Reviews tagging 'Drug abuse'

House of Earth and Blood by Sarah J. Maas

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

Moderate: Bullying, Eating disorder, and Sexual content

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

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

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

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

jeanettesreadingcorner's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional inspiring tense medium-paced

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

5.0

“Sabine whispered a sentence to the room, to the Autumn King, and Declan’s heart rose, hearing it.
It was the answer to the ancient Prime’s words. To the Autumn King’s question of how, against every statistic blaring on Declan’s computer, they were even witnessing Hunt Athalar fight like Hel to keep Bryce Quinlan’s heart beating.
Through love, all is possible.” 
- Sarah J. Maas, House of Earth and Blood 🌙❤️
—————————
HI I FINISHED READING HOUSE OF EARTH AND BLOOD FOR THE FIRST TIME. ITS ABSOLUTELY AMAZING AND I HAVE NO WORDS. No thoughts, just so many emotions. I’m obsessed with Bryce Quinlan and I love her so much. Bryce’s unwavering loyalty to Danika was so special and bittersweet. They are my favorite fictional friendship. Hunt and Bryce becoming friends to something more was so cute. The slow burn, the teasing, the protectiveness… just so good 🤌🏼😘 They are endgame and I won’t listen to anything else. I really enjoyed all of the characters. The way Ember cursed out the Autumn King. She was waiting for her moment for 20+ years! 😂 The last 600+ pages 🤯😭🥺❤️. I stopped and read parts over again to help my mind comprehend everything. Yes, I have House of Sky and Breath and I preordered the third book because I’m always prepared. I’m so excited for the next journey in Crescent City! 💙

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fatphobia, Torture, Violence, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, War, Bullying, Drug use, Physical abuse, Death, Drug abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Body shaming, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, Slavery, Animal cruelty, Gore, Medical content, Blood, Sexual content, and Suicide attempt

nikkihill22's review against another edition

emotional medium-paced

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

4.0

like most books by this author, it made for an entertaining read. I don't think SJM includes very much true depth to her stories, her world building leaves too much to be desired for that. It's like she mixes and mashes various mythologies without thinking about how they could or should intersect, and she has the same issue when it comes to technology being included in a magical world. There's a lot of potential for interesting world building but none that she follows through on.
Where she does shine though, is writing characters and their interpersonal relationships. I won't say that was perfect in these books either, although i do think it was a lot  better than the ACOTAR series. I didn't expect to be as emotionally involved as i was throughout the climax of the story. Which is maybe a knock against the overall quality of the book that i didn't even realize i cared until it was too late. 
The pacing of the book was a little slow for me, it's mainly following one macguffin to another and another and another in the hopes of finding a criminal. Although i do think SJM does a decent job of explaining all that when we finally learn what's really been going on, i think most of it she just wanted the story to go to certain settings or explore certain relationships and found a convenient explanation for why the criminal really led them to go those places after the fact.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery, Injury/Injury detail, Suicidal thoughts, and Death

Moderate: Sexual harassment, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Sexual content

Minor: Racism and Racial slurs

SJM spent way too long making very sure that her readers know that Danika and Bryce were not in love with each other, while constantly making them the centers of each others' universes. She includes a little more/better representation in this book than she does in ACOTAR via Fury and Juniper being mates, and doesn't seem to include any outright homophobia culturally, but her own does still show. Even that relationship is barely touched upon, and she's just trying too hard to make sure her main characters are still guaranteed to be cis-het, and frankly it's just a little tiring. let Bryce and Danika be bi and in love, coward. She also does a little better about including people of various races/skin tone, but not enough that i could call this a racially diverse book. again, she takes a lot of mythologies and then doesn't seem to do much with them in creating a diverse-feeling world, which is disappointing to me.

bibicornxx's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious 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? It's complicated

4.5

It was a rough start, especially jumping into this straight after ACOTAR, but I managed. The shift into urban fantasy really threw me, and the murder element shocked me greatly, but by the 200 page mark I was in. 

Bryce and hunt may have been the primary focus, but my attention always lingered on Danika. She followed through every page, and every twist and turn. I don't know what it says about Bryce or myself, but I never doubted her– she was just too good to be portrayed as anything other than good. 

I don't cry at books often, but this had me on the edge of tear  several times. Somehow this book had me invested in the characters in a way that even I didn't know about until it was happening.

Lehabah is a queen and I love her. and I'm sad thinking about her. I miss her.

Only nitpick that I make in an initial reflection is that the onslaught of characters and world building initially is sooooooo overwhelming I almost considered putting the book down and waiting until I felt ready.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Drug use, Suicidal thoughts, and Drug abuse

that_awkwardpart's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring 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? It's complicated

5.0

The first 200 pages are quite intense and the world building komplex. 
I had to cry multiple times , the characters are written beautifully and realistic. The book is written in multiple pov. The story enfolds naturally and doesn't seem rushed or to stretcht. But I would definitely recommend to read the other books of the author first. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Drug abuse, Drug use, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Animal cruelty, Gun violence, Slavery, Death, Animal death, Medical content, Violence, War, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Alcohol, Blood, and Murder

britwalsh16's review

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

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

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

tguccione's review

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

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

mighty_lizard_queen's review

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

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

Minor: Domestic abuse, Death of parent, and Infidelity