Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

House of Earth and Blood by Sarah J. Maas

36 reviews

xandrav's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny 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

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Bullying, Classism, Cursing, Suicidal thoughts, Death, Slavery, Murder, and Violence

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Death of parent, Gore, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Animal cruelty and Sexual content

amateur_bookworm's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful 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

5.0

Genre: Fantasy, romantasy, fiction 

My summary: Bryce Quinlan is a half-fae half-human party girl living in Crescent City. Her roommate and best friend since college is Danika Fendyr, a powerful wolf shifter that will someday lead her pack. The two are inseparable, as well as with Danika’s pack, until gruesome murders occur that rock Bryce’s world to her core. Two years later, when another similar murder occurs, Bryce finds herself pulled into the investigation to try to find the killer and avenge the deaths of those closest to her. Bryce is saddled with Hunt Athalar, the Shadow of Death, a fallen angel and a slave to the Archangels, in the investigation. In a world ruled by the Asteri and governed by the Archangels, the constant war between the Vanir and the humans set a backdrop of Bryce and Hunt trying to save Crescent City in their quest for vengeance. 

My thoughts: Wow. Just….. wow. I really don’t know why I waited so long to read this one. I absolutely loved Sarah J. Maas’s A Court of Thorns and Roses series. But then I really didn’t enjoy her Throne of Glass series so I just put off starting Crescent City, figuring I’d wait until closer to the third book coming out in January 2024. I was worried the hype around this series was too much, but, no, no, so far the first book is as fantastic as everyone said it was. This is some serious fantasy. I’m generally not too much of a fantasy reader and the world building in this is A LOT. I knew on page 20 (out of 799 pages) that I would definitely have to re-read this again to even begin to really understand all of it, which feels really daunting at that point of a book this long. I had literally no idea what was happening through the first third of the book. If you find yourself in the same boat, just keep pushing through and it is so, so worth it. The last of the book is so intense and I literally cannot wait to start on the next one in the series to keep going with it. 

---

Content Warnings

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

Moderate: War, Alcohol, Trafficking, Sexual content, Gun violence, Suicidal thoughts, Death of parent, and Confinement

extraginger's review

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring sad 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

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and Slavery

Moderate: Misogyny, Death, Police brutality, Death of parent, War, Xenophobia, Medical content, Sexual content, and Murder

amy_in_the_city's review

adventurous dark emotional slow-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

4.0

I really liked the slow-burn development of the relationship. The characters tell us and show us why they fall for each other, instead of it just being insta-love because they're both attractive people. 

The mystery plot was really engaging and the world was interesting. I was confused by the worldbuilding and think a map of the world (instead of just the city) and a glossary of terminology would have been helpful.

I found the rudeness and hostility between Bryce and Hunt at the beginning to be immature and very annoying. Luckily the characters were developed, and I really liked them and their relationship by the end of the book. I thought it was great that they develop a friendship first and then eventually a romantic relationship. The scene where she takes care of him when he's feeling messed up after getting back from one of Micah's assignments was so sweet.

The last 200 pages or so were awesome. Just a wild ride, crazy action-packed and full of emotion.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery, Body horror, Alcohol, Blood, Bullying, Colonisation, Gore, Death, Drug abuse, Vomit, Drug use, Medical content, Murder, Racism, Grief, Physical abuse, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, and War

Moderate: Cursing, Sexual harassment, Sexual content, Confinement, Sexism, Addiction, Torture, Police brutality, Animal cruelty, Gun violence, and Misogyny

Minor: Hate crime, Domestic abuse, Body shaming, Classism, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Suicidal thoughts

bunnyjean73's review

dark emotional funny 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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Drug use, Physical abuse, Murder, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Racism, Blood, and Gun violence

Moderate: Body horror, Suicide attempt, Torture, Cursing, Alcoholism, Colonisation, Medical content, Drug abuse, Classism, Misogyny, Grief, Slavery, War, Sexual content, and Vomit

Minor: Child death, Confinement, Animal cruelty, Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Body shaming, Addiction, and Death of parent

tguccione's review against another edition

adventurous challenging 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

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Drug use, Gaslighting, Gun violence, Murder, Blood, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Classism, Medical content, Police brutality, Bullying, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual harassment, Violence, War, Abandonment, Confinement, Gore, Grief, Racism, Torture, and Vomit

Minor: Death of parent, Drug abuse, Domestic abuse, and Genocide

mighty_lizard_queen's review against another edition

slow-paced

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

2.0

This book needed so much more editing and thought, it’s ridiculous. 

If this didn’t connect back to ACOTAR then I would have DNF’d half way through out of boredom and frustration, but, alas. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Grief, Racism, Panic attacks/disorders, Blood, Body shaming, Confinement, Death, Violence, Suicide attempt, Slavery, Police brutality, Murder, Drug use, and Drug abuse

Moderate: Classism, Medical content, Gun violence, Vomit, Sexual harassment, Sexism, Mass/school shootings, Injury/Injury detail, Fatphobia, Body shaming, Torture, Child abuse, Physical abuse, Addiction, and Animal cruelty

Minor: Domestic abuse, Death of parent, and Infidelity

ohgull's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring mysterious 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

4.75

SJM does it again!

I’ll be honest with you, the first 200 pages, maybe even 400 pages were hard. After re-reading Throne of Glass and ACOTAR so many times, it took me a while to adjust to all of the world building and new characters. The key trait that kept me going though was the murder mystery aspect. I wanted to know who, how and why for the whole situation. The characters took a while to warm up to, but I ended up really liking them. Hunt was my favorite out of the bunch, I enjoyed his thoughts and character growth. The themes of grief and loss were really strong in this one. Sometimes it hit really hard, and others it didn’t. That may be because I was just eh about Danika, but other than that I really enjoyed the personal moments of this book. Yeah the plot is interesting, but the characters are really the highlight of the novel.

Can’t wait to read House of Sky and Breath before House of Flame and Shadow comes out!

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Gore, Gun violence, and Blood

Moderate: Alcohol, Cursing, Classism, Suicide attempt, Slavery, and Torture

Minor: Death of parent, Body shaming, and Medical content

ladydeathnesta's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative 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 feel like I’m cheating on Silver Flames because I don’t know if I like this one better.

I love them equally.

---

Content Warnings

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

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

---

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