House of Flame and Shadow The INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER and the smouldering third book in the Crescent City series, from the creator of ACOTAR

Crescent City 3 - 3,5 stars romantasy finale

Whispers & Pages aus Dinslaken am 13.05.2025
Bewertungsnummer: 2489626
Bewertet: Buch (Gebundene Ausgabe)

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!

Alles in Flammen

Everbooklove aus Tamm am 19.08.2024
Bewertungsnummer: 2270816
Bewertet: Buch (Taschenbuch)

Bryce Familie ist in Gefahr und sie ist ebenfalls in Gefahr. Teil drei der Geschichte und das Finale für Bryce und Hunt. Wie cool ich es fand, dass wir Rhys und allen aus a court of... begegnen konnten (ich hatte es mir nur etwas anders vorgestellt). Die finalen Charakterentwicklungen haben mir unheimlich gut gefallen. Vor allem das zusammenwachsen der drei gefangene boys die Bryce noch die Flucht ermöglicht haben. Die family vibes sind großartig, die Kämpfe spannend. Das anecken, zusammenraufen und vor allem alles was aufgedeckt wurde. Jede Connection jede Emotion. Alles hat mega gut gepasst auch dass Hunt und Bryce nicht Friede Freude Eierkuchen sind sondern auch nochmal Hürden überwinden müssen war richtig gut. Das Ende war absolut spannend das Finale aus allen sich bietenden sichten. Ich habs geliebt habe mitgefiebert und kanns nur empfehlen.