Reviews tagging Vomit

Assassin's Apprentice, by Robin Hobb

8 reviews

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.

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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

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.

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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

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.

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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

maggieslibrarycard's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious 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

4.0

This was so emotionally traumatic and there are fifteen more in this universe to go ...

I really enjoyed this book and am certainly looking forward to continuing the series.  I liked how Fitz's role as an assassin isn't quite what I've seen from other fantasy assassins, he's trained to be a lot more political and subtle. The book definitely has some hard hitting themes about loneliness, trauma, and living with trauma and I am also intrigued by certain side characters, and I already really love Fitz, of course.

Major CW for animal deaths.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Abandonment, and Grief

Moderate: War, Vomit, Violence, Suicidal thoughts, Slavery, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Murder, Injury/injury detail, Infertility, Gore, Emotional abuse, Drug use, Death of parent, Death, Confinement, Child death, Child abuse, Bullying, Blood, Alcoholism, Alcohol, and Addiction

adrinthesky's review against another edition

adventurous emotional sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty

Moderate: Animal death, Child abuse, and Vomit

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. 

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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

iviarelle's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious sad 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? It's complicated

4.0

This was... an experience. The writing is great, the setups and payoffs are pretty satisfying, but some of the events are very upsetting and potentially traumatizing. Also, some scenes and sequences feel a little rushed, particularly the most plot-important ones. It's a bit of an odd balance for me. Don't get me wrong: I'm curious, even eager, to read more in this series and universe, but as interested as I was while reading it, I'm not as impressed with this book as a whole as I thought I would be. Also, so many content notes. See again about upsetting and traumatizing. This is not a lighthearted book you want to read as a break between heavy stuff, this is the stuff you may need a bit of a break from.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Murder, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, and Violence

Moderate: Death of parent, Drug use, Grief, and Torture

Minor: Vomit, Pedophilia, and Medical content

liteartha's review against another edition

adventurous slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No

3.75

oh boy. this is lush, intricately detailed fantasy and hobb is clearly a master at her craft, but my god was this a <i>slow</i> start. i feel like this is the sort of book that i’ll see with new appreciation as i continue on with the many books in this world, but this initial read was a bit challenging to feel properly immersed in until about the two-thirds mark

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Child abuse, and Violence

Moderate: Alcoholism, Death, Misogyny, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Suicide and Vomit