Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

Crown of Midnight by Sarah J. Maas

15 reviews

torturedreadersdept'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

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Confinement, Death, Gore, Slavery, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Dysphoria, and Injury/Injury detail

huddlestonmaeg's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense slow-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

The beginning of this book was really slow, I’m surprised I finished it but glad I did and I’m excited to read the next one. I enjoyed the plot line and loved reading some of the hints we got in book one!! The characters were great and I know it’s probably not going to happen but I love Chaol and Celaena together right now. I also love Dorian. These are great characters! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and Murder

Moderate: Grief

Minor: Death, Physical abuse, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Stalking, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

hannalizzy's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-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? It's complicated

3.0

Compared to the first book this one wasn’t as great, mostly because I felt it was a bit slow and I was so mad at why Celaena wrote off Chaol. I hate misunderstanding tropes, she went bezerk before she even talked to him about it, and Celaena is just so wishy washy about who she is, what she stands for, what she even wants. spoiler: she has no idea yet so we’ll see how the next one pans out for her

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Slavery, Suicide, Torture, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Stalking, Suicide attempt, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Confinement, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, and Classism

Minor: Death of parent

ka_ke's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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: Body horror, Cursing, Death, Gore, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Murder, Gaslighting, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Child abuse, Genocide, Misogyny, Vomit, and Abandonment

ronan_lesh's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense fast-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

Graphic: Death, Violence, Blood, and Murder

Moderate: Torture, Grief, and Death of parent

Minor: Child death, Rape, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, and War

rafacolog's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Racism, Slavery, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Murder, and Sexual harassment

booksalacarte's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring 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? It's complicated

4.5

First read (6/2022)- 3⭐️

Reread (1/2024)-4.5⭐️2.75🌶️

New Adult fantasy romance

Multi POV

Magic

Magical beasts

Fae

Morally grey FMC

Found family

Secret history

Politics

Treason

Rebellion

Closed door romance

The second book started not long after the first, with the King’s Champion taking hits off a list. Only she wasn’t.

I think the incident with the carnival is one of the most vivid memories I have from the whole series. Along with the wearhouse scene. The set up is really great for such a pivotal turning point in Celaena’s journey. 

Chaol having to deal with his lawful nature was just as hard to go through the second time as it was the first. His self deprecation after Neimiah died is SO much. He does absolutely nothing and basically disappears for multiple  chapters. Why didn’t he fight for her?! 

Dorian’s journey in this book is an interesting one. Going from infatuated playboy to someone with their own dark secret was a great arc. But the unresolved attraction Boggs his character down.

The arc with Chaol was beautiful, and devastating. I forgot how intense it was.

I was disappointed that the only diverse main character in the book was used as a tool to further the plot in the way they were. It’s almost like she was becoming too good of a character, more noble than the FMC, and had to be taken out.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Gore, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Blood, Grief, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

firehearttt'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? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, and Gaslighting

Minor: Sexual content and War

ladydeathnesta's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative mysterious reflective sad 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

3.0

I had a harder time getting through this book than any other SJM book. That being said, it was still a good book, and vital to the storyline for the rest of the series. This book is definitely the turning point of the storyline.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Hate crime, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Slavery, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

a_wren_that_reads's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious 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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Hate crime, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Violence, Murder, Gaslighting, and Toxic friendship