House of Flame and Shadow Book Review
House of Flame and Shadow
by Sarah J Maas
Mostly Spoiler Free Book Review
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Not sure how to structure the worldbuilding here as this is the third novel so most of you would already know several of the details. In this novel, we get a lot of history for both planets. The things Bryce was learning from 15,000 years ago connected Midgard to Prythian. This part was really cool and sad at the same time. It was really dark information about who the Fae at the time were. The First Wars that we have heard about are spun in new details. I wish we could have really gotten more information about the Asteri. It did give a lot more context to the lore. Such as showing that the Asteri and the Daglan are the same beings. However, it still leaves other questions unanswered. For Midgard though there is going to be a lot of change through the book to the magic and even land itself which is amazing.
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It did a good job of explaining why the fae on Midgard was not as powerful as the Night Court. Once our characters, led by the brilliant Queen Hypaxia put their minds to it the possibilities of magic explode. We learned in the last book that most of the Vanir are all Fae, thus they all should possess Fae magic. Well, we get to see it put to the test in the latter half of the book. One thing that got to be annoying though is the use of the words "level up". They felt out of place and were used a lot. Otherwise, it was cool seeing our main characters find new facts about their powers.
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The amount of characters has gotten a little out of hand. We start the prologue off with a new POV, Lydia (aka The Hind). This is a character I liked though. She is a strong female who is willing to sacrifice her soul for a better world. Seeing her and what she went through was a wonderful storyline. Two that were okay would be Tharion and Ithan. I didn't like Ithan's addition into HoSaB but this one was trying to show why it had to be included. While it got the wolves to a good point in the end it wasn't the best story. Then Tharion I feel could have done so much better, he isn't a bad guy and genuinely has cared for others throughout the whole series. But he has primarily only been shown to have selfish actions and not think of the consequences.
Now to the ones that started this. Rhun's story was good but not super impactful. Most of his was realizing his connection with Lydia for what it was and recovering from recent trauma. Hunt also had a lot of PTSD as well as the recent trauma to get through. Hunt's at least felt more flushed out as he was trying to reconcile the past and present. He didn't want to lose everyone again like he had in the Fallen Rebellion. As well as finally having answers about his heritage was a lot for him to process.
Then there's Bryce. I started to dislike her character arc in HOSAB but she took it to a whole new level here. What happened to the strong woman that put on the front of a party girl? No, this lady is rude to people who are actively helping your friends, like at the very moment. I get it down with the patriarchy, 🙄 but then you're just as insolent to the queens. Then her outlook on the Fae people through the book is based solely on the nobles, not the common people but she wants to hate them all. I just didn't see any character growth with Bryce only seeming regression, which is so disappointing. While I spent most of the book mad at her what she did in Prythian was possibly the most upsetting.
This book follows our characters in their quest to rid Midgard of the Asteri. After Bryce is trapped in another world she must find answers as to why it isn't Hel and a way home. What she finds shakes her faith in the Fae even more. On Midgard things are only getting worse for our other POVs. Captured and in the Asteri dungeons Hunt, Rhun, and Baxion must hold out hope of Bryce's return. With new allies will they be able to free the people of Midgard once and for all?
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The book resolved its major conflict decently. Well, it was a bit convenient that all of them stood in one spot for Bryce to be a magical Starborn Princess. The only issue I see is that she has confirmed another book. So who could the major enemy be that can top the Asteri? I know the big everyday sort of challenge for them is there but is that really enough for another book? There will have to be something.
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After finishing this how do I feel? It's still unclear. I loved the expanded lore and there are still so many questions, might have done a Reddit dive before finishing this review. Which did help with one answer but not the other. But the story overall was a bit touch and go. I like where we left some of the characters but wish maybe there had been a better way to get them there, as well as a shorter one. It's just such a mixed bag right now.
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