Reviews tagging 'Colonisation'

Queen of Shadows by Sarah J. Maas

16 reviews

merrow's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful 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

Throughout this book, the action sequences are very well crafted to fit both the setting and the characters. Some of these characters really come into their own here, and the plot takes a direction that feels fitting but I didn’t fully expect.

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Miscarriage, Violence, Body horror, Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, Murder, and Blood

Minor: Colonisation, Death, Death of parent, Physical abuse, Suicide attempt, Torture, Slavery, Pregnancy, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Adult/minor relationship, and Sexual content

liesthemoontells's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring 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

3.75

Continues the strong character development and worldbuilding that Maas delivered in Heir of Fire, with some satisfying plot twists and emotional breakthroughs for various characters. 

This is also the first book that starts to get properly horny.

Many of the descriptions  are starting to become repetitive - there are only so many times that I can read that someone was "covered in black blood" or had "eyes lined with silver" (just say they're filled with tears jfc). Also the way that Maas describes territorial Fae males is already exhausting, and the lack of nuance between familial vs romantic territorialism makes a big middle chunk of the book seem uncomfortably incest-y.

Overall this is stronger than the first two entries in the series and makes me excited to continue reading, but imo, a small step down in quality from Heir of Fire. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Domestic abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Violence, Body horror, Blood, Forced institutionalization, Colonisation, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Genocide, Gore, Grief, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Pregnancy, Murder, Self harm, Suicide, Torture, War, and Vomit

Minor: Incest

im_eebee's review

adventurous dark emotional inspiring reflective fast-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

4.75

This book was just amazing. Everything picked up in the last book, and this one just ran with it in the best way possible. I have to give it 4.75 because I technically didn’t like it as much as Heir of Fire, but this is definitely one of my top reads ever.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Blood, Kidnapping, Colonisation, Emotional abuse, Animal death, Sexual harassment, Slavery, Ableism, Sexual violence, Classism, Grief, Gaslighting, and Murder

gabbyeleene'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? No

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Child death, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Death of parent, Rape, Slavery, Torture, Fire/Fire injury, and Colonisation

madalynn_owens's review against another edition

adventurous challenging mysterious 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? It's complicated

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery, Violence, and War

Moderate: Sexual assault, Colonisation, Child death, Sexual violence, Medical trauma, Rape, Death of parent, and Miscarriage

britwalsh16's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious tense 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

I could not put this book down! Omg! It was sooooo good!!! 
Watching Aelin become who she was always meant to be & fight for her loved ones & what is right, is inspiring! The growth she has had since book 1 is in incredible! 
And the bromance between Chaol & Dorian is like my favorite bromance ever! Coming in second only to my bat boys. 
All the characters have incredible growth in this book! & I could go on about how much I love them all, but then this will get really long, so I won’t. 
But my favorite character is Rowan! & having him not being in the first third of the book gave me serious withdrawal! My heart just leaped out of my chest when he finally showed up! I was so ecstatic! I can’t wait to read more of him, & more of his relationship with Aelin! My heart! 💜 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, War, Classism, Death, Child abuse, Colonisation, Grief, Physical abuse, Slavery, Vomit, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Stalking, Torture, Blood, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Body horror, Cannibalism, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Abandonment, Alcohol, Bullying, Child death, Genocide, Cursing, Medical content, Toxic friendship, Trafficking, and Excrement

Minor: Miscarriage and Pregnancy

wishlissa's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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

My favorite in the TOG series so far! This feels like the mid-season finale and I'm excited for it to come back with a bang. Every once in a while something happens in an SJM book that's frustrating -- but where other authors draw it out, SJM resolves the characters' stumbles and issues in a way that's timely and satisfying. What more could you want?

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief and Violence

Moderate: Colonisation and Confinement

Minor: Physical abuse, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Emotional abuse, Blood, Death, Vomit, Slavery, Torture, Murder, and Pregnancy

dalek_caan's review against another edition

adventurous dark hopeful 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? Yes

5.0

This book had me on the edge of my seat. The last one in the series was a little bit slow to read, but this one was moving from start to finish. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Vomit, Gore, War, Death, Torture, Suicide attempt, Slavery, Sexual violence, Self harm, Rape, Pregnancy, Physical abuse, Murder, Miscarriage, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Genocide, Fire/Fire injury, Emotional abuse, Death of parent, Confinement, Colonisation, Child abuse, Body horror, and Blood

Minor: Ableism

miraileah's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense 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? Yes

4.25

4.25? I can see this remaining my favorite book in this series. I loved the new characters we met, and the new dimensions of the originals. I thought the political stuff was fun, and the relationship(s?) were all very interesting. I really liked Aelin’s internal world in this and the last book, she’s obviously learning a lot and doing her best to manage all of her new responsibilities as a /19 year old/ (holy hell they’re all so baby). Particularly the section where she initially comes home and deals with Arobynn again. He’s such a scumbag, but he meant a lot to her. I thought Aelin’s hesitance surrounding Arobynn made a lot of sense, and was written well. 

I think SJM loves writing stories about overcoming trauma, and I think she does a really good job of it! She thrives writing angst, and I was definitely on the edge of my seat waiting to see what happened next during much of this book. I’m most curious to see where Elide’s story takes her, as well as Nesryn. Both of them have been through a lot, but I think they’ll really shine in the coming books. I also love Manon and Lysandra, through the whole cast of characters has had moments where they’ve shined. Looking forward to the tandem read of EOS and TOD!

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Colonisation, Death, Gore, Grief, and Blood

Moderate: Vomit, Miscarriage, and Slavery

undecidedpersonality's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring 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

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Vomit, Blood, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Cursing, Death of parent, Miscarriage, Murder, Physical abuse, and Violence

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Torture, Medical content, War, Confinement, Slavery, Abandonment, Medical trauma, Domestic abuse, Ableism, Pregnancy, Genocide, and Sexual violence

Minor: Classism, Sexual content, Child death, Colonisation, Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Child abuse