Reviews tagging 'Adult/minor relationship'

Ship of Magic by Robin Hobb

13 reviews

genny's review against another edition

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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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binca's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad tense slow-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


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aseaoftomes's review against another edition

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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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