Reviews tagging 'Child abuse'

House of Earth and Blood by Sarah J. Maas

12 reviews

picaresquedreamer's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful 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? No

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Mental illness, Misogyny, Racism, Sexual content, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Grief, Suicide attempt, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Body shaming, Child abuse, Genocide, Toxic relationship, Police brutality, Gaslighting, and War

Minor: Domestic abuse and Colonisation

annamary54's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective 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

4.0

This was a difficult book for me to get into, but once I just gave into the fact that I wouldn’t understand all the info dumping in the beginning, I had a great time. Lots of world building that was thrown at the reader right away. So much that i stopped trying to comprehend. I relied on the fact that SJM is a very repetitive writer, and just pushed through. There’s definitely a lot that I still missed, but that is okay cause SJM usually explains things well when they happen. And I’m reading in the kindle, so I can just search for names of things/characters in the book and go back to when it’s first explained. Hunt is very close to being number one on the book boyfriends list…. Idk what else to say about this book. I loved Bryce, she’s funny and strong asf. Some very millennial humor moments in this book, but also some I chuckled at. I had a great time overall, I could already see myself rereading this series and I haven’t even read the other books. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Body horror, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Suicide attempt, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Child abuse and War

mighty_lizard_queen's review against another edition

slow-paced

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

2.0

This book needed so much more editing and thought, it’s ridiculous. 

If this didn’t connect back to ACOTAR then I would have DNF’d half way through out of boredom and frustration, but, alas. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Body shaming, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Grief, Suicide attempt, and Murder

Moderate: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Body shaming, Child abuse, Fatphobia, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Sexism, Torture, Vomit, Medical content, Mass/school shootings, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Domestic abuse, Infidelity, and Death of parent

mads_reads_books's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Self harm, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Suicide attempt, and War

Minor: Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Racism, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Police brutality, Trafficking, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Murder, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

ladydeathnesta's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring mysterious reflective 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

I feel like I’m cheating on Silver Flames because I don’t know if I like this one better.

I love them equally.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Medical content, Dementia, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Stalking, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, Dysphoria, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, Deportation, and Pandemic/Epidemic

ladylaelae's review against another edition

adventurous emotional inspiring mysterious 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

3.75

3.75 for this first one, because it was the second edition of this series that truly took me by storm. This one still deserves recognition, though.

As many others have likely stated, this book does start off slow. There is a mountain of worldbuilding to be done, especially since the setting of this book (urban fantasy) is markedly different from SJM's two other major series (which are a combination of high fantasy and mid-range fantasy settings, since ACOTAR's level of high fantasy and urban fantasy identification is ambiguous).

Outside of the initial pains of worldbuilding, this book took me by surprise. I'm not normally an urban fantasy kind of gal, and yet the characters pulled me right in. There was a devastating twist in the beginning of the book (iykyk) that shocked me and pulled me right in. There was flirtatious banter and charm between the characters that had me rolling my eyes in amusement, occasionally blushing, and giggling like a madwoman. And then there was one particular set of scenes toward the end that had me sobbing my heart out

(the Lehabah scene)

, laughing through my tears

(the vacuum scene)

, and then sobbing my heart out some more. SJM definitely delivered on a set of characters that you can grow to love.

No, her writing is not the top-tier writing you may expect from the upper echelons of fantasy authors. This book is meant for adults coming off of young adult fantasy and moving into something more mature. Yes, she does her usual thing where she uses certain phrases and themes over and over again. NO, you should NOT read this before you read her other series, if you can help it. 

Manage your expectations, and I think you'll fall in love. Not every book, series, or author has to be the next Tolkien, Greenwood, or Sanderson. This book - as with all of SJM's fantasy books - is fun, romantic, emotional, and packed with action and adventure. The writing is mid-tier fantasy writing, but the world can be captivating and imaginative. Just immerse yourself in it and enjoy it for what it is. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Child abuse, Cursing, and Alcohol

anjasshelf'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? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexism, Sexual content, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Murder, Alcohol, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Misogyny, Torture, and Death of parent

cady_sass's review against another edition

adventurous challenging 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? Yes

4.5

4.5 ⭐️ rounded up 
To think I almost DNFed this after 50 pages!!! Which is why I deduct half a star. The first few chapters are really hard to read, they’re nonsensical, lazy world building and make almost zero sense to the point where I felt compelled to put it down. Some friends convinced me it was worth the push so I started over and pushed through part 1, at which point I absolutely *devoured* the rest of the book. I didn’t guess any of the twists, I fell in love with all the characters, my heart broke and pieced itself back together and broke over and over again. Loved this. ACOTAR who? 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Gore, Hate crime, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Sexual content, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Cannibalism, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, War, and Classism

sooaery's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Death, Drug use, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Slavery, Violence, Grief, Murder, War, and Classism

Moderate: Body horror, Confinement, Gun violence, Misogyny, Racism, Self harm, Sexual content, Torture, Blood, Vomit, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Addiction, Child abuse, Child death, Drug abuse, Hate crime, Suicidal thoughts, Medical content, Suicide attempt, and Fire/Fire injury

cdoubet's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional 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: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual content, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Abandonment