Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

The Assassin's Blade by Sarah J. Maas

36 reviews

angelofthetardis's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad 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? It's complicated

4.0

Where I read the series in the 'purist' order last time, I've chosen to listen to the audiobooks in the 'romantic' order to see what affect that has on the emotional impact of Assassin's Blade. Indeed, this is the order endorsed by SJM herself! 

First and foremost, this is the best of the audios so far. I think the fact that the book is comprised of a series of novellas makes it that much more listenable as, while there are important plot points throughout, each individual story contains reminders of key moments. You're therefore less likely to miss things, but equally the reminders don't disrupt the flow of the current tale. As previously, I do think this is partially dependent on the speed at which you listen, but at the same time because we're looking at short stories there's also less opportunity for a lull in the action, which keeps you focused and the story moving.

There are also moments in this one that 'hit' better with the audiobook, particularly in the last novella. The narrator has a great grasp of exactly where pauses are required for dramatic effect, where the voice needs to be louder or quieter and so on. That being said, it did feel like she was perhaps starting to run out of different voices by the end of the book - just a few too many characters are sounding similar to other works of hers. 

This time around, I was able to pick up on  few nice little Easter Eggs within the stories that I didn't see before. For that reason alone, I can understand why this perhaps shouldn't be read first (even though the events occur before Throne of Glass). Likewise, I think for a first time reader, the emotional gut punch of this book would be better felt reading it after 'Crown of Midnight'. However, although it did forge a deeper connection to Sam for me, for my own personal enjoyment of the series I think I'm better off putting it up front. But then I'm not sure I'd have picked up on the Easter Eggs if I had listened to it first! It's a tough one to call!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Violence, Slavery, Injury/Injury detail, and Death

Moderate: Trafficking, Toxic friendship, Blood, and Grief

Minor: Death of parent, Sexual content, Vomit, and Fire/Fire injury

tabea1409's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional tense fast-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery, Child death, Blood, Classism, Misogyny, Murder, Sexism, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Cursing, Stalking, Child abuse, Grief, Kidnapping, Genocide, Death, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, Death of parent, Gore, Torture, and Violence

snackykennedy's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder and Death

Moderate: Sexual content, Death of parent, and Sexual violence

asimpson7's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.75

I’m not really sure what to say about this book. It isn’t the type of book that ive read before, but I really enjoyed it. It kept me hooked the whole way through. I couldn’t stop thinking about what would happen next. Even though Celina is an assassin, she still feels like the good guy.  liked how her and Sam ended up together, and I almost cried when he died. Which makes me hate Arobyn even more. I don’t understand how someone could treat a person like that. But now I get the hype over Sarah J Mass books and I can’t wait to read the next one !

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Torture, Bullying, Violence, War, Blood, Child abuse, Death of parent, Physical abuse, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Vomit, Slavery, Adult/minor relationship, Death, and Emotional abuse

spatterson7's review against another edition

adventurous emotional 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Slavery, Torture, Physical abuse, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Alcohol, Sexual content, Drug use, Vomit, Death of parent, Cursing, and Excrement

quietlex's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

3.5

I didn’t love or hate it. It seemed pretty lackluster and predictable at times. I didn’t believe the romance between Celena and Sam, it felt forced and uninspired. I think this book was more focused on the different missions and progressing the plot rather than developing interesting and complex main characters. I’m hopeful that the rest of the series will build on who Celena is and why she thinks and acts the way she does. Quite disappointed with the lack of spice as well. Not the best start to the series, in my opinion. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Gore, Slavery, Abandonment, Child abuse, Child death, Forced institutionalization, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Blood, Stalking, Trafficking, Violence, Vomit, Bullying, Physical abuse, Sexual harassment, Classism, Death, Drug use, Grief, Excrement, Medical content, and Torture

ernis's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional 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? No

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Murder and Toxic relationship

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Violence, Vomit, Blood, Colonisation, Sexual violence, Death, Torture, Death of parent, and Gore

katelynnelawson's review against another edition

adventurous dark medium-paced

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

3.75

Highly recommend you read this one earlier than I did - some time around Book 2-4 would be best! But it’s good backstory, and it was interesting learning about characters I already knew.

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship and Torture

Minor: Fire/Fire injury, Death of parent, Sexual violence, and Slavery

sharlapeggy's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

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

4.0

I liked it! I read first before TOG and COM. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Confinement, Excrement, Slavery, Death of parent, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Animal death, Death, Torture, and Trafficking

lancy's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful lighthearted reflective tense fast-paced

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

4.5

it was enjoyable but quite slow pace,

but the part were hunt tried to save Bryce really got me wanting to cry

and the part were they cut his wings aka Micah hate him btw i cried my balls out omg ahhhh

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Blood, Deadnaming, Bullying, Cursing, Addiction, Alcohol, Body horror, Body shaming, and Child abuse

Minor: Grief, Slavery, Stalking, Eating disorder, Kidnapping, Murder, and Hate crime