Reviews tagging 'Drug use'

Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas

75 reviews

nojgli's review against another edition

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dark mysterious relaxing sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I'm going to be honest I expected better. This book wasn't bad, but it wasn't really good either. Knowing that SJM tends to write pretty mid first books in her series, I'll read the second one, hoping it gets better.

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liliana_b's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark 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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vvsmydiamonds's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

I've heard the first book was weaker/not as good as the later books so I kept my expectations low.
It had an intriguing plot, but mediocre world-building imo. The love triangle was so bland and useless. I did not care for either boy past their platonic involvement and frankly, don't understand how or why Celaena made time for all that flirty shit when she had more essential matters. Celaena could be prideful, illogical, and childish to a frustrating point but that's to be expected.

People shit on this next aspect and call it Celaena "switching up" or "changing personalities." Personally, I liked seeing her grow from a girl in slavery, holding on to her spirit and memories of her life into a confident, witty, young woman (who made frequent silly decisions) who also grew in health and strength and began to trust/depend on others. Her character development isn't near complete, but I'm happy that she at least didn't remain stagnant. I wish she cared more about certain matters; she'll be recalling information she just received basically saying "... or something of the sort" or "... whatever that was" like bruh... you don't think that's kind of important?

One thing I enjoyed the entire time was the humour and Calaena's occasional relatability. Also, the descriptions of the dresses were nice but sometimes a cool "it was a flowy purple gown" is good, yfm. I also appreciated that she had hobbies and how she wasn't some one-dimensional #hot #coolgirl #blackwidowinphase1mcu assassin. Not gonna lie though, her reputation seems a little too good. Adarlan's Assassin is cool but homegirl is not the "Queen of the Underworld." As far as we've been told, she only really operates in the northern part of the continent, though she's been to all over, and has only been active for ten years, nine if you factor in the prison/slavery time. You can't tell me no one in her world is better/more popular than her. I have higher hopes for the next book!

It makes zero sense how everyone knows her name but not her face. Like was she handing out "Hire Calaena Sardothein!" posters or ...? I'm genuinely confused how an entire country would know the name of an assassin, yk the people who kill in secret, but absolutely nothing about her

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hopecobblepotworld's review against another edition

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

5.0

I've dedicated August to Rattling The Stars and reading the #TOG series in ebook Omnibus form and I'm frustrated with my progress. I meant to spend more time reading but I get so distracted. 

Pages Read: 466
% Read: 8

"Blood ties can't be broken." ~ Elena

Having just finished Book 1 - Throne of Glass, I can say I'm enthralled with this series so far. I adore Celeana and her fierceness, determination, and yet her also still tender heart. 

Dorian - wow. I'm eager to see how he grows in the series. Or... does he? I don't know! 

Chaol - what an up and down relationship he and Celeana have. Hot and Cold like the song goes. Although he does put up with her upchucking a lot. 🤭

Nehemia is also so fierce. A tigress. Such an interesting character. I can see her and Celeana on adventures together with Fleetfoot. 

The plot - the kingdom is screwed up. I mean, many are and we Read about them but the death camps, a Fighting for  the right to be the King's Champion aka Assassin, hokey religions* with ancient marks that can be used to control people. 

Stars: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
Spice: ½🌶 (Passionate Kissing)

*Han Solo


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cameronmh's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional mysterious 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? No

4.25

Great story, classic Sarah J Maas combination of court intrigue, romance, magic, and combat. Almost gave it 4.5 but then subtracted a quarter star because of all of the anti-corset bits that really rubbed me the wrong way. I listened to a solid 3 hours of the audiobook while wearing a corset, and I can tell you for dang sure my ribs were not being crushed!

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ten_telegrams's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional 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


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ifoundcallie's review against another edition

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

3.75


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vaguely_pink's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

As I had come to expect based on what I'd heard from friends, this first book in ToG is not nearly as gripping as SJM's other series. The writing is not as good and the characters and their dialogue don't read quite as authentically. But I'm excited to see how the rest of the series plays out because the world building is there. Also that ending was a doozy. Definitely didn't plan on being up so late reading so much of the end in one night.

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heathersinkwell's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-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

4.25

This book was super enjoyable. It was mysterious and had excellent character development. I read this as the first book of SEVEN. I'm not expecting it to move quickly or be wildly engaging right off the bat. I'm expecting it to lay the foundation. 

Also, keep in mind this is a YA book, not an adult fantasy book. It's comparable to GoT but it's not GoT (which is adult fantasy). There is a decent amount of telling, not showing. Again, I expect that in a YA book. 

People complain about Celaena being whiney or "not assassin-like."
She acts like a CLASSIC 18-19-year-old girl. She didn't WANT to be an assassin. She STILL doesn't want to be an assassin. She had no choice and then was surprised with her training bill. She explicitly states this - she wanted to be a healer, but then her family was slaughtered and Arobynn found her frozen in a river. She wants legit freedom and being the best assassin was her only way out. Of course, she's going to act like a normal 18-19-year-old and choose to behave like an atypical assassin. She never wanted it in the first place and still doesn't want it.


So, despite the hype, I tempered my expectations and enjoyed the book for what it is. I'm excited to read the rest of the series!

Tropes:
-enemies to lovers
-love triangle
-chosen one
-banned magic 
-good vs evil
-reluctant hero
-orphan hero

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caleb_makes's review against another edition

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

3.25

There was one scene near the end that was good but the rest was pretty mediocre imho. 

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