Reviews tagging Infidelity

Assassin's Apprentice, by Robin Hobb

9 reviews

revolution666's review against another edition

adventurous emotional 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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Abandonment, Animal death, Classism, Grief, Physical abuse, Violence, War, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Murder, Bullying, Confinement, and Death

Minor: Infidelity, Infertility, Injury/injury detail, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Sexism, Blood, and Medical content

maeverose's review against another edition

slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

3.25

                         TL;DR:

Not a lot happens in the first half, mostly an introduction to everything and following Fitz as he grows up and trains to be an assassin. Second half tried to do too many different things back to back. I assume setting stuff up for future books but it felt a bit jumbled. Maybe if the beginning had been condensed it could’ve been spread out better. I really like the writing style and world building. I don’t know if I would say the book itself is too long or more so that big books just can’t keep my attention. I was only mildly interested for a lot of this book.

                       Characters

So far I’m not that connected to Fitz. To me he felt a little void of personality outside of having a strong moral code, liking animals, and being a teenager. Some of the side characters were much more interesting to me. Mainly Chade, Burrich and the Fool. My favorite character so far is the Fool.

‘The gender of the Fool has been disputed. When directly questioned on this matter by a younger and more forward person than I am now, the Fool replied that it was no one's business but his own.’ — You tell ‘em. (I say, as I’ve decided that he’s transmasc non binary..)

                          A Note

For people who haven’t read the book yet: I feel like chapter 15 deserves a bit of a warning. Specifically for telepathic mind rape and suicidal thoughts/attempt. There’s some build up to what happens within that chapter, but it’s much more intense than most of the book leading up to it.

I was gonna include a whole rant about the never corrected ableism but decided I was being over dramatic so I’ll spare you. I just find it annoying that people only ever seem to care about ‘time period accuracy’ (being as this is clearly based on medieval times) when it allows them to treat their marginalized characters poorly. I know this was written 30 years ago but still. It irked me.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Violence, Death, Animal death, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Abandonment, Ableism, Injury/injury detail, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Eating disorder, Alcoholism, Blood, Child abuse, Confinement, Excrement, Vomit, Gaslighting, and Misogyny

Minor: Homophobia, Infertility, Miscarriage, Racism, Rape, Slavery, Infidelity, and Pregnancy

Graphic: poisoning, telepathic mind rape, mental loss of self (becoming zombie-like), drowning, in one scene a dog is in a lot of pain and distress due to a bone stuck in its throat. Fitz removes it and the dog is fine, but the scene is very graphic. Moderate: self hatred, suicide baiting, eugenics

thoseoldcrows23's review against another edition

adventurous emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

      I've been meaning to read this for a long time, and I'm so mad at myself for having put it off. I suspected that I would enjoy Robin Hobb's work, and I had hoped that The Realm of the Elderlings would someday come to be one of my favorite series. This first book has convinced me that my hope was not in vain. 

     I can understand why this book may not be for everyone. It's slow, and much more character focused then plot driven. However, it gives me the same vibes as Tamora Peirce gave me when I was a kid just dipping her toes into fantasy. I was a little nervous going in because I had heard several people say that this book was dense, and I was concerned I would be too stupid to get it, but reading this book felt like sinking into a warm bath. I didn't find it difficult at all, only rich and layered. The character work is excellent, and I found myself caring deeply for Fitz before the first chapter was done, and the writing is beautiful. I'm so excited to continue this trilogy and The Realm of the Elderlings over all.
     If you, like me, have been putting this book off for whatever reason I encourage you to bite the bullet. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Violence, Grief, Animal death, Child abuse, and Injury/injury detail

Moderate: Pregnancy, Bullying, War, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Death, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, and Blood

Minor: Emotional abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Addiction, Ableism, Drug use, and Infidelity

angstifies's review against another edition

adventurous challenging tense

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

i have a personal dislike for fantasy books written in first person narration but this book is absolutely the sole exception. i’ve heard tons of praise for Robin Hobb’s writing and man were they right, her characters are brilliant i loved reading about them.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Physical abuse, Animal death, Emotional abuse, and Violence

Moderate: Alcohol, Suicidal thoughts, Confinement, Gaslighting, Grief, Injury/injury detail, Murder, Blood, Death, Drug use, and Abandonment

Minor: Cursing, Suicide attempt, Vomit, Death of parent, Infertility, Misogyny, and Infidelity

mokka's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Child abuse, Grief, and Infidelity

Moderate: Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Drug use, Animal death, Murder, Cursing, Violence, War, Suicide attempt, and Abandonment

kaziaroo's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad slow-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

4.5

This book is a fantasy Bildungsroman, following the early life (ages ~6–14) of Fitz, the illegitimate son of the then-heir to the throne, the only true blemish on the Prince's otherwise perfect record and the trigger for his downfall. Without any say in the matter, Fitz is shouldered with the blame and expectations of those around him and is forced to learn to be a scribe, a soldier, a stable master and yes, an assassin, all at once. Meanwhile, the kingdom's political landscape is rocky and its people are under constant threat from the mysterious and unnatural Red Sea Traders. In these desperate times, Fitz must struggle between two magics which each threaten to destroy him.
I found the first fifty or so pages of this book hard going, but once I got into it and stopped looking so hard for the plot, and Fitz grew older, I really enjoyed it. By the halfway point I was invested in the characters which made the "main" conflict all the more satisfying. But really the story is about Fitz's loneliness and desperation to find acceptance and an end to the loneliness that overshadows his whole life, as well as the varied characters he encounters along his journey.  I'll definitely try and get hold of the sequels.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Blood, Gaslighting, Animal death, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Physical abuse, Injury/injury detail, Grief, Emotional abuse, and Violence

Moderate: Abandonment, Alcohol, Drug use, and Infidelity

Minor: Infertility, Adult/minor relationship, Vomit, War, and Excrement

Spoiler

Death of multiple pet dogs

bluejay21's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Bullying, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Drug use, Infidelity, Murder, and Suicidal thoughts

emsavors's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Murder, Physical abuse, Violence, and Drug use

Moderate: Infertility and Infidelity

Minor: Sexual assault and Suicidal thoughts

emily_mh's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious slow-paced

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

5.0

This was a reread for me and at first I was really worried it wouldn't live up to the 5 star rating that 2016 me gave it. In the end, this book was even better than I remembered it being. There are countless good things I could say. The story is packed to the brim with political intrigue, but at the same time you aren't hit over the head with it, but are made to connect the dots as Fitz does. It was also incredibly emotional because the characters, even the animals, felt so real. The world-building is gradually developed, never info-dumped on you. The ending was wonderfully satisfying, even though it is only the first in the series and that series is one of five set in this world. I also loved Hobb's writing style as it was incredibly engaging; whenever I had to put the book down, I couldn't wait to pick it back up again. To say I can't wait to read Royal Assassin is an understatement. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gaslighting, Murder, and Child abuse

Moderate: Animal death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, Animal cruelty, Abandonment, Death of parent, War, Violence, Addiction, Alcoholism, Physical abuse, Ableism, Suicidal thoughts, and Grief

Minor: Pregnancy, Alcohol, Vomit, Infidelity, Bullying, Confinement, Child death, Sexism, Misogyny, Gore, Slavery, Body shaming, Fire/Fire injury, Infertility, Animal death, Injury/injury detail, Torture, Miscarriage, Cursing, Sexual content, Blood, Excrement, Kidnapping, and Rape

Illness, forced separation from family, forced separation from a pet, animal in pain, chronic pain, sick parent, death of a pet, disowning, eugenics, loss of a loved one