Reviews tagging 'Murder'

Crown of Midnight by Sarah J. Maas

257 reviews

elisabethjoe's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Murder, and Death

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

mblanke's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Stalking, Grief, Violence, Slavery, and Murder

Moderate: Sexual content and Confinement

savvyrosereads's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring mysterious tense medium-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

5.0

Updated Review (June 2024):

Still fantastic. Dorian really grew on me this time around, and all the little hints and bits of foreshadowing are really just so fun to catch on a reread. Thoroughly enjoyed!

Original Review (March 2023):

Rating: 5/5 stars.

Splendid, perfect, marvelous, a bunch more adjectives. I was already enjoying this series but this is definitely the one that truly hooked me after the midway point.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Grief, Murder, Death, and Slavery

Moderate: Suicide attempt and Death of parent

Minor: Child death and Torture

torturedreadersdept's review

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? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Slavery, Blood, Death, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Stalking, Toxic friendship, Dysphoria, Grief, Murder, Gaslighting, Torture, Confinement, Animal cruelty, Vomit, and Toxic relationship

mrsjburgin's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Slavery, Violence, Kidnapping, Trafficking, Torture, Grief, Confinement, Blood, Abandonment, Murder, and Animal cruelty

juliapatt2007's review against another edition

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

In this book, Celaena loses some of her teenage insecurities and becomes more of a truly badass assassin which is what I wanted from her. While she still has some moral hangups when she kills I appreciate that the author allows her intense training to take over. There is really nothing more annoying than when a character trains for years under a merciless teacher and then has pages long internal monologues when they try to kill someone. I appreciate that while Celaena does have qualms after her kills she doesn’t let that stop her from finishing the job when it’s necessary.

I was sad to see Nehemia go but I did feel that her death was critical for moving the plot along and exposing Archer’s teachery. I personally was happy to see Archer killed off at the end of the book by Celaena. The author does a good job of keeping the balance in that Celaena has compassions towards her targets but that is a thin layer easy to break when they say something wrong. 

 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual content, Death, Murder, and Violence

Immediately from the start of the book you can tell that Chaol and Celaena are destined for more of a romantic relationship in this book. They have sex several times and most of the descriptions come from flashbacks so I wouldn’t say it was to graphic. That being said I anticipate more graphic scenes as the series continues just based on character development. Another element that was added in this book was the character Archer the courtesan.

While I wouldn’t say that the sex scenes or sexual overtures are graphic younger readers should be aware of these things. The language was pretty on par for the previous books (hell, bastard, ass, bitch, shit).

tabea1409's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious 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? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Gore, Stalking, Torture, Murder, Violence, Death, Slavery, Grief, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, and Genocide

nicklybear's review against another edition

mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Gore, Grief, Murder, Violence, Toxic friendship, and Death

Moderate: Kidnapping and Genocide

Minor: Death of parent

reghan_32's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad 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

I am just so attached to these characters…I know the third book is about to go absolutely insane!!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Murder, and Gore

Moderate: Death

Minor: Slavery