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A review by ipaintitred
House of Flame and Shadow by Sarah J. Maas
3.0
Okay I’m back and ready for a somewhat decent review???
So . . I really enjoyed this one. Overall, I’d like to give this one EDIT 3.5 stars. This had so many fun twists and turns, though it also had some predictable moments and “too convenient” bits in regards to resolve and information dump. The good definitely outweighed the “meh” for me personally. I wouldn’t consider this one of my FAVORITES of miss SJM’s, but I found it fun and warm and still have a lot of positive feelings about it.
POTENTIAL SPOILERS? Ish… ahead..
I found the crossover to be perfectly balanced. The bonus chapters were class. Lidia is my queen and I love, love, LOVE her even more than I did before. Bryce, even as one of my favorite FMC’s, had some insufferable moments, though all of that was somewhat within her brand and character and I found that this made her development and growth all the more satisfying. I think this story was wrapped up well while leaving a lot of room for future stories to branch from it. I’m also so glad my girl Danika got more understanding through the lens of her people and THAT BONUS CH. Hunt as always was a complete sweetheart and I loved his storyline. LOVEEEEEED having more Jesiba sprinkled throughout, she easily became one of my favorites. Aidas…. <3 ember and nesta’s interactions as well as azriel and nesta’s friendship give me LIFE. I loved seeing dark, broody daddy Rhys again. Ruhn of course had a lot of huge moments that made me oh so happy. I am excited for what is to come from this and am satisfied with how some of my favorites have been wrapped up. I feel like there was a lot more that could have been done with what we had - my friend summed it up best with “This is more about the cost of unspent potential than it being good or bad, if that makes sense. “
AFTER THOUGHTS/EDITS MADE AFTER REFLECTING
I keep coming back to this and I realize given how much I’ve loved her other books .. and the more I thought on it. . This was not anywhere in that ballpark. My Bryce (who was once my favorite) quickly fell down a few pegs for me. She grew.. but it almost felt too little too late like where was the Bryce I knew and loved who was in the shower with Hunt..? Ugh. I don’t feel the Aelin doppelgänger SJM was likely aiming for landed and I attribute that a lot to .. poor pacing/writing. A lot felt sloppy or overly convenient and it impacted the story and characters for me. I stand by that I still had a lot I enjoyed here and enough for me in many ways, but I would be lying if I said I wasn’t disappointed and my pov changed dramatically on some of my once fav characters/stories.
So . . I really enjoyed this one. Overall, I’d like to give this one EDIT 3.5 stars. This had so many fun twists and turns, though it also had some predictable moments and “too convenient” bits in regards to resolve and information dump. The good definitely outweighed the “meh” for me personally. I wouldn’t consider this one of my FAVORITES of miss SJM’s, but I found it fun and warm and still have a lot of positive feelings about it.
POTENTIAL SPOILERS? Ish… ahead..
I found the crossover to be perfectly balanced. The bonus chapters were class. Lidia is my queen and I love, love, LOVE her even more than I did before. Bryce, even as one of my favorite FMC’s, had some insufferable moments, though all of that was somewhat within her brand and character and I found that this made her development and growth all the more satisfying. I think this story was wrapped up well while leaving a lot of room for future stories to branch from it. I’m also so glad my girl Danika got more understanding through the lens of her people and THAT BONUS CH. Hunt as always was a complete sweetheart and I loved his storyline. LOVEEEEEED having more Jesiba sprinkled throughout, she easily became one of my favorites. Aidas…. <3 ember and nesta’s interactions as well as azriel and nesta’s friendship give me LIFE. I loved seeing dark, broody daddy Rhys again. Ruhn of course had a lot of huge moments that made me oh so happy. I am excited for what is to come from this and am satisfied with how some of my favorites have been wrapped up. I feel like there was a lot more that could have been done with what we had - my friend summed it up best with “This is more about the cost of unspent potential than it being good or bad, if that makes sense. “
AFTER THOUGHTS/EDITS MADE AFTER REFLECTING
I keep coming back to this and I realize given how much I’ve loved her other books .. and the more I thought on it. . This was not anywhere in that ballpark. My Bryce (who was once my favorite) quickly fell down a few pegs for me. She grew.. but it almost felt too little too late like where was the Bryce I knew and loved who was in the shower with Hunt..? Ugh. I don’t feel the Aelin doppelgänger SJM was likely aiming for landed and I attribute that a lot to .. poor pacing/writing. A lot felt sloppy or overly convenient and it impacted the story and characters for me. I stand by that I still had a lot I enjoyed here and enough for me in many ways, but I would be lying if I said I wasn’t disappointed and my pov changed dramatically on some of my once fav characters/stories.