Reviews tagging 'Alcohol'

House of Sky and Breath by Sarah J. Maas

60 reviews

ladylaelae's review

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious 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

4.0

4.0 stars to improve on my rating from the first book, House of Earth and Blood, because this one gripped me even more than the first one did.

With the pains of worldbuilding now behind us from the first book in this series, House of Sky and Breath is able to expand on the world through plot and character story. Bryce ascended to rival my love for SJM's other female protagonists - Aelin and Feyre - while Hunt, the primary male character, ascended entirely past almost all other male protagonists in her books for me, taking the top spot alongside Lucien Vanserra from ACOTAR. 

As I said in my HOEAB review, if you manage your expectations when reading SJM's books and others like them, you will find it much easier to immerse yourself in the world and enjoy it. This book boasts a mountain of tropes: enemies-to-lovers, touch-her-and-die, morally ambiguous characters masking a softer heart inside, the idea of fated mates, and powerful magic and skills being given to main characters. It also boasts a larger cast of side characters that steal the scene when they are in it

(looking at you, Lidia)

, and has an ending that gripped me in iron claws and had me frothing at the mouth for the next installment of the series - now coming early 2024!  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Sexual content

Moderate: Violence and War

Minor: Torture, Drug use, and Alcohol

sierrabowers's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny informative mysterious reflective sad 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

This book was even better than House of Earth and Blood! Definitely had to push through to get to the good parts but like any SJM book, the last 100 pages HAD ME HOOKED and made the entire plot building up to it WORTH EVERY PAGE. I CANNOT WAIT to read CC3 in January!!!!!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Infertility, Physical abuse, War, Abandonment, Alcohol, Blood, Child death, Classism, Colonisation, Drug use, Genocide, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Torture, Infidelity, Murder, Sexual content, Violence, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Sexual assault, and Slavery

elledanie's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious tense slow-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail and Sexual content

Moderate: Death and Violence

Minor: Death of parent, Genocide, Gore, Murder, Slavery, Alcohol, Blood, Confinement, Cursing, Grief, Rape, Torture, Vomit, War, Child death, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Infertility, and Pregnancy

anjasshelf's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Sexism, Death, Grief, Sexual content, Violence, Child abuse, War, Gun violence, Sexual assault, Torture, Classism, Colonisation, Gore, Murder, Physical abuse, Rape, Alcohol, Confinement, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Kidnapping, Domestic abuse, Racism, and Slavery

amandareads23's review against another edition

dark funny mysterious tense slow-paced

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

2.5

I said I wouldn’t read this after the train wreck that was CC1, but alas, I succumbed to the peer pressure of needing to know the surprise ending. 

Full disclosure: I should have just looked it up on the internet.

Look, I am a massive fan of both ACOTAR and TOG. But this series makes my brain melt. 

CC2 is even more bloated and convoluted than the first. There are subplots that have no purpose in moving the narrative forward, the two main characters are the worst in all her series, and I am so over the Bond Villain style evil plan reveals at the end. 

There are also so many phrases used in this book that make me cringe. Particularly when it comes to the spicy scenes

(ie. balls tightening? For arousal? Someone, please tell her that, anatomically, that is just NOT a thing 🫠)

- it just brings you out of it. 

That being said, I’m giving this 2.5 stars because I didn’t feel the need to DNF, I liked the fact we got to see from other (better, more rounded) side characters’ perspectives, even if they were ALL male, and ultimately, because the ending will make me read on. 

I have zero willpower.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Alcohol, Violence, and Death

Moderate: Murder, Blood, Drug use, Addiction, and Cursing

Minor: Gun violence

cady_sass's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny 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? Yes

5.0

I need some time to process this. Holy shit. I’ve never read 700 pages so fast in my life. I have so many questions. My heart, in pieces. My brain, on the wall. My soul, well… 
5 stars. Can’t wait for the next one. SJM if you fumble this as hard as ACOSF I will never recover. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Grief, Medical content, Murder, Sexual content, Torture, War, Death, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Kidnapping, Sexism, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Blood, Classism, Drug use, Genocide, Gore, Child abuse, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Vomit, Alcohol, Body horror, Bullying, Cursing, and Gaslighting

cakrolik's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional tense medium-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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Classism, Sexual content, and Violence

Moderate: Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Torture, Alcohol, Death, Slavery, Blood, Violence, and War

erkietheturkey's review

adventurous emotional mysterious 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Sexual content, Misogyny, Blood, Torture, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Slavery, and Death

Moderate: Drug use, Emotional abuse, Cursing, Classism, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Alcohol, Child abuse, and Sexism

Minor: Body shaming, Confinement, War, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Fatphobia, Fire/Fire injury, and Grief

datskira's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny informative 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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Gore, Gun violence, Cursing, Alcohol, Blood, Violence, Death, Sexual content, Torture, and War

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Medical content, and Physical abuse

alices13thdiary's review against another edition

adventurous funny 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

how am i not supposed to only reread sjm's books after this. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Sexual content, Violence, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, War, Blood, Slavery, and Child abuse

Minor: Infertility and Infidelity