Hello hello and welcome or welcome back to my little bookish corner of the internet. Today I’m sharing my Second Viewings post for Crescent City: House of Earth and Blood. I reread this book ahead of the release of book two, Crescent City: House of Sky and Breath, and I’m really pleased I did, as there was so much to take away from it the second time around. You can read my initial review here.
Synopsis
Bound by blood.
Tempted by desire.
Unleashed by destiny.
Bryce Quinlan had the perfect life—working hard all day and partying all night—until a demon murdered her closest friends, leaving her bereft, wounded, and alone. When the accused is behind bars but the crimes start up again, Bryce finds herself at the heart of the investigation. She’ll do whatever it takes to avenge their deaths.
Hunt Athalar is a notorious Fallen angel, now enslaved to the Archangels he once attempted to overthrow. His brutal skills and incredible strength have been set to one purpose—to assassinate his boss’s enemies, no questions asked. But with a demon wreaking havoc in the city, he’s offered an irresistible deal: help Bryce find the murderer, and his freedom will be within reach.
As Bryce and Hunt dig deep into Crescent City’s underbelly, they discover a dark power that threatens everything and everyone they hold dear, and they find, in each other, a blazing passion—one that could set them both free, if they’d only let it.
With unforgettable characters, sizzling romance, and page-turning suspense, this richly inventive new fantasy series by #1 New York Times bestselling author Sarah J. Maas delves into the heartache of loss, the price of freedom—and the power of love.
Thoughts:
- This remains one of the best books I’ve ever read. It kick started my love of fantasy, but it also really allowed me to sink in to the idea of reading whatever makes you feel good. I’ll always be grateful to this book for that.
- It also remains one of the most accurate displays of friendship and grief I’ve ever read. At one point, Bryce is asked if she and Danika were lovers as her grief is so accute, and the fact that this book really focuses on platonic love, and how much that loss can impact us, is an important subject we need to talk more about. So many books talk about the loss of a lover, but few talk about the loss of a friend.
- I really enjoyed watching the snarky comments from Bryce and Hunt grow and grow, and was especially amused by the little game Bryce plays, changing her user name on Hunt’s phone.
- MESSENGER OTTERS. That’s it. That’s the whole comment.
- I was absolutely on edge as the climax of the book played out, and found myself thinking what a clever thing SJM had done, combining magic and technology to allow the readers to see so much of what was happening.
- As I was rereading this ready to read book two, I found myself really drawn in further, curious as to who would come to play larger roles in the second book, and what the long term concequences of some of the actions would be. Sometimes big things happen in storylines to close things down, and then the books continue as normal, and here I was like, “is this bit relevant? How about this bit?” as I read.
- Aside from the Rivers of London series, this is the first urban fantasy I’ve read, and having read it again after some high fantasy novels, I really found myself enjoying it even more. As I said in a point above, there were some moments that were so clever, and simply wouldn’t have worked without the addition of modern technology to the equation.
Thanks for stopping by today for these thoughts. I almost wish I’d written this post before I’d started the second book as it was so hard not to comment on that one too! Be sure to keep an eye out for that review post as it is coming up soon.
And On She Reads 