Reviews tagging 'Child abuse'

A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas

19 reviews

storyorc's review

relaxing slow-paced

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

3.0

Good escapist fantasy. The amount of waiting around in ignorance gets old but the last act pumps the stakes right up and we get to see the protagonist seize the reigns for a finale with some kick.

The fairy men (sorry, males...) are very pretty and protective and sometimes even funny. The High Fae are a little too close to rich, noble humans for my taste but they get a few cool moments of otherworldliness. It's usually the 'lesser fae' who get those fairytale-style esoteric rules and abilities that are so interesting though; High Fae abilities operate more like superpowers.

While most of the book sits comfortably in the formulaic wish-fulfilment zone (not necessarily a bad thing), there are two things that elevate it. First, the callous stepsister-type character, Nesta, is treated to some nuance that prevents her from just being one more abuser in Feyre's tragic backstory. Second, I've never read a romance that

switches love interests

in the last act! It's like the author realised Tamlin is boring but instead of editing in a personality just

introduced a hotter, edgier version

. The result is an interruption to the formula that has something to say about how

the right person for you in one phase of life may not be the right person forever

. This is what rescues it from a worse than average rating for the insanely detailed and stupid deals the main villain makes.

Finally, if Lucien has no fans, I am dead. My boy got

treated like a chew toy

in the last act and for WHAT. He wasn't even

following a cool, secret plan like Rhysand, just loyalty and desperation

. And he didn't demand a

permanent body mod, lapdance, or soul bond

like someone for his help either.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual harassment

Moderate: Child abuse and Rape

pjbu's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious sad 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

3.5

Loved this book. Intro to fantasy. VERY violent. I’d prefer less violence and no more torture please. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Blood, Body horror, Bullying, Classism, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Grief, Murder, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Excrement, Genocide, Gore, Hate crime, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Violence, and Vomit

riverestyx's review against another edition

medium-paced

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

3.0

YA isn't usually my genre but I've seen so much talk about this book so I figured I'd give it a try. Definitely trying to be a new spin on Beauty and the Beast (which I do appreciate).

It was a slow start and Feyre's I'm not like the other girls attitude was incredibly grating during the first half of the book. Her opinions of her sisters was also obnoxious to sit through. I get why she feels that way but Feyre just has zero nuance as a character or in her opinions. Maybe I have this gripe because I was like her as a teen/young adult but it was a real drag either way.

There is also a character in here that it seems like her only job is to info dump onto Feyre, and therefore the reader, which sucks because she could have been a really interesting and useful (in other ways) character.

This wasn't a Bad book but it also wasn't a Capitol G Good book either. I do plan on reading the second book as I'm told it is better than the first one so we shall see.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Gore, Animal death, Blood, Ableism, Alcohol, Sexual content, Murder, Death, and Violence

Moderate: Vomit, Slavery, Ableism, and Child abuse

Minor: Death of parent and Abandonment

paulinahaum's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Cursing, Self harm, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Gore, Gaslighting, Kidnapping, Blood, Animal death, Child abuse, Mental illness, Death, Murder, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Fire/Fire injury, Suicide, Torture, and War

inthemoonforcheese's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny hopeful relaxing sad tense fast-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Slavery, Emotional abuse, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Death, Death of parent, Genocide, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical content, Medical trauma, Suicidal thoughts, War, Violence, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, and Torture

peregrinwho's review

adventurous dark medium-paced

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

2.0

There is a concerning amount of sexual assault, drugging and raping in this book once you get to the halfway point. The book was focused too much on muscles instead of giving the love interest a personality, and the mc shakes like a chihuaua in fear every other page, but the story was overall fun until chapter 20.

The mc is told the love interest will have a magic compulsion effecting him for a night that will cause him to rape a woman if there's no one willing around, and that might end up being her, and she gets off on it. There's even undercurrents of furry/omega stuff to top it off. It turned the relationship very toxic very quick. He suddenly starts trying to control the mc and assaults her hours after she was assaulted by other characters. She slaps him, but it's framed as foreplay.

I refuse to read the rest of this series' rape fantasies and domestic abuse. It's not cute or sexy. And I don't want to find out if Tamlin knots. Also, the plot is remeniscent of Beauty And The Beast but in all the ways people who say Belle had stokholm syndrom talk about. There's no "hideous curse" that makes sure her love isn't shallow-just a flimsy masquerade mask, the mc bandages a wound the love interest gets but it isn't in pursuit of protecting her, and he lies to her about pretty much everything in the name of "protecting" her, clearly devaluing her autonomy and trust. Ironic, given every other character in the story does more to protect her than he does. Lucien is the only rounded character, and the only reason worth reading.

Also I'm sorry I cannot get over the answer to the riddle that saves them all is "love" I was rolling my eyes so hard I was worried they'd get stuck.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Animal death, Child abuse, Sexual harassment, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Confinement, Physical abuse, Drug use, and Rape

wrensreadingroom's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Physical abuse, Violence, Vomit, Body horror, Bullying, Excrement, Forced institutionalization, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Emotional abuse, Kidnapping, Pandemic/Epidemic, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Gore, Grief, Abandonment, Alcoholism, Animal death, Murder, Self harm, Slavery, Child abuse, Classism, Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Alcohol, Cursing, Infertility, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, and Torture

emmaasbokhylla's review

adventurous challenging slow-paced

• 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Kidnapping, Murder, Torture, Violence, Vomit, and War

pretzel2023's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny mysterious fast-paced

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

4.25

I'm just going to leave this reveiw on the first book as a reveiw for the whole series-
I really love this series! It's extremely well written in my opinion. It is kinda spicy the further you go in and that's a little much for me but that's just my taste. I love the characters especially the sisters!!! 

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Content Warnings

Minor: Physical abuse, Murder, Abandonment, Child abuse, and Kidnapping

Again this is for the whole series not just this book specifically.... also spoilers coming! Ok so I did add some things for content warning bc I feel like there are a lot of triggers especially with the whole tamlin thing the farther you go **if yk yk

bri__'s review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense fast-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

4.5

I was pleasantly surprised to enjoy this book as much as I did. I found some of the writing to be a bit cringe/odd but I had alot of fun reading it. Maybe it's just because I haven't read a fantasy book in a while but this book was exactly what I needed and im anticipating the events of the second one.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Kidnapping, Child abuse, Child death, Genocide, Gore, Confinement, Grief, Sexual content, Violence, Murder, Slavery, Torture, Animal death, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, and War

Moderate: Vomit, Alcohol, and Excrement

Minor: Ableism, Cursing, and Chronic illness