In the highly anticipated third installment of the Booktok favorite Crescent City series, Bryce Quinlan and
company continues their mission to save Midgard from the evil Asteri.
After travelling to a new, unknown world at the end of Book Two, Bryce finds herself being interrogated by another group of Fae with similar ancestors. Desperately wanting to get back to her home world of Midgard, her mate Hunt, her brother Ruhn, and the rest of her motley crew, Bryce attempts an escape when she ends up in an underground maze of tunnels with the magic starlight she carries leading the way. She is soon accompanied by two of the Fae from the new world, trusting them as little as they trust her. As they follow the star through the endless tunnels, they battle monsters that haven’t seen the light of day in thousands of years, discover the source of their magic, and delve into their shared history with the evil Asteri. Bryce finds a way to open a portal back to her home world and once she does, she continues to uncover the puzzle pieces that will help her, and her friends, finally defeat the Asteri that have been ruling Midgard for over fifteen thousand years. Throwing in an unnecessary crossover with characters from her beloved A Court of Thorn and Roses series that feels like a cash grab, Maas creates an overly complicated backstory that misses the mark. Her attempt to weave together two separate worlds is inviting for her devoted fans, but quickly falls flat as the story becomes confusing and beloved characters seemingly have new personalities. Despite being known for her fast-paced, action-packed final 100 pages, fans may quickly lose interest, finishing the book only because they made it this far.
Full of beloved characters, casual fans will enjoy Book Three, but for devoted, self-described die-hard Sarah J Maas fans, the book falls short of the high standards she has become known for.
Oh no! You did not like the third Crescent City book? I have the first one on my night stand right now. How did you manage to get the full review into three paragraphs? It is an 800-page book, right? I reviewed "Iron Flame" by Rebecca Yarros, which is also long. I had so much trouble getting the review length correct. I just felt like I couldn’t say enough in three paragraphs.
ReplyDeleteI do get the Kirkus Review formula though of two sentence summary, a paragraph about what happened, and two sentences at the end talking about what you thought about it.
I am one of those self-described die-hard Sarah J Maas fan because of her other two series, but this has always been my least favorite series of hers. I would say this book was still very entertaining and fun to read, but because of my history with her books, I expected more from her writing. And from talking to some friends and family, they felt the same way. If people don't obsess over books or stories like I do, I'm sure this is actually a very fun read!
DeleteMy Kindle edition was over 900 pages! I don't know how I was able to do this, LOL. I tried to narrow down the story to its core plot line because there was a lot going on and a lot of different storylines to follow.
I have not read any of Maas's books and this one keeps staring at me on the shelves. I think that it is interesting that she added in characters from her other books. I imagined that people who read this series first must be so confused while reading this one.
ReplyDeleteI'd actually say it's the opposite! Being the third book in the series, readers probably read the first two (or they should because then they definitely don't know what's happening), and if they didn't read the series that she did a crossover with, I don't think they're missing anything. Maas did do a good job of bringing the characters over in a way where you get enough information about them that it doesn't matter if you didn't read ACOTAR, despite promotion from her team saying you need to read the series together (which is part of the cash grab feel, in my opinion).
DeleteHi Katie, great review! I'm impressed that you've managed to summarize an 800+ page book. I'm not sure if I could have done that and done it well. I've never read anything by Sarah J Maas. One of my friends told me to start with the ACOTAR series first and then move on to Crescent City - but it sounds like I won't miss much if I skip ACOTAR from your review.
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