Reviews tagging 'Colonisation'

House of Sky and Breath by Sarah J. Maas

61 reviews

indusnm's review against another edition

adventurous dark fast-paced

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

3.0

So this is 3 stars for me, and a realization I'm just not that much of a sarah j maas fan. The book was much better paced from the beginning, but I hate the main character and found her to be the epitome of white tears and privilege.

There's a lot to unpack here, but I thought this book was great for world-building. I had some issues with the first one, which felt like way too much information too quickly, but this one was better paced for me in terms of information dumps, action, and character development. Our main characters felt somewhat superficial to me; I know there was something there, but I couldn't see it. And thankfully a lot less slut-shaming being used as a device to make the main character seem a victim to the readers. 

Well, I see it now, and I have to say that I have a better handle on Hunt and like him more. I felt the same way for most of the characters, especially Ruhn and Ithan. I liked Therion more in the first book but in this one he mostly came of as a hot mess. I really liked Cormac; where the others feel like they're playing at helping "lesser" Fae, he actually works for it. But Bryce? Still loved by everyone though she manipulates them and uses them constantly, with the worst main character syndrome and a ridiculous amount of power and ability to do anything. It's so annoying.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Genocide, Slavery, Violence, and Colonisation

Moderate: Addiction, Drug use, and War

the part that i find completely tone-deaf is that our main characters are basically telling people that they are terrorists for stealing slave-owner tech to use against them, but more than happy to use those terrorists and tech to save the souls of people who died hundreds of years ago. It takes an insane amount of privilege to care more about the dead than worry about slavery and arbitrary execution in this world, and it's not unnoticed that any human (marginalized) advantage is seen as immoral while non-human is seen as natural and therefore good. Given all that is going on, this part made the author seem ignorant

_alyssar_'s review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny inspiring sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Gun violence, Sexual content, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Addiction, Child abuse, Drug use, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Medical content, Alcohol, and Colonisation

cdoubet's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious tense slow-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Religious bigotry, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Medical content, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Child abuse, Incest, Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Abandonment

tguccione's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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

Moderate: Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

readwithde's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark 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? No

5.0

This was everything a sequel should be, imo. All the chaos from the first book needed to be processed while power players moved and planned.

This was a perfect villain story for the Asteri akin to Empire Strikes Back. It was set up and played beautifully, and honestly saved this book from being simply another grand romantasy.

The pacing for the twists and truth behind actions was perfect; though the rebel movement storyline did not make much sense to me, it set up the broader world and bigger threats very well.

Bryce was a bit annoying, and Hunt was a bit underwhelming, but the supporting cast was absolutely incredible. Team Ruhn.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Death, Gore, Racism, Sexual content, Violence, Police brutality, Murder, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Confinement, Drug use, Slavery, Torture, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, and Alcohol

Minor: Child abuse, Infertility, Infidelity, Rape, Sexual violence, Kidnapping, and Fire/Fire injury

britwalsh16's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious 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? No

5.0

Holy shit!! The last 50 pages man.. HOLY SHIT!!! 🤯 I have no words. I’m just in awestruck at everything that was revealed! And that ending!!! I cannot wait to start on book 3!!! Sarah J Maas has done it again. I love her books so much!!! I’m in awe!!! 🖤
I honestly don’t know what else to say without spoilers!! Just read it!!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Death, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Confinement, Infidelity, Rape, Torture, Stalking, Sexual harassment, and Colonisation

Minor: Addiction, Child abuse, Genocide, Vomit, and Alcohol

ciara_fs98's review against another edition

adventurous emotional tense medium-paced

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

4.0

I loved parts of this book. The character development is 💯 Bryce and Hunt being confirmed mates just made me happy. They really do deserve each other. Getting multiple POVs just enhanced the reading experience for me as you get both Bryce's and Hunts perspective on the rebellion. Seeing how Hunts failed rebellion haunts him and how worried he is for Bryce just pulls at your heartstrings. My one grievance with this book is the fact that the plot relies so heavily on Danika (that could change after HOFAS)

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Torture, Violence, and War

Minor: Death, Drug use, Slavery, Violence, Murder, Colonisation, and War

emmabeeslibrary's review against another edition

adventurous challenging 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content

Moderate: Colonisation

jennipea382's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious sad 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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Gun violence, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Genocide, Slavery, and Colonisation

Minor: Child death, Rape, Torture, Grief, and Alcohol

deshanejt's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny inspiring mysterious 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Sexual content, Slavery, Blood, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Genocide, Torture, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, and Classism

Minor: Gun violence, Infertility, and Infidelity