Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

The Assassin's Blade by Sarah J. Maas

23 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. 

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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

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.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore and Violence

Moderate: Abandonment, Vomit, Toxic relationship, and Murder

Minor: Slavery

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.

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Content Warnings

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

shafirareads's review against another edition

emotional sad slow-paced

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

3.0

I don't like this. It's just not doing it for me. The way the author pictured Celaena as someone arrogant, stupid, and young, even though she has potential? This is just stupid. Maybe she will get better in the next books, but reading such a painfully slow character's development is not for me. Don't get me wrong, I will read Throne of Glass and the next books, but I think I won't like it that much. It's just so boring that I had to skimmed the last part of the book. Everyone has their preferences I guess.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Torture

Minor: Vomit

Sam is dead

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.

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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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture and Murder

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

lovelymisanthrope's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad 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? Yes

4.0

I picked this up as my last book in my initial reading of the "Throne of Glass" series.
"The Assassin's Blade" is a collection of five novellas that take place before "Throne of Glass" begins. This collection allows the reader to get a better understanding of Celaena's character and see where she came from and why she is fighting so hard to make the world better.
Upon finishing this book, I wish I could go back and read this one before I started the entire series. I knew this was a collection of novellas from the Throne of Glass world, but I was not expecting this book to have such important backstories for several of the plotlines in the "Throne of Glass" series. Though this is not essential to read, I do think this was one of my favorite books in the series.
My favorite short story was the last one: "The Assassin and the Empire". This story was so devastatingly beautiful and heartbreaking, I did not want it to ever end. Celaena is such a fierce main character, and I loved seeing how she ended up in the mines as a slave.
I HIGHLY recommend this book, and I HIGHLY recommend you read this before you start the entire series. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Toxic friendship, Torture, Murder, Slavery, Violence, Toxic relationship, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail

abicaro17's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious slow-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

4.75

SJM knows exactly what she did. I will be crying in my room for a week thanks.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Slavery, Adult/minor relationship, Confinement, Death, Grief, Toxic relationship, Blood, Body horror, Stalking, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Violence, Child abuse, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Torture, War, Medical content, Murder, Physical abuse, and Gore

phoricho's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Blood, Death, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Physical abuse, Slavery, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, and War

abbyreads23's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad 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

I read AB after Heir of Fire, it was certainly reflective to read it this way since it’s a prequel to Throne of Glass.
I enjoyed it and it was nice seeing Celaena before she got to the glass castle and the backstory of her and Sam’s romance. This book helped fill in a lot of gaps on where Celaena adopted certain practices, also shedding light on how she’s always operated. 
I sobbed at one point, which the previous books didn’t make me cry lol so I liked that, you know it’s good when you can personally feel a characters pain.
It’s a solid 4.5 stars, I really enjoyed it and can’t wait to read the rest of the series.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Torture, and Death

Minor: Slavery, Vomit, and Toxic relationship