Reviews tagging 'Alcohol'

House of Earth and Blood by Sarah J. Maas

217 reviews

rchulin1's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful lighthearted sad 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? It's complicated

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Car accident, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

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. 

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Content Warnings

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

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

miss_mariel_99's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny mysterious 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

4.5

The pace starts slow, but picks up in the second half of the book. Similarly the likability of the characters changes throughout the book, some of their actions are unexpected and even downright stupid. But overall I definitely fell in love with them. The plot twist and it's resolution were (at least to me) really surprising and made me cry and feel with the characters. 
Overall a pretty good read which left me excited for the next part. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Drug use, Slavery, Torture, Alcohol, and Classism

Moderate: Death, Genocide, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Suicide attempt, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

yarisbooksandbevs's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny mysterious 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? It's complicated

4.5

I really enjoyed this one! The characters were so easy to love and root for! I thought the magical realism was explained well. Sometimes I got a bit lost in the world building but it wasn’t too bad. I love the way this book handled grief. It really showed how differently it can manifest. The writing was good. Every time I thought I had it figured it the plot twisted the other way and I was surprised.

Bryce’s goodbyes had me crying and I absolutely loved her relationship with Hunt.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Sexual content, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Grief, Suicide attempt, Murder, Alcohol, Dysphoria, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Fire/Fire injury, and Classism

Minor: Animal death, Domestic abuse, Toxic relationship, and Vomit

vendy_kha's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny inspiring lighthearted 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

My heart is shattered. 
Light it up, light it up, light it up!!!
Nothing's what it seems, you'll be surprised by the things that will get you to your knees. I laughed, cried, broke down, was brought back to life... Play "did you know that there's a tunnel under ocean blvd - Lana del Rey" for full effect once you reach chapter 91 (on repeat) to really set the mood. Fun times. 

I absolutely enjoyed the characters in this book. Love the whole Maasiverse and this one's really a true part of it all ❤️‍🔥

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Bullying, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Self harm, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Suicide attempt, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, War, and Injury/Injury detail

ljtalbot's review against another edition

emotional medium-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Death, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Sexual content, Slavery, Torture, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Murder, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Confinement, Suicide, Medical content, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Vomit and War

readcaffinedaydreamrepeat's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful 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? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Bullying, Cursing, Deadnaming, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Racism, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Grief, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Murder, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Genocide and War

hellandhogwarts's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious 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

Moderate: Addiction, Animal death, Bullying, Death, Drug use, Gun violence, Sexual content, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Blood, Grief, Murder, Abandonment, Alcohol, War, and Injury/Injury detail

amy_in_the_city's review against another edition

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

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

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

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

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

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