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Reviews tagging 'Injury/Injury detail'

House of Flame and Shadow by Sarah J. Maas

137 reviews

novel_nibbles's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.5

Unfortunately I didn’t enjoy House of Flame and Shadow as much as I had anticipated. I think the main reason was I just couldn’t connect with MC Bryce is the same way I had in the previous books and I wasn’t really interested in her romance with Hunt. I was invested enough in the story to finish the book but I have to admit to listening to the audiobook at 1.5 (something I’ve never done before) to just get through it! 

Despite my disappointments SJM is still an auto buy author 


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melissat's review against another edition

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

2.0

Woof. Okay, I've loved SJM for 10 years. But this book was a slog. 

Going from how much I loved Crescent City 1, and how I was starting to get annoyed with Bryce and Hunt in book 2, I thought 3 would have a lot of room for redemption. Instead it was almost 1000 pages of self-flagellation from the male characters, and gaslighting and narcissism from Bryce. Internal and external dialogues, infodumping (but not about anything interesting), and more of Bryce being incessantly full of attitude that really grated on my nerves by about halfway through.

I wish the editors had been allowed to do their jobs and cut so many unnecessary POVs and chapters. The characters all acted in toxic ways under the guise of "doing it for love". Meanwhile, what they were doing was just abuse and control. I essentially hate-read this til the end. 

I really hope that we get better character arcs and plot for the next ACOTAR book, otherwise I'll be so sad!

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rhiannon_burden's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

I enjoyed this book at the root of it but Bryce was absolutely insufferable for the most part, she spent half the book complaining about the fae being selfish and callous and then proceeded to do exactly the same. She is essentially a hypocrite and I have no idea how Hunt puts up with her considering how horrible she was to him throughout. But despite what appears to be the popular opinion I enjoyed Ithan and Tharions stories as they had intricacies that others were lacking. There are some clear set ups for the next book namely the return of Ariadne at the end but otherwise the story felt finished as most ends were tied up.

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hspfost's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional 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

4.25

Gave it an extra 0.25 because the ending packed a genuine emotional punch.

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princessrory's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny 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

4.0


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neliadiedenise's review against another edition

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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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smkelly1997's review against another edition

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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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spicyspookypotato's review against another edition

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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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lovelymisanthrope'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? 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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cheseliz's review against another edition

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3.0

I will say that this book had a lot more intriguing moments and fun action sequences than the other two. However, there were still way too many characters (who were each referred to by multiple names and titles, making it more confusing at times) and a lot of info dumps that slowed down pacing. Some of the POVs I enjoyed following, but there were a few I could have done without or had brief overviews of their plotlines given to other character POVs. I’m uncertain if this is supposed to be the final book or not… a lot happened, but not everything seems to be tied off, like SJM might have left an opening for another book.

Contains:
-Sexual Content
-Violence
-Torture
-Abuse
-Language

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