Reviews tagging 'Child death'

House of Flame and Shadow by Sarah J. Maas

53 reviews

unsuccessfulbookclub's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful 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

4.25

Maybe my fave SJM to date? The characters really GO THROUGH IT but the moral and ethical dilemmas as well as social and political commentary are far more complex and deeper than prior books/series.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Xenophobia, Blood, Medical trauma, Murder, and War

Moderate: Pregnancy

traceyanderson's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious sad 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Hate crime, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Slavery, Torture, Toxic relationship, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Cannibalism, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

kelsokake's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful tense fast-paced

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

4.0

this is probably my favorite out of all the crescent city books. the first two took a while for me to get into, but i was sucked into this one from the very beginning. 

the character arcs were great, i was tense the whole time and this book just never let up. i surprisingly wasn’t bored at any point during this 800+ page book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Addiction, Genocide, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Child death and Domestic abuse

jcrawford31's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Murder, and War

Moderate: Child death, Confinement, Death, Misogyny, Blood, and Kidnapping

ronan_lesh's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful tense fast-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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Genocide, Gore, Sexual content, Torture, Toxic relationship, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Grief, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Child death, Rape, Sexual violence, and Suicidal thoughts

lilhappyhermit's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

This was worth the wait. I consumed this book as if it was oxygen. With how book 2 ended, I was so intrigued and invested in how this book was going to play out and boy was I pleased. How SJM was able to incorporate all of her series into the plot of this book made me so happy. The whirlwind of this book’s events mixed with the high stakes all of the characters had into the resolution was so beautifully done. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Violence, and War

Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Death, and Sexual content

Minor: Genocide, Sexism, and Sexual assault

lunahale's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious tense fast-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

5.0

i am extremely unwell and still processing. daynight have my whole heart. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, and Sexism

Minor: Genocide and Sexual assault

tiana_king's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

This didn’t really go the way I expected. Like at all. The author definitely left the door open for more books. The pacing was great, the characters stayed awesome, and the ending was solid. *spoilers*

My only beef was we didn’t spend near enough time in ACOTAR and the alpha mystic character was pointless

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Gore, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, and Domestic abuse

Minor: Genocide and Slavery

justbooker's review against another edition

emotional hopeful 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? Yes

2.75

The conflicts between Hunt and Bryce felt unnecessary and, frankly, annoying. Bryce also felt a bit wishy-washy in terms of her goals and overall feelings. One moment

she's Queen, the other she wants to burn it all down, and then she's right back to Queen mode

. There's also Ithan, who I could not have cared less about for most of the book. It felt like he only became truly relevant at the end. I understand what his character development was supposed to be throughout the book and why everything happened with him. However, ever chapter from his perspective felt like a slog. 

On the other hand, I believe this book has the best lore building moments of the series. The information dumps were easy to follow and engaging. With the lore building in the first book, it felt very scattered and needlessly confusing. This books had smooth, consistent lore that felt properly woven between character dialogue. 

As far as characters go, Lidia is probably my favorite. I appreciate the depth and growth that she shows with Ruhn. Every development between her and Ruhn kept me on the edge of my seat, desperately rooting for them. I would love to see

her children

be further developed in the next book. 

Overall, the plot felt alright. I appreciated the loose ends that were tied up. I cheered when Ruhn

got to finally kill his father

, when Lidia

got to kill Pollux

, and just all characters

getting their moment of justice.

The

Asteri conflict

has been resolved, and while there is the oncoming struggle of

setting up a new government

, it feels like everything is alright. The saying "Through love, all things are possible" is repeated time and time again, and this book really drives that theme home. I will not forget the frustrations I had with the book/series, but in the end I enjoyed my time in the world and am glad to have read it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Torture, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and War

Moderate: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Sexism, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Pregnancy, and Classism

hannahmichele5's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious tense fast-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? No

5.0

So many questions answered

(the Prison theory girlies were FED)

but soooo many still left unanswered. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Torture

Minor: Child death