שוליית הרוצח

Very disappointed.

I’ve just finished reading this book and I’m speechless. I loved every bit of it. I must admit I was a bit wary when I started reading it because everyone says it’s so sad. It is sad, that’s true, but not to the point that you’re crying the whole time (I only shed a tear twice). All in all, this book was an absolute joy to read and I’m pretty sure I’ll read the whole Realm of the Elderlings saga in time.

4.5 stars, rounded to 5 stars. A classic high fantasy that I honestly should've read sooner.The only thing I knew going into this was that for a book named [b:Assassin's Apprentice|77197|Assassin's Apprentice (Farseer Trilogy, #1)|Robin Hobb|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1673728072l/77197._SY75_.jpg|171715], there's not a lot of assassinating going on. And it's a good thing I knew that going in.Instead, this is more a coming-of-age story of Fitz, a bastard of the Crown Prince, who grows up lonely because of his parentage and also because no one knows what to do with him. The story almost sounds similar to Maia from [b:The Goblin Emperor|17910048|The Goblin Emperor (The Chronicles of Osreth, #1)|Katherine Addison|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1373039517l/17910048._SX50_.jpg|24241248] but at least that's a happier book. Robin Hobb writes masterfully of future!Fitz going over his childhood and young adulthood, and the many twists and turns that come his way. Just because I know future!Fitz is telling the story, doesn't mean I wasn't concerned and on the edge of my seat with some of the climatic peaks in the book. A tiny 0.5 star ding however, because the resolution after one of the bigger scenes at the end of the book is glossed over, but for good reason since he's healing and recovering and didn't have an active part in that. It definitely threw me off though, since it was pretty close to the end.I've been told Fitz's story is only going to get more bumpy here on out, so reluctantly excited to read more of how Hobb plans to mess up Fitz's life.*If you are sensitive to animal death, this might not be the book for you as it happens a couple times in the book.