Reviews tagging 'Drug use'

Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas

33 reviews

ashleynp24's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny 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

4.25

I really enjoyed the strong female protagonist in this book and liked the backstory given for her.

I am reading this as the first book I’m the series, even though a lot of people say you can read it third. 

I liked her relationship with Nehemia a lot and love the female friendship angle. I feel that a lot of the relationships between champions could have been built up more, especially hers with Nox.

Chaol and Celaena probably had my favorite dynamic in the book, and I like them together more than her and Dorian even though he’s kind of the main love interest. It’s giving “love triangle” for most of the book so I’m excited to see where it goes. 

Great world building so far and I’m interested to see more of it as she fights for her freedom.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Genocide, Drug use, Classism, Slavery, Body horror, Violence, Kidnapping, Blood, Physical abuse, Murder, Misogyny, Rape, Grief, Death, Vomit, Torture, Suicidal thoughts, Death of parent, Suicide attempt, and Panic attacks/disorders

hopecobblepotworld's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark tense medium-paced

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

5.0

I've dedicated August to Rattling The Stars and reading the #TOG series in ebook Omnibus form and I'm frustrated with my progress. I meant to spend more time reading but I get so distracted. 

Pages Read: 466
% Read: 8

"Blood ties can't be broken." ~ Elena

Having just finished Book 1 - Throne of Glass, I can say I'm enthralled with this series so far. I adore Celeana and her fierceness, determination, and yet her also still tender heart. 

Dorian - wow. I'm eager to see how he grows in the series. Or... does he? I don't know! 

Chaol - what an up and down relationship he and Celeana have. Hot and Cold like the song goes. Although he does put up with her upchucking a lot. 🤭

Nehemia is also so fierce. A tigress. Such an interesting character. I can see her and Celeana on adventures together with Fleetfoot. 

The plot - the kingdom is screwed up. I mean, many are and we Read about them but the death camps, a Fighting for  the right to be the King's Champion aka Assassin, hokey religions* with ancient marks that can be used to control people. 

Stars: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
Spice: ½🌶 (Passionate Kissing)

*Han Solo

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death

Moderate: Violence and Torture

Minor: Drug use and Vomit

cameronmh's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious 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? No

4.25

Great story, classic Sarah J Maas combination of court intrigue, romance, magic, and combat. Almost gave it 4.5 but then subtracted a quarter star because of all of the anti-corset bits that really rubbed me the wrong way. I listened to a solid 3 hours of the audiobook while wearing a corset, and I can tell you for dang sure my ribs were not being crushed!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Suicide attempt, Vomit, Torture, Cannibalism, Child abuse, Death of parent, Death, Gore, Violence, War, Blood, Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Slavery, and Animal death

Moderate: Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Cursing, Rape, Addiction, Alcohol, Grief, Gaslighting, and Drug abuse

There is poison! Both a theoretical poisoning (a controlled environment, but still theoretically very dangerous) and a second scene with a purposeful poisoning with an agent that can cause death. There are also hallucinations (which end up to be technically real) caused by the poisoning.

ten_telegrams'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
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Murder, Death, and Blood

Moderate: Torture, Confinement, Slavery, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Drug use and Gaslighting

ifoundcallie's review

adventurous emotional tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Sexism, and Murder

Moderate: Kidnapping, Confinement, War, Slavery, Vomit, Alcohol, and Adult/minor relationship

Minor: Torture, Genocide, Drug use, Cursing, Animal death, War, Grief, Gore, Infidelity, Misogyny, Death of parent, Child death, and Sexual harassment

vaguely_pink's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious medium-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

3.5

As I had come to expect based on what I'd heard from friends, this first book in ToG is not nearly as gripping as SJM's other series. The writing is not as good and the characters and their dialogue don't read quite as authentically. But I'm excited to see how the rest of the series plays out because the world building is there. Also that ending was a doozy. Definitely didn't plan on being up so late reading so much of the end in one night.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Murder, and Violence

Moderate: Death of parent, Vomit, Injury/Injury detail, Slavery, Blood, Body horror, Gore, and Drug use

Minor: Alcohol, Suicide, War, Gaslighting, Classism, and Sexism

magicalinkwell's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

This book was super enjoyable. It was mysterious and had excellent character development. I read this as the first book of SEVEN. I'm not expecting it to move quickly or be wildly engaging right off the bat. I'm expecting it to lay the foundation. 

Also, keep in mind this is a YA book, not an adult fantasy book. It's comparable to GoT but it's not GoT (which is adult fantasy). There is a decent amount of telling, not showing. Again, I expect that in a YA book. 

People complain about Celaena being whiney or "not assassin-like."

Spoiler

She acts like a CLASSIC 18-19-year-old girl. She didn't WANT to be an assassin. She STILL doesn't want to be an assassin. She had no choice and then was surprised with her training bill. She explicitly states this - she wanted to be a healer, but then her family was slaughtered and Arobynn found her frozen in a river. She wants legit freedom and being the best assassin was her only way out. Of course, she's going to act like a normal 18-19-year-old and choose to behave like an atypical assassin. She never wanted it in the first place and still doesn't want it.

So, despite the hype, I tempered my expectations and enjoyed the book for what it is. I'm excited to read the rest of the series!

Tropes:
-enemies to lovers
-love triangle
-chosen one
-banned magic 
-good vs evil
-reluctant hero
-orphan hero

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery, Grief, Classism, Death of parent, Murder, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Torture

Minor: Cannibalism, Drug abuse, Sexual assault, Drug use, Rape, and Sexual harassment

careohleen's review against another edition

dark hopeful sad 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? No

3.25

There was one scene near the end that was good but the rest was pretty mediocre imho. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Blood

Moderate: Body horror, Classism, War, Injury/Injury detail, Hate crime, Gore, Genocide, Slavery, Colonisation, Suicide attempt, Sexual violence, Sexism, Murder, Misogyny, and Grief

Minor: Vomit, Sexual violence, Sexual content, Religious bigotry, Rape, Kidnapping, Infidelity, Cursing, Confinement, Child abuse, Cannibalism, Animal cruelty, Alcohol, Animal death, Torture, Racism, Fire/Fire injury, Drug use, and Death of parent

emmacartlidge's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Death, and Blood

Moderate: Gore, Confinement, Physical abuse, Slavery, Death of parent, and Drug use

Minor: Vomit

zsometimesreads's review against another edition

• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery

Moderate: Blood, Physical abuse, and Misogyny

Minor: Vomit and Drug use