Reviews tagging 'War'

Crown of Midnight by Sarah J. Maas

62 reviews

angelofthetardis's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.5

As with my 'Throne of Glass' listen, I do think I got more out of the physical book (which I have reviewed previously) - my reading pace means I can work my way through the plot quickly and keep things moving, but listening at a predetermined speed means this feels a lot slower. This one is also a LOT of worldbuilding and set up for the main story arc, and this early on there are a lot of unanswered questions, which also drags the narrative down.

I'll say it now; I don't really get all the shade people throw at Chaol. No, he isn't my favourite character, but I get the sense that he genuinely just wants to do the right thing for his country, himself and his friends. He may not always achieve the desired result, but it's not him being malicious, it's just how he's wired. The audiobook for me only reinforces this view. 

I appreciate that the 'reveal' in this doesn't come as a surprise to me as this was a reread, but if it was I think I'd have had a bigger reaction to it by reading the physical book. The narration is as good as ever, but there's just something about this section that falls a bit flat for me - it doesn't give me that heightened heartbeat or that build up and crash of a wave that should come from a big moment. 

In accordance with SJM's instructions, Assassin's Blade is up next.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Slavery, Gore, Confinement, Violence, Death, and Kidnapping

Minor: War, Medical content, Rape, Death of parent, Grief, Suicide attempt, Vomit, Xenophobia, and Sexual content

booksinherhead's review against another edition

Read this for the second time almost ten years after reading it the first time–this time around doing a buddy read so I can finally finish this series. Let me tell you I am IN THIS. Very invested. So far I've definitely been tracking how each book feels individually versus in the larger series arc. Each book ends with the promise of things to come, for sure, but I'm not feeling frustrated by cliffhangers or "filler books." Onward!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Murder, Death, and Blood

Moderate: War, Physical abuse, Grief, Death of parent, Torture, and Slavery

Minor: Sexual content

wanderingghost12's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

A great sequel to the first "Throne of Glass!" I enjoyed this book more than the first one! SJM is great at keeping you hooked with a mystery! Though the ending felt a little obvious, I loved how it came to pass.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and Violence

Moderate: Grief, War, Blood, Gore, and Slavery

noerlund's review against another edition

adventurous medium-paced

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

4.5

I really liked this one! A lot better than book number one! It’s like the story is really taking off now. Looking forward to read the next one! 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death of parent, Grief, Racism, Genocide, Xenophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Slavery, Death, Torture, Violence, and War

Minor: Sexual content

emis_books's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring 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? Yes

5.0

Really great book. I love Sarah J. Maas’ writing style. I love the characters so much and it really made me feel everything. Screaming, crying, throwing up.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Blood, Death, Gaslighting, and Murder

Minor: Slavery, War, and Torture

WHY DID NEHEMIA HAVE TO DIEEE. I also shipped Chaol and Celaena but whyyy did it have to end like this… also if something would’ve happened to Fleetwood j would’ve lost it.

cait's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Violence, Classism, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Confinement, Xenophobia, Abandonment, Child abuse, Gore, Vomit, Physical abuse, War, Alcohol, Body horror, Child death, Death, Addiction, Torture, Blood, Murder, Slavery, Cursing, Death of parent, Dysphoria, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Stalking, Grief, Misogyny, and Self harm

mrsalexisrjones's review against another edition

adventurous challenging 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? It's complicated

5.0

The kings champions mission is to defeat those that attempt to rise against the king. The problem, she herself hates the king. In her search for the kings hidden power source, Caelena finds herself connecting to  her past and the future freedom that she seeks.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death, and Grief

Moderate: Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Murder, Violence, and Torture

Minor: War, Slavery, Animal cruelty, Death of parent, and Sexual content

aj9moon'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: Violence

Moderate: Blood

Minor: War

mangofraiche's review

adventurous emotional mysterious sad tense medium-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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Stalking, Violence, Kidnapping, Slavery, Death of parent, Murder, Death, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, War, Blood, Confinement, and Colonisation

charlie_reads101's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional 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? Yes

4.0

The first half of the book was rather slow, which I can get, making things slow down before all hell breaks loose. Abd boy did all hell break loose! Some of these lines were so powerfull, but I shall not spoil a thing and leave it for the readers to enjoyyyy

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, Suicide, and War