Reviews tagging 'Abandonment'

The Assassin's Blade by Sarah J. Maas

16 reviews

emma97louise's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful tense fast-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? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Slavery, Torture, Gaslighting, Violence, and Murder

Minor: Abandonment

asimpson7's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.75

I’m not really sure what to say about this book. It isn’t the type of book that ive read before, but I really enjoyed it. It kept me hooked the whole way through. I couldn’t stop thinking about what would happen next. Even though Celina is an assassin, she still feels like the good guy.  liked how her and Sam ended up together, and I almost cried when he died. Which makes me hate Arobyn even more. I don’t understand how someone could treat a person like that. But now I get the hype over Sarah J Mass books and I can’t wait to read the next one !

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Torture, Bullying, Violence, War, Blood, Child abuse, Death of parent, Physical abuse, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Vomit, Slavery, Adult/minor relationship, Death, and Emotional abuse

quietlex's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

3.5

I didn’t love or hate it. It seemed pretty lackluster and predictable at times. I didn’t believe the romance between Celena and Sam, it felt forced and uninspired. I think this book was more focused on the different missions and progressing the plot rather than developing interesting and complex main characters. I’m hopeful that the rest of the series will build on who Celena is and why she thinks and acts the way she does. Quite disappointed with the lack of spice as well. Not the best start to the series, in my opinion. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Gore, Slavery, Abandonment, Child abuse, Child death, Forced institutionalization, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Blood, Stalking, Trafficking, Violence, Vomit, Bullying, Physical abuse, Sexual harassment, Classism, Death, Drug use, Grief, Excrement, Medical content, and Torture

emilywemily6's review against another edition

adventurous 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? No

4.25

This collection of stories about Calaena before the Throne of Glass events was harder to get through than I thought, and I think it’s because I knew the eventual outcome for both Calaena and Sam 😭 I really enjoyed the second and third stories though. I saw the “twist” of whose to blame from a mile away and felt like this grouping of prequel stories didn’t add a lot to the series as a whole, but gave me more time with Calaena’s character. I was really hoping for more info about the HUGE spoiler revealed at the end of Crown of Midnight, but all we got was an allusion to Calaena keeping secrets about her past 👀 So while I enjoyed this read, it didn’t meet my expectations in a couple ways. I am excited to get back into the rest of the series!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Slavery, Body horror, Colonisation, Alcohol, Death, Physical abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Torture, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Trafficking, Grief, Violence, Blood, Bullying, Domestic abuse, Murder, Child abuse, and Classism

Moderate: Stalking, Sexual content, Abandonment, Racism, and Sexism

chantellimus's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping, Grief, Confinement, Vomit, Death, Emotional abuse, Blood, Violence, Slavery, Sexual harassment, Murder, and Trafficking

Moderate: Body horror, Colonisation, Sexual assault, Misogyny, Abandonment, Panic attacks/disorders, and Injury/Injury detail

amandafitz's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Vomit, Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, Stalking, War, Physical abuse, Trafficking, Blood, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Gore, Abandonment, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Murder, Adult/minor relationship, Violence, Death, Domestic abuse, Alcohol, Torture, Body horror, Classism, and Slavery

smnthstrrlwd's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective 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

If you're on social media and an SJM fan, you're aware of the discourse around which order to read the Throne of Glass series. I chose to read The Assassin's Blade first and I am so glad I did.

Split into five novellas, The Assassin's Blade gives readers a peek into the past of Celaena Sardothien and sets the foundation for a lot of decisions she makes in the later books. Learning about Celaena's history as Adarlan's Assassin, her moral compass at the youngest age she is throughout the series, and her relationships with friends and lovers, alike, were all valuable moments that allowed me to feel much more connected to her as a main character.

In addition to giving readers an intimate peek into the history of our main character, The Assassin's Blade also introduces us to at least one character in each of the novellas whose whereabouts by the end of the novella are unknown, leaving them seemingly destined to play a larger role later in the series.

I found that the novellas flowed quickly and I loved the way one novella picked up after the last with only a minor time jump. This technique kept the overarching story moving and kept me interested from start to finish. That ending though, my GOD. I was sobbing into my hands during the last 10 pages which seems to be a consistent trait of SJM's writing. And I have to say, it works! I found myself so invested in Celaena's future that I immediately picked up Throne of Glass which is exactly the kind of vibe I am looking for in a series!

Side Note: To each their own with their preferred order, I don't care to hear anyone else's reasonings behind the order they chose (trust me, I've seen enough TikToks about it to last me a lifetime.) One of the best things about books and reading? It is a completely personal experience. And I appreciate that the TOG series can be read in a variety of orders. I think that it is incredibly awesome that I can go back and read the books again in a different sequence if I want to have a different experience than what I'm having right now. Amazing!

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Abandonment, Physical abuse, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Death, Murder, Blood, and Slavery

breathehopebooks's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Violence, Blood, Death, Torture, and Murder

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Vomit, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Grief, Blood, Physical abuse, Gore, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Trafficking, Toxic relationship, and Slavery

Minor: Abandonment, Death of parent, Sexual content, Child abuse, and Pedophilia

amanda_reads13's review against another edition

emotional sad tense fast-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

4.0

A collection of novellas following Celaena's journey leading up her being thrown in Endovier. 

I really enjoyed this collection of novellas and seeing the journey that Celaena took before Throne of Glass. I really liked how the novellas didn't jump all over the place, but together they created a linear and cohesive story. I read this after Crown of Midnight and I am really glad I did. I felt that I had a bit of a stronger connection to the characters having read the first 2 books in the series.

Calaena is blind when it comes to Arobynn. It was pretty obvious to readers what was going on behind the scenes with Arobynn and his sketchy behaviour. Calaena was too blinded by their past to even fathom that he could be responsible for setting her up. I wanted to scream at her through the pages. 

I loved Sam. I am really sad that we lost his character before the series really even began. 

I am hoping that at some point in the series this all loops back and we get to see Calaena get her revenge on Arobynn for what he did to her and Sam. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Abandonment, Blood, Death, Gaslighting, Kidnapping, and Torture

cait's review against another edition

adventurous challenging sad fast-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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Minor: Gaslighting, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, Classism, Physical abuse, Gore, Kidnapping, Alcohol, Child death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Trafficking, Blood, Slavery, Stalking, Violence, Vomit, Abandonment, Child abuse, and Torture