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

All of the cut scenes and POV switches were annoying (seriously, going from an action-packed scene with one character to a dull by comparison single paragraph of another scene about a different character, then to yet another character’s completely different scene was not fun). But the third Crescent City book wasn’t bad like I’ve heard some people say; it was a pretty good ending for the characters and overall story while leaving room for spinoffs or additional books down the line. And of course I loved the ACOTAR tie ins.

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bluehouseonthesalishsea's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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fangirlfaction's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny inspiring tense medium-paced

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

5.0

The need for this book was real after finishing House of Sky and Breath. Everyone was going mad with the ending of that book and I was among those masses. I was simply ravenous for House of Flame and Shadow. Reviewing this book without getting into spoiler territory will be particularly hard but I will try my best.

First of all, the scope of the world-building for this book and the series as a whole is astounding. When you read this book and you see the lengths that Maas has gone to you will wholeheartedly understand. The world-building is just massive and intricate and all-consuming. The plotting of this story was so impressive. All of the small details and little touches in the plot grow to become a masterful piece of storytelling. I am always blown away by how detailed and integral all the details are after everything falls into place. The foreshadowing is excellent and the whole story is executed brilliantly. Maas' writing style has always captured my attention. I always feel such comfort falling into one of her books. Her writing is polished and easy to read while not being dumbed down at all. A perfect balance.

In regards to the direction that this story went which I can't really talk about because it is spoilery, I enjoyed the heck out of it! I am here for it all day long! If you know, you know.

I was really satisfied with the romances and the family relationships in this book. Maas has an exceptional knack for creating compelling characters and growing their relationships over time to form interesting and meaningful dynamics. One of the reasons why there is so much fanart of Maas' characters is because she makes her readers really care for her characters on such a deep level. The characters grow in your soul and you form an attachment to them. The character development is so superb that the reader feels so close to these characters and it sparks something inside of them. There is really no other way for me to describe it.

I felt that the ending was a little rushed. Only slightly but it is something that I noticed. I was satisfied with the boss fight and the way things ended but it all seemed to happen so quickly. In retrospect, it probably didn't. It may just be that I was so invested in the story that it felt like it moved faster than it actually did.

Overall, this book left me feeling satisfied and overjoyed and just a plethora of emotions. I just really don't want the story to end so I am feeling some kind of way about it. I watched an interview with Maas where she hinted at more stories in this world so there is hope that there will be more to come. In the end, Maas has created a group of characters that I feel so intensely and fiercely for and won't ever be able to get out of my head. This is one of those book series that I will reread over and over again because the characters have made such a huge impression on me and have imprinted on me so profoundly. Maas is such a beloved author to so many people and I am on this bandwagon for life.

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ladygetslit's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional tense medium-paced

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

4.75

Rhun & Lydia: 5 stars
Bryce coming into her power: 4 stars
Ithan’s wolfy personal growth journey: 3.5 stars
Tharion making all the bad decisions: 3 stars
Hunt being a whiny baby: 2 stars

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sam_gartley91's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

Loved it! And really anything SJM does. But it was really whiplashy with multiple pov in the same chapter. And that Bryce seemed to be doing some of the work off page at times so she knew things the audience didn’t. She did that last book too and it wasn’t my fav. It wasn’t like that the audience was learning with her. It bugged me a bit. The fantasy meets sci-fi was interesting and I don’t think I’ve seen that before. There are still some characters that I would love to learn more about. Like what is fury?!! So I’m curious where if anywhere SjM is going next with this series world. The cross over wasn’t exactly what I expected good at times and a little let down at others. I really just wanted them all to be friends!! Which maybe in the future they will/could get there. But overall SjM did seem to tie everything up in a bow. Now it’s for the world to reset itself up. Overall loved it but wish it was difffernt at times.

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fairytalefootnotes's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious medium-paced

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

5.0

Overall: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Writing: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Plot: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Characters: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Spice: 🌶️🌶️

Tropes: Chosen One, Fated Mates

3rd Act Breakup?: No

The Praise: I really love SJM’s writing style and how she develops her characters. She makes it so easy to love them, become attached, and really root for them.

The Critique: As usual for CC, just a bit too long. Also Tharion’s early chapters were pretty boring.

Final Thoughts: I liked this one more than the last 2 CC books.

I loved the ACOTAR cameos and the TOG references and how things all tied together.

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embelle's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional medium-paced

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

4.5

Going to need several days to process all that is House of Flame and Shadow. With the sheer amount of content that’s covered, it honestly felt like reading 3 books in one. Was it my favorite Sarah J Maas book ever? No. But were there parts that I really enjoyed and did I still speed through this book at the edge of my seat while losing my cool!? Undoubtedly yes! Sarah J Maas’s world building abilities are next level, and this now has me sooooo excited for ALL her future books (if you know, you know!)

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annabithebook's review against another edition

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adventurous informative tense fast-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? No

1.75

The thought that kept coming to me throughout was “how did this get past alpha/beta readers??” Followed quickly by “I cannot believe that if I hadn’t just invested my soul into 17 previous books to get to this point, I would have DNF’d it.” 😳

I am so disappointed in how many things I disliked in the series. Let’s make a spoiler-free list in no particular order:

1. Open plot points from HOSAB were just effectively dismissed and no actual meaningful resolution occurred.
2. Where the fuck was Fury and why was she not a bigger part of this?
3. 75 perspective changes inside of a single chapter with no indicator (especially bad in the audiobook format) this made an already 30 hour book take literal HOURS of extra time rewinding and listening again to try and figure out who did what and when it changed.
4. Dumbass characters making reckless stupid decisions.
Sub point here: it really felt like in the early stages of TOG where people are young and reckless and immature but instead of them having the time and lived experiences over 8 books to grow and mature into the better version of themselves (which was 👌🏻) the entire “arc” occurs crammed into one book and feels thin/baseless/disingenuous.
5. I never thought I’d say an 800+ page book should have spread things out more but it should have been two separate books (á la Eos & ToD). There were just too many ambitious plot lines/characters/stories competing for page time and so instead of trimming some to fully flesh out the ones you keep or splitting into two books, they’re all sort of chaotic and rushed which makes the story feel disjointed and inauthentic.
6. Kind of related to 5, but SJM is famous for her character growth and well balanced storylines with beautiful relationships, but she just didn’t give herself the space to do that with this novel or really CC as a whole.
7. The crossover infodump.
8. SJMs famous “why didn’t you just tell her that in the first place.”
9. SO MUCH HEAD ST@BB1NG
10. Hunt/Bryce seem like a couple who should really just break up…. 😬
11. Bryce in general (weakest SJM FMC in terms of how well they’re written as leads).
12. Other main cast characters who aren’t even in this book.
13. Characters who only appear when SJM needs them for a plot function so they feel like tools and not people.
14. Questionable science “oh yeah, let’s just hold the _____ ____ open!” 😒
15. The rumbly in Baxian’s tummy that only hands can satisfy.

Now. A much shorter but MAY CONTAIN VAGUE SPOILERS list of what I loved:

1. Ruhn/Lidia - they got snubbed like Lorcan/Elide from more page time
2. Jessiba
3. The sprites
4. The message of unity
5. Patricide
6. ……it’s not a good sign that I ran out at 5 things?

Honestly, my thumbs are tired but if you want a more comprehensive and, frankly, hilarious review that is literally all the thoughts in my head too, here is another amazing GR reviewer’s thoughts: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4553540457

TLDR; didn’t DNF because I was stubborn but it tried to be too many things at once and so instead it was successful at nearly nothing. Very disappointed 😢 1.75⭐️

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