House of Sky and Breath by. Sarah J. Maas | Book Review

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Title: House of Sky and Breath (Crescent City, #2)

Author: Sarah J. Maas

Format: eBook (own)

Pages: 805

Publication Date: 2/15/22

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Categories: Series, Urban Fantasy, Adult, Fated-Mates

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. 

Content Warning: Violence

I have finally read the book and whew…it’s a long one at 805 pages. I love the cover, this series has good covers so far.

Bryce and Hunt are solid in this sequel. There is no question about whether they are meant for each other, they are mates (I know SJM is all about fated mates). Nothing can come between them throughout this book and we see their relationship get to the next level. There are a bunch of spicy scenes between Bryce and Hunt with the signature mind and space altering sex that always happens in a SJM book. These two are ride or die, besties, lovers, partners forever and I’m glad about it but also I felt like okay now that we’ve established that, let’s move on in the story. 😅

The world building is as intricate as ever. This urban fantasy has everything in it: angels, demons, fae, shifters, wolves, mer, humans and everything in between. So I am impressed as ever with how vivid this world is.

The side characters have a big, big role in this book. I’m glad Ruhn had a chance to shine in this one. I think he was my favorite in the book. Ruhn is really trying to figure out who he is without his apart from his royal Fae status and I appreciated his struggle. Also, I was so into his growing relationship with the mysterious Agent Day – I was actually thinking it reminded me of like an online relationship 😆, it made me laugh a little when things got spicy! But I love Ruhn.

There are so many characters who got a spotlight: Tharion (the mer), Ithan (the wolf), Cormac (Fae Prince), Sofie and then some. And then some!!! There are sooo many characters and honestly I thought it was too many at one time. Cormac was okay-not very interesting, Tharion is to be determined…we shall see where his story goes and Ithan is that younger brother type role. Honestly by the middle of the book I was wondering why Bryce always surrounded by guys in this one? Where was the female friends I loved from book one?! Why was Fury and Juniper barely in this book? I was bummed about that. One of the reasons why I loved the first book was Bryce and her girlfriends. It’s almost at the end of the book when she longs for a female friend and finds a new one in Hypaxia, Ruhn’s fiance.

Speaking of fiance…this is a fated mates story which means…everyone is going to find a mate by the end of this series. 💯 That’s a lot of fated mates lol.

The story unfolds like a mystery with Tharion, being the main detective and then he drags Bryce and Hunt into the search . And for something so secret – it ended up being a whole group knowing the secrets! There is a LOT going on in this story and at one point when a character referred to Hunt as Athalar, I was like, who’s Athalar?! LMAO 🤣. I was like did someone new come into the conversation? I was so genuinely confused…that’s when I had to take a break on reading. Can’t they all just call him Hunt? Like everyone else was being called by their names except Hunt/Athalar/Orion. I have a hard enough time keeping the Princes of Hel straight – where is the character name list? I need one.

The beginning is good with Sofie and then it got slow and some parts was just boring. There was so much dialogue about mundane things at times. I was hoping for more urgency in finding this child with Thunderbird powers. That story fizzled out into something else…but that was the main engine of the story until Danika’s breadcrumbs started to lead them to something more sinister. I wanted more action, maybe less of everyone’s point of view. I could have done without the romance dramas of everyone involved, but I get that this is a romance heavy urban fantasy. The whole story was about finding information and making all the pieces fit into the puzzle. When there was action, it was good and there is a major twist at the ending. I’m still trying to decide how I feel about it…I was like 😳😱.

I almost wish this was one of those series that gave each character a book because it seems like Ruhn deserves one, Tharion, Ithan, Ariadne too probably, and Hypaxia also. And I can’t forget the Hind and her backstory as well!

I did not read this in one sitting like I do with SJM books, it took me about 3 or 4 days. The writing is easy so at least it is easily devoured but like I said…there is so much going on.

Why you should read it:

• you are an SJM fan and already invested in the series
• Bryce and Hunt steamy scenes for those who were waiting for it lol
• some really good twists, especially the ending

Why you might not want to read it:

• long and wish it had more action
• I think some characters need their own book to keep some of these installments shorter
• you will either love or hate the ending

My Thoughts:

I thought I would have read this in one day, even with the 800 page count but if I thought book one was a 4 star read, for me, this was a 3 star read but the ending bumped it up a little. But I wish it didn’t take 700 pages for me to be wowed by the book lol…the ending is a shocker for sure, and I will definitely read book three to see how that goes. I hope it goes beautifully but I also have my worries about it as well. Overall, a pretty good sequel with detailed world building as usual and characters I came to care about but there were spots that were little too slow for me. I loved that Ruhn had more of a spotlight and of course this will definitely make Bryce/Hunt fans super happy…well, for the most part. 🤭 Looking forward to book three…hopefully we don’t have too long.

📚 ~ Yolanda