Reviews tagging 'Body horror'

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

61 reviews

chaoticbookgremlin_'s review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective 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

 A Court of Silver Flames:  5/5 stars

"Your power is a song, and one I've waited a very, very long time to hear."

Synopsis
A Court of Silver Flames starts months after A Court of Frost and Starlight (I think maybe about ten months later?). It follows the story of Nesta and Cassian, told from their perspectives.

Nesta was broken from the events that occurred during the war, and as a result, has spiraled out of control. Living in a tiny, broken-down apartment, she spends her time drinking and sleeping with strangers.

But then Feyre decides enough is enough, and sends her to live in the House of Wind with Cassian, in the hopes of forcing her into living her life again. Of course, Nesta resists this at first, but she warms up to the idea eventually, even starts to enjoy herself.

And when the Human Queens on the continent start stirring up trouble again, Nesta and Cassian are thrust right in the middle of what may be the start of yet another war.

Oh, and there's a ton of explicit sex scenes. This is definitely the spiciest book in the series.

Writing and Plot
I actually think the writing in this book was better than the other four. It was told in third-person perspective, alternating between Nesta and Cassian, so that might have made a difference.

The plot - like, the human queen plot - I actually kind of kept skipping through, since I didn't really care too much about them. Compared to Amarantha and Hybern, the queens are really just a nuisance by this point.

I was MUCH more invested in the relationship between Nesta and Cassian.

The word "male" was, of course, repeated frequently, but "mate" didn't show up as much - during most of the book. Towards the end, it was there more often.

I really liked Nesta's character arc - I did NOT like her at the beginning, but I freaking love her now. Seeing her thoughts for myself made my able to sympathize with her more, and understand where her previous actions came from.

One of the few things I didn't like was Feyre and Rhys' whole storyline (I hate the pregnancy trope sooo...). It felt forced and I found myself cringing every time it was brought up.

The ending felt a little rushed as well, and you really expect me to believe that Gwyn, Nesta, and Emerie beat a bunch of Illyrian warriors that have been training since birth? Wayyyy too easy.

Characters
Like I said before, I love Nesta. I find her every interaction with Rhys hilarious. There were a few times where I wanted to hit her over the head with a chair, but that's to be expected. Her character arc was fantastic, as was the slow-then-rapid build-up of her relationship with Cassian.

Speaking of Cassian, I like him more in this book than I did in the others. To be fair, I DID adore him in the other books, but I like him more from Nesta's perspective... and his own.

Oh, and I found Azriel VERY amusing for the majority of this book. Also, I am now shipping him with Gwyn. If he ends up with Elain, I'm going to set his book on fire, then yeet it off a bridge. A Court of Yeeting and Bridge-Fires.

I FREAKING LOVE GWYN!!! I loved Emerie as well, but not as much. (I ship Emerie with Mor). I love Gwyn to the point where I hope she has a perspective in the next book. I don't approve of anyone else for Az.

I didn't like Rhys as much in this book as I did in the others. I actually found him quite annoying, though that may be because it was in Nesta's perspective and she hates him. But he seemed too overprotective of Feyre (remember what happened the LAST time somebody was too overprotective?)

And, weirdly enough, I felt bad for Tamlin. I kind of want a redemption arc for him, though I also kind of want him dead.

Conclusion
My second-favorite book in the series overall. The plot was a bit chaotic, but I enjoyed this book. Can't wait for the next one!

First Time Reading: May 2021

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content

Moderate: Body horror, Violence, Physical abuse, and Grief

indyyxoxo's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional inspiring sad tense 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Rape, Body horror, Death, Misogyny, Murder, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Grief, Domestic abuse, Child abuse, and Gore

Moderate: Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Addiction, Alcoholism, Child death, Injury/Injury detail, and Alcohol

Minor: War

raebae's review against another edition

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

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Addiction, Child death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Kidnapping, Miscarriage, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Rape, Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, Sexism, Gore, Domestic abuse, Grief, Infertility, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, War, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Blood, Body horror, Slavery, Terminal illness, Injury/Injury detail, Torture, Toxic relationship, Sexual violence, Sexual content, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Excrement, Misogyny, Trafficking, Mass/school shootings, Mental illness, Medical content, Murder, Physical abuse, and Pregnancy

wrensreadingroom's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Classism, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Miscarriage, Body shaming, Gaslighting, Genocide, Grief, Kidnapping, Murder, Self harm, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Mental illness, Misogyny, Police brutality, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Blood, Body horror, Abandonment, Emotional abuse, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Drug use, Eating disorder, Medical content, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Toxic friendship, Violence, Vomit, Addiction, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Pregnancy, Sexism, and War

quietlex's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious sad 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? Yes

5.0

I really hated Nesta throughout the beginning. The self sabotage and rock bottom spiraling was just too much. But it was all necessary, to watch her climb tooth and nail up that mountain to find true happiness: a chosen family, honest friends, and a burning love. I’ll always love a deadly powerful female ripping at the seams with unknown strengths; Nesta truly lived up to the title “Queen of Death.”

I do wish she was able to unleash herself and her powers more, and learn to hone them to become even deadlier. She finally begins to embrace her true self right when she offers up her stolen power back to the Cauldron. Also, what the hell happened with Mor and Eris! They keep alluding that someone different happened, that Eris isn’t actually this awful male that left his betrothed to die in the woods. 

I really enjoyed the friendships that blossomed between Nesta, Emerie, and Gwyn, their pure strength and determination that kept them together and pushing on. The love that they had for each other, no judgement, just acceptance and understanding. Exactly what Nesta needed, just as much as the other women needed it. They are the parallel to Rhys, Cassian, and Azriel. 


I’m upset she had to give up a portion of her powers to save Feyre and Rhys and the baby, despite understanding her reasoning. Not just to save them, but also the fact that she never wanted her powers, never really used them at all. I saw another review talking about how instead of a redemption arc, Nesta should’ve been given a villain arc. Really let loose and go feral with all that power of Death. She was truly unstoppable if she could’ve just kept training her magic. I wanted her to go Red Witch style, burning everything in her path with those icy flames of silver. Not give up before she’s even started. Especially not to use her one chance to alter herself with fleeing powers to change her womb for future winged babies. Barf boring lame. I figured one baby was enough pregnancy drama. At least it was only kept to a portion of the book, and we didn’t have to hear whatever insufferable narration would’ve accompanied from Feyre. Sorry but I don’t care about that kid, even if it’s supposed to be something insanely rare. No one even mentioned Mor’s friend being pregnant either. I just felt no connection to that storyline. I wanted Rhys to be High King, not turn into a diaper changing snore. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Classism, Gore, Grief, Pregnancy, Cursing, Death of parent, Confinement, Animal death, Body shaming, Child death, Chronic illness, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Blood, Body horror, Death, Sexual assault, Domestic abuse, Kidnapping, Excrement, Injury/Injury detail, Miscarriage, Violence, Misogyny, Sexual content, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Torture, and War

sammymilfort's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful reflective tense 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: Body horror, Body shaming, Gore, Animal cruelty, Blood, Sexual assault, Torture, Death, Emotional abuse, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, and Sexual violence

ashleynp24's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense medium-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

4.75

Boy, was this a SPICY book. 

I didn’t expect it to be this spicy, considering the past few books having a nice mix of politics and war in it. While this book did have some action, a lot of it was a romance, which I did enjoy a lot. 

I always liked Nesta, even though she was such an unlikeable character the past few books, but the character development in this book was so good. She really got her redemption arc, while it also worked to tell us a little more about the other characters. Her determination and attitude made her a really fun character to read about.

I do wish it had a little more of Feyre and Rhys just because I’m so used to their POV with the past few books and I felt there wasn’t much except about the baby. Regardless, I loved Cassian and Nesta’s hate to love dynamic, and was delighted with the depiction of Nesta and her female friendships. 

Their friendship was so wholesome and needed to kind of break up how dark parts of this book were. Overall, really liked getting to learn more about Nesta, and I hope the next few books announced lean into Elain and Azriel so we can get to know them more.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Body horror, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide attempt, Violence, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Physical abuse, War, Pregnancy, Rape, and Sexual content

banscout's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense medium-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

5.0

if there is one thing that sjm can do incredibly well, it is writing mental health, it is writing the worst lows that have no apparent end and how those lows do not have to be constant. how suffering does not have to be experienced alone. that all of it begins when you come to that grave realisation that something is terribly wrong, and that there is a life we are all worthy of experiencing. that there is hope, and that hope will guide us, through whatever it is that we battle. no battles are fruitless, and nesta is the embodiment of that. whilst trauma will lay upon us open wounds, those open wounds will one day scar. and those scars that may never fade with age will only be just that - scars. this book is a symphony for those who one day thought they'd never make it. but you did. there will always be another tomorrow. the sun will always rise again. so breathe.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Alcoholism, Body horror, Cursing, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Addiction, Eating disorder, Gore, and Violence

Moderate: Death, Sexual assault, Child abuse, Pregnancy, Rape, Vomit, Suicidal thoughts, and Animal death

Minor: Excrement and Miscarriage

redheadsuperpowers's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional reflective tense medium-paced

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

5.0

I really liked this book,which I was a bit surprised about, as the main character in this is Nesta, who has consistently been a PITA the rest of the series. I love the found family feels in this, and the deeper exploration of friends that turn into family. The dive into the magic system in the one was great. We got to see just how varied powers can be in their world. The background info on the Archeron's life before their Father's original downfall was interesting, especially since it was presented as Feyre was too young to really remember the events shared. I love love love Nesta and Cassian's interactions, and while I am not the biggest fan of spicy scenes, there was enough plot around it for me to enjoy the book. The thematic arc of women taking back their power was just *chefs kiss*. I quite like Emerie, and would love to see more of her in future installments of the series hopefully. I also really appreciate the triumphant moments that the characters get. This was such a good book. I am glad my coworker Jordan got me to continue reading the series after the disappointment of the first book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism and Sexual content

Moderate: Rape, Sexual violence, and Sexual assault

Minor: Body horror, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Medical content, Death, Grief, Body shaming, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Murder, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Alcoholism, and Blood

headinthepages's review against another edition

V enjoyable reread via audio!!

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Ableism, Alcohol, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Rape, Sexism, Murder, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Vomit, Chronic illness, Alcoholism, Blood, Body horror, Cursing, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Torture, Toxic relationship, Child death, Gore, Grief, Medical content, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence