Reviews with content warning for Alcohol - House of Sky and Breath

Keeping their promise to the Asteri to live a quiet life is exactly what Bryce and Hunt had planned. That, and getting to know each other properly before taking the next step in their burgeoning relationship. Unfortunately however, those surrounding them have other plans, which might just drag them both into the crosshairs of both the human rebellion and the overlords of Midgard...

While I think the author has done better relationship arcs, this is probably the first time that it's felt like an equal relationship from the get go, rather than the big powerful man teaching the gorgeous girl something to help her to become his equal. And their banter, understanding and ease around one another, plus their protectiveness of each other, is my favourite part of the book. If this book were focused on the development of their relationship, with other bits going on in the background, I could definitely get in board with it. However, as it is their relationship is just one element of an incredibly busy plot.

I had hoped that I'd have absorbed enough from the first book to be comfortable with the world and the characters going into book two. No, I'm not floundering and completely lost, but at the same time there are so many characters, species and sub-plots to keep straight, I ended up feeling a little overwhelmed with it, which tempered my enjoyment. I'm sure certain plot threads will be picked up again in future books, but at this stage there seems to be a lot of loose ends or even dead ends, again giving the feeling of about three books worth of plot being crammed into one. And yet the pace isn't that fast - it's not a slog to read, but you are fully aware of the heft of this tome as you are trying to get through it.

As always, you cannot fault the worldbuilding, and I admire the depth and breadth of the creativity of thought and detail that has gone into bringing life to Crescent City - again, I think this is the most considered scape Maas has created to date. However, I again come back to the sheer quantity of information the reader needs to be able to process.

Unfortunately I wasn't shocked by the Day/Night twist at all; to me, it was incredibly obvious straight away how that was going to turn out. The more interesting twist for me was Bryce's plans for Emile, but equally this felt like a rather clunky explanation; it can across like the author had forgotten to include a resolution to that particular aspect and so covered herself with a quickly invented 'secret plan reveal'. This sort of sums up the writing overall for me - it doesn't flow anywhere near as well as ACOTAR or TOG.

However, this is a prime example of why I don't generally mind spoilers - someone told me ages ago about what happens at the end of this book and so, even though this is my least favourite of SJM's series to date, I knew I had to get these read so that I can devour book 3 when it comes out! I am desperately hoping will give this series a huge boost in my estimations!

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quasimojo's review

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adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious 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

3.0

Book 2 of the Crescent City series hits the ground running, with a strong first half, gripping new character relationships among the established (and still growing) cast, and a fun new set of mysteries to solve. However, its numerous plot threads get a little tangled and bring down the pace in its second half. But there’s no question of my continuing with the series after the brutal cliffhanger it leaves us on.

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justqueue's review

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adventurous emotional tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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spicycronereads's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.75

The plot of this one got pretty convoluted at times. And the pacing was off.

I guessed who Day was very early on (from the first time she was yanked out by her lover) so that plot twist didn’t t feel quite so twisty

But the last 25%…damn. And even along the way it was fun to read Bryce and Hunt and their dynamic with other characters.

Most of the characters in this one return from the first one but the diverse representation improves a bit. We see slightly more explicit queer relationships among secondary characters. A few new characters are described as more explicitly analogous to Black racial identities in our world. For example brown or dark brown skin instead of tan; tightly coiled hair, and so forth. (Side note: Does anyone else find it weird that the River Queen’s Daughter does not have a name???)

The spice elevated over the last one. Nowhere near the best in the ACOTAR series but there is more than the last book in this series. 🌶️🌶️🌶️

Overall I mostly enjoyed it though it dragged at times and at other times seemed unnecessarily complicated. The ending redeems it. I cried during some of the final 25%. I’m excited to see where the next one goes.

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emmak2121's review

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adventurous dark emotional 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? Yes

4.75

There’s childhood trauma mentions throughout the book such as child abuse. There’s also mentions of abuse between the hind too just be wary and this is quite a spicy book too x

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anp1994's review

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adventurous emotional mysterious 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? Yes

5.0

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carolinemb4's review

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adventurous emotional hopeful 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? It's complicated

5.0

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ladylaelae's review

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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

4.0

4.0 stars to improve on my rating from the first book, House of Earth and Blood, because this one gripped me even more than the first one did.

With the pains of worldbuilding now behind us from the first book in this series, House of Sky and Breath is able to expand on the world through plot and character story. Bryce ascended to rival my love for SJM's other female protagonists - Aelin and Feyre - while Hunt, the primary male character, ascended entirely past almost all other male protagonists in her books for me, taking the top spot alongside Lucien Vanserra from ACOTAR.

As I said in my HOEAB review, if you manage your expectations when reading SJM's books and others like them, you will find it much easier to immerse yourself in the world and enjoy it. This book boasts a mountain of tropes: enemies-to-lovers, touch-her-and-die, morally ambiguous characters masking a softer heart inside, the idea of fated mates, and powerful magic and skills being given to main characters. It also boasts a larger cast of side characters that steal the scene when they are in it

(looking at you, Lidia)

, and has an ending that gripped me in iron claws and had me frothing at the mouth for the next installment of the series - now coming early 2024!

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