Reviews with content warning for Torture - House of Flame and Shadow

Wow... a lot of questions for SJM and her editor. Unlike most her other books, this one started off as rollercoaster of confusion and insanity, and ended weirdly dull. The crossover was rather disappointing, and many of the characters seem to have done a 180. Not sure where the series goes from here, but this was my least favorite book even though the series started off so well. The scene in the prison made me want to hurl. 3/5 simply because this was a tome and felt like a master class in fantasy battles.

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cryosphinx's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional medium-paced

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

3.75

I waited a long time to write the review. When I finished, my immediate thoughts were I didn't understand the hate but as I let it ruminate, I can get it now, even if I don't agree with all the points. I think a lot of people had their hopes built up way too high and I came in not expecting much. I did enjoy this but I really wanted to enjoy it more. The POVs were swippy swapping too much, with shifts happening IN chapters. The characters that carried this book weren't the ones you expected but thank god they were there and made me fall in love with them. There seemed to be a lot of convenient happenings and some plot points that were built up only to be finalized too quickly that it lost all it's muster. But like any SJM book, the last 150 pages was an exciting whirlwind that I thought had a good conclusion. Out of the three, I think this one was my least favorite. There's a lot of open ended plot lines and questions that there better be a forth one but if I had to sum it up, it seems like a lot and nothing happen at the same time.

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jackiepreston's review against another edition

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adventurous medium-paced

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

4.0

There are too many POV characters and disparate plotlines happening in this story. I could have used less of almost every plotline because so many of them like the characters were just repeating their thoughts with no forward movement. Overall a good conclusion to the story.

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barbarianmissy's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny 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

5.0

Finally finished this series!

WOWEEE! Ok, this series was rockin’.

The ending was stellar, it was tied with a pretty little bow and left us a few snippets of what’s possibly to come and I’m QUITE HOPEFUL even though it’ll probably be a long while until we get the next book!

As for my final thoughts on the characters:

Fire sprites are just my favs, idk why but in the last 100 pages just the mere mention of them made me cry twice.

I love the endings we got for our main characters, Bryce and Hunts ending, so great, HORSES?!?! Iconic. Ruhn’s ending, I’m so happy for him, he’s such a sweet lil guy!! I hope these characters can find peace in the new world. They’ve dealt with enough. DOWN WITH THE MONARCHY!

BUT AS FOR THE FUTURE BOOKS I’m kind of hoping the next ones are centered around the side characters because their set ups for their storylines are super intriguing! Like Ithan and his new role and POSSIBLE ROMANCE???? And Tharion, Mr. unrelenting-need-to-defy-very-powerful-women-who-could-destroy-him-very-easily, dealing with marriage??? Won’t that be a treat! Also what’s gonna happen with Baxian, Isaiah, or Hypaxia and their new roles in the new world? Exciting stuff, man!

Anywho, I loved this series and these characters. They were absolutely delightful, I’m gonna miss them till the next book, same as ACOTAR.

NOW….. *drumroll*

I can’t believe it, folks, but I’m finally ready to start my THRONE OF GLASS journey! 🫡 WISH ME LUCK!

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_likethefruit's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional inspiring mysterious slow-paced

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

3.5

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hellsbellsbeepbeep's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
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

3.0

I’m SO disappointed honestly. I expected so much from the third book in this series. How can this long of a book feel so rushed??? I was literally in LOVE with this series until reading this book. I think SJM does amazing portraying emotions and making you feel exactly how the character(s) feel. But in this book there was so much going on you couldn’t sit with the gravity of each huge plot twist because another kept coming. It’s definitely epic as hell and I still love Crescent City but I am so sad this one flopped.

It was cool to see the universes collide but boy oh BOy was Bryce not trusting Nesta & Azriel and vice versa so fucking annoying.

Imagine if they all tried to communicate and the whole first chunk of the book could’ve been removed. But it’s the Fae I guess lol.

There are some small things that I do love having answers on, in both histories of the Fae and the current characters backgrounds.

Especially when the Pegasus' return is mentioned.

Extremely loved having more time between Lydia and Ruhn but I’m dying inside because their traumatic lead up to their eventual mating was, again, TOO RUSHED. Also, Hel was a much shorter interaction that expected after allll that build up and ALSO felt rushed. ALSO why can’t SJM just let people die sometimes??? It’s crazy how long she can keep a mf character in these books

while I have really enjoyed most of the maasverse - I’m ultimately really annoyed that in the end of this book, Bryce is very similar to both Feyre and Aelin. I’m kind of tired of them all being the same type of person and overall personality. I had originally loved the Bryce the most because she stood out to me as such but by the end of this one I can’t care as much as I did before.

Ultimately, I still like this series and want to know what will happen next but I’m not nearly as excited for the next book if it’s going to feel like this one.

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ofelias's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful sad slow-paced

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

3.0

After waiting two years to read HOFAS, I’d like to say I was left somewhat fulfilled. I got to see characters again that I loved, and was once again immersed in the magic of Lunathion.

I found myself, however, in scenes where there was a LOT of description and explaining and talking, without the plot moving forward persay. Some characters, like Ithan and Tharion, also lost their lustre for me this book. There were also quite a lot of plot conveniences, which is a bit of a peeve of mine.

Like a lot of Maas books, the last third of the book was heavily action-packed and fast paced, and I found myself unable to put it down. Overall, it was a good read, with some special heartwarming moments (Lidia’s entire storyline was incredible), but I wouldn’t say it was my favourite of the Crescent City series.

I’m still looking forward to the next one, because this series and its setting is one of my favourites.

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bluerskies's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark funny inspiring reflective tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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