Reviews with content warning for Genocide - House of Sky and Breath

violence, death, murder, blood, injury/injury detail, torture, gore, gun violence, misogyny, sexual assault, rape, forced marriage, grief, war, slavery, colonisation, genocide, classism

REPRESENTATION

sapphic and achillean SC

REVIEW

Short short review incoming (mostly because I read the book a few months ago and I have the memory of a fish)…

Sarah J. Maas has got a hold on me and I loved HoEaB much more than I was expecting. However, in comparison to the first book of this series, I didn’t like HoSaB as much.

First things first, what did I really like about this book? My favourite thing, and something I thought was a real improvement, was the addition of new POVs. It allowed us to discover new (and old) characters in a much better way and added a complete other depth to the plot and the story. Apart from that, I did enjoy the book in general, like I often do with Sarah’s books! Oh and also… Night and Day <3

Now, some things I didn’t quite enjoy… I thought that this book was maybe a little bit more predictable (although there were still some plot twists that took me by surprise). Besides that, one thing that I really enjoyed in HoEaB and that I missed from this book (although I can totally understand why it couldn’t be included) was the detective vibes.

Going into more detailed aspects, I really couldn’t have gone without the whole “mate” thing. I mean, it was fun in ACOTAR and all, but I would really love to see Sarah J. Maas go into a different perspective where love isn’t something that is predestined or something like that but instead is something that you build. Not to mention that the concept of Mates points to there only being one “right person” for everyone and I don’t think that’s accurate in any way (both for monogamous and polyamorous people/relationships).

Another thing I would really like to see is more female POVs. Besides our main character Bryce, I would love to see some women characters take a bigger part. Fury and The Hind are just two examples of characters from which perspective I would love to read.

Also, how much was Danika hiding from everyone, including Bryce?! I’m starting not to like her and actually doubt her relationship with Bryce…

Besides all this, did I still love this book? Of course. Am I still dying to read the next book in the series? F*ck yeah! I love these characters and this world and I think that although this book wasn’t near perfect, it did set up a lot of interesting things for the series. I cannot wait to see what Sarah has prepared for us next!

Content Warnings

wrackcity's review against another edition

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adventurous slow-paced

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

0.5

Content Warnings

amyjanealice's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted 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

Content Warnings

hazelmort's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.25

1. The foreshadowing was so heavy handed that I knew about one of the twists halfway through the book.

2. It's still kinda weird to me how centuries old beings act like teenagers.

3. Everyone's been freaking out about the ending but I have a feeling you have to read ACOTAR to get it and I haven't lol.

Content Warnings

adeliab's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious fast-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? No

3.0

Content Warnings

kayladaila'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? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Content Warnings

book_lover56's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional lighthearted mysterious 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? Yes

5.0

Sarah just loves to give us emotional trauma and plot twists after plot twists and cliffhangers. I can't wait for her next book.
This book just shows how talented she is. With her diversity in characters and how she delivers character trauma makes you relate to the characters.
This book was a mixture of smut, awesome world building, plot was out of this world (if yk yk) everything was amazing. I must say this series should be highly recommended.

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