was a problem to be resolved in this story, which leaves a lot of scope for the future. Clearly, some things are left as origin story and will be threads that can be woven into upcoming chapters. I think the only thing that could seriously turn someone off a story like this is if you hate magic and dogs. I did find it hard to invest energy in the relationships that Fitz has with his dogs, because I could see them being used against me (he reader) to twist some kind of John Wick narrative. I do like that things were internally consistent, and that each character had their own knowledge and motivations.

I LOVE it when I am presented with a simple puzzle, with hints along the way. There are many little revelations that unfold through this story as it is one of espionage, power plays, and secrets.. but also of arcane knowledge, misunderstandings and true affection between people. The relationships carry the story and make it feel less clunky; less a war game and more like a conversation.

I'm looking forward to exploring the world building and the people we meet along the way.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Infertility, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Infidelity and Pregnancy

Minor: Animal cruelty, Excrement, Vomit, and War

saintsunshine's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I find it difficult to explain what makes Robin Hobb's Assassin Apprentice so good. Compared to the complex and often bloated fantasy stories I've been consuming over the years, Hobb's work is straightforward and leaves much up to the imagination of the reader – which I found refreshing. The narrative is easy to get into and Fitz makes for a relatable protagonist.

I'm not sure yet if I'll be continuing my read as I did struggle a bit with the book. The first person narration and the audiobook performance were obstacles to my enjoyment of the book, which is wholly a personal thing and not on Hobb. Given the nature of Hobb's writing, it was at times difficult to keep track of characters and motivations. I found that characters would reach conclusions that would go unexplained, so this is a book that rewards full attention. I just found that mine wasn't always there. 

The high points of this book, however, were incredibly exciting. While I think I'll take a break before commiting to more of the series, I hope to chase those same highs again.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death and Murder

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, and Abandonment