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kbowles24's review against another edition
- 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
5.0
Graphic: Sexual content, Sexism, Death, War, Gun violence, Gore, Cursing, Blood, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Colonisation, Slavery, Gaslighting, Classism, Violence, Racism, Murder, Misogyny, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Grief, Physical abuse, Child death, Toxic relationship, Torture, Death of parent, Sexual harassment, and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Medical content, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Kidnapping, Suicide, Drug use, Addiction, Pregnancy, Car accident, Abandonment, and Drug abuse
hiddeninfantasy's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Moderate: Drug use, Gore, Cannibalism, Murder, Sexual content, Gun violence, Rape, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Injury/Injury detail, Slavery, War, Abandonment, Alcohol, Cursing, Kidnapping, Body horror, Confinement, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Toxic relationship, Violence, Sexual assault, Death, Torture, Blood, and Drug abuse
amy_in_the_city's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
The book suffered from pacing problems. The first third of the book dragged on and on, with Bryce spending way too much time wandering through tunnels looking at art. Maybe it would have been a bit more interesting if we at least got some angst from Bryce, but it felt like she wasn't all that concerned about her mate and brother being in grave danger. There was no sense of urgency on her part to rescue them from being tortured and maybe eventually executed. Then, later in the book, we get to follow along as Bryce wanders through tunnels again. Not exactly riveting stuff.
There were also too many POVs happening to allow enough time with the main characters. I really didn't care about Ithan's and Tharion's storylines and dreaded every time it switched back to their POVs. They were mostly just those two characters making stupid mistakes followed by a lot of self loathing. I hope they make Tharion much more interesting and likeable if he's going to feature prominently in the next book. I did like his marriage of convenience subplot and think there is interesting potential there.
Bryce and Hunt's relationship was a mess in this book, and I really didn't like Bryce much. She never communicates her plans with Hunt. Then even though Hunt is blindly following her into danger, she picks fights with him because he isn't enthusiastic about being there. How can he be 100% on board with her plans when he doesn't know what they are? She doesn't seem to care that this is only a couple days after he got back from spending several days being brutally tortured for allowing her to drag him into this mess. Or that the situation is reminiscent of how things went with Shahar and to say that ended tragically would be an understatement. Bryce was being so disrespectful towards Hunt and his trauma because she wanted to look like a badass with gotcha moments and zingers. Really, it feels like most of her plans were half-baked at best, and they only work out in her favor because of plot armor. It didn't feel like an equal partnership between the main couple. Bryce just does whatever she wants, doesn't tell Hunt, and leaves him to deal with the consequences. At least she does apologize to Hunt for being a dick at one point, but I'd prefer if she didn't spend most of the book acting like a dick to begin with.
Ruhn and Lidia were this book's saving grace. I kept wishing they were the main couple because they were great, and I wanted the story to spend more time with them. Lidia was such a badass, so clever and sneaky. I love sneaky characters who know how to play along with the game in order to achieve their goals and there aren't nearly enough leading women out there like this. I don't know that we got enough justification for why she joined the evil side to begin with though, and I feel like the explanation for why she changed sides was kind of flimsy. Ruhn is almost perfect in every way, with a major exception for
Other characters I really liked spending time with in this book were Nesta, Azriel, Hypaxia, and Aidas.
Graphic: Colonisation, Genocide, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Confinement, Sexism, Sexual content, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Murder, Violence, Gore, Slavery, Torture, War, and Death
Moderate: Addiction, Child abuse, Sexual harassment, Excrement, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Sexual assault, Classism, Drug use, and Sexual violence
Minor: Domestic abuse, Vomit, Child death, Medical content, and Pregnancy
cheyannejeanette's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
Graphic: Blood, Death, Gore, Physical abuse, Torture, Toxic relationship, and War
Moderate: Child death, Sexual content, and Blood
Minor: Drug use and Kidnapping
princessrory's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Graphic: Medical content, Blood, Confinement, Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Sexual content, Torture, Toxic relationship, War, Sexual assault, Excrement, Cursing, Gore, Gun violence, Slavery, Grief, Death, Colonisation, Physical abuse, Violence, and Murder
Moderate: Child death, Addiction, Drug use, Classism, Domestic abuse, and Drug abuse
Minor: Pregnancy and Vomit
aloveh's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, War, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Torture, Violence, Self harm, Genocide, Sexual content, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Rape, Emotional abuse, Confinement, Drug use, Sexual violence, Slavery, Injury/Injury detail, Gun violence, and Addiction
carolinemerlinevans's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Graphic: Colonisation, Torture, Slavery, Child death, Excrement, War, Drug use, Blood, Sexual violence, Violence, Death, Mass/school shootings, Addiction, and Suicidal thoughts
ipharra's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Murder, Physical abuse, Blood, War, Sexual content, Cursing, Excrement, Drug use, Toxic friendship, and Gore
sierrabowers's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Misogyny, Murder, Vomit, Cursing, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Rape, Torture, Body horror, Sexism, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Confinement, Genocide, Gun violence, Drug use, Gore, Sexual content, War, Abandonment, Animal death, Classism, Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, and Injury/Injury detail
browneyesblue84's review against another edition
- 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 would be lying if I said that I was not nervous about reading this third Crescent City book. I truly like each and every character in this book whether they are a protagonist or an antagonist. However, I was worried about Hypaxia Enadore in the most. She’s my favorite character in the series. I was a little disappointed regarding the change in her storyline regarding Ruhn and well as the relationship with Celestina. I was afraid that she would end up sidelined, or become an irrelevant character and be killed off. However, Sarah J Maas not only introduced Hypaxia is an awesome way but gave her a very cool storyline.
I wasn’t a big fan of Ruhn and Lidia as mates but I think their relationship grew on me after reading HOFAS. I changed my mind about Lidia after a secret about her was revealed. Not once did I fathom that The Hind could be someone’s mom. It was cool that Tharion and Ithan played a bigger part in this story along with Declan and Flynn. The decision made to include some characters for a short time was cool as well. Despite the fact that I haven’t read the ACOTAR series yet I really like those characters as well.
Bryce Quinlan has changed so much since the first book. The same can be said about Hunt as well. I love their bond. The way that they are willing to sacrifice themselves for their friends and each other is beautiful. Beautiful. My favorite part of their story arc was each time they reconnected. So much happened in HOFAS and I am really looking forward to reading another book in this series. The only thing that I did not like about the story is that I’m going to have to wait another two years for another book. That doesn’t mean that I won’t be waiting patiently for the next release.
I rated Sarah J Maas’ House of Flame and Shadow five stars out of five . It was so good that I didn’t want it to end.
Graphic: Torture, Sexual content, Injury/Injury detail, War, and Gore
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Drug use, and Cursing
Minor: Grief, Confinement, Abandonment, and Genocide