House of Sky and Breath by Sarah J. Maas

My rating: 3.5 stars

I’ve been waiting for this book for a long time and my enthusiasm was over the roof. When Sarah is promising you something EPIC, she delivers. Although I’ve seen a lot of spoilers on Twitter or other social media channels, I tried to stay away and just begin the book blind, without any other intervention. Believe it or not, I didn’t even read the blurb..

I love Sarah, I love her universe and her stories, but this book was not a 5 star read for me, unfortunately. I had a lot to think about and I’m sure of my ranking, even if maybe a lot of readers will not be ok with it. I think CC1 was better than CC2 and it presented more, on a lot of levels. I am not sure if this series will be a trilogy or a 4 book series, but I tend to believe that this book has the “middle book curse” and with that I rest my case.

I had 3 main problems with the book, problems which lowered the rankings. Here we go and please don’t kill me. 🙂

1. The plot was not well developed

It started from one simple topic and as the book progressed, I couldn’t understand why that particular topic was chosen as the incentive of the book. I thought that maybe the main reason why the action will begin developing will be more, something great and without capacity of being questioned. For me it felt odd to begin the way Sarah did but I will not reveal why because I don’t want to give spoilers. My hope was that the plot will be more complex throughout the book, but it was not clear for me what the actual scope of the characters was….

There are a lot of Easter eggs for the fans to follow and find, you can see that many thing are yet to come, but unless I understand what they are and how they connect, I feel confused.

2. Too many character perspectives

With some exceptions, I think everybody got their perspective in the book, which was confusing. Apart from that, a lot of information was delivered which made me kind of dizzy. I know that Sarah prepared a great universe here, but for a normal reader it might be complex, especially if he or she is not native. And not to forget, reading the perspective with characters you don’t relate to might end up in boring pages. I didn’t enjoy Tharion POV, for me it was the most boring. In an odd way I liked Ithan and what can I say, Ruhn is “no comment”, everything he says I like.

3. The chemistry between Bryce and Hunt

I know that in CC1 we were complaining about the lack of sex and demanded Sarah more. I know we did that and it was very rude from our side to comment on something received, but I didn’t enjoyed it in particular. I literally chased the chapter with their first time (sorry, but not sorry) and afterwards, I just couldn’t find the intimacy which I was craving. I wanted something deeper, something more intimate, but I think I only received lust. I know that Bryce and Hunt have an insane chemistry and their attraction is off the charts, but when you say you are WHAT you say you are, I think you should act in a different way. There was a scene by the end of the book which broke my heart and I think I received my faire share of emotions, but I really need them to develop into something more. I need to see more feelings in their relationship. Maybe I will always have Feyre and Rhys in mind and when I make the comparison, everyone is fading away.

If I will say the things which I enjoy in this book I will begin to give up spoilers, so I need to be careful.

I liked Ruhn a lot and I also enjoyed his journey. I loved the way he wants to be more but I also cried when hearing what he went through over the years, especially with his father. I didn’t expect to be so attached to him, but what do you know? It happened and I like what Sarah is doing with him, especially in the “night/day situation” he is right now. It makes him even more vulnerable, but more dynamic to watch. Love, love, loooove.

I liked the ending, although I would have preferred it not to be so impacting in the last 10%. I hate it when my heart is giving up by the tension and I really want to even it, so it won’t combust. BUT, I appreciate the complexity and what Sarah has in mind for us. Now, after reading HOSAB I know where she is going with the series and I really like the idea. It’s new, it’s something complex and I know she will nail it 100%. I get very exciting just thinking of the perspective and the outcome. WOW!!

Now I just have to wait and see how it will turn out. When I read “The End” I threw the Kindle on the pillow and just stared at nothing for a couple of minutes. I was not expecting a lot of things from this book to happen and I really hope book 3 will deliver with all my answers and my characters and the HEA I really wish for them. With this particular books I wonder why I am not waiting for all the series to be published. The amount of details in this series is overwhelming and as time passes, you tend to forget them. It is very tormenting to start a series, finish book 2 and realize you have min 1.5 years of waiting. I don’t know if Sarah even started writing something or if she is busy with Azriel’s book. If you know, I appreciate the help.