Reviews tagging 'Grief'

House of Flame and Shadow by Sarah J. Maas

65 reviews

_meganrose's review against another edition

adventurous emotional tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes

4.0

This teetered between 3 and 5 stars for me throughout the book. Settling on 4 stars. This was by far my favorite book in the Crescent City series. The series is my least favorite in the 16 book SJM universe, but I loved how many dots were connected in this one. Had me on my toes! The varying POV/storylines within a chapter drove me crazy though - please, for goodness sake, just start a new chapter if you’re changing POV/storylines! Or consolidate them! It annoyed me so much. Bryce also annoyed me a lot, but I feel like that’s just how her character is. We learned so much in this book! Ahh! Excited to see which book she releases next.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War and Violence

Moderate: Physical abuse, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual assault, Gun violence, Murder, Gore, Grief, and Death

sierrabowers's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective 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? It's complicated

4.5

This was the best in the Crescent City series! I highly recommend to those who have already read ACOTAR. This book truly made everything come together and so much makes more sense. It ties up loose ends but also makes room for some new storylines. Was different than I thought it would be but also somehow better? 

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Content Warnings

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

j92's review

adventurous emotional fast-paced

• 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? It's complicated

4.0

I do love the crescent city series. Still processing this book to be honest

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Content Warnings

Minor: Grief, War, Xenophobia, Violence, and Sexism

jessicarenz's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious sad tense medium-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

4.5

All of the cut scenes and POV switches were annoying (seriously, going from an action-packed scene with one character to a dull by comparison single paragraph of another scene about a different character, then to yet another character’s completely different scene was not fun). But the third Crescent City book wasn’t bad like I’ve heard some people say; it was a pretty good ending for the characters and overall story while leaving room for spinoffs or additional books down the line. And of course I loved the ACOTAR tie ins. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Blood, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Sexual content, Torture, and Violence

Moderate: Genocide, Gore, Physical abuse, Slavery, War, Excrement, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Kidnapping, Sexual assault, Gun violence, Classism, Domestic abuse, Grief, Excrement, and Confinement

bluehouseonthesalishsea's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious 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? No

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Injury/Injury detail, Xenophobia, Torture, Death, Confinement, Gore, Grief, War, Violence, Physical abuse, Misogyny, Kidnapping, Genocide, Fire/Fire injury, Classism, and Blood

Moderate: Sexual assault

browneyesblue84's review

adventurous emotional hopeful lighthearted 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

 am so happy that I had a chance to read this book. I waited patiently for its release. I cleared my reading schedule just so that I would have enough time to truly immerse myself back into Bryce Quinlan‘s world. Not only did I pre-order is digital copy but I also ordered a physical copy. Yes, I am that much of a fan of this series. 

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. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Sexual content, Injury/Injury detail, War, and Gore

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Drug use, and Cursing

Minor: Grief, Confinement, Abandonment, and Genocide

Hunt, Baxian and Ruhn ‘s torture scene is graphic. There’s a fight scene when Ithan kills Sabine. Tharion is on drugs and is coerced into sex by the viper queen , Bryce and Ruhn kill their father and uncle. and Tharion’s fight scenes in general are rough to read and visualize.

jennipea382's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense 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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Body horror, Slavery, Blood, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Torture, and Violence

Moderate: Misogyny, Classism, Child death, Physical abuse, and Grief

elledanie's review

adventurous 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

5.0

✨🪽🩶🦌👨‍🎤🖤

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, War, Slavery, Sexism, Murder, Violence, Sexual content, Gore, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Gun violence, Pregnancy, Cursing, Death, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Blood, Death of parent, and Confinement

maggies's review

adventurous 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? It's complicated

4.0

Maybe it’s just because I didn’t really want to get to the end of story, but the third installment didn’t quite live up to the first two books. Pros are that I just love everyone in the main cast. There are no duds for me among Bryce and her group of friends and family. I also think the links between the books and the mysteries slowly unraveling are well done and enthralling. But after reading Throne of Glass, ACOTAR, and Crescent City, my biggest complaint about Maasworld is that the timelines make no sense.

This whole book takes place in the span of a week. Are their days longer than 24 hours? Is a week longer than 7 days? I’m confused. This is a similar issue in her other books, and it will always baffle me.

 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Torture, Death, Violence, and Murder

sam_gartley91's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful 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? No

3.75

Loved it! And really anything SJM does. But it was really whiplashy with multiple pov in the same chapter. And that Bryce seemed to be doing some of the work off page at times so she knew things the audience didn’t. She did that last book too and it wasn’t my fav. It wasn’t like that the audience was learning with her. It bugged me a bit. The fantasy meets sci-fi was interesting and I don’t think I’ve seen that before. There are still some characters that I would love to learn more about. Like what is fury?!! So I’m curious where if anywhere SjM is going next with this series world. The cross over wasn’t exactly what I expected good at times and a little let down at others. I really just wanted them all to be friends!! Which maybe in the future they will/could get there. But overall SjM did seem to tie everything up in a bow. Now it’s for the world to reset itself up. Overall loved it but wish it was difffernt at times.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Death of parent, Grief, Torture, Violence, Blood, Body horror, Cannibalism, Death, Gun violence, Classism, and War

Moderate: Police brutality, Cursing, Misogyny, Slavery, Kidnapping, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Excrement and Abandonment