Reviews tagging 'Colonisation'

House of Sky and Breath by Sarah J. Maas

56 reviews

picaresquedreamer's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Police brutality, Genocide, Violence, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Torture, Toxic relationship, Death, Confinement, Murder, Classism, Colonisation, Sexual content, Racism, and Slavery

Moderate: Grief, Drug use, War, and Gaslighting

Minor: Child abuse

lauracollins096's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Violence, Sexual content, Cursing, and Blood

Moderate: Sexual violence, Slavery, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Drug use, Gore, Colonisation, Death, and Infertility

amy_in_the_city's review

adventurous dark emotional medium-paced

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

3.5

 This book felt unfocused, constantly switching between too many plot threads and POVs. I feel like we could have done without a couple of the POVs, like Tharion's. He was just strange and kind of unlikeable (with the condescending nickname for Bryce and the creepy obsession with her underwear; wtf was that?), and I just didn't care about him. 

As a result of trying to cram in the various plotlines and other character POVs, I feel like Bryce and Hunt got lost in the shuffle. I was hoping to learn more about the main couple and see more of their relationship, but they were mostly in the story to serve the plot instead of the plot serving them. I missed seeing cute relationship moments like we had in the first book, and I don't feel like we really learned any more about Bryce and Hunt's pasts or struggles. I was hoping to see Hunt working through his emotions about the awful things he's done as the Umbra Mortis, his trauma from being enslaved, etc. but it seemed like all of that mostly went away or got brushed aside.

I loved seeing more of Ruhn and enjoyed his storyline of

falling in love with a spy sight-unseen

. I'm still not sure how I feel about who his lover ended up being and think he deserved better. Maybe I'll learn more about the love interest in the third book that will make me like her more.

Ithan seemed like an OK character, but I'm just tired of every guy in this book being in love with Bryce for some reason, and I wish that wasn't part of Ithan's character. I have hopes he'll be better in the next book as they seemed to be setting up some interesting storylines for him.

Everyone seemed to be making stupid decisions in this book. They're

constantly talking about their rebellion plans while walking down the street and while in public bars and cafes. They all know they live in a surveillance state, so why are they risking talking so openly in public places?

They also

send the kid everyone is looking for to go live with the main character's parents. Nobody thinks it will look suspicious that these people suddenly adopted an older kid who fits the description of the kid everyone is looking for?

Tharion decides to

break up with the River Princess without having a plan in place for escaping from the angry River Queen.

This guy is supposed to be the Head of Intelligence?

I really didn't like that the book ended on such a cliffhanger. I get that it's a series, but when I finish reading a romance book, I don't want to be left feeling worried for characters who <spoiler are in mortal peril and are going to be tortured for who knows how long. If I wanted that, I'd go read a normal fantasy series, not a romance fantasy. The only solution I can think of for how to avoid having such a stressful ending for the readers while still having plenty of stakes for Bryce in the next book is if

after Bryce disappears through the gate, somehow Ruhn and Hunt escaped or were rescued and went into hiding. Then Bryce could still be out of her mind with worry for what her brother and mate are going through, but the reader would know they're fine for now.

 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, War, Slavery, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Sexism, Murder, Infidelity, Gore, Sexual content, Torture, Confinement, Cursing, and Colonisation

Moderate: Blood, Child abuse, Classism, Fire/Fire injury, Physical abuse, Misogyny, Gun violence, Trafficking, Domestic abuse, Kidnapping, Genocide, and Grief

Minor: Drug use and Sexual assault

jdromsky's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny inspiring 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? It's complicated

4.0

Fantastic!! Really great book! It was a smidge slow in the middle but the characters’ humor and interactions helped make it through! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content

Moderate: Violence, War, Colonisation, and Blood

Minor: Child abuse and Sexual assault

izzyreadswhilequilting's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Classism, Colonisation, Genocide, and Gore

Minor: Slavery, Torture, and Misogyny

indusnm's review

adventurous dark fast-paced

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

3.0

So this is 3 stars for me, and a realization I'm just not that much of a sarah j maas fan. The book was much better paced from the beginning, but I hate the main character and found her to be the epitome of white tears and privilege.

There's a lot to unpack here, but I thought this book was great for world-building. I had some issues with the first one, which felt like way too much information too quickly, but this one was better paced for me in terms of information dumps, action, and character development. Our main characters felt somewhat superficial to me; I know there was something there, but I couldn't see it. And thankfully a lot less slut-shaming being used as a device to make the main character seem a victim to the readers. 

Well, I see it now, and I have to say that I have a better handle on Hunt and like him more. I felt the same way for most of the characters, especially Ruhn and Ithan. I liked Therion more in the first book but in this one he mostly came of as a hot mess. I really liked Cormac; where the others feel like they're playing at helping "lesser" Fae, he actually works for it. But Bryce? Still loved by everyone though she manipulates them and uses them constantly, with the worst main character syndrome and a ridiculous amount of power and ability to do anything. It's so annoying.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Slavery, Colonisation, and Genocide

Moderate: Addiction, Drug use, and War

the part that i find completely tone-deaf is that our main characters are basically telling people that they are terrorists for stealing slave-owner tech to use against them, but more than happy to use those terrorists and tech to save the souls of people who died hundreds of years ago. It takes an insane amount of privilege to care more about the dead than worry about slavery and arbitrary execution in this world, and it's not unnoticed that any human (marginalized) advantage is seen as immoral while non-human is seen as natural and therefore good. Given all that is going on, this part made the author seem ignorant

_alyssar_'s review

challenging dark emotional funny inspiring sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Sexual content, Grief, Murder, Slavery, Violence, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, and Gun violence

Minor: Sexual assault, Torture, Child abuse, Alcohol, Sexual violence, Drug use, Physical abuse, Medical content, Rape, Colonisation, Infidelity, and Addiction

cdoubet's review

adventurous dark emotional funny 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Kidnapping, Hate crime, Death, Alcohol, Gun violence, Mass/school shootings, War, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Gore, Murder, Physical abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Violence, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, Colonisation, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Blood, Confinement, Religious bigotry, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Sexism, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Sexual harassment, Medical content, Sexual violence, Slavery, and Torture

Minor: Pregnancy, Death of parent, Incest, Panic attacks/disorders, Infidelity, Rape, Abandonment, and Child abuse

tguccione's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Gun violence, Sexism, Classism, Gore, Grief, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Child abuse, Murder, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Torture, War, Colonisation, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Confinement

readwithde's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

This was everything a sequel should be, imo. All the chaos from the first book needed to be processed while power players moved and planned.

This was a perfect villain story for the Asteri akin to Empire Strikes Back. It was set up and played beautifully, and honestly saved this book from being simply another grand romantasy.

The pacing for the twists and truth behind actions was perfect; though the rebel movement storyline did not make much sense to me, it set up the broader world and bigger threats very well.

Bryce was a bit annoying, and Hunt was a bit underwhelming, but the supporting cast was absolutely incredible. Team Ruhn.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Classism, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, War, Cursing, Racism, Violence, Police brutality, Colonisation, and Death

Moderate: Death of parent, Alcohol, Grief, Slavery, Torture, Blood, Confinement, and Drug use

Minor: Sexual violence, Fire/Fire injury, Kidnapping, Child abuse, Infidelity, Infertility, and Rape