What have I been up to these past few weeks? Well buckle up my friends, and let me tell you! These past few weeks, I have been deep in a reread of Sarah J. Maas’s Crescent City: House of Earth and Blood and House of Sky and Breath in preparation for House of Flame and Shadow (SWOON). My first time reading these books, I basically skimmed through them to get to the good parts which had already been spoiled for me on TikTok and other social media. I wasn’t all that interested in them because I believed the world building was just too much for me, and they were so different from Maas’s other books. This time around, I read them slowly and made sure I paid attention to all the important little details. I was absolutely blown away at what I had missed the first time, and I found myself loving these even more than the A Court of Thorns and Roses series (shocker, I know).
Crescent City tells the story of a girl named Bryce Quinlan living her best life. That is until she finds all her closest friends and members of the wolf pack murdered by some sort of demon. Bryce puts her heart into investigating this horrific crime and bringing her friends’ murderer to justice. Along the way, she is partnered with the fallen angel, Hunt Athalar (watch out Rhysand), who has been promised a chance at freedom if he helps Bryce figure out who the murderer is. Together, Bryce and Hunt make discoveries that could change their world…only not for the better, and they must work together to stop the evil that is to come (and maybe there will be romance, who knows?).
Nothing could have prepared me for book three. House of Flame and Shadow was nothing but action, destruction, love, and heartbreak, and I could not put the book down once I picked it up. The character development from book one was insane. If you compared book one to book three you would be shocked at how some of the characters turned out, and you really didn’t know who to trust until book three. I can’t even talk much about the book because I will quite literally spoil it. Just trust me, ok? If you have not given Crescent City a shot, be sure to pick it up and tell me what you think!
For more book recommendations please tune in to Off the Books with B&S Podcast on any of your podcasting platforms; new episodes air every other Thursday.
-Samantha