Reviews tagging 'Emotional abuse'

Heir of Fire by Sarah J. Maas

50 reviews

lavendar's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny mysterious tense slow-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, and Grief

Minor: Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Murder, and Abandonment

micaelamariem's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense 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? It's complicated

5.0

 

It was time for my annual dive into the Throne of Glass universe. 

Seriously, I'm averaging a book a year in this series, oops. 

Heir of Fire by Sarah J. Maas, published by Bloomsbury, is the third book in the Throne of Glass series. As such, I won't be able to talk about this with some spoilers for the first two books so be warned! 

In Heir of Fire, Celaena goes to Wendlywn but ends up in the land of faerie, facing her aunt and her magic, Dorian begins to understand his powers, and Chaol struggled to pick a side. 

I had a really good time reading this, much better than the first two books! I don't know if it's because I didn't much like my last two reads so this was better by comparison, or that the writing style got a lot better. Perhaps it was a bit of both.  

What I think made Heir of Fire a good read was that the story could finally progress because we are now acquainted with the world and characters. The first two books were really just a set up. Now, we're getting into the beginning of an epic war. The multiple points of view added a lot of depth to the story, too, and was done in a fantastic way that kept the plotline still straightforward. We also learn a lot about Celaena's past, that connects us to her powers, her birthright, and her trauma, and makes her past actions make sense. 

I was also stoked to meet a couple of characters I heard about in social media but hadn't yet seen in the books. First and foremost, Rowan. I started out hating him, but over the course of the story, loved him. A slow burn for the reader. A lovely sarcastic asshole. And the other character was Manon, terrifying yet also might be the catalyst for change the witch covens need to see. I'm excited to see how her storyline will cross with Celaena (who after this review, I think I can start calling Aelin, if only because the spelling is easier). 

I really enjoyed Celaena's pov chapters--it's mainly her story, after all. I also adored Dorian's. I didn't like him until he got magic, but now I like how his arc is progressing. He really doesn't deserve the tragedies that happen. Chaol, while once being my favorite, had the most boring POV's, but maybe that was because it was very military-like, which befitted his character. 

Despite the slight boredom with him, I still really loved this book. I daydreamed about it driving and missed my turn. Any book that can have me do that has to be five stars right? 

Guess I'll be back next year for Assassin's Blade, because I really need to read that prequel before continuing with the series, much as I want to! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Bullying, Death, Emotional abuse, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

krosebooks's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

The ending of the book was amazing. It took me a while to get to that point though. I’m sure the other characters are going to show up in the next books but I found myself looking forward to only Celaena’s parts. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Mental illness, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, War, and Injury/Injury detail

leguminosae's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional slow-paced

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

3.0

Fuck

this dude. Made me cry and I’m not even the one he yells at. He’s not even real. What the heck.

In other news: I love my random evil girl on her dragon adventures yesssss good for her hoorayyy
😻🖤🐲🧙‍♀️🕸️🖤🐦‍⬛🐲🤩

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction

Minor: Alcoholism and Alcohol

bree_h_reads's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional slow-paced

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

1.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Death, Self harm, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexism, Slavery, Alcohol, Colonisation, and War

Minor: Animal death

maddyjustreads's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious sad 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

I took a HUGE break from this one after devouring TOG & CoM but when I got the itch to pick it up again, I was hooked. I can't wait to continue this series 👏

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, and Murder

Moderate: Genocide, Torture, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Self harm

mrsjburgin's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body horror, Death, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Sexual assault, Slavery, Violence, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and War

savage_book_review's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious tense medium-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

The calm before the storm. Although objectively this is not the best book in the series, I think it's my favourite precisely because it's predominantly about the characters rather than the significantly progressing the plot of the series. And the audio version of confirms this. 

I would love to be able to devour this audio in a single sitting, as I think I'd enjoy it even more without the interruptions, picking it up mostly felt like I was sliding back into something relatively relaxing. However, I think this one will properly fly when it gets the graphic audio treatment. 

Of course, the massive draw of this book is the introduction of Rowan Whitethorn. Now, IMO he doesn't reach Bat Boy levels of sexiness until later on in the series, but he's by far the most interesting character in this whole series and this book gives him a great foundation. Elizabeth Evans does a great job bringing him to life (as she does with all of the characters), but he is the one character that I think does need a proper voice actor to do him justice. 

The biggest shift in my perception of these books that has come about due to listening to the audios is I've realised just how fleeting the characters' feelings seem to be about their relationship partners. When I read the physical books, because I read quickly it comes across fairly naturally, but where the audiobooks are slower it's really hammered home the immaturity here. Four books in, and Celaena is on man number four. Dorian is on girl two with more to come, Chaol is a bit behind but about to get going... and it's not like they're painted as teenage crushes or casual relationships either - the feelings always seem to be all-consuming, end game feelings. It's 100% just an observation, not a criticism, because they story and the characters work, but it's just something I can't necessarily relate to.

The other thing I love about this book is that I can picture the majority of scenes in my head with absolute clarity - certainly more than in any of the other books. I still see Abraxos as Toothless, but that just makes it cuter! I see Maeve as Miranda Richardson's Queen Mab from 'Merlin' (the Sam Neill version from the 90s), and the image of her surrounded by her cadre of warrior Fae is crystal clear. I think the gentler pace allows the scenes to build more completely and immerse the reader more fully, and then the slower speed of the audios and the wonderful narration boosts the effect even further.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, Blood, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Gore, Suicidal thoughts, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Drug use, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, and Vomit

nattylibrary_'s review against another edition

adventurous funny mysterious fast-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence

Moderate: Physical abuse

Minor: Emotional abuse

darkpizza's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring sad tense 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body horror, Confinement, Death, Genocide, Gore, Physical abuse, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Child death, Cursing, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Self harm, Medical content, Cannibalism, Abandonment, and Alcohol