Reviews tagging 'Self harm'

Heir of Fire by Sarah J. Maas

19 reviews

helfire124's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual content, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

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

Out of the three Throne of Glass books I read I think this was the one I had the most mixed feelings on. I honestly think I could have rated it mid to high 2 stars if not for the ending. It’s actually that ending that’s made me decide to stop reading the series, if not forever than at least for a while. 

 

To start, I thought the intro was really strong. Celeana’s struggle with her past as a noble and the reality of who she’s become had a lot of potential. I thought it was fascinating to see how the last book ended with all this fear and tension around her reclaiming her place, only for her to get there and be overwhelmed by the past. I think this struggle makes for a great conflict for a main character, even if a bit basic. Not to mention, the exploration of her trauma and everything she’d been through was compelling. I think it really only fell short with the poor treatment of Nehemia as a dead BIPOC woman to motivate the white protagonist and almost everything about her dynamic with Rowen and their training. I felt like a lot of Celeana’s plot and build up was pushed aside to setup a budding romance between her and Rowen, which I couldn’t really get behind. I thought Rowen was an overly aggressive jerk and I just couldn’t find myself enjoying their dynamic. 

 

Back in the castle, I wasn’t overly interested in what Chaol had happening, but was very interested in Dorian. I thought he and Sorscha were super cute and I loved how he and Aedion played off each other. I honestly wish Dorian and Chaol’s plots had played on each other more and wove together DESPITE their interpersonal conflict. Forcing to characters with an already unsteady relationship together would be very compelling! 

 

The only other big plus I can give the book is the build to the climax, or what I assume was the climax. The big battle Celeana and Rowen had to go up against was interesting and actually had me excited. The build up to it was deeply haunting and captured a chilling atmosphere. I really felt the tension leading up to this fight. 

 

Outside of my already noted critiques, I think Manon’s plot was questionable. I didn’t feel like it had a good balance with everything else. Dorian and Chaol’s plot felt overshadowed by her’s. I didn’t think it was a level of detail needed (unless the later books aim to humanise the witches and provide them more moral complexity). I think finding a way to focus Dorian and Chaol’s plots around UNCOVERING these wyvern riders would establish solid tensions for the readers while having someone Celeana isn’t and CAN’T be aware off while allowing the boys more things to do. 

 

There was also an issues with the book seeming to have a weird interest in incest. It felt really weird how it kept narrowing in on Rowen and Celeana being cousins, despite also heavily leaning towards a romance between them. While not first cousins, Celeana referred to Rowen as her cousin more than once. Not to mention them both referring to the same woman as ‘aunt’ over and over and over. If you’re going to do a romance, don’t focus on how these two are related and share an aunt. It just left a weird taste in my mouth. 

 

Finally, the book should have ended two hours sooner. Once they recovered from the fight and Rowen had to struggle with his deal and Chaol and Dorian and Aedion had this hopeful plan to topple the King I think the book should have ended THEN picked up with these events at the start of book four. When I saw I had two hours left in the audiobook I actually almost started crying. I didn’t know what else it could do that would be compelling or interesting in two more hours. While it certainly continued to have a plot, I didn’t feel like it justified having the book carry on. I do think it could have been ended much sooner and would have had a much tighter plot and story. 

 

Overall, I do think this book had a lot of potential. However, it had just enough flaws to put me off from continuing.

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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

khaley0127's review against another edition

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

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

5.0

Wow this book in the series was incredible. What a journey, and such revelations. What an empowering story it is to watch Celaena become Aelin, own her identity, her past, her truth, what she must do. And Rowan was a character I desperately needed in this series. I had many heartbreaks at the end of the book, many reveals that had me enraged. I literally shook with anger lol, I feel like a book deserves 5 stars if you pull genuine emotion from me (considering I have an impenetrable mask while reading lol I do not get emotional visibly easily)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Bullying, Gore, Self harm, Torture, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Animal death and War

maddyjustreads's review

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

cineladeras's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Genocide, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Self harm, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, War, and Injury/Injury detail

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

puzzling_reader's review

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective 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, Violence, Blood, and Death of parent

Moderate: Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Self harm

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

merrow's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious slow-paced

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

4.5

I always like the point where a YA series turns from adventures to a desperate fight for freedom, and this book is no exception.

Quite the tragic turn of events at the end, but they set up for some potentially good ways out.

The first half is a bit frustrating as the focus is placed on rebuilding and crumbling over and over again for the main character, but it finds its direction very well for the second half.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Colonisation

Minor: Body horror, Bullying, Deadnaming, Self harm, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Blood, Abandonment, and Alcohol

anguawolf's review

adventurous dark sad tense medium-paced

• 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Drug abuse, Drug use, Self harm, Slavery, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Bullying and Panic attacks/disorders