Crescent City: House of Sky and Breath by Sarah J. Maas was one of my most anticipated releases for 2022. Book one, House of Earth and Blood, was an emotional roller coaster and so I expected even more from its sequel… I was sadly disappointed. I almost didn’t finish this book. I’m glad I did but it was not the drama and fun filled time that I expected it to be. This review will have spoilers.

I like to give a heat level rating for all books with romance. If you’re curious about my rating system, you can check it out here.

Synopsis:

Bryce Quinlan and Hunt Athalar are trying to get back to normal―they may have saved Crescent City, but with so much upheaval in their lives lately, they mostly want a chance to relax. Slow down. Figure out what the future holds.

The Asteri have kept their word so far, leaving Bryce and Hunt alone. But with the rebels chipping away at the Asteri’s power, the threat the rulers pose is growing. As Bryce, Hunt, and their friends get pulled into the rebels’ plans, the choice becomes clear: stay silent while others are oppressed, or fight for what’s right. And they’ve never been very good at staying silent.

In this sexy, action-packed sequel to the #1 bestseller House of Earth and Blood, Sarah J. Maas weaves a captivating story of a world about to explode―and the people who will do anything to save it.

My Thoughts:

• Rating-
• Heat Level- 

This book took 21 chapters to become even REMOTELY interesting. If it wouldn’t have been for my friend, who was further along in the book than me, telling me to keep going, this would have been a big fat DNF. All the characters did was talk… and talk… and talk. Sometimes they went places but then they just talked there too. I was bored out of my mind and honestly that’s the main reason this book is rated at three stars.

After those 21 chapters, I began to get more into the story, but I would be lying if I said I cared about these characters anywhere near as much as I did in the first book; especially Bryce. I really liked Bryce in House of Earth and Blood. To quote my review for that book, “Bryce is a combination of Aelin and Feyre’s best traits. I honestly loved everything about her.” In this book, though, she’s still a combination of Aelin and Feyre but in the worst way. She’s the absolute hottest and EVERYBODY loves her, including Ithan, Connor’s younger brother. I found this to be so odd because apparently Ithan has always loved her and even thought they would be mates. I really wanted Ithan and Bryce to have a great platonic friendship but no, Maas couldn’t have that. Other than that, Bryce felt different in this book. She’s a cookie cutter special snowflake now and just doesn’t have that spark that made me love her before.

Now let’s talk about Danika. I know what you’re thinking. Why would we talk about Danika? Isn’t she dead? Oh yes, she is but a chunk of this book is about her. In every other chapter something new was revealed about Danika. Danika had a mate. Danika knew about what the Asteri were up to. Danika was working with the rebels. I’m sure there was more that I’m not remembering but I am so SICK of Danika. To accomplish everything this book claimed she did, the girl would have had to never sleep. Also, what did Bryce and her even talk about? Bryce didn’t know anything about her and Danika was a horrible friend. Period. I truly hope the next book doesn’t even mention her.

As for Hunt, he was just meh. I don’t love or hate him. I liked Bryce and him together, but I wouldn’t be devastated if something tore them apart. The other characters are all fine. I’m interested to see where their stories go but I’m not like dying for the next book.

Let’s talk about what I liked… the ending. No really, the last 25% was really good. It honestly saved this book for me. Massive spoiler ahead…

Maas creating a cross over between the Crescent City World and the A Court of Thorns and Roses world is brilliant. I know that’s something people either love or hate but I personally think it could lead to some very interesting places, especially if she brings in the Throne of Glass world, as well. She literally has us all looking like the guy above trying to connect the dots and figure out where things are going to go😂

Final Thoughts: 

I don’t hate this book but I definitely think it’s the weakest one Maas has ever written. Even her books that I didn’t absolutely love, like A Court of Silver Flames, were still so readable. They may have been kind of trashy but I was still able to fly through them and be entertained. House of Sky and Breath didn’t have that quality. Anyways, if you’ve read this book, I’d love to know what you thought about it! Thanks for reading and have a great day!