Reviews tagging 'Suicidal thoughts'

Kingdom of Ash by Sarah J. Maas

72 reviews

gretchenplz's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful 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

3.5

3/5 ETA: I can't stop calling this a poor woman's LOTR, so, clearly, I'm still mad about things.

Now that I'm done, I will state that I think reading "The Assassin's Blade" first is the way to go. Not somewhere in the middle. I would have cared more about Sam to not already know his demise and would have been so much more overjoyed at the return of characters in the final books would have felt more rewarding and not an "Oh, I figured they'd be back."

I will concede that I definitely enjoyed this book more than I had others. I have quarrels (many), but I am happy I read the series, and I'm surprisingly settled with the ending.

After what happened with Nesta, I'm usually on team "Let the lady keep her powers," but I have been on team "Aelin needs to lose her powers" since Day 1. The girl was already nearing future tyrant status before she discovered her powers, so her giving them up makes sense and is a logical way to let everyone live in the end.

This book was definitely the best in terms of Aelin as a character. This was definitely her at her least annoying (which is certainly saying something, since she is definitely still annoying as fuck), and I did spy some character growth. Finally.

I stand by saying that Aelin and Rowan are the least interesting characters in the series, with Yrene, Chaol, Elide, Lorcan, Manon and the Thirteen, and Dorian just exponentially more compelling, complicated, and worth rooting for. It takes more for a character to be interesting and strong than for them to simply be hot, snarky, and possess otherworldly powers. This is a weakness when it comes to SJM's main characters, 100%.

I also think that she really does herself a disservice by forcing her characters to do things outside their established character set, sewing discontent that she very quickly has to walk back to bring pairs back together. Not every romance needs to have a third-act breakup (Aedion & Lysandra, Elide & Lorcan).

I'm glad that Chaol got the redemption he deserved. He should never have needed it from the beginning, as I don't think that he ever did anything wrong, but I digress.

Manon and the Thriteen. That's all I will say. They might have left a permanent mark on me.

My biggest issue with this book and SJM in particular is the plagiarism. I am not stupid. I know that, across the fantasy genre, there are certain things that crossover from story to story. That there are certain things that will be in every fantasy book that is written. However, authors need to make their use of these concepts unique, to not just blatantly steal dialogue and scenes directly from the works of others. The number of times I went "Hey, that's just like in Lord of the Rings" was too many to count, and that is just endlessly disappointing. I could say the same with Game of Thrones, Harry Potter, and even Grey's Anatomy. If I read your dialogue and can immediately place that dialogue as iconic dialogue from another series, you've got an issue. ETA (2/23): Currently rewatching ATLA and screaming because she blatantly stole from this, too!!!!!! The tunnel under the mountains??? GIRL PLEASE>

My other main issue is the fact that SJM clearly did not plan a single thing about this series from the beginning. She didn't even plan anything about this book from the beginning. The surprise reveal of the Fae and Wofl People at the end is a case in point. Just another "Oh, Aelin and Rowan are just smarter and cleverer than everyone else!" It's obvious because of all the storylines that just had to be BOOP quickly ended in this last book so we could BOOP wrap up other plotlines.

Also, this book could have been 400 pages shorter. Fight me.

TW: PTSD, trauma response, etc. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts and Torture

yarisbooksandbevs's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful inspiring 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

5.0

What a great finale. I don’t have much to say. I cried. I laughed. I was STRESSED it was emotional and inspiring. I loved the characters, their growth throughout, and the way they tackle their problems. I love the thirteen. Yrene is amazing and all of the women throughout this story are badass.

I did feel like there were a few moments where the story dragged but not enough to take away from the general impact of the story.  So many amazing moments

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, and War

Moderate: Confinement, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Suicide attempt, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Animal death

ruthannejoy's review against another edition

adventurous dark sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Torture, Violence, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal death, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Mental illness, Slavery, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Suicidal thoughts

infjkiki's review against another edition

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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual content, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Excrement, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Rape and Sexual assault

ashleynp24's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring 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

This was the perfect ending to the 8 book series. All of the plot lines finally converging, the battles, it was all done so well. Highly recommend doing the tandem before this. It felt like it trickled into this perfectly. 

I spent so much of the end crying, but the worst deaths for me were the thirteen. Their sacrifice had me sobbing for an hour. The character growth for all of the characters was such a fun thing to read.

I’m truly sad the series is over but the happy ending was worth it. One of the best books I’ve read in a long time.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, and War

laura_nel13's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Torture, Violence, Blood, and War

Moderate: Death, Gore, Grief, Pregnancy, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Animal death, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, and Death of parent

kallik's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

My other favorite of the series, it’s so so good and I love it and I love Throne of Glass!!! These are my favorite characters and I love them and think about them every day. 

Note - read this when in a good mental state. Some of the stuff in here is quite hard to read. The first time around I wasn’t in the best place, so this book struck very deeply then. 

This is such a great end to a massive world, with parts of all the books twining together very well. I loved the ending!! My favorite series ever 💚🤍

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, Torture, Violence, and War

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts and Death of parent

erafact's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring sad fast-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Torture, Grief, and War

Moderate: Death and Mental illness

Minor: Miscarriage, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, and Pregnancy

ladydeathnesta's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

I love this series. I feel like the end of the plot was a bit rushed and the characters got stagnant towards the end, but that’s not the most terrible thing! It was very intense and enjoyable!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

ojone's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• 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 and War

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Rape and Vomit