Reviews tagging 'Medical trauma'

House of Earth and Blood by Sarah J. Maas

48 reviews

angelofthetardis's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense slow-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

3.5

The third of Sarah J Maas' fantasy series, Crescent City brings the world of Fae, angels, witches, werewolves and a host of other magical creatures into a modern setting. We follow Bryce Quinlan, a half-Fae twenty something who parties hard with her friends, hates her boss and is living a some what ordinary life, until a horrific murder changes her life forever. 

My first reaction was that it was an odd juxtaposition; people with various magical abilities driving cars, using mobile phones and enjoying Saturday night sport, and while the author of course makes it work, I wasn't as easily able to immerse myself in the world; the intrusion of the familiar made it harder to suspend my disbelief. Imagining an avenging angel slobbing out on the couch wearing a baseball cap and football jersey, wings and all, is brilliant, funny and certainly more relatable than a lot of the other males in Maas' writing (even if he does share the usual trait of the ultimate ripped body), but that's precisely the issue. I like my fantasy characters to be precisely that - fantasies. 

I enjoyed the characterisations of both the individuals and the different beings very much; there are a lot more shades of grey in here, which definitely makes the reading more interesting. However, there are a LOT of creatures to get to know, and at times I found it hard to keep track of everything. There's not much of an 'on ramp' with this world; you're dropped almost straight into the middle of it and left to fend for yourself, picking things up as you go. And where in her other series there have been some similarities that allow you to grasp basic concepts, again this setting is so different it's a lot harder to establish the ground rules. 

Similarly, understanding the structure and hierarchy of the world isn't exactly straightforward. I do like the Roman-inspired feel of the city as a whole, but it took me a while to get to grips with the angelic legions, the Aux and so on. It's just a lot to wrap your head around.

I would say that this story doesn't flow quite as well as her other works either. The story has certainly been well mapped out in the author's head, but the writing somehow just feels a bit clunky - the development of the relationship between Bryce and Hunt, while clearly inevitable, just seems to happen in the blink of an eye, rather than via the slow build which Maas is so good at. And some of the twists aren't so much shocking as head-scratchingly confusing. 

I'm thinking this one might be a 'soaker' - it just needs to marinade in my head for a while before I 'get' it in the same was as TOG and ACOTAR. Also wondering if the graphic audio version might help. I do want to see where the series goes and how we end up at the spoilers I've heard about the end of book 2, but I am hoping for better next time around...

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Torture, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Drug use, and Murder

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Medical trauma, Drug abuse, Sexual harassment, Medical content, Alcohol, Gun violence, Cursing, Sexual content, and War

Minor: Animal cruelty, Bullying, Vomit, and Car accident

autumn0587's review

adventurous emotional mysterious slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Slavery, Blood, Murder, Medical trauma, Violence, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Alcohol, and Alcoholism

Minor: Domestic abuse

riosblu's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful sad 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Blood, Medical trauma, and Grief

Moderate: Abandonment, Classism, Drug use, Drug abuse, Suicide attempt, Alcohol, Bullying, Slavery, and Violence

ladydeathnesta's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring mysterious reflective 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

I feel like I’m cheating on Silver Flames because I don’t know if I like this one better.

I love them equally.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Emotional abuse, Toxic friendship, Dementia, Drug abuse, Fatphobia, Gaslighting, Medical trauma, War, Xenophobia, Fire/Fire injury, Police brutality, Ableism, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Kidnapping, Medical content, Misogyny, Classism, Cursing, Death of parent, Eating disorder, Mental illness, Death, Hate crime, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Alcohol, Colonisation, Body horror, Child abuse, Animal death, Body shaming, Dysphoria, Genocide, Grief, Bullying, Car accident, Murder, Sexism, Sexual harassment, Slavery, Torture, Forced institutionalization, Pandemic/Epidemic, Racial slurs, Racism, Religious bigotry, Animal cruelty, Blood, Drug use, Stalking, Toxic relationship, Violence, Vomit, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Deportation, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Rape, Self harm, Trafficking, Abandonment, and Addiction

infjkiki's review

adventurous emotional mysterious 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? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Confinement, Gaslighting, Gun violence, Cursing, Death, Gore, Emotional abuse, Medical trauma, Physical abuse, Self harm, Body horror, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Slavery, Classism, Drug use, Grief, Blood, Bullying, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Murder

Moderate: War, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Domestic abuse and Death of parent

reesespuff6's review

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious relaxing 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? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Physical abuse, Suicide attempt, Injury/Injury detail, Sexism, Medical trauma, Child death, Forced institutionalization, Genocide, Medical content, Murder, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Confinement, Gore, Sexual harassment, Sexual content, Grief, Alcohol, Classism, Cursing, Death, Drug use, and Gun violence

1navn's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Drug abuse, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Medical trauma

merwhale2's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad 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 have not had a book make me cry with anger, sadness, joy, etc. in a long time. This is my favorite series by SJM so far in her writing career. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Gun violence, Medical trauma, Violence, Slavery, Vomit, War, Drug abuse, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, and Torture

amartin48's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense medium-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

4.5

This book is just beautiful. It has mystery and intrigue, but it’s about pain and the love of found family that runs so deep, not even death can diminish it. The emotions portrayed in this book are so honest and accurate that I found myself in tears by the end. Maas did all of these characters justice, and portrayed lovely ideas in a bold and not-cheesy sort of way. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt, Violence, Slavery, Grief, Addiction, Alcohol, Medical trauma, Gore, Sexual content, Injury/Injury detail, Panic attacks/disorders, Murder, and Gun violence

mattiedancer's review

adventurous emotional sad 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

Writing: 4⭐️/5 

The writing is solid throughout the novel. At points, the writing really shined through, but I found it very hard to parse the novel at the beginning. In fact, the first fifty pages (give or take ten to twenty) felt almost unedited. The grammar and spelling were fine, but the info dumps on every other page lent a sort of unpolished feeling to the opening.

Characters: 4⭐️/5

I felt the characters often had their own identities, even as I noticed a few similarities here or there with characters in her other novels. I found myself liking, agreeing with, and understanding their motives and perspectives. A couple of times, I did feel like they acted incredibly out of character, but it didn’t necessarily take away from the fun of the novel.  

Plot: 4⭐️/5 

The plot was fun – even with a couple of holes that I wish had been finessed further. I enjoyed reading about the mystery and the romance plot once I got into the novel. Again, the information dump that was the first portion of the novel did take away from this enjoyment.

Who Should Read This Book? 

• Sarah J. Maas fans
• Fans of urban fantasy looking for a fun read with a hint of spice
• Readers who like romance-heavy novels that still have interesting plots

Content Warnings? 

• Sexual content, sexual harassment, death, injury, animal cruelty, drug use, alcohol use, death of a friend, murder, gore, blood, vomit, gun violence, sexism

Post-Reading Rating:  4⭐️/5

I enjoyed it enough to say I’ll read the next one for sure! 

Final Rating: 4⭐️/5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Drug abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Suicide attempt, Torture, Vomit, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Blood, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, Police brutality, Sexual content, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, and Violence

Moderate: Addiction, Self harm, Misogyny, and Slavery