Reviews tagging 'Suicidal thoughts'

Ship of Magic by Robin Hobb

15 reviews

mariebrunelm's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring 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

4.75

The first time I read The Liveship Traders trilogy, I was baffled by the complexity of the narrative and how different it was from the Farseer trilogy. I know a few readers who have preferred Liveship Traders because of its variety, and I certainly praise that, but I've always felt a deeper attachment to Fitz and the Fool. However, re-reading Liveship made me realise just how stunning this book was. Yes it's complex, but I appreciated it a lot more knowing from the first pages who was whom and I loved the hints at where the story was going. I hadn't realised the first time round how the whole 800-page volume was about slavery. It's certainly obvious, but I'd been so focused on understanding what was happening the first time that it had slipped my attention.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Confinement, Rape, Self harm, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Death and Drug use

genny's review against another edition

adventurous emotional slow-paced

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

4.5

This was so good. I knew going in that the Liveship Traders trilogy is very well-loved, so I had high expectations. Hobb did not disappoint (this was my first book by her!). The worldbuilding is there and you can see the overarching plot forming nicely, but the character work is where this book really shines. Every conversation is gripping and there wasn't a POV that I didn't enjoy (except maybe for the serpents, but those chapters were short and I'm sure they're important, haha). Yes, some of the characters were incredibly frustrating (Malta!! Kyle, the bane of my existence!) but I was still invested in where the story would take them. All I want is to protect Wintrow! 😩

It was daunting to pick up an 800+ page book but the length truly is justified. I'm eager to continue with the next book as there was no resolution at all here - the threads of the protagonists' fates just begin to connect towards the end. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child abuse, Death, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual content, Slavery, Violence, Blood, and Trafficking

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Gore, Suicidal thoughts, Abortion, and Death of parent

Minor: Rape and Sexual assault

aseaoftomes's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional inspiring mysterious 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

February 2021 reread: 

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 first book in the Liveship Traders trilogy and the fourth book in the overall RotE series and we follow several characters, mostly from the same family (the Vestrits) with a few exceptions. This takes place in another part of the world - primarily Bingtown in this first book and Bingtown is home to merchant families - traders who own these magical ships called liveships (ships that come to life after the third generation of a family member dies aboard the ship). It's full of feminism, pirates, dysfunctional families, political intrigue of a different kind than we had with Fitz and complex relationships of all kinds. 

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: Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, and Murder

Moderate: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Drug use, Sexual content, Excrement, and Religious bigotry

literaturesciencealliance's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional reflective 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? Yes

5.0

Video Review (Spoiler Free):  https://youtu.be/eIAmO-0bMtc
Spoiler filled reaction Vlog:  https://youtu.be/nxMMYkK-g5I 

The first 150 pages of this was painful for me to read but by the end I read 230 pages in a day and was completely invested in the story. Hobb always pulls from relatable injustices and that's what makes her works even more heart wrenching to me than others. In this one themes of patriarchy, greed and corruption are very prevalent and even in this far off world on the sea the problems these characters face feel like something that could happen to you or someone you love. I am very excited to pick up the next book in the series and see how this story pans out. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, and Slavery

Moderate: Drug abuse, Drug use, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, and Murder

achingallover's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Trafficking, Grief, and Medical trauma