Reviews tagging 'Murder'

The Mad Ship by Robin Hobb

11 reviews

lizziaha's review against another edition

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes

4.0

One thing I absolutely love about Robin hobb’s writing is that you get to see how the characters grow and develop—and the exact paths they took to get there. It’s a benefit to having books this long—they’re long enough for her to have room to do that. To have room for Malta to grow out of her childish petulance, and to see how that journey is hastened along by her family’s hardships. Room for Kennit to learn that building up can be just as ruthless as tearing down. Room for a priest to bend his god to another’s will. Room for a ship to remember. The time pushing inexorably on as it molds the characters into new shapes. 
And as exquisite as the characterization was, the pacing of the plot was a little off. The most climatic moment of the book (

when Althea baits a sea serpent with a rapist and Malta takes the worst carriage ride of her life

) came a full 100 pages before what is technically the climax of the story. It felt like the book should’ve ended soon after that, and it was hard to garner as much enthusiasm for the second (somewhat less interesting) dramatic event. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Misogyny, Slavery, Blood, and Murder

Minor: Addiction

jana_f's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark funny tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual content, Slavery, Medical trauma, Murder, and Abandonment

marymayne's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious 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

4.75

Another great installment in the Liveship Traders.

I liked this one more than the first. The characters motivations were clearer, making even the bad or wrong decisions feel justified.

The plot was great, continuing the story, adding more twists and turns and unravelling the mystery further. It felt less in this book like bad thing after bad thing was happening, and there was less (although still some) sexual violence - which had felt excessive to me in the first book.

There were some pacing issues as other reviews have mentioned, the 2nd and 4th quarters were great and engaging, but the 1st and 3rd felt super slow, which made it hard to pick up sometimes ~ especially given it is 900 pages lol

Really excited to read the 3rd book!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Slavery

Moderate: Murder and War

errie's review against another edition

tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Trafficking, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, War, and Injury/Injury detail

pinch's review against another edition

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Rape, Slavery, and Murder

Moderate: Pedophilia

mvanhaas's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Rape, Slavery, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Death, Sexual violence, Slavery, Murder, Gaslighting, and Classism

talonsontypewriters's review

adventurous dark emotional tense medium-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? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Confinement, Death, Drug use, Gore, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Violence, Medical content, Trafficking, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Kidnapping, Grief, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and War

Minor: Ableism, Homophobia, Xenophobia, Excrement, Vomit, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Classism

Sexual coercion, abuse of power; victim blaming/rape culture (challenged), complicity in assault and abuse. Descriptions of sexual abuse and rape in captivity as well as the aftermath thereof, but no graphic scene; attempted rape and discussion thereof in one scene. Withdrawal. Illness, epidemic. Earthquakes. Relationships between adult men and pre-teen/teenage girls, as well as allusions to relationships between adult women and teenage boys.

mayeeta's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional tense medium-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

5.0

perfection
words cannot describe what hobb does to me my god

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, Slavery, Violence, Grief, and Murder

Moderate: Misogyny and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Death of parent

the death of a parent is more a child assuming their parent is dead and not their actual death

alexhaydon's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Kidnapping, and Murder

Moderate: Rape and Sexual violence

genny's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious tense 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

5.0

Guhhh.This was just excellent. The full truth about the dragons was slowly unveiled throughout the story; I already understood some of the links from the last book but everything came to light here (The Ringsgold chapter was masterful!). A+ character development, as expected...

• Malta. Never have I felt the urge to slap a child as strongly as when I read her POV - but that somehow changed and now all I want is to protect her. I actually feel bad for wishing she would learn a lesson. What?! 😆 I suspect I'll grow infinitely more fond of her in the next book.
• Out of all the "people" to be mad at, I found myself annoyed at Vivacia. And then eventually at Wintrow as well, because I hate that they're
  siding with Kennit. I understand why, but I still hate it.
  Props to Hobb for making me accept a character's motivations even though I disagree with them.
• I love all of the Vestrits, but I especially love Keffria and Ronica's brand of quiet yet unwavering resolve. This, after being so irritated by Keffria's naivety in Ship of Magic. Haha.

There's more but I don't want to turn this into an essay on every character. Suffice to say that I love reading about them all (though I can't get over the ickiness of Reyn and Malta's age gap). I'm already sad that there's just one book left - these characters have imprinted themselves onto my heart. And they're not the only good thing about the book! There's worldbuilding, atmosphere, plot threads sewn together flawlessly. 🥰 It's a long read, but not one page was wasted IMO!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Rape, Sexual violence, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Confinement, Drug abuse, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, and Abandonment