Reviews tagging 'Slavery'

Usvatuulen valtakunta by Sarah J. Maas

103 reviews

taylorroseship's review against another edition

adventurous challenging 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Gore, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, War, and Injury/Injury detail

abbywilson's review against another edition

adventurous lighthearted 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? Yes

4.25

When i told a friend of mine that i HATED ACOTAR and would not be wasting my time on the sequels, she smiled knowingly and said “you wont hate the series if you read ACOMAF”. 

And i’ll be honest, she was right. This is a much more enjoyable read compared to the first book. From the get-go Feyre’s character is far more interesting and well thought out than the stroppy, sloppy, ignorant-teen we got in book one (due to her ptsd and trauma from events of first book - see my review for ACOTAR grr - but better than nothing). There is also a lot more time spent on the plot, fleshing out Prythian and our characters. And let me tell you, if an author can make you hate a character who was meh book one, it’s a good book.  Not having to slog through predictable and dull plot (re: book one) was refreshing, but i’m not sure if the vast improvement (to the plot, writing style, flow, etc.) was drastically heightened by the inadequacies of the first.

The mental powers that develop between rhys and feyre are interesting and almost funny in their sincere contradictions. His mental, eternal walls purring like a cat. WHAT DO YOU MEAN SARAH IM GOING CRAZY!?!?! the light hearted tone of the first half and the absolutely bonkers second half made this a really enjoyable read. 

At some points writing reverts back to these underdeveloped petty characters, it was so frustrating and i LOVE IT. I think Sarah J Maas’ style is super eclectic and inconsistent, but shifting tone between steamy fantasy romance bits, gory torture and adventure somehow works for her. And the cliffhanger ending - so suspenseful!! Definitely not a literary masterpiece but in such a good way.

TLDR: if you hated book one, read this, if you have a couple free days and are keen for some bad-boy gets girl romance then read this

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Violence, and Blood

Moderate: Slavery

Minor: Sexual assault

lauradanby's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny sad tense medium-paced

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

3.0

I quite enjoyed this book! Being not overly complicated, it was a great way to end each night as an escape to take my mind off work. I also love an enemies to lovers trope which this novel did well. Was a bit slow in the middle but I must say the last few chapters had me hooked. Rhys is so dreamy and I must say Amren was one of my faves my the end. 

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Content Warnings

Minor: Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, and Murder

sabelcook's review against another edition

adventurous slow-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: Confinement, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Rape, Slavery, and Violence

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Confinement, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Kidnapping, and Murder

Moderate: Slavery, Stalking, and War

Minor: Abandonment

elthechameleon'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? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

Definitely read the second book. The first one was horrible, but I think that this teaches

people who romanticize abusive relationships to really take a look at why we laud those dynamics. It is kinda brilliant on the part of Maas.

 
I keep coming back to this book and rereading it because the found family scenes are so wonderful. I skip over all the parts I find annoying. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Grief, and Gaslighting

raenyreads's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious slow-paced

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

5.0

I liked the first book in this series, enough to give this one a go. I'm so glad I did, honestly I was blown away by this book and loved it so much. I can't wait to read the next one!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Slavery, Torture, Grief, and Murder

delia008's review against another edition

adventurous medium-paced

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

2.5

i had 50 pages left and no will to finish this book. so it took me some time to finish it. was it good? was it bad??? i have no idea

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Death, Misogyny, Slavery, Blood, and Death of parent

mariareviews's review against another edition

adventurous slow-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

Love— love was a balm as much as it was a poison.

I truly enjoyed this book! Feyre’s sensibility, trauma, and overall despair can be easily perceived and notice. You can see how she slowly starts falling out of love and how through her eyes it looks like everything is crumbling away.  We can also notice when things start going up again and how she slowly acquires this new “family” and a place for her to actually be her.

Overall, I really enjoyed how J. Mass didn’t paint her (Feyre’s) life after “war” as some sort of fantasy after being a hero. It demonstrated how much cruelty she faced, how weak she felt, how violated (physically and emotionally) she was, and overall how Feyre and everyone around her failed to understand that although she was this sort of god-like creature she still maintained the mentality and fragility of a human.

Also, I despise Tamlin with every cell of my body.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Slavery and Torture

joannacarr's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Murder

Minor: Confinement, Eating disorder, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Slavery, Torture, Toxic relationship, Blood, Vomit, Stalking, and Death of parent