Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

Un Palais de flammes d'argent by Sarah J. Maas

499 reviews

booitsbam's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad 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

5.0

I rarely give 5 stars for anything I review, but the entire book held a tight grip on me. As someone who has witness what PTSD does to a person and as someone with trauma I’m trying to work through as well, Nesta’s journey was incredible to follow. The portrayal of multiple  types of PTSD, the different ways of dealing with it, and the reason to overcoming fear that developed from it, all feel realistic and I appreciate it being addressed in a series where a main character, or someone connected to the main character and plot, is severely affected by the events of previous books. 
As I mentioned before, there are different ways the characters decide to initially deal with their trauma. Some hide away, some continue their fight alone, and some drown themselves in distractions; and all are also addressed as unhealthy, in varying degrees, ways to cope. It’s clear the message of this story by the end is that you shouldn’t face your trauma or past alone, it’s necessary you be open to overcome. And if you’re only open with people who relate, that’s perfectly fine. It’s okay to rely on others for help, you don’t have to isolate yourself or try to ignore your pain. 
There’s even the fact that each character shown starting the journey to regain any sort of semblance of normality starts for different reasons. To prove themselves, to do better in the future, or because their family hopes, and knows, it’ll help them out of blaming and self-loathing to have a sense of purpose. 
The relationships (family, platonic, and romantic) all have their own journeys as well and they develop in very realistic ways, especially for a book with a main character who just wants to push all sorts of relationship away.
This is definitely, by far, my favorite of the ACOTAR series and has made Nesta one of my favorite character.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, War, Alcoholism, Grief, Kidnapping, Violence, Addiction, and Death of parent

Minor: Sexual violence, Rape, and Sexual assault

saintxkathryn's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful inspiring tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Nesta‘s story was a compassionate reminder of my own journey in processing and learning to live after many years of trauma and grief. Some of the biggest themes revolved around learning to forgive yourself and learning that many of the things you might blame yourself for, were not your fault in the first place (in a context of surviving trauma and/or abuse). I took comfort in noticing the parallels between Nesta’s and her friends’ healing journeys and my own. This book was actually pretty cathartic for me. Of course, the fantastical elements of the novel were highly entertaining and kept me reading. Maas‘ talent for vivid descriptions and detailed world building make it hard to put this book down. I look forward to her coming works. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Sexual assault, Physical abuse, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Death, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Pregnancy, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Blood, Death of parent, Grief, Mental illness, Eating disorder, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Violence

Moderate: Body horror, Classism, Misogyny, Child death, Confinement, and Addiction

Minor: Kidnapping

kaylamullarkey's review against another edition

3.0

This book is just vibes and comedy

(like why was Cassian taking Nesta, who was ready to dive off a cliff, on a week-long trek up a mountain and not checking on her for hours at a time??)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent and Murder

caitlinspeachyreads's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Domestic abuse, Sexual harassment, Classism, Self harm, Pregnancy, Blood, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Torture, Rape, Bullying, Cursing, Death of parent, Sexual violence, Gaslighting, Grief, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Death, Sexism, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Body horror, Gore, Physical abuse, Vomit, Suicidal thoughts, and Panic attacks/disorders

Moderate: Classism, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Sexual assault, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Alcoholism, Child death, Murder, Confinement, Cursing, Gaslighting, Body horror, Grief, Sexual harassment, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, Abandonment, Chronic illness, Death, Dysphoria, Fire/Fire injury, Addiction, Domestic abuse, Ableism, Child abuse, Gore, Death of parent, and Rape

Minor: Forced institutionalization, Rape, Gaslighting, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pregnancy, Infertility, and Medical trauma

holz_18's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Blood, Excrement, Murder, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment, Panic attacks/disorders, Gore, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Grief, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Sexism, Death, Medical content, Medical trauma, War, Sexual violence, Mental illness, Sexual content, Cursing, Rape, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, and Vomit

artemisd6's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Sexual content, Rape, Sexual assault, Death of parent, and Sexual violence

Moderate: War and Racism

Minor: Child death

luminescify's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

I started this book last year in August and it took me an eon to get through. The pacing was really slow - as is expected of an SJM book - until the last 200 pages or so. 

Nesta's character development is the primary focus of this book which was awesome, I don't hate her anymore, however I feel that a solid 90% of this book was filler, and the same mundane shit over and over and over again.

That being said, I enjoyed the sibling relationships and watching Nesta allow herself to heal and receive love despite believing that she deserves it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Bullying, Violence, Grief, Medical trauma, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Death, Gore, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, and Sexual content

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Pregnancy, Rape, Death of parent, and Murder

roisinmarie's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Alcohol, Rape, Physical abuse, Mental illness, Blood, Sexual assault, Alcoholism, Death, Death of parent, Grief, and Panic attacks/disorders

Moderate: Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Medical trauma, Pregnancy, Rape, and Sexual assault

annabananadel's review against another edition

adventurous emotional reflective slow-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

 “Nothing can break me.” 

Okay. This was definitely a Nesta redemption book. When I first read ACOTAR, I really hated this girl who let her youngest sister venture into the woods while she doesn't even want to chop woods for her family to stay warm. Then hated her more throughout the story - what with the war going on and her still being a stubborn mess. Especially with how she treated Cassian in ACOFAS (good thing he's such a pup). But after reading this book though, it somewhat changed. I wanted to see how she'd redeem herself because she really was a mess and everyone knows. People kept reaching out their hands to help her but she's so stubborn and wants to grief in her own ways that she kept ignoring those hands; worse, she assumed those stretched hands were her being mocked. The audacity. Her character is really something you'd have to get used to. 

Okay. The smut. Can we talk about this? I walked into this book knowing that there would be a lot more smut compared to the other books. What I failed to know was that it would definitely be all over the story. I love my books having smut - all my friends know that. But if the story is progressing so good and I'm hooked, I really want to know what f would be happening soon. It just so happens that whenever something unexpected is happening or when I'm by the edge of my seat, smutty scenes happen. I just want to know what happens, bruh. Anyways, that's a first for me. I love my smut but I love my plot more apparently.

Story-wise, it was so good for me. We get to know backstories of Ramiel, Illyrians, the cauldron and the trove. We get to see Nesta having use of her powers, which wasn't really fully utilized in the previous books or to be honest, in this book too. We got to see Nesta making friends outside the Inner Circle, which she definitely needed. We got to know the antagonist of the story, post-war. We saw the Rites...and was even part of it as we were rooting for Nesta, Emerie and Gwyn to win. 

It's just that, the ending was a bit....anti-climatic for me. It was building up that Briallyn would be this mortal-Made queen who's out to seek for revenge after Nesta took something from the cauldron and in turn, made Briallyn old looking. So I thought she'd have a really thought out plan on how to have her revenge but nah bruh, it was poorly executed and well, not much drama for me. Anyways, it was that and just don't want to think about it anymore. I love how Nesta sacrificed her powers though, to save Feyre (and Rhys and Nyx). So that's really the redeeming arc of her.

Overall, I'm finally updated this series and am currently waiting for the queen, SJM, to release the next one. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Murder, Death, and War

Moderate: Death of parent

rileypruyn's review against another edition

adventurous emotional sad slow-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

2.75

I loved the first third of the book and I love Nesta as a character. Thats pretty much all I loved about this book. The end is rushed, the plot is full of holes, and the characters are inconsistent.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Rape, Death, Blood, and Mental illness

Moderate: Addiction, Sexual harassment, Sexism, Pregnancy, and Alcoholism

Minor: Alcohol