Reviews tagging 'Colonisation'

House of Earth and Blood by Sarah J. Maas

13 reviews

picaresquedreamer's review

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Suicide attempt, Torture, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, Police brutality, Death, Murder, Racism, Classism, Sexual content, Violence, and Slavery

Moderate: Police brutality, Child abuse, War, Toxic relationship, Body shaming, Gaslighting, and Genocide

Minor: Domestic abuse and Colonisation

stephanieviolet's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Vomit, Slavery, Sexual harassment, Panic attacks/disorders, Trafficking, Mental illness, and Addiction

Minor: Body horror, Gun violence, Colonisation, Mental illness, Drug use, Alcoholism, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Medical content, Torture, Medical trauma, Xenophobia, Abandonment, War, Toxic relationship, and Drug abuse

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.

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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

readwithde's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring mysterious tense 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

4.75

I had been warned that the first quarter of the book was lore-heavy, but I didn't find that to be true. I felt like the story started straight away and many things in later chapters had just as much lore and worldbuilding as the beginning of the book. 

I love the mix of fantasy and urban elements, especially mixing magical power with science. I liked how visceral the feelings and reactions were to the classist hierarchy in the society; it felt very real and bought the 1984 vibes that we no longer have in this social-media based society. 

I felt like the end came too quickly; I would have liked to see some aftermath and some clue as to how society will move forward. It felt very ambiguous. I'm hoping more questions will be answered in book 2.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Gun violence, Slavery, Gore, Grief, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Body horror, Racism, Cursing, Classism, and Death

Moderate: Alcohol, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Alcoholism, Drug use, Vomit, Colonisation, Genocide, and Sexual content

Minor: Medical content, Torture, Animal cruelty, and Bullying

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

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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

mads_reads_books's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny mysterious 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: War, Suicide attempt, Slavery, Self harm, Death, Torture, Suicidal thoughts, and Violence

Minor: Forced institutionalization, Trafficking, Toxic relationship, Violence, Torture, Car accident, Child abuse, Death, Racism, Sexual harassment, Gun violence, Murder, Slavery, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, War, Animal cruelty, Classism, Colonisation, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, Police brutality, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt

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.

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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

ewitsemma's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Racism, Mental illness, Murder, War, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Cursing, Death, Sexual content, Drug abuse, Drug use, Grief, Addiction, Blood, Violence, Panic attacks/disorders, and Slavery

Moderate: Addiction, Drug use, Drug abuse, and Colonisation

jkupps's review

adventurous emotional slow-paced

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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Body horror, Drug use, and Violence

Moderate: Death, Colonisation, and Confinement

Minor: Animal cruelty, Child abuse, and Alcohol

booksalacarte's review

adventurous 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? No

4.5

8/2022 First read- 5⭐️

Bound by blood. Tempted by desire. Unleashed by Destiny.

This is a dark high fantasy novel with elements of modern technology. Think Fae, angles, and vampires with cellphones and security cameras.

The world building took a long time to get into. The characters and trope of the Chosen One with powers like no other are very familiar for Sarah J Maas, and she doesn’t disappoint.

When it comes to world building, I’m telling you, Maas is one of the best. This book had be in a chokehold. I read it in 24 hours (until 4am 😬) because I couldn’t put it down. I can’t wait to start the next book!

Reread- 4.75⭐️ 2.75🌶️

Urban Romantic Fantasy

Adult Fantasy

Fae

Mythical creatures

Modern technology

Found family

Murder mystery

Secret history

Bodyguard romance

Forced proximity

Explicit Language

Drug use

Suicide attempt mentioned

The dark, gritty, messiness of this series is starkly different from Maas’ other series. This wasn’t a fairytale, but more real… all while remaining a high fantasy romance. The world building was almost too intense at times, with info dumps all over the place. I found myself not as desperate to read the book the second time. Because I knew that the random side plots would be all pulled together and monologued in the end. It turned my first read in 24 hours into 6 days. 

Reading this a second time made me realize how much I wove book 1 & 2 together. Now that I’m in the other side, I think emotionally, the book was just as good. But looking at it, plot-wise, this book was a little all over the place. The last 1/3 of the book was action packed, thank goodness. But it was plot points hitting, one after the other. 

The characters are wonderfully flawed and live their flaws out loud. Something that is refreshing and messy at the same time. It’s harder to take off the rose colored glasses when it comes to fantasy main characters. I think the character building did a great job. 

It’s hard also because the ending wasn’t a cliffhanger, so it almost felt like a series coming to an end because of how long it is

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Confinement, Colonisation, Slavery, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, Body horror, Gaslighting, Blood, Drug abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Murder, Bullying, Death, Medical content, Cursing, Drug use, Grief, and Gun violence