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A review by seekerxr
Ship of Magic by Robin Hobb
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
I struggled heavily with this book. My enjoyment of the Farseer Trilogy vs my enjoyment of this book is like day and night. I can honestly say there was only one POV character that I actually genuinely liked, and all the rest fell on a scale of disliked to actively loathed. This entire book just felt like a constant cycle of 'good guys' going through it with no end in sight, which was depressing and boringly repetitive to a reader, and 'bad guys' doing bad things and somehow getting away with it every single time, to which I have the same complaint.
Wintrow, I liked. I liked that he tried to stick to his ideals and to who he really was despite everything he went through. I wish he had been firmer and maybe a bit more ruthless if only to keep people from using him, but he is only 13/14 so I understand why he couldn't really do that yet. Hated where his story went.
Althea, I flipped between sympathizing and being incredibly annoyed with her. Yes she was naive and inexperienced but I felt like even passively acknowledging that would let all the sexist jerks in the story win so I was at a crossroads. She made some stupid decisions that I think she should've known better than to, but she's also only 18 and somewhat spoiled. I'm conflicted on my final feelings on her.
Everyone else, I really didn't like. Breshen was insufferable, Ronica had all the wisdom to know better and chose not to, Keffria was spineless when she didn't have to be she literally CHOSE to, and Malta was especially irritating and had me disgusted at her even though she's the youngest cast member at only 12 and should've gotten leeway from me. She didn't. She's an awful person and I hated being in her head, even though her scenes were actually interesting sometimes. I actually liked Kennit more than most of the 'good' characters because being in his head was interesting. He never acts like anything else other than who he is, at least in his own head. He's not interested in being a good person, just acting like one so he can get what he wants.
The lore was pretty much the only thing that had me pushing through until the end. I want to get back to Fitz and the Fool and I know there's lore I just can't miss in this book that I need to continue the story. Otherwise I would've DNFed. Even though there were parts I actually enjoyed, which earned this book its 3.25, I was still heavily skimming by the end and just wanting it to be over.
I honestly have no clue how I'm going to get through the rest of this trilogy.
Wintrow, I liked. I liked that he tried to stick to his ideals and to who he really was despite everything he went through. I wish he had been firmer and maybe a bit more ruthless if only to keep people from using him, but he is only 13/14 so I understand why he couldn't really do that yet. Hated where his story went.
Althea, I flipped between sympathizing and being incredibly annoyed with her. Yes she was naive and inexperienced but I felt like even passively acknowledging that would let all the sexist jerks in the story win so I was at a crossroads. She made some stupid decisions that I think she should've known better than to, but she's also only 18 and somewhat spoiled. I'm conflicted on my final feelings on her.
Everyone else, I really didn't like. Breshen was insufferable, Ronica had all the wisdom to know better and chose not to, Keffria was spineless when she didn't have to be she literally CHOSE to, and Malta was especially irritating and had me disgusted at her even though she's the youngest cast member at only 12 and should've gotten leeway from me. She didn't. She's an awful person and I hated being in her head, even though her scenes were actually interesting sometimes. I actually liked Kennit more than most of the 'good' characters because being in his head was interesting. He never acts like anything else other than who he is, at least in his own head. He's not interested in being a good person, just acting like one so he can get what he wants.
The lore was pretty much the only thing that had me pushing through until the end. I want to get back to Fitz and the Fool and I know there's lore I just can't miss in this book that I need to continue the story. Otherwise I would've DNFed. Even though there were parts I actually enjoyed, which earned this book its 3.25, I was still heavily skimming by the end and just wanting it to be over.
I honestly have no clue how I'm going to get through the rest of this trilogy.