Crescent City-Sarah J Maas, honest review.

“Bryce Quinlan had the perfect life—working hard all day and partying all night—until a demon murdered her closest friends, leaving her bereft, wounded, and alone. When the accused is behind bars but the crimes start up again, Bryce finds herself at the heart of the investigation. She’ll do whatever it takes to avenge their deaths.

Hunt Athalar is a notorious Fallen angel, now enslaved to the Archangels he once attempted to overthrow. His brutal skills and incredible strength have been set to one purpose—to assassinate his boss’s enemies, no questions asked. But with a demon wreaking havoc in the city, he’s offered an irresistible deal: help Bryce find the murderer, and his freedom will be within reach.

As Bryce and Hunt dig deep into Crescent City’s underbelly, they discover a dark power that threatens everything and everyone they hold dear, and they find, in each other, a blazing passion—one that could set them both free, if they’d only let it.”

Hey you, welcome back! I have been away from this blog I know, but slowly and surely getting back at it again! Poco a poco y con mucho alboroto!

 Today I bring thee not a positive note, but more of a disappointing one. We’ll see.

Some say “third time is the charm” and indeed, this is the third time I gave Sarah J. Maas a try. Yet again, I was left finding no charm.

Let’s start with some of the good!

The villains or antagonists were delectable. Jesiba was a cold-hearted bitch and that’s someone I always appreciate. Sabine, the jealous mother, was a great character to read. The Viper Queen, who made me sick with her voice and snake like features and yet I could get enough of her.

The heroes or protagonists. Bryce, our beautiful half-fae/half-human. Danika, our stunningly fearless werewolf and Lehaba, our adoring gossipy fire sprite.

The cover art, I mean it’s gorgeous I won’t lie. Full of mystic and whimsical elements, it certainly is eye-catching!

It even includes a map! Who doesn’t love a book with a map?

Now, we’ll move on to the not so great.

The read is inconsistent from beginning to end. It has one good chapter followed by a row of horrible, slow-paced, extremely lengthy narrated chapters that drag on for what seems like hours. Mind you this happens throughout the 97 chapters. Ninety-seven chapters. Did you catch that?

 By the time the book became somewhat good, I was already irritated and wanting to finish already. That’s how lengthy I found it to be.

Now to the plot twists. Pretty much could see them all coming from a mile away, although I’ll admit a few caught me very off guard, which I mildly enjoyed. But when a book becomes predictable I just can’t enjoy it in the same fashion I would others.

The use of the word “cock”. Ok, really? You’re giving me a full-on sex scene and utilize the word cock? With the number of times she dropped the “F” bomb, you’d think we’d get to read the word “dick” at some point. But whatever, maybe it was the editors who chose to go that route and not the author herself.

Back to the narration again. It’s extremely lengthy and over narrated for chapters on end. It seemed like it would never end. If I take away half of the narration it wouldn’t be as bad and I feel I would’ve enjoyed it a bit more and probably spiked up the rating a bit more.

 Now, it’s no secret that I don’t like Sara J. Maas’ books. I started with “A Court of Thorns and Roses”, which became quite predictable halfway through. I found myself saying “I bet you this happens now” out loud several times, and ended being correct. The same is true for “Throne of Glass”. I had very high hopes for “Crescent City: House of Earth and Blood” yet still was disappointed. I truly wish I’d like it. The plot itself isn’t bad and it does set the groundwork for the next installment in the “Crescent City” series. However, I don’t see myself delving deeper into this series. Honestly, the bad outweighs the good. This may be a read that’s “right up someone’s alley” but personally, it’s not even close to my neighborhood.

Catch you on the flipside!

-J

P.S.

Special thanks to a new friend, Cristian, for helping this review and the prior on, HOOD, look polished.