#crescent city review

[literatureaesthetic]

house of flame and shadow ; sarah j maas

this is floating somewhere between a high 3, low 4 stars for me. there was a lot to love and a LOT that could have been (and should have been) executed better. overall, i liked how everything wrapped up and how each character arc was completed. i've always said that 'house of earth and blood' is my favourite sjm novel, and this finale, although nowhere near a perfect conclusion, definitely didn't let the characters or the series down.

saying that, i have issues with the amount of plot conveniences in here. certain scenes felt so ridiculous and out of the bounds of logic that i had to laugh. it was difficult to suspend disbelief at times

nonetheless, i love these characters, and i love this world. this book was pure entertainment; i had so much fun reading and discussing with online friends. is it flawed? absolutely. but it was still a solid conclusion to a series i've been reading and loving for years now!!

[mystical-blaise]

Post HOFAS, I can only think of three things:

Lidia Cervos made this book. Truly.

But

Who do I dislike more now; Aelin or Bryce?

And

Bryce Adelaide Quinlan does not deserve Orion Hunt Athalar.

[secretelia]

HOFAS REVIEW (SPOILERRRRS)

I wanted to do a HOFAS Review bc i've seen so many opinions of this book... Beware spoilers!

Okey, first of all, my rating for this book: 4.5 ⭐️ I LOVED IT!

Sorry to everyone who hated it, i just couldn't. I loved it! Even tho i do have some things to say. Let's start on the story itself (plot, writing style...):

The plot to me was good, even tho at some points a lil bit too dense. But I really enjoyed seeing how the whole story that started in book one ended. I really liked how everything was tied up and how all those things that appeared in book one actually made sense now in book three. Again, at some points it became difficult to follow, but in the end everything made sense.

Bryce and Hunt's romantic story. I love them! Bryce was a little annoying at some point, but i totally get what she was trying to say/do. It's unfair to say that she doesn't care for Hunt bc she looked past his trauma. She didn't! She was dealing with a lot of stuff and maybe her first reaction wasn't good, but she realized her mistake and just asked him to finish what he started! Plus, all of you saying they don't have a connection... Be fucking for real. Their love is so pure and so mature! They're adults navigating difficult times and it SHOWS.

Ruhn and Lidia uggggggh absolutely love them! To me, Lidia was THE character on this book. Love her development, her relationship with Ruhn and overall her character. I wished we would have had a lil bit more of Ruhn pov, tho.

Tharion i love u idc what everyone says you're my fav fish<3

I really liked that it wasn't a different pov each chapter and that it was mostly bryce's and hunt's pov. But sometimes it got weird the pov changing in the middle of the chapter, it was like "wait what?" kinda situation. But overall I enjoyed it.

The ACOTAR crossover!!!! Loved it! Love to see that Nesta and Azriel became good friends and I looooooooove to see Nesta as a warrior. So powerful! She's my baby and I'm so excited bc it looks like we're getting another acotar book for her, can't fucking wait. I would have liked a little bit more of Feyre and also I was expecting for them to go help Bryce and have an epic final battle scene with the ACOTAR characters, but i'm not mad that didn't happen.

Now, for the things i didn't like:

Ithan's pov. Sorry, it was just boring! Let it go already omg... So annoying. Plus i didn't get the whole sigrid situation. It just felt like Sarah didn't remeber she existed in CC2 and didn't know what to do with her in CC3. All that "new fendyr heir" talk over and over again just to have her killed? Don' get it! It seemed like she would be Ithan's love interest and suddenly we have another character out of the blue named perry that's being set up with him... Weird.

Ariadne? What happened to her? She left the vyper queen and poof, gone. She appears at the end to tell tharion that going back to the meat market is a stupid decision and then disappears again... Ok. It was weird.

Sathia! What happened to her? Again, it seemed like the character was bothering Sarah and she didn't know what to do with her... So she set up the whole ex situation and byebye. And Flynn didn't even think to ask where the fuck his sister was? It was just so random.

This is just a curiosity, but i realized that Bryce said Rhys looked exactly like Ruhn, but then Ember didn't say anything about it when she first met Rhys... Sarah just probs forgot but i found it weird.

That bonus chapter with nesta and ember... OMG a lot of thoughts on that. I love Nesta, but I'm mad about Rhys tearing her apart, like he just knows that feyre would have done exactly the same thing as nesta, cmon😭 Also i love Cas, even though i'm a lil mad that he always sides with rhys so boldly and i would love for nesta to address that on the next acotar book.

Overall, it was a good book and i really enjoyed it!

[margielalalove]

“I love you. I fell in love with you in the depths of my soul, and it’s my soul that will find yours again in the next life.”

Sarah J. Maas, House of Flame and Shadow (Crescent City, #3)

[kenna-is-reading]

Crescent City: House of Flame and Shadow Review

SPOILERS AHEAD!!!

Dear Readers,

I have, at long last, finished HOFAS!!! And I might just have more thoughts, questions, comments, and concerns than I did when I finished HOSAB. Strap in, cause we're in for a long post. I'd give a TLDR, but I think if you can get through 2,500 pages of Crescent City books, you can skim through this too :). I really enjoyed the book, but I feel like I want more time with these characters in order to really solidify them as a group. I am looking forward to the next book just to see how it all continues, especially given some of the connections that were made and the history that was revealed in this book. That said, let's wrap up the preamble and get into it.

Brannongate

I'm just gonna start with what was probably everyone's biggest takeaway from HOFAS, and that is Lidia being a confirmed relative of Aelin's. I was waiting for the TOG tie in, and I've had many different theories, but I knew as soon as we started getting into the deer shifter stuff, combined with Brann being Lidia's son's name, that it was coming soon. I definitely gasped out loud regardless when she said his full name, and I would very much like to get deeper into that history as soon as possible, because I miss TOG with every ounce of my soul and spirit. I love that Lidia is able to be so powerful with her fire, if only because I'm still mad that Aelin lost hers. I am not one of the genius Maasverse fans who have probably already figured out what everything means and how it will all happen going forward, but I am excited to be along for the ride to find out. Speaking of Lidia...

2. Lidia & Hypaxia

I would really love to see more of Lidia and Hypaxia as sisters and figure out what their dynamic will be. I feel like there could be a lot more to discover as far as the witches go, and I really like both characters. I really just want to see Lidia be able to love and trust and have a family. She has suffered a ridiculous amount and I want to see her happy. I think Hypaxia being the head of House of Flame and Shadow was a very interesting development, and I am interested in following that storyline further. I still feel like I don't know Hypaxia very well as a character, but that could also just be because we only really hear about her from other characters' perspectives. Her relationship with Lidia, if one is ever built, is definitely one of the aspects of the story that I am most excited to see develop.

3. Tharion or Sathia or Colin or Ariadne (to the tune of Chloe or Sam or Sophia or Marcus)

These were the biggest questions I was left with at the end of HOFAS. Is Sathia okay? Did she get Colin out? What happened with the Viper Queen? What is Ariadne going to do? Why does Tharion consistently make such bad decisions? I knew that Tharion and Ithan, arguably the worst, most self-sabotaging decision makers in the series (if not the entire Massiverse), being the ones to transport the antidote was going to end...como se dice...badly. While I still love both of them down, I felt like Tharion definitely continued his streak of making me facepalm while reading to a very serious degree. His dedication to ruining his own life would be nearly admirable if it weren't so painfully stupid. That said, I don't think it was as bad as book 2. I liked his dynamic with Sathia, and I think he had good motives for marrying her. As I previously said, I do love Tharion. He's definitely one of my favorite characters in this series, but I want better for him. He and Ithan are so wracked by their own guilt that they only worsen things for themselves, but I'm really hoping it will get better for them as they all work as a group to establish a post-Asterian society. And speaking of Ithan...

4. Sunball McGee, Prime of the Valbaran Wolves

Some of y'all are about to be real mad at me. But it must be said.

Ithan Holstrom is one of my favorite SJM men.

Now, now, now- Let me finish- I have seen such a huge and, in my opinion, unwarranted amount of hate for Ithan as a result of his actions in this book. And while I 100% understand the frustration, (trust, I do!!!), I also understand Ithan. Think about it. This is a very young kid who is essentially a frat boy. His only personality trait, other than Make your brother proud, is sunball player. This is everyone's biggest complaint. Every time he is mentioned, he is reduced to sunball. And I know people find this redundant and annoying, but let's consider this for a moment. Walk with me. Sunball is all Ithan is reduced to, and I think that's the point. He thinks very lowly of himself. It is clear that he does not think he has anything else to offer aside from his sunball skills. In the whole quest to save Sigrid, (everyone's other complaint about him), he never once considers that he himself should lead. Again, this annoys people, but I think that is the point. His opinion of himself is so negative, and he lacks so much confidence, and he has lived so much in his brother's shadow that he seems like he had to cling to what he was good at in order to stand out and have something of his own. His identity as a wolf was somewhat overshadowed by Connor, his love for Bryce was overshadowed by Connor, and while he obviously loved his brother dearly and that's nothing against Connor, it would have made it very difficult for Ithan to develop his own sense of identity and sense of self outside of who he was related to and what he was good at. Now, am I reading too far into his character? Maybe. However, I am nevertheless appointing myself captain of the Ithan Holstrom Defense Squad, and I am trying to convince SJM Nation to join me. Signup sheet is by the door, grab a badge on the way out. I think becoming Prime is exactly what he needed to come into his own and figure out who he is, as a wolf, as a leader, and as his own individual. He has never been given permission to lead his own life, and now he must step up and take the reins of not only his own life, but the wolves' as well. All the deep psychoanalyzing stuff aside, I think him and Perry could be really cute. Don't know where y'all stand with that, but I was sensing some vibes between them that I wasn't mad at: "...Flynn and Dec across from him, the former eyeing Perry with an interest Ithan didn't entirely appreciate. Perry was blushing, and Ithan didn't appreciate that either...Perry laughed, and...okay, maybe Ithan liked the sound." (pg. 829). I really like Perry, despite seeing relatively little of her in the book. (I've only known Perry for a day and a half, but if anything happened to her, I would k!ll everyone in this room and then myself). I'm curious as to what will happen with her, given that her scent didn't change when she took the antidote, etc. And I'll be done with my Ithan rant, but don't think I didn't notice the whole ice magic thing. I clocked that tea faster than Bryce can teleport. I won't make any theories, but all I'm saying is SJM men w Elsa magic >>>.

5. Call me Sigrid the way my life keeps getting progressively worse

Now I know we're not really supposed to care about Sigrid whatsoever at this point, but I feel obligated to note that she is out somewhere wandering, and the gang does not know where she is. I make it my personal mission to keep tabs on the opps of my favorite characters. I think she could have been more complex than a throwaway-side-villain character. She hasn't had a lot of choice in the things that have happened to her thus far in her life, but I do think she has to be kept out of the way so that Ithan can be Prime, so I can't guess at what will happen there, but I'm glad the Astronomer is gone. He was ticking me off.

6. Reapers and Necromancers and Lion Shifters, Oh My

I feel obligated to discuss with my fellow readers- do we all think the Lion Shifter Reaper that talked to Ithan and Hypaxia was the same one Bryce banged in book 1, or am I tripping? Ithan does think, "Gods, Bryce would have a field day with this guy-- his long golden hair was very carefully mussed" (pg. 608). Just something to think about, something I noticed, not important to the plot. Carrying on!

7. Ember & Nesta & My Tears

Let's just take a moment to read some lines that made me (No. 1 Nesta Stan) tear up!

"But Ember continued, looking only at Nesta, 'I am glad of one thing: that I was able to meet you.' Nesta's lips pressed into a thin line, and she glanced down at their joined hands...'Your mother loves you,' Nesta said quietly, reading the exasperated expression on Bryce's face. 'Don't for one second take that for granted.' Bryce could only incline her head to Nesta. 'I'm lucky,' she admitted. 'I've always been lucky to have her as a mom.' Ember really looked like she might cry now, especially as she turned back to Nesta and said, 'This time with you was a gift, Nesta. It truly was.' With that, she pulled Nesta into a tight embrace, and Bryce could have sworn something like pain and longing crossed Nesta's expression. Like she hadn't experienced a mom-hug for a long, long time" (HOFAS 813-814).

I truly love Nesta so much, and this book set up a lot for her in the next ACOTAR novel, which I really hope will have her perspective in it. I love Nesta and Bryce's potential friendship, and I hope there is more crossover content coming. I know a lot of people thought there was too much info-dumping about Fae history in this book, but I loved learning about the lore, and I think with Nesta's eight-pointed star situation could lead to us learning even more, which I am excited about.

8. Wyrd - Urd

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! Finally some insight into the whole Urd thing! I have so many thoughts and theories about the different powers and gods in each series, and I'm so interested in the ways that they are intersecting and connecting. We learned that Urd is the Cauldron - "A cauldron of life, brimming with the language of creation...Wyrd, we called her in the old world" (pg. 692). The symbols on the "bowl" the statue of Urd is holding in this scene are most definitely Wyrdmarks, but the way they are described as tattoos running onto the statue's arms reminded me of Feyre's tattoos, which I thought was kind of a cool image: "And those symbols running from the bowl onto her skin...they were like tattoos" (pg 690). I am very interested in learning about the origins of the Under-King, too, him having come from the shifters' world. Again, I need to look further into theories to see if anyone with more brain power than me has figured it out, but I am really enjoying putting the pieces of this gigantic puzzle together.

9. HELLO????? VIKTORIA??????

Finally, I have to at least mention the gang's complete and total neglect to retrieve Viktoria from the bottom of the ocean, yet again. I understand y'all had a lot going on the first couple books, but come on. You've now worked closely and allied with not one but two Blue Court water queens, and you've gallivanted all over Midgard via submarine, and you're telling me not ONE person had so much as the THOUGHT of "oh hey, we should try to find Vik's box"??? And now that Asterigate has been resolved, they have no excuse! I feel so bad for her that they just...forgot about it? Assumed she's beyond help? I don't know! Justice for Viktoria!

10. Jesiba.

I love Jesiba Roga so much and I am so sad about her sacrifice, but I should have seen it coming. I think I did, but I was living in a river in Egypt. Talk about characters who are always two steps ahead, her having Ithan packing those boxes knowing darn well what she was going to do...Absolute icon. I shall never forget her. I've heard people saying that not enough people died, but I feel like it was simply spread out through the series and done a little differently than other SJM endings. This series started out with like seven people who meant the world to our MC being brutally slaughtered, we lost Lehabah, we lost Viktoria and Justinian, we lost Cormac, we lost Sofie, we lost the Prime, which some might not consider a "real" loss but he was on the right side, and then Jesiba. I think our characters suffered plenty, considering some character or another spent like half the series in an Asteri dungeon being horrifically tortured.

In closing, I will say that I really do love this world and these characters. I am so intrigued as to how it will change and develop going forward, especially with such a drastic shift in power in so many areas. I don't really care if the only conflict in the next book is them figuring out the Firstlight problem, I just want to know what happens next. I can't wait to dive deeper into the whole multiverse situation and see what is next for all of our favorite characters, and the more time goes on, the more ready I am for a new ACOTAR. Now that I have caught up on Crescent City, I will be diving headlong into Summer Reads, so I am thinking about doing some summer themed posts the next couple weeks to get into the summer vibes! If you read this far, thank you so much for giving half a crap what I think, and let me know what you think is next for the Maasverse! I want to hear all the theories, or things I may not have caught, or things you guys have figured out! Until next time! :)

XOXO,

Kenna

[acourtofantumbra]

HOFAS Review (+ a stream of consciousness...)

With a full 24 hours to sit with finishing HOFAS I have some thoughts and will likely sit with all of it a while longer to make all that I'm thinking coherent...

TLDR: I didn't like this book. I thought it was an unprecedented miss from SJM. If that take might upset you, please, ignore me! I'm genuinely really, really happy if after two years folks felt like this was a huge win. Genuinely.

But the broad strokes are:

I was a CC girl. I saw a lot of folks had a hard time with CC2 and I think I was in the camp of "actually, mostly liked it, but def ballooned by the last 200 pages (which were fire)." I love CC1. CC in particular was the series to finally convince me to start recruiting my friends into the SJM world. Over two years me and my friends are closer than ever, reading all kinds of fantasy. It's my fave thing in the world. But, other than ACOTAR 1, this is probs the only book of hers I actively dislike. It's firmly slotted CC into my third place for all of her series when it used to rank 2nd.

I've seen a lot of folks frame it as: you're disappointed because it wasn't ACOTAR, this was a book for the theorists, you spent two years overhyping what this could be, etc. I suppose I accept the last point to some extent. I came into this book a bigger fan of CC than of the whole of ACOTAR... I genuinely wanted Crescent City, not ACOTAR. And, if this account is any evidence, I am a big theory girlie. This was a hastily written, chaotically paced, surface level mess that kept itself afloat with gratuitously long infodumps. My love of theories did me no favors (I got a lot of things right) and I realized that because there was no emotional connection in this book the "wins" felt completely lackluster. For a book that deals in quite a bit of soul talk... it felt soulless.

This book misses what SJM really excels at as an author - incredible characterization. She might have a cast of 10 people, but we know all of them, love all of them. The absolutely batshit plots that have been layered over 15 books are always grounded, bolstered, and absorbed through symbiosis via her characters. The way I can, 24 hours later, barely remember plot points is completely attributed their lack of emotional connection to the characters themselves.

For ex, the entire resolution of the Avallen plot and the Flynn siblings earth magic freak out would have had so much more emotional impact if we a) knew Tristan's sister better b) cared about this location that yes we've theorized about but had only just arrived at (and mostly experienced via cave). So it was really written as this moment of catharsis - after some of the most overt, unrelenting info plot dumps for pages on end - that felt unearned.

Essentially, this was almost 900 pages of exclusively plot. And I'm actually so sad that this is effectively goodbye to the leads of this story because, despite spending 900 pages with them, I feel like I barely saw them. It's part of the reason why my fave part of CC3 are the bonus chapters. They're just moments to actually spend with our characters, be reminded of their personalities, their connections, and what they'd do in moments of stillness, weirdness, or kind of perfect mundanity. That atmospheric joy was always one of my favorite parts of falling for the CC crew.

Anyway, for the folks who are like sorry this is for the theorists... I hope this is the last time we get a book like this then. As someone who loves this - not just for SJM books but for all the fantasy series I read - world building without a strong foundation of character is not actually good writing. And this was bad writing - plain and simple. This felt like a checklist. And the glaring quality differences of each of the book's three parts, along with SJM's admission that this version of CC3 was a 5 week rewrite, leads me to believe a lot of this book was like SJM writing herself out of a corner. A means to an end. Also, I've never caught typos in an SJM work and... I caught a lot. Also why did we switch POVs like we were being held at gun point (I wont even get into the Tharion and Ithan of it all).

After that huge reveal in CC2, this book was always gonna be a massive thing to live up to. It needed to lay down so much groundwork for all the worlds, all the future books, to be able to play with. And that mission became of primary importance over the people and the world itself. There were too many plots, far too many characters, and we spent the entire time in what felt like "the future possibility" instead of taking a look around and sending off this main plotline and hanging out for a bit.

At one point I texted my SJM groupchat, all of whom are equally dismayed, like this book is essentially 4 infodump coversations and then every character going and telling 4 more characters that conversations and so on. And inexplicably we had to be present for every instance.

I celebrate the Lidia plotline from this book - the most emotional and satisfying (I still think it could have been done even better). Of course there were sprinklings of other things that were great fun. I read it fast in true SJM fashion. I think I'm only harsh because I only grade the queen against herself... and there were just countless times where I thought, "Sarah you're so much better than this... what am I even reading?"

Anyway, I guess I'm glad to put this chapter to rest. I'm excited for the future of ACOTAR and can only hope she employs the lessons she learned while writing ACOSF (a book with a ton of heart). Also, obviously delighted by the really strong focus on TOG easter eggs for whatever future that might entail (give me Manorian... please Sarah).

I think I'll just need to be in mourning for another second. And tbh, it may be light's out on the desire to ever write a brainstorm theory post ever again. Sad! But also not a big deal in the slightest.

[rubireads]

house of flame and shadow by sarah j. maas

3 stars

v. slight spoilers (!

the third instalment of the crescent city series and what seems like the most anticipated sjm release was, unfortunately, a disappointing read for me. whilst a small part can be attributed to the sky high expectations following the shock ending of cc2, i think it goes further beyond that.

the biggest thing that stood out to me throughout the book was the convenience of certain plots, specifically within the last few hundred pages. for example, certain characters that have been almost impossible to defeat or overcome in the previous books are done so quite easily in this one and with no effort at all, which felt like lazy writing for a story that has felt like a long time coming. and it wasn’t even a question when sjm would use her infamous “they’re dead…surprise they’re not” trick in this - not one part of me was worried for said character.

the potential that the end of cc2 gave and the result we got feels like it didn’t quite match up. not to mention the big plot point of the cc2 ending felt useless after finding out we could’ve got the same information from a closer source all along. don’t get me wrong, i wouldn’t change the cc2 ending for all the world, but perhaps it could’ve have served a greater purpose?

i was more invested in lidia’s story separately than bryce’s & hunt’s combined which says a lot considering they are the main characters. this might be because they, alongside many other characters, lacked the emotional connection that was present within the last two books, replaced by info dumps.

the one thing i will say about this book is that not one of the alternating povs was i disappointed to read, even when the last one ended on a cliffhanger. this might be attributed to the fact that we’re so far into the sjm world now that each story has as much intrigue and mystery as the last but this combined with the intertwining of those very same povs make for a very satisfying feeling. which is great because the overall book as whole felt very unsatisfying.

[sofiasjornal]

House of Flame and Shadow 🌙 Review

Let me just say that I absolutely loved 90% of the book, it was perfect in many, ways. But that ending… it kinda spoiled the book for me…

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ and a half

Let’s start with that! I felt the built-up to the battle with the Asteri was bigger and more interesting than the battle itself. It ended way too quickly and too easily. The Asteri really didn’t put up that much of a fight. Two books leading up to this moment and then it just that? I was disappointed, not gonna lie. The battle needed more momentum and more magnitude, it felt really small. 

I also saw some comments about the crossover, of people disappointed that it was just Nesta and Azriel, and didn’t get a chance to see Feyre or Nyx, or even Mor. Don’t get me wrong, I wanted to see them too, but the crossover was not a big reunion of all the characters. The purpose of the crossover was to find the connection with the trove and the starlight bloodline, the connection between the blades, and for that, only Nesta and Azriel are necessary. Maybe a novella would be different, but I think the crossover was done right, even in the bonus chapters (also, Sarah can you please stop with the different versions of the books and different chapters spread god knows where?! Thank you!)

As you may know, Bryce lost some of my affection during this book, her insensitive remarks to Hunt pissed me off so much. And even to Lidia, saying her kids are baggage, honestly, I don’t know how Lidia didn’t freak out on her. I get that she’s young and has the world on her shoulders, but it doesn’t feel like enough of an excuse. And Hunt was never a personal favorite of mine (I still liked him enough, though) so if this is really the last book where they are the main couple I don’t really mind it! Lidia and Ruhn carried the book anyway 😍 and I feel like SJM explored Bryce and Hunt’s relationship enough. The next one would definitely benefit from a different and fresh perspective. 

Also, I was never a fan of the whole Danika thing. I understand her importance to Bryce and to the story but how it was built made me really dislike her for some reason. I know she was brave and cared for Bryce deeply, and was willing to sacrifice (and did in the end) a lot for the cause. But she never sat right with me. And that whole bonus chapter where she just gets Bryce drunk (I know, I know, Bryce didn’t need any help, I know) it just made things worse. It was obvious she had a plan since the beginning and Bryce just went along because she cared deeply for her friend. And while I don’t doubt Danika’s affection and friendship with Bryce, at some point you have to wonder how much was real when Danika was hiding so much vital information, and not only about her cause, but about herself.

The rest of the book I liked just fine. Celestina should have died, and this is the hill I’m dying on. She deserved it. And she had no redemption at all to earn the mercy Bryce got her. The autumn king's death was spectacular! And Morven’s too! How I laughed, I was never that happy with characters dying. AND SABINE! This book had many, many happy moments for me 😂 I only felt bad about the Prime, he deserved a more dignified death than what he got and the way Sabine killed him… she deserved all that she got. And Sigrid? That little bitch! I know she’s not in control, she’s a freshly made reaper, probably still adjusting, running on instinct, but I mean… siding with Sabine? SABINE?! Ithan will be one hell of a prime, I just know it!

There were a few surprises that got me screaming. I think Lidia’s kids connect her with the spring court because of the fertility rite (but we’ll get to that!) and Hypaxja as the head of Flame and Shadow! I think the true wonders of Hypaxia’s power are still to be shown and I’m all for it! 

Now, I’m assuming the next book will be House of Many Waters, if SJM is following the house names. Here I think Tharion could definitely play a bigger role! HOFAS spent a lot of time setting him up, but also Hypaxia (who became the head of flame and shadow! and is also Lidia’s sister!) and Ithan! If Tharion and Hypaxia's friendship were to grow into something deeper, and Tharion somehow became the head of Many Waters, imagine the power couple!

But I have so many questions about this book and its connection to the others and other series! So many that I think maybe it’s better to put them in another post and organize them there 😅 otherwise this will never end!

[bookish-goblin]

Sarah J. Maas Series Order - A Quick Guide

[wakingupnexttoyou]

FINALLY starting this one!! I'm so excited!! But it's been a hot minute since I've read a book this long 😂

[385bookreviews]

1.73.3 House of Flame and Shadow by Sarah J Maas

SPOILERS for all of Crescent City and A Court of Thorns and Roses

Pages: 838

Time Read: 13 hours and 14 minutes

Overall Rating: 3★ Storyline: 2★ Dialogue: 2.5★ Characters: 2★

Genre: Urban fantasy

TWs for the book: Torture, war, violence, death, s*xual content, gore, blood, murder, injury, confinement, vomit, misogyny/sexism, grief, fire, body horror, colonization, kidnapping, cursing, genocide, child death, gun violence, slavery, physical abuse, s*xual abuse, discussions of r*pe, toxic relationship, drug use, emotional abuse, classism, genocide, excrement, cannibalism, death of a parent, gaslighting, child abuse

POV: Third person

Time Period/Location: Begins immediately after the events of House of Sky and Breath; Crescent City, the Eternal City, Avallen, Nena, the Depth Charger; Prythian in the A Court of Thorns and Roses world; The Court of Nightmares, The Prison

First Line: The Hind knelt before her undying masters and contemplated how it would feel to tear out their throats.

At the end of House of Sky and Breath, Bryce opened a portal in an attempt to go to Hel but ended up in Prythian. Rhysand, Amren, and Azriel take her to a cell in the Court of Nightmares and ask her questions, most of which she refuses to answer and lies about the Horn and how she got there and her powers. When left alone, she winnows down through the grate where monsters are kept. Her starlight clears a path and she goes down a tunnel. Nesta finds her and threatens to bring her back but Bryce runs and the tunnel collapses so they keep going forward. They encounter a Middengard wyrm but keep pushing forward through the tunnels, and Azriel reveals that he was there the whole time. Bryce sets a trap for Nesta and Azriel using the wyrm, but then immediately regrets it and goes back to help. She discovers that Azriel and Nesta were fine and lured her back, and then Nesta uses the Mask from the Dread Trove to kill the wyrm. They continue onwards through the tunnels, and end up passing through a portal that takes them under the Prison. They are greeted by a holographic video of Silene, the second daughter of Queen Theia, and she explains what happened. The Asteri used to rule Prythian as the Daglan, but High King Fionn and Queen Theia, along with her general Pelias and with the help of the Starsword (Gwydion) and Truth-Teller, dispatched them. Fionn and Theia had Helena and Silene, and Theia ruled over the Dusk Court, now known as the Prison. Theia desired to conquer more worlds, but Fionn said no, so Theia and Pelias killed him and used the Mask and the Horn, the fourth part of the Dread Trove, to open a portal to Midgard. The Asteri were in different forms this time, and welcomed them with open arms, along with the fae shifters from another world. Under the guidance of the Asteri, the fae and the rest of the Vanir began to oppress the humans. But then the Asteri put a parasite into the water that would lessen magic and give the Vanir a human lifespan if they didn't make the Drop and give up part of their firstlight to the Asteri. The demons of Hel came to try and aid the Vanir in fighting back, and Aidas and Theia became lovers. Realizing they weren't going to win, Theia gave Silene and Helena each a third of her power, and then sent them with the Harp and the Horn to go back to Prythian. Helena pushed Silene through but stayed behind, and Pelias defeated Theia and forcefully wed Helena. Silene hid the third of her power her mother had given her deep beneath their old palace in the Dusk Court, and collected monsters to imprison there and turned the Prison into what it is. Then she married the High Lord of the Night Court, and keyed her DNA to the prison, and that is why Bryce and Rhysand can access it. Bryce takes the power she stored there, and when Nesta and Azriel try to take her back to the rest of the Court, she fights back and collapses part of the floor, where they discover an imprisoned Asteri named Vesperus. She was imprisoned by Silene, and reveals that the Illyrians were created by the Asteri/Daglan to be their warriors (the precursors for angels). Nesta and Bryce kill Vesperus, and Bryce steals Truth-Teller from Azriel and goes back to Midgard.

Meanwhile, Hunt, Ruhn, and Baxian are being tortured by Pollux back on Midgard while Lidia ponders on how to free them. Baxian chews off Ruhn's hand in an escape attempt but it fails. Back in Lunathion, Ithan has freed the Fendyr heir, Sigrid, from the Astronomer. Ithan, Sigrid, Flynn, Declan, Marc, and the sprites search the Meat Market for any clues on what happened to Bryce. While there, Sabine and the wolf packs detect their presence. They try to run but end up walking into a trap. Flynn and Declan shoot Sabine in the leg and face to slow her down, and the Viper Queen hides them. They discover Tharion and Ariadne, and fill Tharion in on what has been going on. Lidia then appears and tells them to get on the Ocean Queen's city ship and head to the Eternal City because she is going to free Ruhn, Baxian, and Hunt. They struggle trying to believe her but feel they don't have any other choice. The Viper Queen says she will only allow them to leave if Ithan fights someone of her choosing. He agrees. Tharion convinces Ariadne to not fight him, and the Viper Queen reveals that Ariadne has agreed to go and work for someone else. She demands that Ithan and Sigrid fight to the death, and Ithan kills Sigrid. The three sprites light the Meat Market on fire, and they all escape and head to the city ship. Ithan, however, backs out last minute and runs to the House of Flame and Shadow to talk to Jesiba and convince her to find a necromancer to raise Sigrid from the dead. Jesiba agrees, as long as Ithan does some work for her. She reveals she was a priestess in the library of Parthos 15,000 years ago, and that she was cursed by Apollion to live forever because she wouldn't tell him the magic in the books (there was none). Hypaxia appears and reveals that a coup overthrew her as queen of the Valbarran witches and that she was deciding to swear fealty to the House of Flame and Shadow. Ithan asks her to use her necromancer abilities to raise Sigrid and she agrees. She tries, but when Sigrid comes back, she decides to become a Reaper, and goes off to work with the Under King. Hypaxia says the only way to get Sigrid back would be using a thunderbirds' lightning, so they travel to Avallen in order to get Sofie Renast's body.

Bryce arrives from Prythian in her father's house, and she spends several days as prisoner there. She attempts to get answers from him regarding the Starsword and Truth-Teller, and he says anything of import would be on Avallen. She breaks free from the gorsian shackles and locks her father in his basement and winnows away.

In the Eternal City, Rigelus takes some of Hunt's lightning in order to resurrect the Harpy. Lidia frees Irithys, queen of the fire sprites. The Asteri demand to see Hunt, Baxian, and Ruhn, presumably to execute Ruhn. On the way, Lidia kills the guards and the Hawk, and they make an escape attempt. Irithys blows up part of the Crystal Palace, but the dreadwolves hunt them anyways. They drive towards the sea, and as they hit a dead end, she tells Hunt and Baxian to fly Ruhn to the ship, and she shifts into her deer form and runs. The three make it to the ship, but Ruhn begs Tharion to jump into the water to save Lidia when she reaches the end of the cliff and has to jump. Lidia is shot, but leaps into the water, and Tharion is able to bring her onboard the ship where the medics heal her. When she awakes on the Depth Charger, Lidia immediately runs to a school on board the ship and looks into a classroom with two teenage boys, Brann and Acteon, and claims that they are her sons. Hunt, Baxian, and Ruhn are asked to meet with the Ocean Queen, and the Ocean Queen is furious with Tharion for being there and bringing his friends aboard when the River Queen and the Viper Queen both want him dead. Bryce suddenly appears, and claims herself to be Queen of the Fae and that Tharion serves her. The Ocean Queen backs off, but says Tharion is confined to the ship, and the group reunites. Bryce says they are going to Avallen, to find out more information on the Starsword. When they arrive, Tharion leaps into the boat with them and defies the Ocean Queen. King Morven, the Stag King and Cormac's father, is less than welcoming. He presents Flynn's sister Sathia, saying that her parents sought refuge here and in his lands fae females need to be wed. He plans on marrying her to one of his cruel, telepathic twin sons, but Tharion steps forward and offers to marry Sathia. They get married, and the group splits up to look for clues; Bryce, Hunt, Baxian, Tharion, and Sathia going into the caves, and Ruhn, Lidia, Declan, and Flynn staying behind to search the archives. They travel through the caves, and Ruhn and Lidia grow closer, but don't notice that Flynn and Declan are missing. In the caves, they are confronted by the Stag King, the Autumn King, and the twins, with Flynn and Declan prisoners. Bryce collapses the cave and jumps into an underground river with the rest of them. Bryce and Hunt fight, but they continue onwards and find the crypt of Prince Pelias. Beneath it they find an entire room carved out of obsidian salt, and bowls to drink water laced with it. Bryce and Hunt drink the water and are mentally transported to Hel. Ruhn and Lidia realize Declan and Flynn are missing and go to the caves to search for them. When Hunt and Bryce arrive in Hel, they are greeted by Apollion, Thanatos, and Aidas. They reveal that they have been waiting for Bryce for a long time, and that they created the thunderbirds to be able to power her up if she was unable to find Silene and Helena's powers. The thunderbirds were killed by the Asteri for this, and that is when they decided to create Hunt. Apollion and Thanatos were both part of his creation, and his mother was a willing participant. Hunt's angel father was killed for communing with the demons. They tell Hunt that the halo of thorns tattoo was created to keep the creatures of Hel in check, but it didn't work as Apollion and Hunt's power, the lightning that they called Helfire, was able to break it. When Bryce and Hunt return from their trance, they find the Stag King and the Autumn King holding all of their friends hostage. They plan to kill them all but Bryce and Hunt fight back, and Ruhn and Lidia appear and Ruhn uses the Starsword to kill his father. Bryce then kills the Stag King, and accesses Helena's power that was hidden under there.

Avallen magically flourishes now that it doesn't have to hide Helena's power. Hypaxia and Ithan arrive and are updated on the situation. Bryce tells Hypaxia she needs her to find a cure for the parasite in the water so that way they can be more powerful when they fight the Asteri. Bryce says because the Stag King's castle was destroyed when the land came back, Sofie's body is gone, but Hunt gives them some of his lightning. Hypaxia and Ithan leave again, and Fury arrives with Juniper, Ember, Randall, and Cooper (Emile). Bryce sends Ruhn, Lidia, Flynn, and Declan back to Crescent City to try and recruit Isaiah and Naomi, Tharion and Sathia to the River Queen to convince her to open her city to refugees, and she, Hunt, and her parents plan to go to Nena to open the Northern Rift to let Hel's armies in. Cooper, Juniper, Fury, and Baxian stay in Avallen. Once in Nena, they get to the Rift, but instead of opening it to Hel, Bryce opens it to Nesta's room. She asks her for the Mask, and to take her parents as collateral. Nesta refuses, and says Rhysand is on his way to get her. Bryce begs Nesta to take her parents anyways so that way they are safe, and Nesta relents, taking her parents but also giving her the Mask. She closes the portal, and is about to open one to Hel but is stopped by Isaiah, Naomi, and Celestina. Hunt tries to kill Celestina for turning them over to the Asteri, and he melts his halo and Isaiah's. Bryce convinces him not to, and Celestina yields, saying she realized what she did wrong and is willing to rebel against the Asteri. They are then attacked by the Harpy, who has been reanimated by the Asteri using Hunt's lightning, but Bryce realizes she's just an animated corpse and no longer has a soul, so she uses the Mask to put her down. She then opens the gates to Hel, and Apollion, Thanatos, and Aidas come through with their armies.

Back in Lunathion, Hypaxia discovers the cure to the parasite. Ithan takes it, and is gifted powers of snow and ice, and his wolf form is much more powerful. They then go to see the Under-King, and Ithan meets with Connor. He is unable to speak but gives Ithan a bullet. Ithan is confused and begs the Under-King for more time, but he refuses. Ithan freezes him solid, and then Jesiba appears. She tells Hypaxia to kill him and she does, and becomes the leader of the House of Flame and Shadow. She gives Connor the ability to speak, and he tells Ithan that the bullet is filled with the secondlight of all of the souls in the Bone Quarter, and Bryce should use it to kill the Asteri. Connor also puts himself into the bullet. Ithan decides to go to the wolves and confess what happened to Sigrid and tell them about the cure to the parasite. Sabine appears with the Astronomer and Reaper Sigrid, and claims that Sigrid is now her heir. The Prime steps in and renounces Sigrid and Sabine, and makes Ithan his heir. But before Ithan can accept, Sabine kills the Prime and Sigrid sucks out his soul. Sigrid also kills the Astronomer, and Ithan kills Sabine. Sigrid escapes, and Amelie and Perry Ravenscroft swear loyalty to him as Prime. Tharion and Sathia manage to convince the River Queen to not kill Tharion and to shelter innocents in her city. They are confronted by the Viper Queen, and Sathia recognizes one of her childhood best friends as one of the Viper Queen's soldiers. The Viper Queen demands retribution from Tharion for the burning of the Meat Market caused by the sprites. Hypaxia and Ithan appear and demand that the Viper Queen leave them alone, but Sathia goes after her old friend, leaving Tharion alone.

Lidia learns that the Depth Charger has been attacked and her sons have been taken by Pollux. Everyone rushes to the Eternal City. Bryce and Hunt winnow into the throne room and Bryce uses the Mask to reanimate the souls of the Fallen and their wings hanging up on the throne room wall, and puts their souls into the mech suits that the Asteri have built. Rigelus appears and reveals that he has sent half of his army to march into the open portal and take over Hel, but Bryce and the demons planned for this and already left half of their army guarding the portal. The rest of the Asteri appear on the battlefield, and Bryce kills Polaris by combining the Starsword and Truth-Teller. This opens a mini black hole that sucks Polaris in and kills her. Ruhn and Lidia search the castle for her sons, but Ruhn shoots her in the leg so he can go on ahead to save them. Tharion finds Lidia, and Pollux traps Ruhn. Tharion and Lidia both take the cure to the parasite and Lidia faces off against Pollux. Ruhn reveals that Lidia is his mate. Lidia's power manifests as fire, and she burns Pollux to ash. Ruhn rushes Brann and Actaeon out of the city, and Lidia joins the fight. Hunt and Bryce arrive at the firstlight core beneath the palace, but Rigelus is guarding it. They both tire, and Bryce winnows them away. Ithan finds Bryce and gives her the bullet and the Godslayer rifle. She winnows back to Rigelus only to find the remaining four Asteri guarding it. She plans to use the bullet to blow up the firstlight core, but Rigelus tells her that destroying it is a kill switch, just like the Cauldron is in Prythian. If she destroys it, Midgard will also be destroyed. Bryce takes a chance and does it anyways. It creates a massive black hole that sucks her and the Asteri into it. She pulls the black hole through a portal into space, but as long as the portal is open, the rest of Midgard also continues to get pulled in. Hunt jumps into a mech suit, piloted by the soul of Shahar, and jumps through, putting on the Mask so he doesn't need to breathe. The portal begins to close but Apollion, Aidas, Thanatos, Ithan, Ruhn, and the rest of their friends hold it open while Hunt rescues Bryce and pulls her back through. Bryce, however, is dead. Hypaxia says she can bring her back if someone trades lives with her, and Jesiba appears and volunteers. She talks with Bryce in the afterlife, revealing that even what the Asteri was doing couldn't destroy the souls of the dead. She waves to Danika, Lehabah, and the Pack of Devils, and comes back to life. The demons all go back to Hel, and Bryce closes the Northern Rift. She then, being the Queen of the Avallen and Valbarran fae, demolishes the monarchy. Lidia's sons go back to their adoptive fathers. Hypaxia begins working on mass producing the cure. Tharion goes back to the Meat Market to find Sathia, and runs into Ariadne instead. Ithan takes on his duties as Prime.

The bonus chapters for this book included Ruhn and Lidia getting married, Hunt and Bryce spending Winter Solstice at her parents', the night Danika tricked Bryce into getting the Horn tattooed, Bryce, Azriel, and Nesta listening to music together off of Bryce's phone, and Ember and Randall in the Night Court and Ember bonding with Nesta.

Bryce Quinlan (Bryce Danaan/Queen of the Fae/Starborn): I always preferred Bryce over Hunt and wished she had been on her own or with someone else, mostly because I don't care for Hunt. But she really lost all respect from me in this book and was acting totally out of character. Her telling Hunt to just get over his trauma and picking fights with him all the time was so unnecessary and a horrible way to treat your partner. She made everything that happened to him about her, and she was also awful to Lidia near the end and didn't even apologize for calling her kids baggage. Bryce was trying to be Aelin but was falling way short. Her death at the end had no impact on me whatsoever because it was obvious she was about to pull a Rhysand and resurrect. Also her using her parents' as collateral, and then trying to send them through anyways to keep them safe was so selfish. They would have been safe in Avallen and if she didn't think they would be, she just forced them to leave their son there! I wish we could have seen Ember tearing Bryce up for that choice because she definitely deserved it. You would think after everything she would have had some growth, especially with her attitude towards the Fae, but then she just childishly dismantles their monarchy and basically tells them to figure it out. Giving the Fae a vote in how they run things while trying to push for change of thousands of years old belief systems was so not the way to do that. Ruhn killed Einar, and Bryce killed Morven, so they both should have been stepping up to take responsibility for the fate of their people.

Hunt Athalar (Orion Athalar/the Hunter/the Umbra Mortis/Son of Hel): Hunt has never been my favorite but I just felt bad for him this whole book. Bryce honestly did not deserve him by the end of it and the fact that none of her horribleness towards him got addressed and he mostly ended up apologizing was so out of character and honestly abusive. On a positive note, I really liked his backstory of being descended from demons, I think that was much better and made way more sense than the god Thurr theories, even though it was annoying for all of those references and comparisons to come to nothing.

Tharion Ketos (Captain Tharion Ketos): I liked Tharion in House of Earth and Blood. I liked him less in House of Sky and Breath. In this book, his entire purpose just seemed to be the village idiot. It was really boggling how badly he kept messing everything up, and anything from his POV was kind of infuriating. The only thing that ended up making anything about his story interesting was Sathia.

Ithan Holstrom (Prime of the Valbarran Wolves): I've heard a lot of people complaining about Ithan and his POV and storyline, but I honestly kind of enjoyed it. He made a lot of dumb decisions, but I liked the trope of "running from destiny but no matter what you do it happens anyways". I'm hoping in the next book we actually get to see him gain more confidence and wisdom and do things right.

Einar Danaan (The Autumn King/King of the Valbarran Fae): I was really disappointed with where his character went, I felt like he was being set up for a redemption arc the entire time, just for him to be like, "I'm totally evil and I'm going to kill you!" in very over the top classic villain fashion. I know the whole point is that he was manipulative, but that's not how it came across.

Lidia Cervos (Agent Daybright/the Hind): Lidia was the most interesting character in this book. I knew going into this that Throne of Glass was definitely not going to be getting the screen time some people thought it was, I thought this was a perfect way to incorporate easter eggs. I knew her powers were going to be fire but it didn't make the reveal any less awesome. And the ring she gave her sons and the fact that she named her son Brannon was just the icing on the cake. Other than that, she had the most interesting character development, backstory, dialogue, and POVs than anyone else in the book (especially Bryce).

Storyline: I loved the ACOTAR crossover in the beginning, I thought it wasn't too much or too little. The rest of the story was riddled with a lot of plot holes, for example the reveal that the mer had been on Midgard the whole time fell flat because Rigelus had told Bryce in House of Sky and Breath that the mer came from the shifter fae (which made less sense but she just changed something that had already been established for mild convenience). Other things include: What really is Fury and why were her and Baxian, two of their most powerful fighters, left out of the biggest fight ever? What is so different about Perry that Ithan keeps sensing? Are they mates? Is she actually an Alpha? Is she secretly super powerful? Why was Ariadne, a super powerful dragon, introduced just to not do anything ever? What was all the tension between her and Flynn for? Everything just magically fell into place, and while in Kingdom of Ash everything comes together because Aelin is a genius, a lot of things come together in this book thanks to Urd (fate). The ending fell really flat for me, no one major died, and it was a lot shorter of an ordeal than I thought it would be, with one of the Asteri even dying off page and no one mentions how they died or who killed them (although I guess we're left to assume it was Apollion). Hunt and Bryce's dynamic usually annoyed me, but their back and forth between fighting, fucking, and fine was giving me whiplash and honestly taking away from the story. What happened with Sigrid did anger me at the time, but ultimately I did enjoy Ithan's storyline, contrary to popular opinion. Also, why did we spend so much of the story in caves? I got really tired of that by the second time around.

Representation: Baxian, Celestina, Juniper, Fury, Hypaxia, Marc, Isaiah, Hunt, Bryce, etc. were all POC. Juniper and Fury, Marc and Declan, Hypaxia and Celestina, and Davit and Renki (Brann and Actaeon's fathers) were all gay and in relationships with each other.

Summary: While the crossover and easter eggs were really cool, and the overall tie together of how everything connected was well done, the characters, dialogue, and plot made this book fall a lot flatter for me than I was hoping it would. I honestly wish SJM had wrapped up everything in this book and then left it as a trilogy because honestly I don't feel any desire to revisit this world or these characters (unless it's Ruhn and Lidia).

[mad-rdr]

September Reads

8 books this month!

Wildfire by Hannah Grace (★ ★ ★/5): cute lil romance that was wayyy better than ice breaker. Tbh I was more interested in the workings of the summer camp than the “plot” but hey, I’m a simple creature

Gods Behaving Badly by Marie Phillips (★ ★ ★/5): you can tell this was written in the early 2000s but honestly it was so camp and made me laugh

The Family Experiment by John Marrs (★ ★ ★ ★/5): is this the future of AI? god, I hope not. The metaverse (or whatever it’s called) it’s a terrifying thought and AI babies sounds insane.

Funny Story by Emily Henry (★ ★ ★ ★/5): this set up was funny as hell and I loved the drama. Super cute as well, Emily Henry never misses

The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson (★ ★ ★ ★ ★/5): one of the best historical nonfiction books I’ve read in a longgg time, I was tearing through the pages. Such an interesting style to write in, but I was hooked

Zero Stars, Do Not Recommend by M. J. Wassmer (★ ★ ★/5): a bit predictable but no less entertaining. “Lord of the Flies” inspired is an apt description

Carrie Soto is Back by Taylor Jenkins Reid (★ ★ ★ ★/5): LOVE TJR. The way she write struggles and character arcs is insane- she a must read author for me and I’m never disappointed. Carrie is incredibly complex and a bit unlikable, but this was a damn good story

House of Earth and Blood by Sarah J. Maas (★ ★ ★ ★ ★/5): one of my favorite books of all time, Bryce Quinlan is one bamf, I will never get over her vacuuming up the archangel she murdered and then preceding to become one of the most powerful people in the world all because of LOVE. Ugh I don’t even care that this book was inspired by zootopia- that movie slaps (sorry not sorry)

[mystical-blaise]

I'm baaaack

Welp. I finished HOFAS and finally, after letting my feelings and thoughts marinate for a few days, wrote my review and posted on Goodreads, but I'll put my ratings for CC here:

My Crescent City Series Ratings:

House of Earth and Blood: 4----⭐⭐⭐⭐

House of Sky and Breath: 5-----⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

House of Flame and Shadow: 3.5-⭐⭐⭐✨

[paperbaacks]

[writing this review now knowing that sjm is a zionist, this is the last of her books i'm posting. i'm done with her, dear lord this was bad]

review:

“The friends they’d made were what mattered in the end. Not the enemies. Through love, all is possible.”

the quote i just selected for this review??? yeah! the conflict resolution for every single thing is the friends we made along the way because??? what the fuck??? deus ex machina on steroids is what this book is.

there is somehow less chemistry between hunt and bryce now that they're mAtEs—they barely communicate, they hardly do anything that can be considered just domestic or romantic. all they do is have extremely cringe and mediocre sex.

this book ruins ruhn too btw because he does NOTHING??? i love ruhn but his literal purpose in this book is think about fucking lidia. and don't even get me started on how june and fury appear ONCE!

i do not care about tharion's pov, i do not care about ithan's either. give me fury and hypaxia, fuck give me ember and nesta bonding i would take that over literally half the plotlines in this book. almost 850 pages and for WHAT.

i just wish i could get the last week of my life back that i spent reading this trilogy. but you know what? i'm fucking free now.

[theaologies]

I may not have liked HOFAS but I love my journal page for it 😭♥️

[kenna-is-reading]

Crescent City: House of Sky and Breath Review

SPOILERS AHEAD!!!

Dear Readers,

I have so many thoughts, questions, comments, and concerns in regards to this book that it made me stop procrastinating and just start my blog, already. I finished CC2 in the wee hours of last night, having flown through the last 400 pages in a single day. What I had heard going into this book was that it was a "whole lot of nothing" and "kind of hard to get through," but that really wasn't the case for me. I have owned the first CC book since it came out, but just now finished it last month. I found the first half of that difficult to read through, not because it was bad or boring or had anything wrong with it, but simply because I have the IQ of a paper towel and could not bring myself to comprehend anything that was going on. However, when I hit the last 200 or so pages of HOEAB, something clicked. Something shifted in the earth's atmosphere and I was addicted. I snatched book 2 from the library first thing the very next morning, and the rest was history. I found that I absolutely love everything about this series, from the setting to the characters to the way everything worked together. I just found all the different types of people and how they related to one another and how they operated in a modern city setting to be so interesting. In listening to other people's reviews of this book, some didn't like the large cast of characters and found it hard to keep them all straight, but as a Throne of Glass enthusiast, I felt right at home. I loved the changing perspectives and getting to see what was going on inside the heads of characters like Ruhn, Tharion, and Ithan. The character dynamics worked really well, in my opinion, and I always love the way a big group of characters interacts and banters, especially in an SJM novel. A couple of things I wanted to note specifically about HOSAB:

The Rebel Plotline

I actually didn't mind the plotline with Ophion and the Renasts. It felt like a good additional conflict to pull on the loose threads that were left open at the end of Book 1 and ended up tying into the overarching plot in an interesting way. I was disappointed that Sofie actually didn't make it, because we spend a very large portion of this book discussing her powers and attempting to find Emile, and I wanted to see how her relationship with Cormac played out, because he was a very interesting character to me as well. I was definitely sad about his sacrifice, but it was made more impactful given his final interaction with Ruhn. While he had not been around long, he was a complex character, and I found myself wanting better for him and wanting for him to be able to become the person he wanted to be. However, I still want to know more about Sofie's thunderbird powers and how they play into everything.

2. Tharion

I have loved Tharion since he first appeared in Book 1, but I was so disappointed in him in this book. Some of his choices had me yelling at the page, but his complexity makes him such a good character. We know he is overall a good person, but he can be treacherous as he struggles to juggle his loyalty to his friends with his obligation to the River Queen. The biggest question that I had finishing this book was due to the fact that when Captain Sendes saves the crew from...well...everyone, there is a line insinuating that she expects that they not reveal the truth about their camouflaging ship technology. She basically tells them, you screw us, we'll screw you. Tharion immediately returns to the River Queen and sells them out, telling her all about the ship tech and even mentioning Captain Sendes by name. Knowing the River Queen, I expected her to retaliate against the Ocean Queen's crew, or at least for Sendes & co. to discover Tharion's betrayal and refuse to help them, but this issue is never brought up again, so I was confused about that, not to mention frustrated with Tharion for blabbing everyone's business to the River Queen of his own free will. The second, probably most obvious choice of Tharion's that I was frustrated by in this book was his decision to pledge himself to the Viper Queen. I understand why he did it, and I realize that he was, in a way, punishing himself, but I can't help but feel like he could have had other options that didn't involve selling himself into literal slavery. Regardless, I love him as a character and I cannot wait to see his arc. I hope he is able to create a better life for himself and have the development that Cormac was not able to.

3. Hunt

This seems like it might be controversial because I see a lot of Hunt slander that I believe is unwarranted, but Hunt Athalar is firmly within my list of top 5 SJM men. I love him. Plain and simple, I love him so much. Having to read the ending of this book when everything he has worked for goes down the drain as his halo is reapplied was absolutely grueling. I know there is also a lot of speculation that Bryce will have another love interest simply because this is an SJM book, and I'm just not sure why or how that would happen. I think that, at this point, that is what everyone is expecting to happen, so I'd be very surprised if Sarah went that route. But whatever the case, I love Hunt and I really hope nothing happens to him. He's been through the ringer for literal centuries and I just want him to be happy!!! I also have questions following this book about his lineage. I feel like there is a lot yet to be revealed about his parentage and his powers, so I am excited to read more in CC3 and see what comes of that...if he ever gets out of that stupid dungeon. (Which, btw, sidebar: all my homies HATE Pollux and I cannot wait until he gets the Cairn treatment, preferably from Lidia).

4. Connor

This book raised SO MANY QUESTIONS about Connor. It gave me hope that maybe we will see Connor again in some way because the book spent so much time on Ithan's quest to find out where he is. And even if we don't get to see Connor or talk to him again, I WANNA KNOW WHERE HE IS! The Holstrom Bros are #1 in my heart and I want nothing but love and light for them <3.

5. The Big Twist aka Infinity War (Sarah's Version)

Now team. I think a lot of us readers knew how this book was going to end, or at least knew The Big Thing that was going to happen at some point within it. And that makes me SO UPSET! The appearance of Rhysand and that whole situation had the potential to be one of the most breathtaking plot twist mindblowing earth-shattering life-changing moments in literary history. However, the way it was handled by both the reader community AND literally Bloomsbury themselves made it so that basically everybody and their cousin's neighbor's dog's goldfish's nephew knew that the crossover was happening. It didn't matter how dedicated you were to avoiding spoilers, somehow they ALWAYS found their way onto the screen! No amount of typing "NO SPOILERS SPOILER FREE NO SPOILERS" in on BookTok stopped the spoilers from coming! Me personally, I refused to look at anything SJM related for the entire release year to avoid spoilers, because I hadn't read any Crescent City yet, I had only read up to ACOSF. So I thought I was safe. I was wrong. It was an unseasonably bright and happy day on January 10th as I pulled out my phone at the library and clicked on the Instagram app to see what exciting new things had been posted, and imagine my surprise when the FIRST THING ON MY SCREEN was a single graphic, (not a carousel), posted by SJM and Bloomsbury that read, in big bright letters, "Bryce began running again, hurtling through the cave. Back toward Nesta and Azriel. And prayed there was SOMETHING LEFT FOR HER TO SAVE." I reacted in a manner akin to that stan Twitter reaction video of iCarly opening her apartment door and immediately being blinded. I nearly threw the offending phone across the public library. I prayed to unsee. But the damage was done. I had seen. I then went to my local Walmart 20 days later to acquire House of Flame and Shadow, and I was deeply alarmed when each copy of the brand new book was stamped with a big blue sticker that read something along the lines of "INCLUDES BONUS CHAPTER WITH BRYCE, NESTA, AND AZRIEL!" Right on the front of the cover for all to see. Now you may say, "Kenna dearest, CC1 had been out for nearly 4 years at that point. CC2 had been out for nearly 2 years. They shouldn't have to post spoiler warnings anymore." And to that I say, if it were any other author or series. YES! So true! However, House of Earth and Blood is indeed 799 pages in length. House of Sky and Breath is indeed 801 pages in length. I am but a full time student, part-time worker, volunteer, sister, daughter, and friend. My reading time had been quite limited at that point. Not to mention that Sarah J. Maas is arguably the most popular author within BookTube, BookTok, BookTwt, and Bookstagram COMBINED right now, and so many people are just now starting to read her books. However, I suppose if readers DO know that the ACOTAR characters show up in Crescent City, it will motivate fans of ACOTAR to continue on with Maas's books and purchase more of them, so really it's 10/10 marketing and I must applaud the reckless major-multi-series-spoiling amid my frustration.

Overall, I absolutely love the Crescent City series, and I loved HOSAB as a sequel, and I am diving immediately into book 3. This series continues to cement SJM as a master of her craft and portrays the way that she is just an expert at putting a story together and creating characters that feel real. I am now off to devour House of Flame and Shadow, and then probably reread ACOTAR and TOG to try to pick up on some of that big-brain tricky foreshadowing she always does. Until next time, and thank you for reading my emphatic literary ramblings.

XO,

Kenna