Reviews tagging 'Classism'

House of Earth and Blood by Sarah J. Maas

125 reviews

smuttymcbookface's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.75

It took me a while to get into this, as the start of the book is nothing like the middle and end.

What we see at the beginning is Bryce, someone who parties too hard. She is not a likeable character here. She's dating someone just because he's rich and attractive, she sleeps with someone else after agreeing to go out with the person who's pined after her for years, and she'll take any type of drug put in front of her - even spending what little is left of her money to get some. She's irreverent and dislikeable.

Then, the plot unfolds. And we begin to see a new Bryce, one trying to rebuild a new life whilst unable to move on from the past. SJM does an amazing job of humanising Bryce, showing her difficulty and grief and trauma about moving on from the person who was her entire life.

And amongst all this development, we have a well-written mystery that she has to dig deeper and deeper into. Although I had guessed at some part, others left me shocked. I enjoyed the new people we met, the world-building and courts we were shown along the way, and the discrepancies in treatment for those of different races.

I did not find myself drawn into the love story of Bryce and Hunt; no matter how many times SJM writes that they're the same, she can't convince me the man held a slave for 200 years and the girl who has suffered two years of grief understand each other's pain in that way. Sympathise? Yes. But they are in no way the same. And since a lot of their relationship developed on this shared trauma, it was hard to believe I was watching these two properly fall in love, and not just trauma bond - particularly since their relationship was over the course of *a month*.

I also wasn't impressed by the last 100 pages. The views of people at the summit was exhausting to read; Bryce in these pages seemed like a different character compared to Bryce earlier on, all the feeds at the summit seemed ridiculous (

and camera's some how survived a nuclear bombing?

), and it all felt ridiculously cheesy.

This was still a good read, though I'm not sure I'll continue the series.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Grief, Alcohol, War, and Classism

Moderate: Bullying, Eating disorder, and Sexual content

Minor: Gun violence, Infidelity, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Medical content, and Suicide attempt

zia_c's review against another edition

adventurous lighthearted mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

3.5

To be very honest, this is story is hella entertaining. I can't wait to read the 3rd book in this series. 🥰

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexism, Sexual content, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Suicide attempt, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

bunnyjean73's review against another edition

dark emotional funny 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: Death, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Racism, Violence, Blood, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Alcoholism, Body horror, Cursing, Drug abuse, Misogyny, Sexual content, Slavery, Torture, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Suicide attempt, Colonisation, War, and Classism

Minor: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Body shaming, Child death, Confinement, Genocide, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury

nitecrtlvr's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional informative mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Death, Mental illness, Grief, and Classism

Moderate: Cursing, Drug use, Gore, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

britwalsh16's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring 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

5.0

I barely have any words! I am a very emotional person, & all the grief & loss in this book just tore me apart. BUT I loved every minute of it! I flew through this book, I could not put it down! 

Based on Sarah J Maas’ other books I kept expecting Hunt to flip a switch & become another Tamlin; but I am so glad that never happened! I love Bryce! & I love Hunt! I love Ruhn! & I loved Danika! And though I didn’t know him much, I loved Conner, & whenever Bryce talked about him, I always started tearing up! I teared up with Danika too. But something about the not knowing what could have been with Conner makes me super sad! Atleast with Danika she knew what they had, what they were. Conner never had that chance & it just kills me!

This book hit me in the feels sooo much, & I’m not fully healed from the last book I read either, so together, I’m just falling off a cliff! Thanks Romantasy books! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Sexual content, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Alcohol, Dysphoria, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Bullying, Eating disorder, Genocide, and Hate crime

Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body shaming, Panic attacks/disorders, and Vomit

tguccione's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful 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: Bullying, Confinement, Death, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Racism, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Medical content, Grief, Murder, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Genocide, and Death of parent

mighty_lizard_queen's review against another edition

slow-paced

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

2.0

This book needed so much more editing and thought, it’s ridiculous. 

If this didn’t connect back to ACOTAR then I would have DNF’d half way through out of boredom and frustration, but, alas. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Body shaming, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Grief, Suicide attempt, and Murder

Moderate: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Body shaming, Child abuse, Fatphobia, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Sexism, Torture, Vomit, Medical content, Mass/school shootings, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Domestic abuse, Infidelity, and Death of parent

selena13's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful mysterious 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? It's complicated

5.0

I didn’t understand why people liked this book until I read it! I’ve read all of ToG and ACOTAR before starting this book and loved it more for it!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Vomit, Mass/school shootings, Murder, Alcohol, War, and Classism

mads_reads_books's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny 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: Death, Self harm, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Suicide attempt, and War

Minor: Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Racism, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Police brutality, Trafficking, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Murder, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

erinkellyreads's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.5

Thank you Graphic Audio for making your adaptation of this book! I really struggled trying to read this TWICE, and I'm a huge Maas fan. I think I was so focused on trying to understand this new world with its history, magic vs tech systems, politics, and locations that I never got a chance to learn to like the characters. The Graphic Audio did a great job with helping me break up narration and voices, and it allowed me to see the full picture of what was happening. I also really enjoyed Bryce's voice actress - her growly, deep, and sarcastic voice made her fun and juxtaposed her moments of vulnerability well. My only note on this first part is that it was pretty disturbing listening to the tape of Danika - no spoilers, that's all I'm going to say on that. I get that it was supposed to be, but hearing it echoed with me much longer than both times I read it on paper. So good job? But also, ouch. Part two comes out today, so I'll try to wrap up the story and see if my 4.5 stands - already an increase from 3 stars before!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Grief, Murder, Alcohol, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism