Reviews tagging 'Alcohol'

House of Earth and Blood by Sarah J. Maas

210 reviews

elmsel's review against another edition

emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

3.75

Too many unanswered questions throughout the book while it being 800 pages. I really like the book but somethings felt like they came out of nowhere. A lot of secrets kept from the reader about the main characters.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Gore, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Alcohol, Mental illness, Sexual content, Slavery, Violence, Body horror, Body shaming, Medical content, Drug use, Blood, Bullying, Death, and Injury/Injury detail

angelofthetardis's review

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

annamay1021's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• 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: Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Gun violence, Drug use, Alcohol, Body horror, War, Violence, Xenophobia, and Animal death

erinkellyreads's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.5

Thank you Graphic Audio for making your adaptation of this book! I really struggled trying to read this TWICE, and I'm a huge Maas fan. I think I was so focused on trying to understand this new world with its history, magic vs tech systems, politics, and locations that I never got a chance to learn to like the characters. The Graphic Audio did a great job with helping me break up narration and voices, and it allowed me to see the full picture of what was happening. I also really enjoyed Bryce's voice actress - her growly, deep, and sarcastic voice made her fun and juxtaposed her moments of vulnerability well. My only note on this first part is that it was pretty disturbing listening to the tape of Danika - no spoilers, that's all I'm going to say on that. I get that it was supposed to be, but hearing it echoed with me much longer than both times I read it on paper. So good job? But also, ouch. Part two comes out today, so I'll try to wrap up the story and see if my 4.5 stands - already an increase from 3 stars before!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Confinement, Murder, Police brutality, Slavery, Violence, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, Drug use, Gun violence, Death, Cursing, Blood, Body horror, Classism, Panic attacks/disorders, Gore, Grief, and Torture

shakakan's review against another edition

adventurous tense fast-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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and Alcohol

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Blood, Sexual content, Sexism, Misogyny, Gun violence, and Police brutality

autumn0587's review against another edition

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

ohgull's review against another edition

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!

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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 against another edition

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

jennipea382's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Cursing, Blood, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Grief, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, and Slavery

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Alcohol, Classism, and Sexual content