Reviews tagging 'Drug use'

House of Earth and Blood by Sarah J. Maas

511 reviews

stephhaigreads's review

adventurous dark funny mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Violence, Sexual harassment, and Classism

Moderate: Bullying, Cursing, Death, Gun violence, Mental illness, Slavery, Police brutality, and Grief

Minor: Drug abuse, Drug use, Suicidal thoughts, and Torture

beckyyreadss's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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? Yes

4.0

I wanted to read this book because I enjoyed the Throne of Glass series and ACOTAR and wanted more. The size of this book scared me mainly because it was a new series, and Sarah usually likes you to get settled before throwing at 700-900 pages book like in ACOTAR and Throne of Glass and this was the first book in the series and over 700 pages. However, I thoroughly enjoyed this book.  

This book is based on Bryce Quinlan, and she loves her life. Every night is a party, and Bryce is going to savour all the pleasures Lunathion – also known as Crescent City – has to offer. But when a brutal murder shakes the very foundations of the city, Bryce’s world comes crashing down. Two years later, Bryce still haunts the city’s most notorious nightclubs – but seeking only oblivion now. Then the murderer attacks again. And when an infamous Fallen angel, Hunt Athalar, is assigned to watch her every footstep, Bryce knows she can’t forget any longer. As Bryce and Hunt fight to unravel the mystery and their own dark pasts, the threads they tug ripple through the underbelly of the city, across warring continents and down to the deepest levels of Hel, where things that have been sleeping for millennia are beginning to stir.  

I love Bryce – she has now joined the group of kick-ass women who could hit me, and I would say thank you. I think she is so amazing and strong, and I just wanted to hug her throughout the whole book. I enjoyed reading the book from multiple POV, I feel like it makes the book so much better. I loved seeing Bryce comes from a broken person who was ready to give up on life to a strong powerful woman who is not afraid to kick ass. My favourite chapter was when Bryce figured out who the murderer was and how to get the answer out of him. The book left you with enough drama that it didn’t feel rushed but also left you wanting you more.  

This book seemed to have more adult themes than her previous book and yet some of these people were acting like children – Amelie, I'm looking at you. I hate the fact that they also killed one of the major side chapters like don’t do that, I wanted them to be together. Kill someone who would have a bit of impact but not those characters. I was shook. I also felt like Bryce’s dad got off the hooked way too much. I am hoping that Bryce is going to kick his ass in the next book.  

I am wondering what the hell is going to happen now and how the hell she has wrote two more books that are over 700 pages.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Drug use, Sexual content, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Animal cruelty, Suicide attempt, and War

lizgom's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny medium-paced

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

3.0

So prior to CC, I've only read ACOTAR by SJM and honestly the difference in the start of these two series is crazy. You're basically just thrown into this book with little to no explanation & the world building comes in strong. Once I got a foothold on the work¡ld and the characters, this was hard to put down. To me, Bryce wasn't very likable probably until the end of the book. reading 60-70% of the book just to like her felt like a chore. I really liked the character development towards the end of the book. The relationship building between Hunt and Bryce was something I liked a lot. I love how they didn't act on their feelings right away, I think that just made their "relationship" raw & real. I did love the friendship Bryce and Danika had.

I loved how Bryce continued to grieve through the book. Made her far more a relatable character than most main characters I've read about, especially in fantasy.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Drug use, Sexual content, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Animal cruelty, Suicide attempt, and War

lakinglaze's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark 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

I enjoyed this book so much more than I thought it would originally. It was wonderful. I loved all the characters! Bryce is by far my favourite Maas female character so far. The world and the magic are all wonderful. I thought it was really fun to have a book based on the ancient Roman Empire with some other influences sprinkled in. I can’t wait to see what happens in the next book! 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Body shaming, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, War, and Injury/Injury detail

kristanjenkins's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny inspiring 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? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Sexual content, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, and Alcohol

amesgeliebter's review against another edition

adventurous hopeful mysterious 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

My Catholic upbringing means I never thought about an angel having sex. This book changed that for me, and now there’s no going back. Thanks, SJM. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery, Violence, Murder, War, and Classism

Moderate: Body horror, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Suicide attempt, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Torture and Abandonment

layspender's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Read it right after my gf and am in love with the world and the characters. But please Sarah stop the cockblocking 🙏

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Drug use and Violence

_marycappiello3's review against another edition

adventurous challenging 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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Gore, Sexual content, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Suicide attempt, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

emilywemily6's review against another edition

adventurous dark hopeful mysterious medium-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

4.75

This book was sooo good, and I thoroughly enjoyed the graphic audio. While this urban fantasy technically info-dumps at the beginning, it is written in such a way that you can breeze through the first 200 pages without paying too close attention and you can still get the gist of what is happening, with those info-dump ideas looping back. You are dropped into the world, which means if you get caught up on the info you might have a hard time getting into it. I love how Maas writes flawed characters that you still root for. And I cried multiple times in the last 30% of this book, so it was a huge winner for me. I can’t wait to start the next book!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Sexual content, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Abandonment, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Addiction, Racism, Police brutality, Medical content, and Sexual harassment

zsnails99's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Sexual content, and Murder

Moderate: Animal death, Body shaming, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Suicide attempt, Abandonment, and Classism