Hobb-A-Long Read-A-Long discussion

Ok, I'm wrapping up chap 29, but I cannot hold my piece. What in the world is going on! Kennit's raping Althea has totally thrown me off. Why in the world was this necessary? And what the hell is going on with everyone, except Etta, not believing Althea? How could Vivacia hint at victim blaming - "this is not the first time such a nightmare has plagued you."

I'm just really flabbergasted. However, I think Hobb might be making a statement about how difficult it is for women who are raped. So many people, both men and women, people who know her and people who don't, doubt Althea's story. It is heartwrenching and maddening. And, perhaps, Hobb WANTS us to feel that rage. Maybe she wants us to feel the frustration and powerlessness that any rape victim, woman or man, feels in a society that wants to brush its ugliness under the rug.

And I'll tell you another thing - I've had about enough of Wintrow's stupidity. "If you carry on like a mad woman, people will treat you like one." Are you effing kidding me? How did you carry on when you were violated with the tattoo, when you were beaten and mistreated by your father? Did you act "sane"? And how much more unhinged would you have become if your tormentors had raped you after "killing" everyone/everything you love? Wintrow is always self-righteous at the wrong thing and his anger is always pointed in the wrong direction. He is one of those people who is blessed with intelligence and cursed with a lack of common sense. Common sense trumps intelligence every. single. time. Common sense is what gives you the ability to apply your intelligence to events in a way that acts as wisdom. Wintrow might possibly be the worst judge of character the world has ever known. When he has a chance to trust and connect, he always pushes people away. Then when he finally decides he's ready to trust, the person has moved on in complete disregard for him and he pities himself as a reject. What a fool. This section of the book just has me completely disgusted.

FrankieReads wrote: "Ok, I'm wrapping up chap 29, but I cannot hold my piece. What in the world is going on! Kennit's raping Althea has totally thrown me off. Why in the world was this necessary? And what the hell is g..."

Gee, I guess the only thing I can offer on behalf of Wintrow and his admittedly stupid decisions is what I used to say about Fitz's mistakes: He's fifteen years old, and the young have the privilege of at least partial immunity to the charge that they should know better( owing to their lack of experience); but also, Wintrow hasn't had guidance from responsible people like Verity and Burrich; and instead has had his mind twisted around and turned upside down during his adolescent years by the likes of Kyle and Kennit. That's the recipe for creating a fool!

FrankieReads wrote: "Ok, I'm wrapping up chap 29, but I cannot hold my piece. What in the world is going on! Kennit's raping Althea has totally thrown me off. Why in the world was this necessary? And what the hell is g..."

I agree with everything you say. The victim blaming of Althea is the worst. And it's kind of made worse by the fact that's it's her friends and people she cares about, who make her question herself.

Wintrow hasn been a very annoying character for a while now. It really bothers me because he was such a promising character at the beginning.

I knew Kennit was capable of a lot of things, but to actually rape Althea, I never saw it coming really. Kennit what a sack of lying shit. This situation is so relevant in 2016, Althea is saying she got raped and no one believes her, and Kennit is trying to make it seem like she had a nightmare because of the poppy syrup (we would say drunk in 2016) and that she wanted it, those scenes are hard to digest, and this pretty sums up Hobb's writing power. Remember the reason he did it was to put a baby in her since he needs a Vestrid aboard the ship and the Wintrow/Etta fiasco went south. Also he told the ship that he wanted Althea because she reminds him of the ship and it's almost like being with Vivacia, again what a sack of lying shit. Also they hit Kennit where it hurts most, he only had one true treasure in his life, his mother and now at the end either he will show his weakness and do anything for her or he will not give a fuck and turn himself into a cold hearted pirate (hes one step in with the rape).

Abner wrote: "I knew Kennit was capable of a lot of things, but to actually rape Althea, I never saw it coming really. Kennit what a sack of lying shit. This situation is so relevant in 2016, Althea is saying sh..."

Consider that Brashen was already thinking that he might have to take Kennit's mother against her will if he could not convince her to return to the Paragon voluntarily. That would have been really awful, and probably a lot of bloodshed involved as Dedge, Saylah and Ankle seemed more than willing to defend her if she had not wanted to leave. I'm glad it didn't come to that after all that happened earlier with Althea!