Reviews with content warning for Pedophilia - Las naves del destino

This book was my favourite out of the series. But on a whole the series itself is now one of my top. The characters in this are complicated and realistic, they make mistakes and it's easy to see where they went wrong. I loved the premise of this series, the soft magic systems and the reveals were shocking as well as intricate. This is my first few books I have picked up by Robin Hobb and she is definitely now one of my favourite authors. I definitely plan on reading more and will even pick this beast of a series back up one day.

Content Warnings

cossty's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous 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

Pedophilia from the previous book of course continues in Ship of Destiny, and it is topped with plans for a wedding at the end.

This book has another rape scene, which was completely unnecessary, in my opinion. I'm a guy that shies away from books with sexual assault and rape. Of course, I read some, but rape in those usually happens off-screen or to unnamed people.

I was listening to the audiobook and this scene got me hard. Listening to the voice actress how Althea was drugged, how Kennit deceived her and gaslighted her. How she couldn't see anything, only feel how she was being undressed, and how she didn't know what was happening. This scene was from her POV, and it was gut-wrenching to listen to her thought process. Then she tried to fight, but she was so weak from the drug, that it didn't matter. I had tears in my eyes during this scene. Now, when I think about it, I don't think I actually read such a graphic rape scene ever.

What I'm mad about is that I feel like this scene was completely unnecessary for the story and was there only for the wow factor. The story could easily continue as it did, with her not being raped. Kennit destroyed Paragon with his crew, that should be enough for Althea to be mad at him and wanting to kill him.

What makes me even angrier is that nobody believed her that she was raped. Especially Vivacia and Wintrow. Vivacia never believed her, and Wintrow... I completely lost respect for that clown. He knew that she was raped, and he still worshiped Kennit and grovelled at his feet even after Kennit's death. I'm so mad that Kennit got a happy ending.

At the end, Paragon actually took her pain away, while leaving her only some distant memory that it happened. I'm not saying that she should be constantly in bed crying, but this feels like another trivialization of her situation.

Content Warnings

readwithbells's review against another edition

Go to review page

5.0

I expected nothing less than perfection from a trilogy ending book from Hobb and I got it. Even better, it feels like the end of a season of a show but also a promise that we will see these characters again. And wow do I ever love these characters. I was consistently struck with how, even when switching between 10 different people with cliffhanger after cliffhanger, I was never disappointed to be reading the next perspective in the line. I liked every character. Learning to love Malta has been the craziest journey I’ve been on with a character, her selfishness in the first book was almost enough to stop reading but she became one of my absolute favourites.

As a whole, this trilogy is about trauma and the cycles of abuse. Every character experiences trauma and deals with it in their own way, learning to find their individuality in spite of what they have endured. They’re pretty bleak and deal really nonchalantly with death, rape, and torture. It shocked me in the first book and it shocked me in the third. Hobb has a real mastery of including real-life horrors with the casualness of the brutality of real life. It’s hard to read, and some endings were shockingly bittersweet. But these books are worth reading (as much as I love Fitz, I love all these characters almost as much and am so glad I took the time to read their stories). I can’t wait for the next ones.

Content Warnings

More...