talonsontypewriters's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Animal death, Animal cruelty, Sexual assault, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Ableism, Gaslighting, and Rape
Moderate: Body shaming, Cannibalism, Misogyny, Toxic relationship, Infidelity, Xenophobia, Body horror, Grief, and Sexism
Minor: Pandemic/Epidemic, War, Alcohol, Child death, Miscarriage, Death of parent, Slavery, Vomit, Suicidal thoughts, and Homophobia
pinup_and_pages's review against another edition
- 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
4.0
There were a couple of scenes that were difficult to read at times (see trigger warnings)
Graphic: Animal death, Emotional abuse, Rape, Animal cruelty, Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, Physical abuse, and Sexual assault
sassmistress's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.5
Reminds me of A Natural History of Dragons by Marie Brennan, if you're looking for more of the Bingtown/Alise story line.
Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Gore, Toxic relationship, Animal cruelty, Rape, Racism, Sexual content, Injury/Injury detail, and Misogyny
Moderate: Animal death, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Abandonment
Minor: Death, Alcohol, and Slavery
Emotional abuse from a spouse and from a parent, lying (nearly to the point of gaslighting) about an affair. Three graphic sex scenes-- one an unpleasantly dutiful consummation of marriage, one martial rape, and one violent fade-to-black between the two men having the aforementioned affair. Heavy prejudice based on "birth defects" for which infants are normally abandoned to die, injuries are described in detail--pus, cutting away putrified flesh, pulling out a sick dragon's scales and impaling to siphon blood, andSpoiler
touching the blood flow and tasting it.mariebrunelm's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Dragon Keeper opens the Rain Wild Chronicles and shows another facet of Robin Hobb's Realm of the Elderlings. Where Fitz's books are about identity and Liveships about freedom, I find this series to be about ableism & free will. Dragon Keeper is more like Liveships than Farseer because of the wide array of narrators we get, but here they're all traveling together and so I find it easier, upon first reading it, to get one's bearings and dive in the story. While it's not my favourite of Robin Hobb's stories, I love how her characters interact and how she makes us love some of them and absolutely hate others. My favourite may be the quiet dragon scholar lady...
Rep: one of the MCs is gay, but the atmosphere of the book feels quite queer in general.
Graphic: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Injury/Injury detail, and Blood
Minor: Sexual assault and Alcohol
singalana's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Moderate: Ableism, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Physical abuse, Rape, Abandonment, Body shaming, Bullying, Chronic illness, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Emotional abuse, and Toxic friendship
Minor: Animal death, Blood, and Animal cruelty
kabrahams's review against another edition
4.5
Returning to the Rain Wilds was amazing as its my favorite part of the Elderlings world. We also get way more dragons in this book than in any of the previous ones. Sadly, they are very weak and sickly, thus unable to fly or be very dragonish. We follow the humans who are helping take care of them and study them as well as some humans who want to use them for their own gain. Also, we get a few scenes with Althea and Brashen on the Paragon that made me very happy! The ending seemed a bit abrupt and I'm excited to keep reading.
Graphic: Blood, Animal cruelty, and Animal death
Moderate: Sexual violence and Domestic abuse
mustnotblink's review against another edition
- 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? It's complicated
3.0
I normally do not have a problem reading story lines featuring abusive and manipulative men, but
Spoiler
I absolutely despise Hest.Graphic: Toxic relationship, Sexual violence, Sexism, Classism, Emotional abuse, and Gaslighting
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Violence, Xenophobia, Racism, Injury/Injury detail, Bullying, and Infidelity
Minor: Miscarriage, Slavery, and Domestic abuse