Reviews tagging 'Sexual content'

House of Earth and Blood by Sarah J. Maas

376 reviews

readwithde's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

I had been warned that the first quarter of the book was lore-heavy, but I didn't find that to be true. I felt like the story started straight away and many things in later chapters had just as much lore and worldbuilding as the beginning of the book. 

I love the mix of fantasy and urban elements, especially mixing magical power with science. I liked how visceral the feelings and reactions were to the classist hierarchy in the society; it felt very real and bought the 1984 vibes that we no longer have in this social-media based society. 

I felt like the end came too quickly; I would have liked to see some aftermath and some clue as to how society will move forward. It felt very ambiguous. I'm hoping more questions will be answered in book 2.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Gun violence, Slavery, Gore, Grief, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Body horror, Racism, Cursing, Classism, and Death

Moderate: Alcohol, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Alcoholism, Drug use, Vomit, Colonisation, Genocide, and Sexual content

Minor: Medical content, Torture, Animal cruelty, and Bullying

smuttymcbookface's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious slow-paced

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

3.75

It took me a while to get into this, as the start of the book is nothing like the middle and end.

What we see at the beginning is Bryce, someone who parties too hard. She is not a likeable character here. She's dating someone just because he's rich and attractive, she sleeps with someone else after agreeing to go out with the person who's pined after her for years, and she'll take any type of drug put in front of her - even spending what little is left of her money to get some. She's irreverent and dislikeable.

Then, the plot unfolds. And we begin to see a new Bryce, one trying to rebuild a new life whilst unable to move on from the past. SJM does an amazing job of humanising Bryce, showing her difficulty and grief and trauma about moving on from the person who was her entire life.

And amongst all this development, we have a well-written mystery that she has to dig deeper and deeper into. Although I had guessed at some part, others left me shocked. I enjoyed the new people we met, the world-building and courts we were shown along the way, and the discrepancies in treatment for those of different races.

I did not find myself drawn into the love story of Bryce and Hunt; no matter how many times SJM writes that they're the same, she can't convince me the man held a slave for 200 years and the girl who has suffered two years of grief understand each other's pain in that way. Sympathise? Yes. But they are in no way the same. And since a lot of their relationship developed on this shared trauma, it was hard to believe I was watching these two properly fall in love, and not just trauma bond - particularly since their relationship was over the course of *a month*.

I also wasn't impressed by the last 100 pages. The views of people at the summit was exhausting to read; Bryce in these pages seemed like a different character compared to Bryce earlier on, all the feeds at the summit seemed ridiculous (

and camera's some how survived a nuclear bombing?

), and it all felt ridiculously cheesy.

This was still a good read, though I'm not sure I'll continue the series.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Violence, War, Drug use, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Grief, Slavery, Drug abuse, Blood, and Death

Moderate: Bullying, Eating disorder, and Sexual content

Minor: Infidelity, Suicidal thoughts, Gun violence, Torture, Medical content, and Suicide attempt

lonelygh0st's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious tense medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

I have to be honest, I struggled with the first few chapters. VERY dense with world building and a lot of characters introduced in a short time. But it picked up eventually, the slow burn romance is immaculate. I didn’t think I would like this series as much as Throne of Glass but I truly do, the characters are fun and different. The plot twists and turns kept me guessing, It kept me hooked and interested. And in typical SJM style the last 200 ish pages are like a rollercoaster. This book had me by the throat. I’m not normally an “expressive” reader but I paced my house a couple times, sobbed for a solid 5 minutes, laughed. I loved it, truly earned 5⭐️

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Self harm, Murder, Death, Drug use, Gun violence, Grief, Torture, Violence, Blood, Suicidal thoughts, Cursing, Sexual content, and Slavery

alfarmer's review against another edition

adventurous emotional medium-paced

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

4.0

A good urban fantasy! My rating would be higher but I don’t love Bryce. I find her a bit annoying and she comes off as spoiled and entitled. The other characters are great and are the reason I could deal with Bryce. 

This was a reread in prep for CC3. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Violence

Moderate: Sexual content and Drug use

zia_c's review against another edition

adventurous lighthearted mysterious sad tense slow-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

3.5

To be very honest, this is story is hella entertaining. I can't wait to read the 3rd book in this series. 🥰

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Sexism, Sexual content, Slavery, Vomit, Drug use, Medical content, Blood, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, Violence, Murder, Death, Drug abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Grief, Classism, Cursing, Alcoholism, and Panic attacks/disorders

bunnyjean73's review against another edition

dark emotional funny tense medium-paced

• 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Drug use, Physical abuse, Murder, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Racism, Blood, and Gun violence

Moderate: Body horror, Suicide attempt, Torture, Cursing, Alcoholism, Colonisation, Medical content, Drug abuse, Classism, Misogyny, Grief, Slavery, War, Sexual content, and Vomit

Minor: Child death, Confinement, Animal cruelty, Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Body shaming, Addiction, and Death of parent

samarsparkles's review against another edition

adventurous 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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content

twistedblonde's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring 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

What's the best rating I can give this book? OMG that was the best book I've ever read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Violence, Death, Racism, Xenophobia, and Gun violence

jeanettesreadingcorner's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional inspiring tense medium-paced

• 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

5.0

“Sabine whispered a sentence to the room, to the Autumn King, and Declan’s heart rose, hearing it.
It was the answer to the ancient Prime’s words. To the Autumn King’s question of how, against every statistic blaring on Declan’s computer, they were even witnessing Hunt Athalar fight like Hel to keep Bryce Quinlan’s heart beating.
Through love, all is possible.” 
- Sarah J. Maas, House of Earth and Blood 🌙❤️
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HI I FINISHED READING HOUSE OF EARTH AND BLOOD FOR THE FIRST TIME. ITS ABSOLUTELY AMAZING AND I HAVE NO WORDS. No thoughts, just so many emotions. I’m obsessed with Bryce Quinlan and I love her so much. Bryce’s unwavering loyalty to Danika was so special and bittersweet. They are my favorite fictional friendship. Hunt and Bryce becoming friends to something more was so cute. The slow burn, the teasing, the protectiveness… just so good 🤌🏼😘 They are endgame and I won’t listen to anything else. I really enjoyed all of the characters. The way Ember cursed out the Autumn King. She was waiting for her moment for 20+ years! 😂 The last 600+ pages 🤯😭🥺❤️. I stopped and read parts over again to help my mind comprehend everything. Yes, I have House of Sky and Breath and I preordered the third book because I’m always prepared. I’m so excited for the next journey in Crescent City! 💙

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fatphobia, Torture, Violence, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, War, Bullying, Drug use, Physical abuse, Death, Drug abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Body shaming, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, Slavery, Animal cruelty, Gore, Medical content, Blood, Sexual content, and Suicide attempt

k_l_smith's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional fast-paced

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing and Sexual content