Reviews tagging 'Alcohol'

House of Earth and Blood by Sarah J. Maas

208 reviews

shottel's review against another edition

I am not the target demographic of this book, or, likely, any of Sarah J. Maas's books. As one article put it, Maas specializes in "attractively damaged" characters, and as far as I read this book seems chock full of them: people who, from an objective accounting, have a lot going for them, but they're just very upset about something. In the case of this book, in the opening the main character has a rich and powerful dad, a rich and powerful boyfriend, and a rich and powerful best friend. I do not feel particularly bad for her lot in life, although it seems I am supposed to.

Additionally, Crescent City is supposed to be the more "mature" line in Maas's portfolio. To be entirely frank, it felt a little bit like an 18 year old's idea of what "mature" means. The characters you are immediately introduced to are painted as irresponsible punks, but also hold positions of prestige; they are highly respected, but also get to skip lines and do drugs. I'm aware I stopped right before the plot picked up, but this is how they spent the first 50 pages establishing the world. It's not the kind of "mature" I'm looking for.

If you're like me, then you might want to try something else. But if you like this kind of story, or Maas's other works, then don't let me dissuade you. The writing is solid, and the world is interesting. I just couldn't get with the characters, and how they were presented.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcohol and Sexual content

Minor: Drug use, Slavery, and Sexual harassment

alexaraes's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious tense fast-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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Cursing, Panic attacks/disorders, Murder, Alcohol, Gore, Death, Grief, Slavery, Medical trauma, Injury/Injury detail, War, Body horror, Violence, Racism, Classism, Blood, Animal death, and Suicide attempt

sugarwookiee's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, War, Blood, Violence, Gore, Sexual content, Grief, Alcohol, and Slavery

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Gun violence, Cursing, Gore, Animal cruelty, Domestic abuse, and Emotional abuse

avialaeleigh's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Honestly at first I wasn't sure how to feel about this book. Especially with it being fantasy but in a modernish setting with technology and modern weapons, but I was pleasantly surprised and really enjoyed the story. 

I definitely wasn't expecting a lot of the plot twists and surprise endings. Bryce is one of my favorite female characters in a fantasy novel. She is objectively the epitome of a dumb party girl but she is also a fucking badass and I can't even begin to explain how happy that combination makes me for some reason. 

Also he relationship with Ruhn and Hunt and the sass between them all is just amazing. And the enemies to lovers between Bryce and Hunt is *chefs kiss* one of my favorite tropes. And they do it so well. Plus we have the whole golden retriever black cat relationship as well as two broken people healing each other which is also one of my favorites. 

Also fuck the whole slave thing, that's ridiculous, people shouldn't be able to own other people that are able to make their own decisions and think for themselves. Otherwise I liked that this was different enough from SJMs other series but also similar enough to not be a weird read. Cannot wait to start the next book in the series. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Blood, Racism, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Alcohol, Body horror, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Classism, Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Sexism, Slavery, Mental illness, and Torture

pastellasilver's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

Sarah J. Maas hat wie üblich einen großen Epos angefangen, der stark auf Chrakteren und ihren Beziehungen aufbaut. Bryce und Danika verbindet eine tiefe Freundschaft, die dem Buch einen riten Faden gibt und bei der ich nur deshalb nicht grün vor Neid werde, weil es in meinem Leben eine Danika gibt.
Ich mochte das Buch sehr gerne. Die Trauerbewältigung der Charaktere fühlt sich real und ebenso tragisch an. Das Buch hat viele Stellen, an denen die Trauer eine zentrale Rolle spielt, die ich persönlich schwer zu lesen fand. Dennoch waren diese Stellen ebenso gut, wie der Rest des Buches.
Mir persönlich war jedoch manchmal die sexuelle Spannung im Buch zu viel.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Alcohol, Death, Blood, Classism, Racism, Murder, Slavery, Cursing, Gun violence, Alcoholism, and Drug use

Moderate: Mental illness, War, and Bullying

Minor: Suicidal thoughts

ashleynp24's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.75

I absolutely loved this book. It’s so different from previous SJM novels and I loved she tried the mystery genre out while still having that fantasy element. 

The single reason I’m giving it a 4.75 is because I felt like there was a lot of romance between the two protagonists but it was such a slow burn for the whole book until the end when the climax hit. I wish there’d been just a little more before that point. 

The ending had me sobbing uncontrollably. Danika and Bryce’s friendship during the drop was so special and I loved how at the end there’s closure with the rest of the pack. My biggest sob fest was for LeLe sacrificing herself.

Overall I loved the book and am excited to start the second to see where it goes from there. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Violence, Toxic friendship, Panic attacks/disorders, Mental illness, Drug use, Blood, Suicide attempt, Murder, Body shaming, Sexism, Death, Torture, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual assault, Alcohol, Suicide, Slavery, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Gun violence, Grief, and Drug abuse

nic025's review against another edition

adventurous funny inspiring tense medium-paced

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

3.5

Not my favorite by SJM, but that bar is pretty high. A ton of world building that mixes fantasy elements with the backdrop of a modern city that works most of the time. I hard a hard time believing the chemistry of the two protagonists. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Death, Drug use, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Slavery, and Alcohol

Minor: Animal cruelty and War

shellind75's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Alcohol, Alcoholism, and Drug abuse

Moderate: Abandonment, Drug abuse, Addiction, Drug use, Body horror, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, Death, Alcohol, Suicide attempt, and Alcoholism

kayanoelle's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious 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

3.0

Interesting.

I liked the premise of the story, the writing style and the characters. Bryce is one fierce lady!!

This book was too loooong. The only good thing about that was that the relationship between Bryce and Hunt had time to blossom, they’re so lovely.

The plot was too predictable but maybe that’s just a me problem💀 I feel like when you read a lot of books, you get very good at predicting where the storyline is headed because there’s only so many plot devices you can use, so it’s understandable.

Another thing I tend not to like about fantasy books (including this one) is that everything works out too well.

Yes, there are high stakes and yes we fear for the characters safety and such but we always know that the protagonists are going to survive the first book. I know for sure that if I were part of this world I would’ve been attacked by one of the demons and it would’ve been over for me.

But this is fantasy and our protagonists are special so it’s okay✨✨

The epilogue left us with a lot to chew on so I am excited for the next book!!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Cursing, Classism, Blood, Murder, Violence, and Gore

Moderate: Drug use, Panic attacks/disorders, War, Suicide attempt, Sexual content, Death, Alcohol, Animal death, Torture, and Suicidal thoughts

bowedbookshelves's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Torture, Violence, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Alcohol, Grief, Physical abuse, War, Suicidal thoughts, and Cursing