Reviews tagging 'Sexism'

The Mad Ship by Robin Hobb

8 reviews

atalea's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious 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

4.5

The Liveship Traders is slowly becoming one of my all-time favourite series. Robin Hobb's character work is some of the best out there and this series really highlights that. All the characters undergo interesting developments in a natural way and you've got to love/hate her villains. I don't know how she does it,  but I loved (almost) all the characters in the book and wasn't interested in all of the POV's.

Between the two, I do prefer Ship of Magic over Mad Ship because I felt more was happening in that book. In Mad Ship we take a slower pace. Mysteries of the world are slowly being unraveled. Most of the book felt like set-up for the conclusion of the story and focused instead in character development. I don't mind a slow burn (I mean that's Hobb in a nutshell), but it was only 3/4 into the book that things started going down, so it dragged a bit.

I am very interesting to see how Hobb will bring everything together in the end and can't wait to start the final book in this trilogy.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and Slavery

Moderate: Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual violence, Sexism, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual assault, and Misogyny

Minor: Confinement, Animal death, Infidelity, Addiction, Child abuse, Alcoholism, and Drug abuse

readwithbells's review against another edition

4.25

What a romp! I loved the character development in this one - watching Malta become an interesting and practical person is so satisfying after the first book. I’m so curious to see where it goes! I’m definitely not as attached to these characters as the Farseer ones (except for Kennit I’m obsessed with him) but I am genuinely interested in the story. 

This one does suffer from the middle book curse, and I was never super excited to pick it up, but once I did I was wrapped up in the story wholeheartedly. I love the experience of Hobb’s writing. She makes everything real and desperate and exciting. I’ll probably take a minute before the last instalment but it won’t be too far behind. 

Spoiler

I loved the explanations in this one that tie to the Farseer books, namely with Verity and the stone dragon. And watching Amber’s prophecy come true with the release of She Who Remembers ala Wintrow (the nine fingered boy) and the Tintaglia from Malta and Reyn. I’m curious as to Althea’s role in the next book. Where does she go from here? Does she get Vivacia back from Kennit? Will Vivacia even want her back? Will the serpents take her down? Will Wintrow want to return to a monk’s life? Will he and Etta fuck?? So many questions.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Death, Injury/Injury detail, and Sexism

Moderate: War and Xenophobia

poisonenvy's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense 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

5.0

Robin Hobb has very quickly become one of my favourite authors. Her prose is beautiful and engaging, her characters complex and nuanced, and her plotting is so layered and complicated that it's difficult to predict what will happen next, and yet every little piece falls into place perfectly. 

Some of her characters I love, some of them infuriate me and make me want to slap them. One of my least favourite from last book developed in such a wonderful way in this book that she might be one of my favourites now.  

The world building is brilliant: I want to learn everything I can about this Realm of the long passed Elderlings, and I cannot wait to read the rest of the books in this series. 

I listened to a large chunk of this book on audio, and Anne Flosnik is an excellent narrator, who brings a lot of character and flavour to her narration. I could listen to her read a shopping list. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood and Violence

Moderate: Drug abuse, Rape, and Sexual assault

Minor: Sexism and Slavery

tori_mccausland's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad 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? It's complicated

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Sexism, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Rape

talonsontypewriters's review against another edition

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

---

Content Warnings

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

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

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

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.

bluejay21's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious 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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical trauma, Blood, Gore, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Sexual harassment, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Slavery, Confinement, and Misogyny

szuum's review against another edition

adventurous dark medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Medical trauma, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Slavery, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Drug use and Blood

aseaoftomes's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional mysterious tense medium-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

May 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 second book in the Liveship Traders trilogy and the fifth book in the overall RotE series and we continue to 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 and we also get an added Rain Wild portion. As with the first book, 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.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Blood, Death, Drug use, Gore, Grief, Medical content, Medical trauma, Misogyny, Murder, Rape, Religious bigotry, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, and Violence