Reviews tagging 'Genocide'

House of Flame and Shadow by Sarah J. Maas

61 reviews

_readobituaries'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? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

I originally rated this 4 stars... but on second thought, I've changed my mind. 3 stars is the best I can give it... Which is sad considering I am someone who LOVES the ACOTAR/CC/TOG universes.... 

1st we will address the cross over.... It was nothing but fan service.

90% of it was either storytelling (tell- not show) and Bryce being "all powerful" and Bryce being a selfish cunt toward the ACOTAR characters. I wish we had seen more of these characters because I truly feel this was the bare minimum... I was expecting far more.

2nd.... Bryce was a cunt during this.

She hates the fae for how they treat humans- but she was willing to treat all fae like crap (including the fae of the acotar world) because shes got daddy issues? The way she freed the dagglan- just for Nesta to have to clean up her mess and then Bryce has the ADAUCITY to get upset she wasn't able to do more? GIRL- GET FUCKING REAL. Then she straight up STOLE from the ACOTAR characters. Just to come back and gaslight her "mate" and try to manipulate him out of his valid feelings. Her "I didn't know if I'd ever get to come back home, or if I'd ever see my family and friends again, I didn't know if I'd get to see my mate again!" pissed me off so bad. He didn't know if he was ever going to get to go back home. He didn't know if he'd ever see his family or friends again. He didnt know if he'd ever see his mate again. He also had already been through this once, lost everyone important to him,  was enslaved for a fuckton of time, finally got his freedom and is being dragged back into the same thing- in which he was then tortured and had to watch his friends be tortured! HER OBJECTIVELY HAD IT WORSE THAN YOU DID IN THE ACOTAR WORLD!!!! SO SHUT THE FUCK UP AND LEAVE HIM ALONE. "its like you dont wanna be here"- NONE OF THEM DO!!!!!! none of them WANT to be there, fighting people, risking their lives and loved ones. ---Then you have her taking over 2 royal courts and disbanding everyone else. Like, they can't have power to dictate- but you can? She also wasn't any better than the fae. She was prepared to treat the fae like shit and righteous in it. Bryce lost me in this..

The way she seemed to be oh so special over everyone? Yea, no. She gave "pick me".

Lidia was AMAZING in this. Honestly, carried the entire story. I

never seen her having kids coming- which is both good and bad. Her having them in a magical ceremony kinda came out of nowhere and her having children/a past life wasn't really hinted to that I remember... So while it was an awesome reveal- I feel like she could have hinted at it to add a bit more impact and make us think back and go "HOW DID I NOT KNOW?!" but truthfully, I'd bet this was something she came up with on the spot while writing& that would explain why it wasn't foreshadowed at all.

Ruhn was weird tho... Like a wet sock... There but not useful for much.

Ithan and Therion were..... there... Therion made every stupid decision he could and Ithan swiftly followed in his footsteps.

I was PISSED when Therion jumped onto the pod. Like you selfish fucker. Have you not caused enough problems and burned enough bridges for one day?! Then for Ithan to constantly be on about that fucking Fendyr heir- who's purpose I still don't understand other than being cannon fodder. Also, Don't get me started on the antidote. SO MUCH time was spent on that freaking antidote and all the vials FOR NOTHING. Also, the Perry thing?

Overall, I loved the book and the characters. Just.... disappointed. This book had SO MUCH potential. and honestly, I don't see why she'd write a fourth book.. She's defeated the big bad- why create so many lose, mediocre plot lines to leave unraveled for a 4th book when she could have easily just tied everything up nicely and finished book 3. It's like she's milking it because there really is no reason to keep the story going....

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping, Violence, Genocide, Murder, War, Classism, Confinement, Hate crime, Torture, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Grief, Police brutality, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Racism, and Gun violence

winterwoodbooks's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring 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

5.0

This book had me ugly crying so hard I couldn't read anymore.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Slavery, Vomit, Child abuse, Gaslighting, Fatphobia, Violence, Cannibalism, Genocide, Medical trauma, Sexual content, Death of parent, Alcoholism, Blood, Classism, Murder, Police brutality, Self harm, Sexual assault, Child death, Dysphoria, Medical content, Death, Gun violence, Hate crime, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, Injury/Injury detail, Rape, Sexism, Body horror, Body shaming, Domestic abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Misogyny, Abandonment, Alcohol, Cursing, Gore, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Torture, Kidnapping, Suicidal thoughts, and War

eyeleash's review

dark emotional medium-paced

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

3.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Violence, Cursing, Injury/Injury detail, Torture, Murder, and War

Moderate: Death of parent, Genocide, Gun violence, Physical abuse, and Slavery

Minor: Child abuse

mspencer1998's review

adventurous emotional 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? No

4.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Genocide, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Murder, Physical abuse, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Mental illness, Violence, Drug use, Grief, Colonisation, Cursing, Death, Rape, Sexual content, Slavery, and Torture

tguccione's review

adventurous emotional funny hopeful 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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: War, Death, Murder, Gore, Genocide, Body horror, Torture, Blood, Violence, Gun violence, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Child death, Slavery, Kidnapping, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Death of parent and Pregnancy

midnightrose_reads's review

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

House of Flame and Shadow is the third book in the Crescent City series. It was fun diving back into this urban-fantasy setting and seeing so many beloved characters. It’s action packed and thrilling watching Bryce, Hunt and their friends battle against the Asteri.

My biggest critique of the book though, is its length. I feel the book could have been just as effective between 600 or 700 pages. Perhaps it being multi-POV, contributed to it being 800+ pages. But I think that the plot would have been a lot more propulsive overall (like I felt the first two books were) with a bit of its length trimmed by the editor.

I’m also very much wondering if this is going to be a trilogy or a quartet. The way the book ended (wrapped up but also with a couple of plot threads dangling loose) makes it seem it could go either way.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Genocide, Blood, Death, Torture, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Misogyny, Cursing, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, and War

Moderate: Sexual content

Minor: Alcohol

mads_reads_books's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious sad 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

3.5

I loved a lot of pieces of this book, but as a whole it’s got to be one of my least favorite SJM books. It’s messy and chaotic and there’s just a lot of things that didn’t add anything to the story. I was disappointed by it

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery, Forced institutionalization, Emotional abuse, Death of parent, Confinement, Body horror, Gore, Genocide, Injury/Injury detail, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Gun violence, Colonisation, Classism, Grief, Murder, Drug use, Misogyny, and Kidnapping

booksofautumn's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny 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? It's complicated

4.25

First off I am so grateful for StoryGraph, because it is literally the only app that I was able to truly realistically rate this book I adored this book, and the only reason it isn’t five stars is because the conflict sometimes dragged on a little too much for my liking. I was surprised by every plot twist, and every new development. Seeing the character development was honestly so heartwarming and made me so happy. I am truly so happy with the outcome of this novel

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Abandonment, Classism, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Sexism, Murder, Racism, Violence, Grief, Infertility, Gun violence, War, Addiction, Gore, Pregnancy, Blood, and Genocide

allisonamber's review

adventurous challenging medium-paced

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

2.5

Be prepared to be frustrated by a lot of the characters’ choices throughout the entire book. The middle of the book also felt a bit sluggish. 

MINOR SPOILERS AHEAD:
1. Bryce and Hunt’s reunion felt extremely lacklustre and anticlimactic 
2. Tharion and Ithan’s POVs are infuriating and I have no idea why SJM made these two make so many dumb decisions repeatedly 
3. Bryce didn’t feel nearly as loveable and she was oddly hard on Hunt which didn’t seem to align with the past two books 
4. The ending felt a little rushed and unbelievable as to how the world would change from it
5. Ithan’s so called character development felt very inauthentic 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Genocide, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, War, and Gun violence

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Death, Blood, Confinement, Cursing, Colonisation, and Kidnapping

jennanaps's review

dark tense medium-paced

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

2.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Genocide, Medical content, War, Gun violence, Violence, Sexual violence, Colonisation, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Child death, Pandemic/Epidemic, and Child abuse