A review by leonormsousa
House of Sky and Breath by Sarah J. Maas

adventurous emotional hopeful 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

4.0

TRIGGER WARNINGS 
violence, death, murder, blood, injury/injury detail, torture, gore, gun violence, misogyny, sexual assault, rape, forced marriage, grief, war, slavery, colonisation, genocide, classism


REPRESENTATION 
sapphic and achillean SC
 

REVIEW 
Short short review incoming (mostly because I read the book a few months ago and I have the memory of a fish)…

Sarah J. Maas has got a hold on me and I loved HoEaB much more than I was expecting. However, in comparison to the first book of this series, I didn’t like HoSaB as much. 

First things first, what did I really like about this book? My favourite thing, and something I thought was a real improvement, was the addition of new POVs. It allowed us to discover new (and old) characters in a much better way and added a complete other depth to the plot and the story. Apart from that, I did enjoy the book in general, like I often do with Sarah’s books! Oh and also… Night and Day <3 

Now, some things I didn’t quite enjoy… I thought that this book was maybe a little bit more predictable (although there were still some plot twists that took me by surprise). Besides that, one thing that I really enjoyed in HoEaB and that I missed from this book (although I can totally understand why it couldn’t be included) was the detective vibes. 

Going into more detailed aspects, I really couldn’t have gone without the whole “mate” thing. I mean, it was fun in ACOTAR and all, but I would really love to see Sarah J. Maas go into a different perspective where love isn’t something that is predestined or something like that but instead is something that you build. Not to mention that the concept of Mates points to there only being one “right person” for everyone and I don’t think that’s accurate in any way (both for monogamous and polyamorous people/relationships). 

Another thing I would really like to see is more female POVs. Besides our main character Bryce, I would love to see some women characters take a bigger part. Fury and The Hind are just two examples of characters from which perspective I would love to read. 

Also, how much was Danika hiding from everyone, including Bryce?! I’m starting not to like her and actually doubt her relationship with Bryce… 

Besides all this, did I still love this book? Of course. Am I still dying to read the next book in the series? F*ck yeah! I love these characters and this world and I think that although this book wasn’t near perfect, it did set up a lot of interesting things for the series. I cannot wait to see what Sarah has prepared for us next! 
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