Reviews tagging 'Murder'

Kingdom of Ash by Sarah J. Maas

70 reviews

dmatson21's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.5

This was an epic conclusion to this series and had me crying, on edge and smiling by the end. There were a few plot holes/areas I found lacking or unnecessary, but overall a fantastic book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Physical abuse, Torture, Death, Blood, Confinement, Death of parent, Gore, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Violence

avie_j's review against another edition

adventurous 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? No

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Death, Gore, Grief, Violence, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, and Death of parent

Moderate: Torture, Gaslighting, and Sexual content

Minor: Pregnancy and Physical abuse

cisforcookie88's review against another edition

adventurous dark medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, War, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Panic attacks/disorders, Confinement, Torture, and Violence

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

nataliebootlah's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective tense medium-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? No

5.0

What. A. Finale. 
And what a series!!! SJM did it again, closing the Throne of Glass series with one for the books (ba-dum-tss 🥁). I did not expect to be sucked into not one, but two SJM series and be held in a chokehold by them. But here we are… I loved this series. 

I was utterly immersed into Aelin’s world as our beloved characters race across the world in their last ditch efforts to save Aelin from Maeve, save Terrasen from Erawan, and create a better world once and for all. 

Kingdom of Ash was everything I hoped for and more: an emotional rollercoaster of darkness, romance, battle, grief, joy, heartbreak. I laughed, I cried, I literally clapped. And now I’m sad it’s over. 

tw: torture, death, grief, murder, battle, gore, sexual content 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, War, Death, Gore, Sexual content, Grief, and Murder

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

alexz_miller's review against another edition

adventurous 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Torture, War, Fire/Fire injury, Kidnapping, Physical abuse, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Sexual content, Gore, and Violence

Moderate: Blood

Minor: Animal death

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

jen1804's review against another edition

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

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

5.0

April 2022:
I’ve never experienced so much emotion throughout a book. Usually I cry at one, or at most two, parts, but this book absolutely wrecked me on so many occasions.
The world building involved in this series is so incredible and how the narrative pieces together and everything falls into place in this last book is just beautiful. 
I feel like I need another novella from SJM telling me all about what all our beloved characters are up to now post war. I NEED MORE TOG CONTENT IN MY LIFE.
Satisfactory ending? Yesss.

Oct 2023 re-read:
Still love this book and these characters with my whole heart.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Murder, War, Violence, and Death

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Sexual content

mirroball's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional tense slow-paced

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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Torture, Death, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Abandonment, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Sexual content, and War

Moderate: Pregnancy, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Cursing, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Blood, and Grief