Reviews tagging 'Gore'

The Assassin's Blade by Sarah J. Maas

48 reviews

britwalsh16's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

Gahhh!!! Sooo good!!! 
Now I’m glad I waited to read this one after reading books 1 & 2, so I know who Celaena is now, & then reading this book gave me more of an insight into why she is the way she is. And I just love it! I love her!  Amazing!!! 
But also, a part of me wishes I started with this book, because falling in love with Sam & his character, knowing that by the end he is going to die, is pure torture! It just made finishing the book so much harder! & yes I cried when he died even knowing ahead of time it was going to happen!
And Arobynn, I never liked him, and always had an inkling he was the one that betrayed Celaena, but to actually meet him, & get to know him, gah! He’s despicable! He might actually be worse then the King of Adarlan! Keyword, might. We’ll have to see what happens as the rest of the books play out. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Confinement, Cursing, Gore, Kidnapping, Torture, Toxic friendship, Trafficking, Physical abuse, Violence, Toxic relationship, Murder, Stalking, Death, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Grief, Slavery, War, and Vomit

Moderate: Cursing

Minor: Death of parent and Fire/Fire injury

cait's review against another edition

adventurous challenging sad fast-paced

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

3.75

---

Content Warnings

Minor: Gaslighting, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, Classism, Physical abuse, Gore, Kidnapping, Alcohol, Child death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Trafficking, Blood, Slavery, Stalking, Violence, Vomit, Abandonment, Child abuse, and Torture

maggies's review against another edition

adventurous 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? It's complicated

4.0

I found this collection of TOG novellas better paced than the first two books in the series, Throne of Glass and Crown of Midnight. Maybe it's because I'm already emotionally invested in Celaena and know what comes immediately after the events of The Assassin's Blade, but it certainly kept me engaged more and more often than the books did. And even though I knew what was coming, the gut punch was still super impactful.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore and Violence

Moderate: Abandonment, Vomit, Toxic relationship, and Murder

Minor: Slavery

wavephase's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional slow-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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Body horror, Grief, Death, Blood, Kidnapping, Gore, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Violence, Torture, and Vomit

Minor: War, Slavery, and Trafficking

nitecrtlvr's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional informative mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

I wouldn’t read this book before Throne of Glass unless it’s your second or third time reading it. To avoid any spoilers with the series. It makes more sense in this case to read it after Heir of Fire; that way the short stories in the Assassins Blade is fresh and helps explain certain characters that are introduced later in the series.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Gore, Grief, Violence, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Murder, Torture, and Death

eberzy's review against another edition

adventurous 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

4.0

Celaena is an awesome character. So is Nehemia. So far the female leads in this series are baddies and I’m here for it. I can just tell this was a set up for some really great reads to come.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Violence, Gore, and Murder

Moderate: Death, Death of parent, and Torture

Minor: Grief

cayleybp's review against another edition

adventurous emotional tense fast-paced

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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore

acorny's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Torture, Physical abuse, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Rape

meredith_williams_'s review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I read the Throne of Glass series last year, but ended up skipping the novella read because I was too invested to move backwards in the timeline. I decided to reread the series as a whole and started with Assassin’s Blade this go around. I actually really liked reading the prequel novellas with the full knowledge of how Celaea’s story plays out. It was fun to revisit the world and know how each prequel was laying important groundwork for Celaena’s journey in the main series. 

I did not shed one singular tear while reading the TOG series, and Sam’s death broke me! I was unprepared for how tender and soft his character was. His relationship with Celaena (while certainly influenced heavily by some trauma bonds) was an excellent portrayal of innocent first love. Both of them deserved their dreams and that made his loss all the more heartbreaking. Also, Arobynn is such a horrifying villain! You know it after Queen of Shadows, but SJM paints such a sinister and accurate image of an abuser in him that it makes my skin crawl.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Emotional abuse, Torture, Violence, and Gore

Minor: Vomit

pages4books's review against another edition

dark sad

1.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture and Murder

Moderate: Gore, Gaslighting, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, and Slavery