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A review by bibliophilicjester
House of Rage and Sorrow: Book Two in the Celestial Trilogy by Sangu Mandanna
4.0
I hate how long I put off reading this. I am the worst. SIGH.
This series is so absurdly underrated. As I'm writing this, I can see there are 230 ratings on Goodreads for this book. HOW?! How have more people not discovered this series?! It makes me so angry, and it makes me want to hold these two books even closer. I'm going with 4.5 stars because this was even better than a spark of white fire, which I loved!
I adore Esmae, and even though my world is so different from hers, I feel her pain and anger so fiercely. Not knowing who to trust or believe or believe in. Feeling completely alone and like we have no one to turn to even while surrounded by love. Needing to push everyone away because we know we're monsters who destroy everything in our path. Screaming endlessly in our heads and feeling like no one can hear or understand. I felt this book so much.
I didn't have a Max when I was her age and feeling all these things. I'm not a lover of romance in books in general because they tend to slow everything down. Max and Esmae are tied together in so many ways, it would be impossible to tell the story without him, and they'd be less interesting characters without their complicated relationship. They have exceptional chemistry, and I can honestly say I ship them.
I've very carefully avoided the story (poem? Epic?) this is inspired by, but I'm fully prepared for a tragic ending that makes me actually feel things in my cold heart, haha. There have been so many twists and betrayals and secrets and lies already...I have no idea how this will all end. Please, book gods, give me this conclusion on time haha I'm off to preorder the third book immediately
This series is so absurdly underrated. As I'm writing this, I can see there are 230 ratings on Goodreads for this book. HOW?! How have more people not discovered this series?! It makes me so angry, and it makes me want to hold these two books even closer. I'm going with 4.5 stars because this was even better than a spark of white fire, which I loved!
I adore Esmae, and even though my world is so different from hers, I feel her pain and anger so fiercely. Not knowing who to trust or believe or believe in. Feeling completely alone and like we have no one to turn to even while surrounded by love. Needing to push everyone away because we know we're monsters who destroy everything in our path. Screaming endlessly in our heads and feeling like no one can hear or understand. I felt this book so much.
I didn't have a Max when I was her age and feeling all these things. I'm not a lover of romance in books in general because they tend to slow everything down. Max and Esmae are tied together in so many ways, it would be impossible to tell the story without him, and they'd be less interesting characters without their complicated relationship. They have exceptional chemistry, and I can honestly say I ship them.
I've very carefully avoided the story (poem? Epic?) this is inspired by, but I'm fully prepared for a tragic ending that makes me actually feel things in my cold heart, haha. There have been so many twists and betrayals and secrets and lies already...I have no idea how this will all end. Please, book gods, give me this conclusion on time haha I'm off to preorder the third book immediately