Reviews tagging 'Slavery'

Kingdom of Ash by Sarah J. Maas

34 reviews

tagau's review against another edition

adventurous dark hopeful 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

Sarah J. Maas's "Kingdom of Ash" was a thrilling conclusion to her "Throne of Glass" series. From the very first page, I was drawn into a world of magic and falling in love with the complex characters that are both relatable and larger than life. In this final book, she brings all of her beloved characters together for a final battle against the forces of evil.

Maas keeps the tension high, with unexpected twists and turns that kept me on the edge of my seat.There were moments of heartbreak and despair, as well as moments of triumph and hope. Through it all, Maas never lost sight of the emotional core of her story. Each character was given their moment to shine, and the relationships between them are explored in satisfying detail.

Overall, "Kingdom of Ash" is a fantastic conclusion to the series. The world and characters that will be something that I think of often, it is utterly unforgettable. I highly recommended this series for anyone who loves epic fantasy, strong female characters, and a thrilling, action-packed story.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Death, Trafficking, Toxic relationship, Violence, Toxic friendship, Torture, and Slavery

Moderate: Dysphoria, Sexual content, Death of parent, Death, Mental illness, Child abuse, Child death, Blood, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Gaslighting, Fire/Fire injury, and Emotional abuse

Minor: Pregnancy

imds's review against another edition

• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Slavery, Vomit, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Abandonment, Ableism, Blood, Body horror, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, War, Violence, Colonisation, Kidnapping, Panic attacks/disorders, Pregnancy, Torture, Gaslighting, Death of parent, Gore, Grief, and Medical trauma

ladyames20203's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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

Genuinely loved this book, it just took forever to read because ~life~

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Torture, War, and Murder

Moderate: Pregnancy, Death of parent, Death, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Confinement, Slavery, Mental illness, Grief, and Sexual content

Minor: Suicidal thoughts and Infertility

nerdkitten's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Confinement, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Animal death, Suicide, Torture, Panic attacks/disorders, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Sexual content, Violence, War, Cursing, Death, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Self harm, Vomit, Gore, Suicidal thoughts, Slavery, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, and Medical trauma

Minor: Animal cruelty, Deportation, Rape, Sexual assault, Medical content, Suicide attempt, Body horror, and Genocide

sdemo08's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful 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

5.0

Whew. I got a little worried toward the end and wasn't sure if I could finish. There were so many plot points to keep up with and I felt like every couple of pages was some sort of mind-boggling plot twist, martyrdom, or marathon between characters racing to the finish before their clock stopped. Ultimately I liked it but I'm glad it's over.

[Fire on "black currant" crocheted blanket]

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Content Warnings

Minor: Blood, Sexual assault, War, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Animal death, Cursing, Kidnapping, Medical content, Murder, Vomit, Gaslighting, Genocide, Pregnancy, Sexual content, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, and Torture

mollydollydoodah's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring 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

4.5

I’m pretty satisfied with that ending.

To be honest, less people died than I thought they would! I thought either Lysandra or Aedion were goners for sure, along with either Borte, Nesryn, or Dorian himself. I feel like it was a little too much of a happy ending despite all the loss, because there weren’t really a lot of deaths I could connect to. The rest of the Thirteen dying was sad, and I cried for Asterin, but I didn’t really know any of the others other than Vesta and Sorrel. I feel like a little more loss would have been effective (in making me sob), but I am of course happy that it did not end that way. I would get annoyed with how often the pov’s switched, because I’d get so invested in what was taking place in one storyline that I’d get frustrated at having to leave it behind. But that frustration would soon be forgotten as I was sucked into the new perspective, so I wasn’t too upset. I thought that the storyline progressed well, even if it stressed me out to no end that nobody was aiding Aedion and the Bane and how badly I wanted to slaughter the old Terrasen Lords. Aelin’s time being tortured and her recovery were some of my most-anticipated things to read about in this book, and they were written very well. It was very sad and heartbreaking, especially the parts with Fenrys, but it was powerful. I’m so glad that they had each other both through it and afterwards, and I thought that their unspoken language was so powerful as well. I really enjoyed all the action and adventure in this book, but I was definitely frustrated with certain points. I thought it was BS how Aedion was treating Lysandra, and how she just ended up forgiving him. And I agree that it was important to have those effective final battle scenes with Maeve and Erawan, but I thought it was BS that the gods just didn’t follow through with their bargain and even more BS that Aelin tried to save Elena, who’d had a thousand years already, like wtf? I’m very disappointed that she and Dorian lost most of her powers but oh well. I loved Dorian in this book, especially how he slayed and played Maeve at Morath, even if I thought he was being an idiot in how he was frolicking about in his different forms and in letting Maeve free when he left. My favorite parts of these books have been badass Aelin kicking ass and taking names and looking amazing while doing it, wielding schemes and plans and powers like no other. It was disappointing that we didn’t get a lot of those this book, but it made sense with the whole tortured deal. I still have a few questions about things, such as whatever happened to Dorian’s mom and Hollin? Also, who is that other member of the cadre that was ever so briefly mentioned, and how will he come up again in the future SJM universe?? Oh yeah, and Aelin totally saw Rhys and Feyre when she was falling through worlds, so that was pretty cool. All in all, I think it was almost too happy of an ending, but I’m glad there was no pregnancy trope with Aelin.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Violence, Suicidal thoughts, Medical content, War, Slavery, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Grief, Gore, Blood, Panic attacks/disorders, Fire/Fire injury, and Death

angstifies's review against another edition

adventurous emotional 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

4.5

very much satisfied with the ending. i’m gonna miss this series so much.

this book had it’s weaker moments, i really think it could’ve been much shorter and the pacing wasn’t that great. 

some POVs (especially at the beginning) were kinda boring. it felt off how i had to read about Aedion’s whiny complains and Chaol and Yrene’s shitty idea to meet his parents while the POVs revolving around Dorian/Manon & Aelin/Fenrys and the “looking for Aelin” team were just so much better? 

the reunions, the reveals and the action/battles were absolutely the best parts of that book, i had so much fun there. and i have almost zero complains about the ending, i loved these characters so much and i would absolutely read more of this world. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Body horror, Confinement, Death, Grief, Torture, and War

Moderate: Pregnancy, Slavery, Animal cruelty, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, and Kidnapping

Minor: Suicidal thoughts and Slavery

kat1105's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious sad 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation, Confinement, Death of parent, Panic attacks/disorders, Ableism, Child abuse, Excrement, Gaslighting, Murder, Pregnancy, Torture, Abandonment, Animal death, Child death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Body horror, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, War, Vomit, Classism, Cursing, Death, Kidnapping, Mental illness, and Violence

mthomas's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Slavery, Gore, Sexual content, and Violence

painausten314's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense 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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Murder, Pregnancy, Sexual content, Slavery, Body horror, Confinement, Death of parent, Gore, Violence, War, Blood, and Torture