Reviews tagging 'Gaslighting'

House of Earth and Blood by Sarah J. Maas

23 reviews

littlewanderer's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious sad 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

Great world building, great characters. Lots of adventure, intrigue, scheming and plotting. The slow burn romance is top notch. The gut-wrenching sacrifice of a friend. Its all so so good. I laughed, I cried, and gobbled it up in less than 3 days. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence

Moderate: Death, Drug use, Gun violence, Murder, Gaslighting, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Sexual content

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

sierrabowers's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

3.25

I started this book with high expectations, and not going to lie… it was a let down. After coming off of ACOTAR, this book was a miss for me. Great plot set up and characters, but the mid to end of the book got boring for me. I was just waiting for something to happen, and by the time it finally did, I was just rushing through it to get it over with because I wanted to read something different. I still like Sarah J Maas’ writing style, but this wasn’t a series that I will continue. I think I am going to try Throne of Glass series next. Hoping ACOTAR isn’t the only series I like from her! I did like the redemption arc of the main character, but it was a little unrealistic and of course she

ends up being more powerful than Danika

it just wasn’t shocking to me, especially

falling for Hunt too

. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Grief, Suicide attempt, Murder, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, and War

booksalacarte's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious 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? No

4.5

8/2022 First read- 5⭐️

Bound by blood. Tempted by desire. Unleashed by Destiny.

This is a dark high fantasy novel with elements of modern technology. Think Fae, angles, and vampires with cellphones and security cameras.

The world building took a long time to get into. The characters and trope of the Chosen One with powers like no other are very familiar for Sarah J Maas, and she doesn’t disappoint.

When it comes to world building, I’m telling you, Maas is one of the best. This book had be in a chokehold. I read it in 24 hours (until 4am 😬) because I couldn’t put it down. I can’t wait to start the next book!

Reread- 4.75⭐️ 2.75🌶️

Urban Romantic Fantasy

Adult Fantasy

Fae

Mythical creatures

Modern technology

Found family

Murder mystery

Secret history

Bodyguard romance

Forced proximity

Explicit Language

Drug use

Suicide attempt mentioned

The dark, gritty, messiness of this series is starkly different from Maas’ other series. This wasn’t a fairytale, but more real… all while remaining a high fantasy romance. The world building was almost too intense at times, with info dumps all over the place. I found myself not as desperate to read the book the second time. Because I knew that the random side plots would be all pulled together and monologued in the end. It turned my first read in 24 hours into 6 days. 

Reading this a second time made me realize how much I wove book 1 & 2 together. Now that I’m in the other side, I think emotionally, the book was just as good. But looking at it, plot-wise, this book was a little all over the place. The last 1/3 of the book was action packed, thank goodness. But it was plot points hitting, one after the other. 

The characters are wonderfully flawed and live their flaws out loud. Something that is refreshing and messy at the same time. It’s harder to take off the rose colored glasses when it comes to fantasy main characters. I think the character building did a great job. 

It’s hard also because the ending wasn’t a cliffhanger, so it almost felt like a series coming to an end because of how long it is

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Slavery, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Murder, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

ka_ke's review against another edition

adventurous emotional medium-paced

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

5.0

I was nervous to start HoEaB when I got it but now it may be a new favourite. I even appreciated the lack of explicit smut, but I do hope there is some in HoSaB. I related to Bryce on an unnatural level, I understood her pain, her grief and her struggle to keep fighting. Thank god I have HoSaB to start now! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Body horror, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Gaslighting, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Addiction, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Slavery, Medical content, and Religious bigotry

Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Vomit, Suicide attempt, and War

kingrosereads's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious sad tense slow-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

I did very much love this book. I ended up staying up all night to finish it before falling asleep 250 short of the end. It is longer than it needs to be but at the same time I like that the investigation is hard and confusion with a lot of dead ends. Like a real investigation.

I always knew Micah was shady and his death was HILARIOUS. I was completely shocked at Hunt’s betrayal. I always knew he’d rebel when he got the chance, but not like this.

This book puts you through the emotional ringer. I like Bryce a lot. I think she’s funny and a straight badass. I’ve seen other people says she’s a classic “I’m not like other girls”, but I don’t see that at all. I see a normal, young woman that likes to party. I don’t use drugs but I know lots of young people use it recreationally and it made Bryce more real to me.

There’s also the obvious consequences of her using drugs the night Danika dies. The revelations of Danika’s death and synth and the Horn were all over the place, but I think that’s the point.

The swearing was also like ridiculously on point. My friend and I swear just like this and just as much, so that was very relatable. This book made me laugh, made me cry, and made me happy. 
I think that Bryce’s grief and depression were also extremely relatable and written well. And it took a whole book for her to get to a better place. I also LOVE that she uses other people’s preconceived notions about her to her advantage. She’s also pretty sex positive, even though it’s clear she does use sex sometimes as a form of self-medication for her grief and as a way to combat the underlying feelings she has about being seen as a “lesser” being. Bryce is badass. She can fight, shoot, and wear all the girly girl stuff women get bashed about on the daily. I like her attitude and am excited to see where the story goes from here. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Gun violence, Slavery, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, and Murder

Moderate: Death, Drug use, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Police brutality, Grief, Suicide attempt, Gaslighting, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Abandonment

begentile'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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racism, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

ahirsch00's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny 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

3.75

It took a while for me to really get into the book. It was a slow start, and a lot of information is thrown at you in the first few chapters, so it made it difficult to process at first. But there are a ton of twists and turns that I never saw coming. I was on the edge of my seat by the end.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Suicide attempt, Murder, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Addiction, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexism, Sexual content, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Abandonment, and Alcohol

gattolinos_nerdy_nook's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense slow-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? It's complicated

5.0

As someone who loved TOG but ACOTAR left me feeling a little underwhelmed, I was hesitant to read this book. I also had a friend who rated it 2 stars so it didn't give me high hopes. Holy Hel was I wrong and the emotional rollercoaster this book sent me on when reading it!! I loved every second of this book and had to restrain myself from screaming about it. This book in equal parts made me smile and broke my heart.

I loved the overall plot and the mystery it held. It kept me going with all of the twists and turns. I gasped, I regretted what happened, I loved what happen and by the end, I sat there with the book staring at the wall whispering "What the fuck. What the fuck." As I had to comprehend how everything ended and went down. I also thought "Thank the gods that book two is out now and I don't have to wait a couple of years.". I also liked that all the plot points from the start of the book were resolved and because they were resolved, there are now new plot points for the next book due to consequences. In a book that is 803 pages long, I would have been really annoyed that one of the plots points was not resolved for 'reasons'.

I really enjoyed the characters in this book. There was a fun range of them and I also enjoyed jumping to different characters. Ruhn was one that I really enjoyed reading and watching interact with everyone. I found a lot of the characters in this book felt really well rounded and had their own lives, issues, and priorities. Granted not all were as all fleshed as others, it also comes down to how much they are written in the book and at what times. I am very excited to see who returns in the next book, and no doubt the new characters that Bryce and Hunt will work with and against.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Death, Drug use, Sexism, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Cursing, Domestic abuse, Xenophobia, Suicide attempt, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and War

Minor: Body shaming, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Medical content, and Pregnancy

kellicat94's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense slow-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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexism, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Grief, Suicide attempt, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism