Book Review – Crescent City: House of Sky and Breath

Hello hello and welcome or welcome back to my little bookish corner of the internet. Today I’m sharing my review of Crescent City: House of Sky and Breath. You can find my review of book one, House of Earth and Blood, here.

Synopsis
Bryce Quinlan and Hunt Athalar are trying to get back to normal―they may have saved Crescent City, but with so much upheaval in their lives lately, they mostly want a chance to relax. Slow down. Figure out what the future holds.

The Asteri have kept their word so far, leaving Bryce and Hunt alone. But with the rebels chipping away at the Asteri’s power, the threat the rulers pose is growing. As Bryce, Hunt, and their friends get pulled into the rebels’ plans, the choice becomes clear: stay silent while others are oppressed, or fight for what’s right. And they’ve never been very good at staying silent.

In this sexy, action-packed sequel to the #1 bestseller House of Earth and Blood, Sarah J. Maas weaves a captivating story of a world about to explode―and the people who will do anything to save it.

Review
I’ve held off reviewing this book as I have so many mixed feelings about it. The first Crescent City is such a special book to me, and I suppose I’m just wondering, honestly, why it wasn’t left as a standalone. Buckle up, this is going to be a bumpy ride!

We get given multiple points of view in this book, which absolutely has some highs and lows to it. We – naturally – get to see more pieces of the story falling into place and taking shape with these POV, but the flip side to that is that not all of them felt needed. Although the little Scooby Gang that had formed had its interesting moments, it also had moments of utter madness that I read in bemusement, wondering how these apparently intellegent characters had allowed things to reach this point.

On the positive side, I really enjoyed the relationship growth between Ruhn and Bryce. Watching them grow closer and end up with the kind of relationship they have both always wanted was really special, and I felt the love and loyalty they have for one another felt genuine and special. I also felt this way about Bryce and Hunt; their growth and love for one another was really special, despite the barriers they faced throughout.

That said, so much of this book just didn’t feel genuine to me. The choices that were made didn’t always feel character led, more plot led and inauthentic. It was a real shame as I loved book one so much, but I honestly don’t know whether I’ll pick up the next book.

It’s been a couple of weeks since I finished the book, and I’ve given that time to myself deliberately to try and work out how I feel about it. And I’m still not sure. I didn’t enjoy the ending (I won’t say any more, but if you know, you know) and what was supposed to be the dramatic climax of the book felt foolhardy and frustrating. A genuine disappointment, as these are some of my favourite fictional characters.

So there we have it…. It feels scary putting these thoughts out into the world! Did you agree with me? Could you not disagree more? Let me know.