Reviews tagging 'Child death'

A Court of Silver Flames (Part 1 & 2) [Dramatized Adaptation] by Sarah J. Maas

115 reviews

downsophialane's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful sad medium-paced

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

5.0

A Court of Silver Flames is outstanding, but it is not for the faint-hearted. My girl Nesta goes through it. There are parts of her journey to healing that are hard to read, and this novel is long, but it's absolutely worth it.
 
This summer is my reintroduction to speculative fiction after a long time away so I'm not fantasy expert; thus, I'll leave the critique of the fantasy worldbuilding to other reviewers. My expert area is romance though, and the development of Nesta and Cassien's relationship is something special. This book is notably sexier than previous SJM books, but I would argue that the explicit scenes here are doing what they need to, to serve the emotional arc (which is what sex scenes in romance novels are supposed to do). Cassian is also a god among men in the ranks of romance heroes. He is fully devoted to Nesta despite her tendency to lash out at him, but he doesn't veer into creepy "persistent" territory where harrassment is treated as romantic.

Truly, I would go to war for Nesta. She is what may be called an "unlikeable heroine", but that label feels reductive when the reason is so clear and deliberate... She isn't unlikeable, she has debilitating trauma and self-hatred. She is surrounded by people who are not able or willing to give her the grace of being depressed, compounded by her lashing out at anyone attempting to reach her. I felt the conflict between Nesta, Feyre and Rhysand was so well-done: no one is blameless but everyone's perspectives are understandable. 

SJM's unabashed appropriation of romancelandia chat, Nesta's friendly house that reads romance novels, and the Valkyries' training also affords some much need levity. This book is as much a celebration of female friendship as it is a soarching romance. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Suicide, Murder, Death, Blood, Mental illness, Death of parent, Violence, Suicidal thoughts, and Grief

Moderate: Miscarriage, Body horror, War, and Pregnancy

Minor: Child death, Alcoholism, and Alcohol

There are some outstanding visual moments in this book - her first time with the silver flames after her nightmare was memorable, and I won't forget the horrific description of the Kelpy in a while. I also squalked aloud when she was turned on by Cass and Az sparring and imagining a threesome... Thank you SJM, I need that levity in your PTSD book!

solarel's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

3.0

This was a fun read. I liked it more as it went on, and I pretty much started out hating nesta. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Pregnancy, Alcohol, Child death, Medical trauma, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic friendship, Xenophobia, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Violence, War, Blood, Cursing, Grief, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Miscarriage, Misogyny, and Murder

hannibanani29's review against another edition

adventurous emotional slow-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: Death of parent, Sexual content, Rape, Sexual assault, Misogyny, and Violence

Moderate: Blood, Mental illness, Cursing, Child abuse, War, Sexism, Pregnancy, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Death, Physical abuse, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Eating disorder, Ableism, Torture, Child death, Kidnapping, Medical content, and Medical trauma

kendra_jo's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional inspiring 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Rape, Domestic abuse, Gore, and War

Moderate: Child death and Alcoholism

jennavai's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Medical trauma, Confinement, Addiction, Sexual violence, War, Domestic abuse, Sexism, Sexual content, Rape, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Death, Death of parent, Torture, Eating disorder, Kidnapping, Toxic friendship, Pregnancy, Murder, Child death, Misogyny, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Drug abuse, Cursing, Blood, Alcoholism, and Alcohol

boundbymischief's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective 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

5.0

Masterpiece. This book made me fall in love with Nesta in a way I never thought I could. The journey of healing and self-discovery.. Relatable and epic 🥹🥹 and I’ve got a new favorite bat boy 🦇

PS: Sarah J brought the SPICE 🥵🔥

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Pregnancy, and Blood

Moderate: Child death

Minor: Miscarriage, Kidnapping, War, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Rape, Alcoholism, and Grief

jordantung's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual content, Pregnancy, Kidnapping, Panic attacks/disorders, Grief, and Death

Moderate: Alcohol, Rape, Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, War, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Abandonment, Blood, Child death, and Miscarriage

ohgull's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring mysterious slow-paced

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

4.5

This book was long, hard, and difficult. I felt like I was following Nesta's journey along with her based on my reading experience. I had to check this book out of the library 3 times because I just took so long to finish it. 

Going in, I didn't have the highest hopes. I didn't like Nesta, and I still wouldn't call her my favorite, but she grew on me a bit. Cassian on the other hand, will always be amazing. I enjoyed seeing Nesta grow and look back on herself, learning from past mistakes. I loved the new characters in this book. Gwyn and Emerie are great additions to the cast and I feel like they have a lot of potential in the future.

My gripe with this book is how long it is. I was fine with the number of pages, like its a long story, but wow, the middle section of this book is slow. The plot really only gets to it's climax around 80% and before that, I felt like I was barely being led along by a promise of a good ending. I get the reason why, because a lot of the slow moments are integral to Nesta's journey and make the transformation from her at the beginning to her at the end be seamless and give you the feeling of not knowing how far you've climbed until you look down, but man. I almost DNFed at 75%, which is saying something because I was already 500 pages in.

TLDR: Good book, made for some great moments, but definitely get ready for the long haul.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Sexual content, Blood, and Violence

Moderate: Grief, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Child abuse, Cursing, Pregnancy, Death of parent, Kidnapping, Death, Rape, and Murder

Minor: Body horror, Child death, Domestic abuse, War, and Medical content

honeybunchesofoats06's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child death, Blood, Body horror, Grief, Medical trauma, Suicidal thoughts, Mental illness, Pregnancy, Sexual content, and Violence

sierrabowers's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective tense fast-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

Wow… all I can say is wow! I started this book with the impression that it was the last in the series, and who knows, maybe it is (only Sarah Maas knows). I loved this book more than ACOTAR. Nesta’s character development was unlike anything I’ve ever seen in a book, along with the effortless intertwining of the brewing plot. I wasn’t sure at first that I enjoyed the change in POV from previous books, but it gave me insight into how other characters were feeling and provided a look into the world of the Illyrians. It also gave me a look into another mating bond and how similar but different

Cassian and Nesta were. I knew from the very beginning that they were mates.

The increasing tension between them, the house of wind having a conscience, Rysand and Feyre’s growing problem, and the politics of Prythian were all enough to wrap me into this story and finish 500 pages in 2 days. Well done Sarah Maas!!!!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Blood, Child abuse, Cursing, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Violence, Child death, Death, Gore, Grief, Misogyny, and Sexual violence

Minor: War and Vomit