urban fantasy – takes two to book review

Review: House of Flame and Shadow by Sarah J Maas

March 19, 2024March 15, 2024 Anna and AlexisLeave a comment

Alexis:

House of Flame and Shadow, the third book in the Crescent City series, has already been controversial in the SJM community, but I really enjoyed it!

It’s not perfect (let’s be honest—ACOTAR (A Court of Thorns and Roses) isn’t either) BUT with the magnitude of everything she had to pull together in House of Flame and Shadow, I thought it was a great, wild ride!

The stakes are high. So many things are happening and being revealed, and despite the massive page count, I was on my toes for all of it. I loved how she pulled everything together!

A lot of people don’t like Bryce, but I’m not one of them. While she’s a little hot-headed, I love a character with actual flaws—and she’s a badass! She also reminded me a lot of Aelin in this book, and a lot of the plot actually reminded me of ACOWAR, the 3rd book in the ACOTAR series.

Two of the side characters were definitely the stars of this book: Lidia and Ruhn. If you know, you know!

House of Earth and Blood is definitely my favorite of the three, and I only gave House of Sky and Breath 3 stars, so it was definitely my least favorite of the bunch. While I think the first book is honestly the best and stands perfectly on its own, I did enjoy this one. I just missed the dynamic of Bryce and Hunt from the first book.

All of that being said, I think Maas did a great job. Sure, the final battle definitely could’ve been a little longer. And sure, there are some info dumps in the first half. But Maas had a lot of things to link together, and overall, this was a great ending. (Or is it the ending? You never know with Maas!)

VERDICT: 5 ⭐

Review: Monsters of Verity Duology by Victoria Schwab

November 20, 2021 Anna and AlexisLeave a comment

Alexis:

I have to admit: Schwab’s books are either a hit or miss for me, and I’ve avoided reading more of her books for that reason.

But I think This Savage Song, the first in the duology, is my favorite of hers so far!

It follows two juniors in high school named Kate and August, in an apocalyptic America that’s been divided into territories and overrun with monsters born from violence.

Kate is the daughter of Harker, who rules one side of the city of Verity, and August’s father is Flynn, who rules the other side. Kate does her best to get kicked out of every boarding school her father has dumped her in, in an attempt to come home to Verity. When Kate finally returns to Verity, August is enrolled into her high school, his enemy’s high school, in order to spy on her.

But here’s the thing: August isn’t actually human, no matter how hard he tries to be. He’s a Sunai, and he can reap souls through music, with his violin.

I loved the gritty, urban feel of this book. Schwab’s writing style definitely works the best with this kind of book (as opposed to The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue, which is a lot less punchy and to the point, and instead very flowery). And I’m always a sucker for a dual POV.

August was by far my favorite character in this book. I loved his personality, and how he tries his best to balance who he wants to be with his monster side. And his musical, monster-y superpower was so interesting to read about. He’s such a wholesome and well-rounded character.

Kate is a great character, too. Schwab did a great job of writing how her past trauma impacted her and continues to influence her character. She’s a strong badass with a soft side, and she and August’s personalities mesh well together.

Though a long book, the pacing was great, and I loved the survival plotline.

VERDICT: ⭐⭐⭐⭐.5

Our Dark Duet

I flew through this book because I wanted to know what happened. That being said, it just felt a little disjointed, especially in comparison to the first one. The gritty vibes were all there, all good, and I really liked Kate’s character arc.

I liked August’s character arc, too, but I felt like we didn’t get to see his transformation, while we got scenes in the beginning explaining and detailing how Kate got to where she is.

The plot was a little bit frustrating, mostly because there was one monster that appears and is never explained/explored enough, so that I was left with a lot of questions. But mostly, I enjoyed this book overall…if it wasn’t for the ending.

It was a very specific kind of ending that I really, really don’t like. It’s totally a personal preference, but for me, it just kind of ruined the story.

VERDICT: ⭐⭐⭐

Overall, if you’re looking for a gritty, YA urban fantasy, definitely pick this up! Now, the question is: should I finally read A Darker Shade of Magic?

Review: House of Earth and Blood by Sarah J Maas

March 27, 2020July 12, 2020 Anna and AlexisLeave a comment

Alexis:

“Through love, all is possible.”

Maas has a way of writing worlds that suck you in and make you want to keep reading. While this world is pretty similar to the one in ACOTAR, I loved how the world in Crescent City blends modern technology with magic; we don’t get enough fantasy with modern technology, and it was really interesting and fun to see the characters use both cell phones and magic. It was also loosely based off of Ancient Rome, which was cool.

I really enjoyed all of the characters. I liked reading from both Bryce and Hunt’s perspective. They both have a great mix of admirable traits and flaws. And, as usual, Maas is great at writing characters who have suffered from trauma with care.

The first half of this book did a great job setting up the world, the characters’ backstories, and establishing the main plot, while the second half was more fast paced and action packed. While a lot of readers find Maas’ build up slow, I enjoy how she spends time establishing the world and letting us know the characters before diving deeper into the plot. And I thought the plot of this book was intricate. Honestly, even though this book is so heavy on the details and it took me a while the get all the worldbuilding details straight, it was just so much fun to read!

My cons are pretty small. First, let me just say that if you don’t like Maas’ writing style, just don’t pick up the book? A lot of people seem to be giving this book bad reviews without even reading it because they aren’t fans of Maas’ writing.

I will say, thankfully, this book has considerably less drawn out sex scenes; it still has a decent amount of people flipping each other people off, and a lot of f-bombs, which didn’t bother me. I’m still not a fan of her character name choices (Bryce and Hunt? And I never got over Tamlin’s name from ACOTAR) but honestly, that’s such a small bone to pick, and it boils down to personal preference.

Even though I loved reading the ACOTAR series, I thought this book was far better written. I still don’t think her writing is the absolute best, but what she IS good at is writing characters you will want to root for, and writing worlds that you will become obsessed with. And despite the fact that this book is over 800 pages long, I barely wanted to take any breaks from reading it.

Bottom line: this was so much to fun to read! And considering the fact that the plot centers around a murder mystery, apparently murder mysteries are my new definition of “fun.”

VERDICT: 📚📚📚📚📚