Reviews tagging 'Blood'

Crescent City - Wenn die Schatten sich erheben by Sarah J. Maas

171 reviews

neliadiedenise's review against another edition

adventurous informative tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

amateur_bookworm's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious 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

My summary: After everything goes terribly wrong in their stand against the Asteri, Hunt, Ruhn and Baxian are now being tortured in the Asteri dungeon and Bryce is—gone. Bryce has found her way to another world and is now desperate to return to Midgard in her quest to save it. Tharion has returned to Lunathion and is fighting for the Viper Queen in her ring, as he promised before everything went sideways with the Asteri and Ophion. Ithan, Flynn, and Declan are trying to get any intel of what’s happening to Bryce, Ruhn and Hunt. When help comes from unexpected places to break Hunt, Ruhn, and Baxian from the clutches of the Asteri, Bryce and Hunt must continue fighting to save their world, but with impossible odds stacked against them. 

My thoughts: I loved it. I love the entire Crescent City series. I love ACOTAR too and the blending of the two worlds was the cherry on top. I’m not going to lie, this one took me awhile to get through. There is just SO MUCH packed in here. I loved all of the main characters and the way Sarah J. Maas wove their stories together and switched between the character’s points of view. True to every other book Sarah J. Maas writes, all hell breaks loose in the last hundred or so pages. I know there is supposed to be at least one more Crescent City book, but I’m content with the ending of this one. I feel like the series *could* end here, even though I am excited for the eventual continuation of the series, and for the foreshadowing of what is to come in the ACOTAR series. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Cursing, Death, Gore, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Murder, and War

Moderate: Grief, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury

smkelly1997's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful fast-paced

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

4.5

1. SJM has done it again. The plot, the development, drawing you into the story. The most amazing part for me was
   the connection between TOG, ACOTAR, and CC. I didn’t even realize Brann was the king talked about in the first book. It also made me wonder about Lidia connection to it all
   . Overall a great book. I cannot wait for more. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Genocide, Gore, Slavery, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

dulcyj's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Torture, Violence, Death of parent, and Murder

Moderate: Slavery, Blood, and Vomit

Minor: Child death, Sexual content, and Grief

spicyspookypotato's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Cursing, Death, Genocide, Gore, Torture, Violence, Blood, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail

lovelymisanthrope's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

2.5

After the cliffhanger ending of "House of Sky and Breath", I was dying to see what happened next in the Crescent City saga.
"House of Flame and Shadow" picks up right where "House of Sky and Breath" left off. Bryce has somehow managed to find herself in an entirely different world, AKA the world of "A Court of Thorns and Roses". She has met Rysand, Nesta, and the rest of the ACOTAR crew, but she has no idea how to return back to her home of Midgard. She knows Hunt is waiting for her, and she is desperate to find the answers to finally stop the Asteri from their reign of terror.

I was so excited to see the Sarah J. Maas worlds collide, but I was honestly a little underwhelmed with the execution. Rysand was in the story maybe twice, which is fine, but I think "House of Sky and Breath" set us up to believe we would be seeing more of him. Bryce's interactions are more centered around Nesta, which again is fine, but she was never my favorite from the series. I think this merging of universes was a great idea in theory, but we needed more to make it satisfying.
I understand Bryce is going through a lot, and she has lost a lot of people she really cared about, but my, oh my, was she insufferable in this book. All of her decisions were questionable, and I think she does not have the backbone to be a leader. She is so critical of Hunt, and treats him horribly throughout most of this book, which blew my mind because he went out of his way to take such good care of her in the pervious book. She either trusts him or she does not, but she cannot have it both ways. She also treats Nesta atrociously and sets her up to maybe be killed...? How can you ask for someone's help and then treat them like that? And then she proceeds to go back and ask Nesta for a huge favor?!? Bryce is by far my least favorite Sarah J. Maas protagonist.
The ending was the biggest let down for me. Sarah J. Maas is clearly an experienced author, but the final scene screamed amateur to me. Everything was far too convenient for the characters and everything just fell into place perfectly. Bryce 1000% should have died based on her actions and opening a black hole, but she is saved at the last second? The story does conclude neatly, and I do not see a need to continue this series. 

 
Will I continue to read from Sarah J. Maas in the future? Yes. Will I continue in this series if more books are added? Probably, but more so out of curiosity for what the hell could be added than my own actual invested interest. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Sexual content, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Murder, Toxic friendship, War, and Injury/Injury detail

ronnieex's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful lighthearted mysterious reflective 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

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Bullying, Child death, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Physical abuse, Slavery, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, and Colonisation

Minor: Sexual content

savshanae's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

2.5

I have never been so disappointed by an SJM book and it’s RUINING me. If it was any other author, I probably would have DNF’d this book. So many words for so little to happen, the end left me shaking my head, and don’t even get me started on the lack of character consistency! 
As one of my friends put it, “it feels like she flew too close to the sun” and I wouldn’t be sad to see this book dropped into the ocean forever. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexism, Slavery, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Kidnapping, Grief, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, Murder, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, War, and Classism

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Bullying, and Alcohol

cdolbz's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny 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? Yes

3.0

I am only giving this book a 3 due to the scene where Bryce see's everyone while she's dead. Lidia truly carried the entire weight of this book. While I was shook Lidia has kids, I didn't find it to be of any importance of this book. Truly, nothing in this book made sense and it was highly disappointing. This was another big let down for me. I can't imagine if/what the next book will consist of. Ethan being prime?? Tharion?? 0 clue. I also felt the cross over was a bit bleh. I don't know what I was expecting, but I was let down. How tf does BRYCE steal from AZ? Also, for Nesta to just give the mask to Bryce? Truly, I wish I never read this book. I know have such a strong distaste for Bryce and I don't think I can bounce back from it. I have so much to SAY, but can't find the words to compose my thoughts. Will update this review when I come down from the anger of disappointment. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Sexual assault, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, and War

carolinemerlinevans's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child death, Death, Drug use, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Mass/school shootings, Colonisation, and War