Reviews with content warning for Sexism - Crescent City – Wenn die Schatten sich erheben

Slightly underwhelming but still a good read. This book somehow simultaneously moves too fast and too slow and was a bit of a slog to get through. It also lacked so much of the emotional depth of characters and relationships we’ve come to know and love from SJM. It’s also inconsistent with previous books imo - previously unkillable, god-like characters get taken down like some run of the mill villain and so many things just seem to happen way to conveniently to be fully believable. Overall felt rushed. A fine read, but not what I expected for CC3.

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sarahtaymo's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional mysterious 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

4.5

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dani_reis's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.5

HEAVY SPOILERS IN REVIEW

I wholeheartedly disagree with Bloomsbury giving out ARCs. The amount of people spoiling the story pre-release is unacceptable.

The ending was too focused on being a HEA and tried making a neat little packaged ending. Instead of cliffhanger POVs, I just felt like they were useless. Tharian headed back to Ariadne, and his wife going after another love. Then Ithan not telling literally anyone "don't drink the water after" because wtf are they supposed to drink? Sigrid just being a loose end. I think it's Perry, Amelie's sister, who isn't explained at all, and I'm not sure I care.

The crossover. Was it even necessary?? They spent the whole time in the caves. She leaves them wanting to kill her or slice off her back, and she's like "hey, you're all cool, take my fragile, human parents who I'd split worlds to save." But she never stepped out of the caves to experience fae culture to change her mind about fae.

Hel. Hel was not even needed because she could have just had a conversation with Aidas. They didn't even explore Hel, and sounds like they never will go back.

Hunt was pretty toxic in this book. I am anticipating that Hunt and Bryce have issues in future books (please be only one more).

As a whole, I really enjoyed it. It had lots of action. But let's just admit: Lydia carried this book, until the "I have secret children plot."

Bonus chapter from Walmart: liked it. Gave us insight to why she maybe gave up her parents to them.

Bonus from B&N: meh. I wanted to skim it. Near the end it was cute, but kind of mad I own the copy.

Bonus from indie: loved it. Thank fucking god. Approve of this one.

Still need to read the other bonus chapters.

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heidishartrandnewell's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.75

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lilhappyhermit's review against another edition

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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? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

This was worth the wait. I consumed this book as if it was oxygen. With how book 2 ended, I was so intrigued and invested in how this book was going to play out and boy was I pleased. How SJM was able to incorporate all of her series into the plot of this book made me so happy. The whirlwind of this book’s events mixed with the high stakes all of the characters had into the resolution was so beautifully done.

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lunahale's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious tense fast-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

5.0

i am extremely unwell and still processing. daynight have my whole heart.

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iamsammie27's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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justbooker's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful 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? Yes

2.75

The conflicts between Hunt and Bryce felt unnecessary and, frankly, annoying. Bryce also felt a bit wishy-washy in terms of her goals and overall feelings. One moment

she's Queen, the other she wants to burn it all down, and then she's right back to Queen mode

. There's also Ithan, who I could not have cared less about for most of the book. It felt like he only became truly relevant at the end. I understand what his character development was supposed to be throughout the book and why everything happened with him. However, ever chapter from his perspective felt like a slog.

On the other hand, I believe this book has the best lore building moments of the series. The information dumps were easy to follow and engaging. With the lore building in the first book, it felt very scattered and needlessly confusing. This books had smooth, consistent lore that felt properly woven between character dialogue.

As far as characters go, Lidia is probably my favorite. I appreciate the depth and growth that she shows with Ruhn. Every development between her and Ruhn kept me on the edge of my seat, desperately rooting for them. I would love to see

her children

be further developed in the next book.

Overall, the plot felt alright. I appreciated the loose ends that were tied up. I cheered when Ruhn

got to finally kill his father

, when Lidia

got to kill Pollux

, and just all characters

getting their moment of justice.

The

Asteri conflict

has been resolved, and while there is the oncoming struggle of

setting up a new government

, it feels like everything is alright. The saying "Through love, all things are possible" is repeated time and time again, and this book really drives that theme home. I will not forget the frustrations I had with the book/series, but in the end I enjoyed my time in the world and am glad to have read it.

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