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

Reviews tagging 'Rape'

House of Sky and Breath by Sarah J. Maas

45 reviews

aztlan's review against another edition

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adventurous tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Loveable characters? Yes

4.5

Holy guacamole SJM, that's not fair.

MOTHER F***ING PRYTHIAN????

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kerttuli's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious medium-paced

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

2.0

I'm sure this is going to be an unpopular opinion, but... this book wasn't good. Same elements as all her other books. I’m so cranky. I think I have to read the next one because of the ending. I have read all of her published novels to date and I keep asking myself why I keep reading... maybe it's because I keep hoping it wont dissolve into garbage. I liked the first one, so I picked this up and was ready to give it a try.

I still struggle with SJM's reliance on the "copy/paste" style of writing (the reliance on the same archetypes, tropes, and phrases, iykyk). I got really far in and nothing major had happened. The events didn’t have weight. It lacked any drive forward. There was so much that could have been cut from this book. No reason it needed to be around 800 pages. The last 150 pages were slightly more interesting. I kept wishing something would get better because I liked the first book in each of her series. But they all seem to devolve into copy/paste fae "porn" with a bit of a plot line. Same story, different font. Also, the "mate" crap is beyond old and SO repetitive 🤮.

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shannonbooks's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny mysterious 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

4.0

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bi_n_large's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional mysterious 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? It's complicated

4.0

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jhaneveauguste's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny inspiring lighthearted mysterious 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? No

5.0

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jessgreads's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging tense slow-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

1.5

Rating: ⭐⭐⬜⬜⬜

Title: House of Sky and Breath

Author: Sarah J. Maas

Genre: Fantasy

Setting: Midgard

Month Read: March 2022

Book Type: Hardcover

Publication:2022

Publisher: Bloomsbury

Pages: 805

TRIGGER WARNING-

War / Death / Sexual Content / Violence /

"Our love is stronger than time, greater than any distance. Our love spans across stars and worlds. I will find you again, I promise."

No Spoiler Summary:

At the beginning of the novel you find Bryce and Hunt recovering from the ending of the last book, and wanting desperately to enter a normal routine, and finally get a chance to live normal lives. A chance to relax, a chance to figure out what's next. The Asteri have not bothered our duo, but the rebels have also not gone away, and it's a matter of time before our leads need to choose a side. Will they stay silent during the obvious oppression happening, or do they fight for what they belive in above all else? This book is a sequel to House of Earth and Blood.

Review:

I'm a huge fan of Sarah J Maas, and the ACOTAR series is one of my favorites, but MY GOD WAS THIS BOOK HORRIBLE. I spent 805 pages alternating between wishing I was reading something else, and wondering why Bloomsbury won't get Sarah an editor that will make her cut 400 pages of absolute uselessness. The amount of walking around, saying the same things, and not advancing the plot at all was insane to me. I had fully decided that I was not going to finish the series, and I'd stop after this novel, and then the end of the book happens and now I feel like I am being held hostage in a world I dislike, characters I dislike, and a plot that is just absolutely awful. I honestly didn't know after slogging through the worldbuilding in book 1 that I'd still have to slog through the SAME WORLDBUILDING in book 2.

If you want Sarah's sexy sex scenes in this book, look somewhere else. The sex was badly written, almost boring, and definitely cheese. If I hear the word 'Alpha-hole' one more time I was going to set my book on fire and throw it out the window. I advise reading maybe the first hundred pages, skipping to about 600, and finishing there. You won't miss very much and you can gather what happens in-between. Mostly thinking about Danika, trying to find a missing rebel, some mind sex between secret agents, and a forced marriage ploy.

In other news, I did like the addition of some new characters, and I did like that we got a lot more supporting cast in this book than in the last one. None of them have the same chemistry as the team in ACOTAR, but maybe in another 3-800 page books we can get there.

I hate writing reviews for books that don't praise them. I've never written a book, and I don't think I'd be very good at it- but I really need a better editor on these books because I felt so similarly with A Court of Silver Flames. Write a good 400-500 page book, I don't need bad 800+ page books. They're so insanely mediocre and I know Sarah can do better because I've read every book she's written to date. Quality over Quantity seems to come in to play a lot with her books lately, and I just wish someone would talk to her. I'm unsure if I'll pick up another book in this series, or if I'll sparknotes it. I do hate that I feel like I will need to because of a twist. It's infuriating.

See more reviews at: https://jessgreads.wixsite.com

"What she wanted was a true heart to love her, to run wild with her through the forest."

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clairew97's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny 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

4.25

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ritareadstrash's review against another edition

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slow-paced

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

2.0

This is going to be shocking (heh), but this review is going to upset some people.
Please tread with caution, not only for extremely light spoilers, but also SA trigger warning. This is super edited for the word limit.

I’ll be up front, I didn’t have high hopes going in. I desperately felt the first book needed an editor, and this wrist breaker could’ve been halved. However, I don’t read these books expecting them to alter my life. I am a raccoon, and this is my trash horde.

Right out the gate, we get this prologue that made me uncomfortable, at best. It reads as WWII, historical fiction, set in a concentration camp, but made fae. It took me about 100-200 pages to realize the prologue is set in the current story timeline and relevant, in some way.

My issue is the rape that occurs and is brushed off with zero CW. In the scene, we get from a man’s perspective, through a type of telepathy. The woman is violently grabbed, hurt, scared, and forced to have sex with her partner. He believes she is being attacked and raped. When he finally reconnects with her she says she’s fine, she was just startled and said yes.

I brought this up in multiple conversations, and everyone brushed it off with “well she wrote that she said yes.” My issue isn’t with the clarification but the lack of acknowledgment that spousal/partner rape occurs. If you want to stick to this terrible WWII allegory SJM has in place, then this is like the many families forced to take in Nazis and “offer” their wives and daughters to have sex with them, or those same women die.

The consensus by readers to not acknowledge this book needs a massive TW/CW to protect real life victims, is a massive slap in the face. This is not a victimless crime. The character says yes to save her life, like women do in real life. there's never any real choice.

There were a lot of other issues for me throughout the book, like why is Bryce constantly in a thong and why do we need to know every time she is, and I’m wide open to discuss it in the comments or DMs to avoid spoilers.

Content Warnings

readingincabeswater's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional 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? Yes

4.0

Content Warnings

fireinherveinzz's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny tense slow-paced

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

4.0

I really hope she didn’t just connect this story to ACOTAR I was enjoying this one …
Also what the fuck was that plot twist towards the end .
Maas seems to like throwing all the action towards the end and it’s gets really confusing . Also I really hate the fated mates thing . Hunt and Bryce chose each other CANT that be enough.. she hates her fae heritage like why would it make sense for her to be princess / queen now either .

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