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A review by delllannney
House of Flame and Shadow by Sarah J. Maas
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
I very much enjoyed this one!! HOFAS is on par with Earth and Blood for my favorite in this series, and was a HUGE improvement from my experience with HOSAB and my expectations coming off of that one. I just love these characters so much. As always, the found family is perfect, the world building is amazing, the writing is phenomenal. Plus, the pacing in this one was perfect in my opinion. There were only a few short moments where I felt like it was slow, but for the most part it was soooo engaging and interesting throughout which, for a book this long, is a huge testament to the writing and the story. A couple of character things and some weird dropped/unimportant plot points is all that held this back from a full 5 stars for me.
SPOILERS AFTER THIS POINT!!!! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!!!!
Let's get to the details:
Obviously I think we have to start with the CROSSOVER:
This book had the perfect amount of crossover in my opinion. There were interesting and meaningful interactions and connections to a world outside of Midgard which I loved to see, but it didn’t take away from the plot of the book OR the Crescent City series as a whole. This was still a CC book, focusing on CC characters, but with appearances from other characters and little easter eggs and nods to our other worlds that we love so much, all while maintaining the integrity of each series as their own. Loved it. The crossover gave such great detail and perspective on the history of each series which I really enjoyed and I loved being able to make those connections. I was nervous that throwing all of these worlds together was going to sully the perfect image I had of all of them in my head but I was very pleasantly surprised and very happy with how it came out.
Characters
Okay, mixed bag here. Bryce was just not it for me in this book. She was extremely selfish on multiple occasions…. She didn't handle anything in any sort of adult fashion, she was SO whiny and self-serving, she disrespected Hunt and his wishes and opinions at almost every turn, and made everything about herself. Seriously, wtf was that? She's probably my least favorite SJM FMC already, but I really was so out on her this entire book. Zero character development. It's like SJM wanted to her be just like Aelin with the whole secret plotting thing…. But Bryce has never been like that. Why change her entire character? I really couldn't stand her or wrap my head around ANY of her actions. The whole self-sacrificing thing at the end didn't even help. But you know who saved the day, as usual? RUHN motherf*cking DANAAN. Omg. I'd die for this man. Happily. If I ever see Lidia Cervos it's on sight. I WILL take her man. Anyways, Ruhn was great and on top of his amazing development from HOSAB, he became the most well rounded character out of everyone in this book, imo. He's so kindhearted and thoughtful and funny and I just adore him. Speaking of Lidia, I LOVE HER. I LOOOOOVE HER. She is SO complex and like this puzzle with pieces scattered all over the place and every time you find one and are able to fit a new piece in to the big picture it is so satisfying and amazing. Once she trusts someone and lets them see who she really is, she treats everyone with so much compassion. She's everything and I love her. AND HER NAMING HER SON BRANNON AND BEING SOMEHOW SOME WAY RELATED TO AELIN SENT ME INTO A FULL BLOWN TIZZY. GAH!!! Alright, let's talk about Hunt. After that sh*t he pulled in the first book I have never been a huge Hunt girlie, but his love for Bryce is so pure and I really do love his personality so much. He's come so far as well, especially with the curveballs that were thrown at him in this book??? Being a test tube baby of Hel?? Watching another person he loves die (well, not really)?? Dealing with Bryce's childish antics???? Making friends?? I love his relationship development with Ruhn and Baxian SO MUCH. And god, I love Baxian as a character. I love his story and his past with Danika and having that side to him. But what happened in the second half of the book? It felt like he fell off the face of the earth? I wanted more of him!!! I'm going to do Ithan and Tharion together because they both bothered me. Ithan had this super intense guilt he carried around for literally no reason and never learned despite MULTIPLE failures that his attempts to make it better never ever helped. Like dude, hang it up. It's fine. Tharion is just slippery and sporadic and didn't think anything through. Like he really needs to do some introspection. Maybe go to therapy? Yikes. Love his personality and his character but I really don't feel like he brought anything significant to the story? The "woe is me" thing got really old, really fast. What the f*ck was the point of Sigrid? Anyways. Glad Sabine is dead. Fury and Juniper basically didn't exist? Ariadne basically didn't exist? Jesiba obviously came through in the end and I very much enjoyed learning more about her, but I did think it was weird that she instantly opened up way more to Ithan in like 2 days than she ever did with Bryce in YEARS? Again, changing entire characters to service the plot isn't my favorite thing. I do LOVE these characters. But some things just didn't make sense. BUT I NEED TO YELL TO THE HEAVENS ABOUT NESTA AND AZRIEL FOR A MINUTE. I know this series isn't about them, I KNOW, but I died the entire time they were on the page. I loved loved LOVED seeing Nesta's development. You could see her softer moments and it melted my heart. And her little friendship with Az? Them making little jokes together. Kill me right now. I'm obsessed. Sarah, if you're listening, I need an Azriel book more than I need air. PLEASE.
Plot
Very fast paced, very dynamic, very engaging. I enjoyed the story of this WAY more than the second book in the series. Like I said before, I loved the pacing here. I felt the part in Prythian when Bryce is basically watching the entire movie about how all this crazy sh*t came to be was really slow, and I understand the need to put the full story out there for continuity purposes, but it just felt repetitive. Other than that I felt like the story moved along really quickly. Big plus to this one in my eyes. I felt like soooo many storylines were either dropped or forgotten or just made no sense? Again, what the f*ck was the point of Sigrid? What was the point of Ariadne? What happened to Baxian in the second half? I mentioned this in my HOSAB review, but the Emile storyline was also pointless? I don’t get it. We spend so much time and so much plot worrying about these characters and then they have no real impact on the story. It irks me. I loved the resolution of the end – killing the Asteri, disbanding the power structure, the plans for the future. Everyone is happy (what a foreign concept) and everything is as it should be.
Romance
10/10 no notes. I love Bryce and Hunt as a couple (while I do have my qualms with them individually). Ruhn and Lidia are everything to me. I want more love and happiness for all our other characters, please!!!
General Thoughts
……… How did nobody die?
Why did nobody die?
(quietly) ..... I really don't want another book in this series.
Let me explain!!!!:
If she's going to end this trilogy like this – with everyone alive and happy and excited for the future, she just needs to end it there. I don't feel like any of the other characters have enough room for growth to warrant pivoting the series to focus on them (like Nesta did). Anything else will be
a) Even more painful if something happens to any of them
b) Pointless or contrary to the plot and character lines that are already established
c) Trying too hard to be over the top crazy and interesting
ANYWAYS I'm rambling, but this book made me feel things and shed many many tears. I may have some complaints, but the reading experience was phenomenal, as is typical of SJM, and I really did enjoy this one. Now give me ACOTAR 5!!!!
SPOILERS AFTER THIS POINT!!!! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!!!!
Let's get to the details:
Obviously I think we have to start with the CROSSOVER:
This book had the perfect amount of crossover in my opinion. There were interesting and meaningful interactions and connections to a world outside of Midgard which I loved to see, but it didn’t take away from the plot of the book OR the Crescent City series as a whole. This was still a CC book, focusing on CC characters, but with appearances from other characters and little easter eggs and nods to our other worlds that we love so much, all while maintaining the integrity of each series as their own. Loved it. The crossover gave such great detail and perspective on the history of each series which I really enjoyed and I loved being able to make those connections. I was nervous that throwing all of these worlds together was going to sully the perfect image I had of all of them in my head but I was very pleasantly surprised and very happy with how it came out.
Characters
Okay, mixed bag here. Bryce was just not it for me in this book. She was extremely selfish on multiple occasions…. She didn't handle anything in any sort of adult fashion, she was SO whiny and self-serving, she disrespected Hunt and his wishes and opinions at almost every turn, and made everything about herself. Seriously, wtf was that? She's probably my least favorite SJM FMC already, but I really was so out on her this entire book. Zero character development. It's like SJM wanted to her be just like Aelin with the whole secret plotting thing…. But Bryce has never been like that. Why change her entire character? I really couldn't stand her or wrap my head around ANY of her actions. The whole self-sacrificing thing at the end didn't even help. But you know who saved the day, as usual? RUHN motherf*cking DANAAN. Omg. I'd die for this man. Happily. If I ever see Lidia Cervos it's on sight. I WILL take her man. Anyways, Ruhn was great and on top of his amazing development from HOSAB, he became the most well rounded character out of everyone in this book, imo. He's so kindhearted and thoughtful and funny and I just adore him. Speaking of Lidia, I LOVE HER. I LOOOOOVE HER. She is SO complex and like this puzzle with pieces scattered all over the place and every time you find one and are able to fit a new piece in to the big picture it is so satisfying and amazing. Once she trusts someone and lets them see who she really is, she treats everyone with so much compassion. She's everything and I love her. AND HER NAMING HER SON BRANNON AND BEING SOMEHOW SOME WAY RELATED TO AELIN SENT ME INTO A FULL BLOWN TIZZY. GAH!!! Alright, let's talk about Hunt. After that sh*t he pulled in the first book I have never been a huge Hunt girlie, but his love for Bryce is so pure and I really do love his personality so much. He's come so far as well, especially with the curveballs that were thrown at him in this book??? Being a test tube baby of Hel?? Watching another person he loves die (well, not really)?? Dealing with Bryce's childish antics???? Making friends?? I love his relationship development with Ruhn and Baxian SO MUCH. And god, I love Baxian as a character. I love his story and his past with Danika and having that side to him. But what happened in the second half of the book? It felt like he fell off the face of the earth? I wanted more of him!!! I'm going to do Ithan and Tharion together because they both bothered me. Ithan had this super intense guilt he carried around for literally no reason and never learned despite MULTIPLE failures that his attempts to make it better never ever helped. Like dude, hang it up. It's fine. Tharion is just slippery and sporadic and didn't think anything through. Like he really needs to do some introspection. Maybe go to therapy? Yikes. Love his personality and his character but I really don't feel like he brought anything significant to the story? The "woe is me" thing got really old, really fast. What the f*ck was the point of Sigrid? Anyways. Glad Sabine is dead. Fury and Juniper basically didn't exist? Ariadne basically didn't exist? Jesiba obviously came through in the end and I very much enjoyed learning more about her, but I did think it was weird that she instantly opened up way more to Ithan in like 2 days than she ever did with Bryce in YEARS? Again, changing entire characters to service the plot isn't my favorite thing. I do LOVE these characters. But some things just didn't make sense. BUT I NEED TO YELL TO THE HEAVENS ABOUT NESTA AND AZRIEL FOR A MINUTE. I know this series isn't about them, I KNOW, but I died the entire time they were on the page. I loved loved LOVED seeing Nesta's development. You could see her softer moments and it melted my heart. And her little friendship with Az? Them making little jokes together. Kill me right now. I'm obsessed. Sarah, if you're listening, I need an Azriel book more than I need air. PLEASE.
Plot
Very fast paced, very dynamic, very engaging. I enjoyed the story of this WAY more than the second book in the series. Like I said before, I loved the pacing here. I felt the part in Prythian when Bryce is basically watching the entire movie about how all this crazy sh*t came to be was really slow, and I understand the need to put the full story out there for continuity purposes, but it just felt repetitive. Other than that I felt like the story moved along really quickly. Big plus to this one in my eyes. I felt like soooo many storylines were either dropped or forgotten or just made no sense? Again, what the f*ck was the point of Sigrid? What was the point of Ariadne? What happened to Baxian in the second half? I mentioned this in my HOSAB review, but the Emile storyline was also pointless? I don’t get it. We spend so much time and so much plot worrying about these characters and then they have no real impact on the story. It irks me. I loved the resolution of the end – killing the Asteri, disbanding the power structure, the plans for the future. Everyone is happy (what a foreign concept) and everything is as it should be.
Romance
10/10 no notes. I love Bryce and Hunt as a couple (while I do have my qualms with them individually). Ruhn and Lidia are everything to me. I want more love and happiness for all our other characters, please!!!
General Thoughts
……… How did nobody die?
Why did nobody die?
(quietly) ..... I really don't want another book in this series.
Let me explain!!!!:
If she's going to end this trilogy like this – with everyone alive and happy and excited for the future, she just needs to end it there. I don't feel like any of the other characters have enough room for growth to warrant pivoting the series to focus on them (like Nesta did). Anything else will be
a) Even more painful if something happens to any of them
b) Pointless or contrary to the plot and character lines that are already established
c) Trying too hard to be over the top crazy and interesting
ANYWAYS I'm rambling, but this book made me feel things and shed many many tears. I may have some complaints, but the reading experience was phenomenal, as is typical of SJM, and I really did enjoy this one. Now give me ACOTAR 5!!!!