House of Sky and Breath - Crescent City #2 (Maas)

Hunt’s voice was a thunderclap as he said behind her, “Light it up, Bryce.”

Let me start by saying that writing reviews for any book written by Sarah J. Maas is such daunting task. I love them so much but SO much goes on that all that is in my head afterwards are these threads of jumbled flailing that I can hardly untangle so far as to get a coherent thought that isn’t just straight up screaming out.

But I’m here. I have written down very specific points I want to talk about. Wish me luck.

This book….may have topped A Court of Mist and Fury for me (second in the A Court of Thorns and Roses series). *Gasps in a huge breath* There I said it. ACOMAF has held my top favorite book spot since it came out and not even A Court of Silver Flames (Cassian and Nesta are still my OTP) had superseded that. The first book in this series, House of Earth and Blood, is the only book that I have EVER read that consistently makes me cry and gives me physical reactions (goosebumps, aching chest, etc.) in the exact same spots during every re-read, even when I already know exactly what’s coming. While I still didn’t hold it up on as high as a pedestal as I did with her other two series, that might honestly just be because I had YEARS to fall in love with those characters over multiple books, whereas until now we had only had one Crescent City book. Besides that, the fact that this is FIRMLY in the adult fantasy/ adult urban fantasy genre has really set it apart. It’s in an entirely different league and Sarah has found. Her. Element.


Let’s start with the original stars of the show--Hunt and Bryce. Sarah had been hinting that she was going to be holding these two back from one another since hey, they only have known each other for about five months before going through some super traumatic experiences together to top off all of the other trauma that each had previously individually experienced. Fun times. I do love that they wanted to try to explore a “normal” relationship with one another first, even if let’s be real, these two were NEVER going to have a normal relationship/life.

To keep things simple though, I love their relationship. I love their banter. I love how they love each other’s power. I love how they both stand up for one another only to turn around and roast the other person in the next minute. So many one liners in this book that I highlighted and that had me straight CACKLING. These two are so perfect for one another.  In short I love them and am obsessed with them and as I told a friend, I will eat a cactus if they don’t wind up together for all eternity.


On to the rest of the cast. I love this ragtag group of loveable idiots. I know some people might not like that this book features more POVs but I LIVE for that. Loved and both cried getting to know Tharion and what he was dealing with in the Blue Court (spoiler alert it's terrible and not fair). Ithan-- SARAH WERE YOU TRYING TO DESTROY US MORE THAN USUAL?? HUH WERE YOU???? Loved Dec and Flynn AS ALWAYS and even the Cormac bits were interesting/enlightening in certain ways *wink*. The one person I found myself missing the most at first was Hypaxia but she does come into play eventually and I was so glad, especially when she and Bryce had some girl time. Queens need to stick together (and no I am not calling Bryce a queen in the literal aspect….yet anyway). Who is going to come up with a new squad name for me because I really think we need one.

And last, but CERTAINLY not least, my favorite character yet--Ruhn Daanan. *the crowd roars* Yallllll. My love for Ruhn in book one pales in comparison for what I feel for him now. We learn more about his past AND just see more of him as a friend and Bryce’s brother and boy was my heart working in overtime. He deserves SO SO much and I am so glad that his horrible father didn’t suck all of the joy and kindness out of him. ANYWAY we DO get a new ship in this book involving Ruhn that….well, I’ll go ahead and say it. I am obsessed. There are quite a few bad-guys-or-are-they in this book and I was MOST DELIGHTED when both were uncovered as GOOD. I seriously have been internally screaming since I found out about one of them in particular. Anyway not going into detail but just know, this new ship is my everything and I can’t wait for more.

Ithan said slowly, “Hel is our enemy.”
“Is it?” Aidas laughed, ears twitching. “Who wrote the history?”
“The Asteri,” Tharion said darkly.

I feel myself winding down so I had better go out with a bang here. This wouldn’t be a Sarah book or even series if it didn’t have a BILLION twists and turns that you never saw coming. We learned so many more things about Danika (I honestly hadn’t expected her to STILL be playing such a big role) and I’m not going to lie, I was very upset off FOR Bryce. I can only hope she had at least PLANNED on telling her best friend someday.

One thing that I had expected out of this book was the talk of rebellion and the looming war on the horizon. What I didn’t expect was to learn exactly what we learned. That even though we hate the Asteri and know they are wrong, there are also plenty in the human rebellion that are almost just as awful. The question of WHO might be the best people to rule if the Asteri are dethroned comes into play a lot and it was actually very interesting to think about. I think a LOT of realllly big changes and power plays are going to be made in the final book.

And finally. Yes. I think you all know what’s coming. The ending.  I refuse to give away any spoilers but just know that it will change your life.

WHAT A TIME TO BE ALIVE. Now if you’ll excuse me I’m going to re-read all my favorite parts over again.

Click here to place a hold on this item in our catalog or

Here to find a copy of the eBook through OverDrive.