Reviews tagging 'Biphobia'

Hof van vleugels en verwoesting by Sarah J. Maas

23 reviews

svjak's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful lighthearted fast-paced

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

2.75

I feel like the more I've read this series the more I've sort of drifted away from it. Rereading this book being a few years older I've realized how god awful some of the scenes are. It seemed like Maas was still trying to decide how explicit she wanted to go with this series because the language she used when writing the sex scenes was descriptive, yet still disturbingly censored. Like she wanted to avoid the 'fade to black' scene but couldn't fully commit to just saying what she meant, so instead she used flowery non-descriptive descriptions to get around it. I mean, some of these sentences don't even make sense and yet 400k people rated this book 5 stars so clearly they didn't notice.

And there was zero chemistry. It's like they went from this fiery, happy, romantic couple who are constantly bickering (in the snarky flirty way) and shouting their undying love for each other literally from the tops of mountains to... having emotionless sex every 10 pages? Idk... Where was the substance?

All of this made the 'action' or plot part of the book feel more like a side-plot to Rhys and Feyre's sexy times. There was no real build-up to it and everything about it felt rushed and uncharacteristic.

There was also something about the way Rhys was presented in this book that just started giving me the ick. He's always been a sort of Gary Stu character to me but still seemed ok? There was a balance he had with Feyre that worked for them even though he was *too* perfect. But there were several points in this book where he just had no personality at all and rolled over like a housepet. Where is the passion and ferocity and snark he brought in ACOMAF?

Maas could have replaced Rhysand with a pool noodle and I probably wouldn't have noticed.

And the way she portrays Tamlin in this book makes me feel like she's turned him into a plot device to make Feyre and Rhys closer. I'd always felt like Tamlin magically changed personalities in the middle of ACOTAR for no discernible reason, but ACOWAR really cements how I'm feeling about that. It's like she develops these characters we care about and then decides part way through the story to completely change their personality with zero reasoning behind why it happened.

I was not impressed with this reread.

Original 2019 5-Star Review

This is one of those books that had me giggling like a little girl the entire time I was reading it. I smiled like an idiot, laughed, and damn near threw the book across the room. It's rare that a book pulls so much emotion from me while I'm reading it, but ACOWAR brought back all the familiar feelings of reading a book with characters I absolutely love.

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jenna_justi2004's review against another edition

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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

Ok I’m liking how azriel has opened up more. Bro and the fact that Feyre saw the little boy (the bone carver)

who is gonna be her son.

I have no idea what amren is and honestly she’s so hot. Like extremely. And her and nesta??? Literally diabolical, actually going to destroy this world.

Ok I finished it and wow. Just wow.

Amren was unleashed which was beautiful. She killed every Hybren soldier in her path. Amazing. But the cauldron wasn’t in great shape they had to fix it and then Rhysand died. Bro so did their dad. The bone carver and the weaver.

Genuinely so sad. Braxis also escaped. Funny fellow. I loved those 3 together.

Why does Cassian always have to be crawling to someone?

Cant he ever be happy?

I also genuinely thought nesta was about to lose her mind, the head scene??? I wonder if her powers were taken like Amren’s.

Mor bro MOR. She’s gay and I love that for her.

So is Helion, bro I hope the lady of autumn and him reconcile. Like physically and literally. Because Beron is a complete dick

I’m so upset that no one’s telling Lucien that he’s actually his father and not beron??? Like he should know. And when Feyre and Rhysand made the bargain that they’d die together

😭😭😭😭 dead, literally pun intended

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chocolatebooksthunderstorms's review against another edition

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reflective slow-paced

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

3.5

I loved ACOTAR. I loved ACOMAF. But as soon as I cracked open A Court of Wings & Ruin after ACOMAF’s nasty cliffhanger, I was bored.

(ACOMAF spoilers ahead.)

One of the things I adore about this series is its discussion of trauma. Our cast has trauma and that is something the story actively deals with: the sleepless nights, the physical effects, the mental struggles. But, from the first page of A Court of Wings & Ruin, our heroine’s trauma and relevant flaws are stripped away. Forgotten. Coming to terms with trauma is what drew Feyre and Rhys together. I don’t expect them to cling to their trauma by any means (no one should ever have to experience that). But, for survivors, trauma is not just about overcoming. It’s about dealing with the memories/feelings/effects every single day. It’s about showing up, even after healing. As much as ACOMAF discussed overcoming trauma, A Court of Wings & Ruin forgot about it.

Then, there’s the matter of the ACOMAF cliffhanger, and where it left our heroine. A Court of Wings & Ruin begins a short time after ACOMAF. But this book is not about Feyre. It’s about Vengeful Feyre, Warrior Feyre, Sister Feyre, Ruler Feyre. Every unique and miniscule facet of Feyre is stripped away in the name of a boring, overly powerful faerie queen in pursuit of revenge. And this book is LONG.

It sounds like I’m hating on ACOTAR now, but I promise, I still love the series. A Court of Wings & Ruin gave me a newfound appreciation for Cassian, Elain, and all the monsters locked in cages. For me, this was a 3.5-star read. And A Court of Wings & Ruin isn’t where the story ends.

TW: graphic war, violence; moderate sexual assault, sexual content, murder; minor biphobia

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booksandteatime's review against another edition

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adventurous dark medium-paced

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

4.0

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arys_library's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional medium-paced

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

4.5

Amazing! Second favorite in the series now, mist and fury being first. It is more plot and war based than character based which I didn’t think I would love as much as I did. I’m not one for battle scenes, reading them can be tough to get through, but I loved these. They were so descriptive and made me feel like I was watching it through a screen. Didn’t think war would be one of my favorite things about the book but the writing was just perfect. And the character building; even with less character building focus, it was amazing. It was found family mixed with actual blood family and it was beautiful. Amazing

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egurgens's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring mysterious reflective sad 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

5.0

I felt so many emotions when I read this. The book begins with Feyre being the fox among chickens, where she schemes and plots and tears apart the Spring Court, after both Tamlin and Ianthe betrayed her. When Feyre is satisfied, she returns to the Night Court, where they have to deal with the after effects of the misadventure on Hybern. What follows is lots of war prep, alliances, feelings, and WAR.

This was so good, I greatly enjoyed this story. I’m looking forward to more.

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