Reviews tagging 'Emotional abuse'

Crown of Midnight by Sarah J. Maas

11 reviews

kathrynleereads's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense 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

4.25

Another solid re-read. In Crown of Midnight, Sarah J Maas focused a little more on romance but also didn't pull any punches when it came to the rebellion, politics, and the air of mystery surrounding the plot in general. 

*SPOILERS AHEAD*

As much as I love this book and understand the reasoning behind it, I will never, never, EVER forgive Sarah for what she did to Nehemia. I know why it had to happen, but that doesn't make it hurt any less. 

Overall, I think I enjoyed Crown of Midnight just as much this time as I did the first time, even though I was dreading rereading the events of that cursed night.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Sexual harassment, War, and Injury/Injury detail

bree_h_reads's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

2.0

While I think the book had solid elements, I don’t think it was too much of a change from the last book.

I enjoyed the narrator and think she’s very skilled. Furthermore, I thought the introducing action of the book was very solid. My favourite part was Nehemia’s plot line and how it led to conflict between her and Celeana. It expanded on both characters very well.

However, I thought there was a lot left to be desired.

I was frustrated that Celeana wasn’t allowed to be morally grey. She’s a trained assassin, stopped in her tracks by a man seeming nice. I can’t buy into it. It also just made me really doubt Celeana and her skill, like she’s not everything the book CLAIMS she is.

I also found the foreshadowing and prose to be rather weak. To start, while the reveal of Celeana’s past was well built to, the big twist of the book was not. It caught me off guard in a bad way and I was baffled as to why and what the motivations for such actions were. The writing itself was also very repetitive. There were a lot of repeated words and phrases that would have been an easy fix, but weren’t. It just got old after a while.

I also, personally, didn’t care for the love triangle. It just severed to make me think less of the characters. Dorian and Chaol came across and entitled and whiny. Chaol especially was disappointing in this book, more than usual. Celeana also just felt too passive. It felt like so much of the book focused on this romance and I couldn’t bring myself to care.

Overall, the book was fine. It’s not my cup of tea but I see why people enjoy it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Misogyny, Sexism, and War

Minor: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, and Sexual content

tiredtori's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense fast-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: Death, Violence, Blood, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Confinement, Gore, Torture, Kidnapping, Grief, and Death of parent

Minor: Body horror, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Hate crime, Sexual content, Vomit, Gaslighting, and Toxic friendship

cait's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Addiction, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Self harm, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Vomit, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, Alcohol, Dysphoria, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

cait_e290's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• 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: Violence and Murder

Minor: Emotional abuse and Physical abuse

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

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

faduma's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Hate crime, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Murder, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail

thecourtofreading's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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

4.5

"but death was her curse and her gift, and death had been her good friend these long, long years."

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Violence

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, and Sexual content

Minor: Animal cruelty, Slavery, and Vomit