Reviews tagging 'Fire/Fire injury'

House of Flame and Shadow by Sarah J. Maas

81 reviews

amy_in_the_city's review

adventurous dark emotional slow-paced

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

3.0

This book was just OK. It did have some major issues and was definitely my least favorite of the three books in this series. I'm just glad to have a conclusion to the Asteri plotline, even if the final battle was underwhelming.

The book suffered from pacing problems. The first third of the book dragged on and on, with Bryce spending way too much time wandering through tunnels looking at art. Maybe it would have been a bit more interesting if we at least got some angst from Bryce, but it felt like she wasn't all that concerned about her mate and brother being in grave danger. There was no sense of urgency on her part to rescue them from being tortured and maybe eventually executed. Then, later in the book, we get to follow along as Bryce wanders through tunnels again. Not exactly riveting stuff. 

There were also too many POVs happening to allow enough time with the main characters. I really didn't care about Ithan's and Tharion's storylines and dreaded every time it switched back to their POVs. They were mostly just those two characters making stupid mistakes followed by a lot of self loathing. I hope they make Tharion much more interesting and likeable if he's going to feature prominently in the next book. I did like his marriage of convenience subplot and think there is interesting potential there.

Bryce and Hunt's relationship was a mess in this book, and I really didn't like Bryce much. She never communicates her plans with Hunt. Then even though Hunt is blindly following her into danger, she picks fights with him because he isn't enthusiastic about being there. How can he be 100% on board with her plans when he doesn't know what they are? She doesn't seem to care that this is only a couple days after he got back from spending several days being brutally tortured for allowing her to drag him into this mess. Or that the situation is reminiscent of how things went with Shahar and to say that ended tragically would be an understatement. Bryce was being so disrespectful towards Hunt and his trauma because she wanted to look like a badass with gotcha moments and zingers. Really, it feels like most of her plans were half-baked at best, and they only work out in her favor because of plot armor. It didn't feel like an equal partnership between the main couple. Bryce just does whatever she wants, doesn't tell Hunt, and leaves him to deal with the consequences. At least she does apologize to Hunt for being a dick at one point, but I'd prefer if she didn't spend most of the book acting like a dick to begin with.

Ruhn and Lidia were this book's saving grace. I kept wishing they were the main couple because they were great, and I wanted the story to spend more time with them. Lidia was such a badass, so clever and sneaky. I love sneaky characters who know how to play along with the game in order to achieve their goals and there aren't nearly enough leading women out there like this. I don't know that we got enough justification for why she joined the evil side to begin with though, and I feel like the explanation for why she changed sides was kind of flimsy. Ruhn is almost perfect in every way, with a major exception for

when he shot Lidia to try to save her. That was kind of a patriarchal bullshit move.

. I still love him so much. 

Other characters I really liked spending time with in this book were Nesta, Azriel, Hypaxia, and Aidas.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation, Genocide, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Confinement, Sexism, Sexual content, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Murder, Violence, Gore, Slavery, Torture, War, and Death

Moderate: Addiction, Child abuse, Sexual harassment, Excrement, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Sexual assault, Classism, Drug use, and Sexual violence

Minor: Domestic abuse, Vomit, Child death, Medical content, and Pregnancy

unboundbooklover's review against another edition

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? No

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Torture, War, Violence, and Death of parent

Moderate: Death, Slavery, Gore, Confinement, Blood, Sexual content, and Gun violence

Minor: Fire/Fire injury and Vomit

ashleynp24'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
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

Loved the book, I wish the ACOTAR characters had a bit more time in the books but I’m glad that Nesta was the main character in the crossover. I felt that everything kind of got summed up really nicely. Lidia probably turned out to be my favorite character, and the hint she’s related to Brannon, and therefore Aelin was wild. I do want to know what happened with Sathia and where Ariadne was considering she appears at the end and that’s the last of that chapter.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Cannibalism, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, Violence, War, Child abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Slavery, Blood, Body horror, Classism, Vomit, Death, Gore, Genocide, Gun violence, Hate crime, Physical abuse, and Torture

josxphinchen's review

dark funny tense slow-paced

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

0.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Cursing, Death, Sexism, Torture, Excrement, Misogyny, Body horror, Cannibalism, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Sexual violence, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual content, Gaslighting, Gore, Physical abuse, Slavery, Violence, Vomit, and War

novel_nibbles's review against another edition

adventurous emotional tense medium-paced

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

3.5

Unfortunately I didn’t enjoy House of Flame and Shadow as much as I had anticipated. I think the main reason was I just couldn’t connect with MC Bryce is the same way I had in the previous books and I wasn’t really interested in her romance with Hunt. I was invested enough in the story to finish the book but I have to admit to listening to the audiobook at 1.5 (something I’ve never done before) to just get through it! 

Despite my disappointments SJM is still an auto buy author 

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Torture, Cannibalism, Blood, Confinement, Addiction, Injury/Injury detail, Fire/Fire injury, Violence, and Grief

Potential spoilers ahead… *I loved the romance between Rune & Lydia and could have read about them ALL DAY * I need a marriage of convenience book about Tharion and Sathia. She was such spunky character and I would have loved to know her better and while we’re at it I need a HEA for our girl Hypaxia. *I didn’t mind Ithans ARC but honestly if I have to hear him mention sun ball one more bloody time or the scent of a particular omega one.more.time * I liked how SJM touch upon the potential chaos follow the change in management and power vacuum. It’s definitely something I’ve seen neglected in other books

rhiannon_burden's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

I enjoyed this book at the root of it but Bryce was absolutely insufferable for the most part, she spent half the book complaining about the fae being selfish and callous and then proceeded to do exactly the same. She is essentially a hypocrite and I have no idea how Hunt puts up with her considering how horrible she was to him throughout. But despite what appears to be the popular opinion I enjoyed Ithan and Tharions stories as they had intricacies that others were lacking. There are some clear set ups for the next book namely the return of Ariadne at the end but otherwise the story felt finished as most ends were tied up.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Sexism, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual content, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Violence, Gore, Kidnapping, Sexual assault, Excrement, Genocide, War, Grief, Gun violence, Torture, Animal death, Blood, Cursing, Death, Misogyny, Racism, Rape, and Slavery

princessrory's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny 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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, Blood, Confinement, Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Sexual content, Torture, Toxic relationship, War, Sexual assault, Excrement, Cursing, Gore, Gun violence, Slavery, Grief, Death, Colonisation, Physical abuse, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Child death, Addiction, Drug use, Classism, Domestic abuse, and Drug abuse

Minor: Pregnancy and Vomit

neliadiedenise's review against another edition

adventurous informative tense 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? No

3.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Gun violence, Medical trauma, Sexism, Torture, Animal death, Blood, Sexual assault, Classism, Vomit, Body horror, Confinement, Kidnapping, Rape, Sexual content, Slavery, Death, Excrement, Gore, Murder, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Violence

amateur_bookworm's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious 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

My summary: After everything goes terribly wrong in their stand against the Asteri, Hunt, Ruhn and Baxian are now being tortured in the Asteri dungeon and Bryce is—gone. Bryce has found her way to another world and is now desperate to return to Midgard in her quest to save it. Tharion has returned to Lunathion and is fighting for the Viper Queen in her ring, as he promised before everything went sideways with the Asteri and Ophion. Ithan, Flynn, and Declan are trying to get any intel of what’s happening to Bryce, Ruhn and Hunt. When help comes from unexpected places to break Hunt, Ruhn, and Baxian from the clutches of the Asteri, Bryce and Hunt must continue fighting to save their world, but with impossible odds stacked against them. 

My thoughts: I loved it. I love the entire Crescent City series. I love ACOTAR too and the blending of the two worlds was the cherry on top. I’m not going to lie, this one took me awhile to get through. There is just SO MUCH packed in here. I loved all of the main characters and the way Sarah J. Maas wove their stories together and switched between the character’s points of view. True to every other book Sarah J. Maas writes, all hell breaks loose in the last hundred or so pages. I know there is supposed to be at least one more Crescent City book, but I’m content with the ending of this one. I feel like the series *could* end here, even though I am excited for the eventual continuation of the series, and for the foreshadowing of what is to come in the ACOTAR series. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Confinement, Death, Gore, Kidnapping, Murder, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, War, Cursing, Physical abuse, Sexual content, and Slavery

Moderate: Grief, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury

smkelly1997's review

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful fast-paced

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

4.5

1. SJM has done it again. The plot, the development, drawing you into the story. The most amazing part for me was
   the connection between TOG, ACOTAR, and CC. I didn’t even realize Brann was the king talked about in the first book. It also made me wonder about Lidia connection to it all
   . Overall a great book. I cannot wait for more. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Classism, Confinement, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Genocide, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Slavery, and War