House of Flame and Shadow

Die Bücher von Sarah J. Maas will ich auch über das Ende hinaus einfach nicht verlassen. Die Charaktere bleiben für immer im Kopf. Und im Herzen. Band 3 der Crescent City Reihe begann sehr stark. Es war herzzerreißend, grausam und einfach so grandios geschrieben. Die erste Hälfte des Buches verging so schnell, ich konnte es einfach kaum aus den Händen legen. Auch wenn es danach etwas ruhiger wurde und die Geschichte durchaus einige Längen hatte, war sie nicht weniger gut. Durch die schnellen Perspektivwechsel blieb die Spannung durchgängig erhalten. Nervenaufreibende Szenen rund um Bryce, Hunt, Baxian und Ruhn wechselten sich mit ruhigeren Parts um Ithan, Therian und Co. ab, sodass eine angenehme Mischung von Spannung und Ruhepausen entstand. Es gab auch wieder ein paar Wendungen, die mich überrascht haben, wenn auch nicht so viele, wie ich erhofft hatte. Darum bleibt mein Favorit der Reihe wohl auch weiterhin Band 1. Dennoch habe ich alles an diesem Buch geliebt. Die Charaktere gehen einfach allesamt unter die Haut, sodass ich emotional wirklich an dieser Reihe hänge und traurig bin, sie vorerst gehen lassen zu müssen.

After a two year wait, it took me four days to finish it. And it was worth every page. Sure, the multiverse thing could have been explored in more detail, but I'm really excited about what's to come!

Ich bin Fan von der Crescent-City-Reihe und fand es erneut super schön zu lesen und sehr spannend. Manche Leser sind glaube ich mit einer falschen Erwartung an das Buch herangegangen bezüglich Charaktere von Acotar und TOG. Dann wird man wahrscheinlich enttäuscht, aber ich fand es super, dass der Fokus auf den Protagonisten aus Crescent City lag, um die es ja schließlich geht! Einziger Kritikpunkt von mir ist vielleicht, dass es teilweise seitenlange komplexe Erklärungen gibt zum Hintergrund und „Worldbuilding“, was es manchmal schwierig macht, dem Ganzen zu folgen. Trotzdem echt super und innerhalb 3 Tage gelesen!!!

I finished the book a week ago, but I am still finding it hard to sort out my thoughts and form an opinion. First of all, let me say that SJM is one of my favorite authors of all time and that is not going to change. Around this time last year, I finished ToG, and it became my Roman Empire. So, I made a conscious decision not to dive straight into the next SJM series. Partly because I wanted to wait until the series was finished and all the Graphic Audio editions were available (which are all absolutely fantastic btw) and partly because I didn't think it was fair to compare these two series directly. This would have only influenced my rating of Crescent City even more. To get the first item on my list right out of the way - Crescent City is the weakest SJM series. Was it bad? No, it was not! Just not as outstanding as the other two. Would I recommend this series? Yes, definitely! I think it is a MUST for all fans of the romantasy genre. One of the reasons ToG is my Roman Empire is the fact that SJM is exceptionally good at writing multiple POVs, each of which is already a heart-wrenching story on its own and then managing to unite them into a powerful finale worthy of Lord of the Rings. The story structure of Crescent City was the same as ToG, but the execution was sadly lacking, especially in the third and final book. Of all three parts, I liked the last one the least I cried like a little girl when Lehaba sacrificed herself to buy Bryce some time. I held my breath when Bryce did the drop. I sobbed when Bryce was given one last look at Danika’s pack by the under king of the Bone Quarter. I cheered when the crossover between ACOTAR and CC came (even though I already knew it was coming). There was no moment like that for me in part three. I think there is more than one reason for this. The main one, however, is that I didn't feel as connected to the characters and the story as I did with the previous two books. I remained unimpressed. In my opinion, the following points played a role in this: • There was too much jumping back and forth between characters and storylines. This didn't help to build tension in the scenes but destroyed them. I didn't have enough time to immerse myself deeply in the scenarios and the emotional state of the characters. • In general, I also felt that there were just too many characters and storylines, because book three left me with too many unanswered questions. For example, who and what is Fury now? Why were she and Juniper barely present in the third book? What was the reason for the dragon girl? Flynn, Dec, and Hypaxia were also just running on the side. So much just didn't feel finished. • Bringing Bryce and Nesta together for the ACOTAR crossover part was a brilliant idea. I was totally thrilled. Badass bitches to perfection, but somehow not everything was right for me here either. • I wasn't overly impressed with the final battle. It was all too easy for a SJM book and also over much quicker than I expected. • Lastly, some of the content was just cheesy and almost silly and Bryce's mom got on my nerves terribly. Such an unlikeable character. Just annoying. To end this review on a positive note, I want to mention that I thought Ruhn and Lidia were great. Their storyline was the best in both the last book and the entire series book. They completely stole the show from Bryce and Hunt, and I loved every minute of it. The ACOTAR crossover has opened the door to endless possibilities for the content of the sixth installment in the series. Extremely exciting. Now all that's left for us SJM fans is to wait and see what it will be about, and I really hope she doesn't keep us waiting much longer. In any case, I am really looking forward to it. Thank you for reading!

I love Sarah J. Maas' books. Especially her 'A Court of Thornes and Roses' series holds a special place in my heart. Because of the ending of 'A House of Sky and Breath' I was so excited for this book. I thought this was going to be like the Marvel movie Endgame (when you know you know) and the beginning of a huge multiverse. I thought wrong and was really disappointed. The book itself was okay, not great or bad, but also just okay. I really couldn't stand some characters and loathed their perspectives. The Crescent City series hasn't been a favourite of mine since book one and the feeling continued in this book. Pity.