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katyjb1's review against another edition
- 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
Moderate: Violence, Blood, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Drug use
carriehaley89's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Death, Violence, and Murder
Minor: Death of parent
kathrynleereads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
I'm starting this series re-read because the last time I read the Throne of Glass series Tower of Dawn was just about to come out, so the farthest I've ever made it is the end of Empire of Storms. We'll see how well the rest of the series holds up after seven years!
Graphic: Body horror, Genocide, Gore, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail
indigo_fox's review against another edition
- 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
3.75
This series has a set of novellas that occur before the start of this book. I recommend reading those first. It gives insight into the MC and its nice to have context on the events she refers to throughout the story. Plus I don't think I would have liked her as much had I not known about her past.
Graphic: Death, Violence, and Blood
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Sexism and Sexual harassment
eefitzmaurice's review against another edition
- 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
3.5
Graphic: Torture, Violence, and Murder
naychapman's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Graphic: Violence, Blood, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Slavery, Murder, and Classism
Minor: Genocide, Slavery, Forced institutionalization, Grief, and War
streebela's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Bullying, Confinement, Death, Genocide, Gore, Hate crime, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, War, and Classism
Moderate: Abandonment and Alcohol
louisebullock's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Violence, Murder, War, and Classism
fr0styme11o's review against another edition
- 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
Without talking too much about like literally the whole thing, I wasn't expecting anything actually. None of it at all. It just kind of jumped out and it felt so random, but not in a bad way, I'd say its more like a shocking topic added in the plot that I ABSOLUTELY adore! It was such a fun read and there was a lot going on I didn't want to put it down. And honestly I didn't.
And the introductory to magic was just- AHHHH! SO COOL!
Graphic: Violence, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Body horror
Minor: Death and Vomit
ameydireads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
My very first Sarah J. Maas book and I have to say it was good. This book gives us a proper introduction to the main characters and to an interesting new world: a world where magic is forbidden. I instantly liked Dorian because of his sweet nature, and Nehemia. She commands respect, is smart enough to lay low when she needs to, and knows magic!
The overall plot was also enjoyable. An assassin (Celaena), locked up in a death prison, gets a chance to win back her freedom. The only thing she has to do is win the King’s Champion Tournament and be his champion for the next four years. Easier said than done. One would expect that a ruthless assassin would do anything to win this competition, especially when there’s so much at stake, but it seems Celaena has an altruistic side as well. She's also a woman of many talents. When some of the champions turn up dead during the tournament, she uses her investigation skills to find the killer. I'm all in for a good murder mystery, so I loved that!
I'm yet to be convinced of her skills as an assassin though. So far, she only thinks about the different ways of disarming and killing the guards, which I found really annoying. We don't see her actually use her abilities. Even when there is something big going on, she has people around that help her. I hope we'll learn more about Celaena as an assassin in the next books. There are many hints to Celaena’s past and I guess that will be covered in the prequel (Assassin’s Blade iirc).
Oh, and the love triangle… nope.
For a first book in a series, it's pretty good. There’s so much more to this world & I’m eager to explore it.
Graphic: Death, Torture, Violence, and Murder
Moderate: Addiction, Drug use, Grief, Death of parent, and War
Minor: Rape