Sarah J Maas – House of Flame and Shadow

By Amie Kealy

*potential spoilers for those who haven’t read it*

Check out my review on Crescent City and ACOTAR here first!

I’ve been patiently waiting for this book to come out for the last 2 years and I have to say I felt a little disappointed by it. I don’t know if it’s because it was SO hyped, but I wasn’t left reeling by the end of the novel, the way I normally am with SJM books. Normally, I devour her books, unable to put them down, so engrossed that I find myself constantly thinking about the plot and characters, whereas with House of Flame and Shadow, I could easily put the book down. I just wasn’t that engrossed by it. There were some bits I really enjoyed though, even if the book as a whole felt slightly lacklustre.

Let’s start with the ACOTAR cross-over! I LOVE ACOTAR but I was abit sceptical of what the cross-over between the different series would look like. So I was happy that the cross-over only lasted for maybe a third of the book and then the rest of the book focused on the Crescent City characters and that storyline. I liked that we got to see more of Azriel and I’m hoping that since it was him and Nesta from the ACOTAR world that featured mostly in House of Flame and Shadow, that the next ACOTAR will be from Az’s POV and we’ll get to learn more of his backstory. 

I think because Hunt and Bryce’s relationship is so built up over the first two books, it seemed almost non-existent in this book. I’m a sucker for a good old romantic declaration of love and this book did not deliver. Even when we see Ruhn and Lidia finally get together, Ruhn’s declaration of love is literally TWO SENTENCES! So, I would say the romance was kind of lacking in this book. Maas’ books are normally packed with steamy tension and tortured love but House of Flame and Shadow focused more on the world-building and history of the different worlds, rather than that addictive spicey romance her books are so commonly known for.

I thought some of the mythology and connections between the Maas verse books were cool and it was actually quite fun picking out the connections or trying to predict nuances and links before they were revealed. But whilst I liked some of the links, other links I thought were abit far-fetched and didn’t really work well, if I’m being honest. In Crescent City 2 I’d already predicted that Lidia would be related to Aelin (Throne of Glass) because she wears a gold ring with a ruby which is the exact same ring as Aelin’s wedding ring! It’s then revealed towards the end of Crescent City 3 that Lidia has fire power and descends from Brannon’s line which is Aelin’s ancestor in Throne of Glass. I liked this nuance because you have to know the books quite well to pick it up: it was subtle which made it even better. The same goes for the Under-King being a barrow wight – I liked this small connection to ToG. Again it was simple, but made me think wow that’s interesting, rather than rolling my eyes at the tenuous connections she draws between Crescent City and ACOTAR (but more on this shortly). I also think that the wolf shifters in Crescent City are descended from Fenrys as we already know that the shifters descend from the Throne of Glass world so it will be interesting to see if Maas explores this more in her coming books.

In terms of links to ACOTAR, I thought the Theia history is abit confusing and I don’t necessarily think the unveiling of this history even needed to take place when Bryce travelled to the ACOTAR world – I think it could have easily been revealed on Avallen (Crescent City world). When Theia also claimed that Fionn would have made her High Queen, this makes no sense in relation to the first 3 ACOTAR books because when Rhysand makes Feyre High Lady, all the characters act as though this notion is the first of its kind – that females have never had that power before. Since Theia’s storyline predates Rhysand and Feyre’s, the idea of High Queen makes little sense when compared to the events of the original ACOTAR trilogy.

I think House of Flame and Shadow feels more like a filler book – all the work that goes on in this book will set up the next few books in Maas’ universe which is why I think it seemed abit chaotic. The characters we get more insight into in House of Flame and Shadow (Tharion, Sathia, Ithan, Perry, Azriel, and even Nesta), have storyline’s that only really begin in this book and so naturally lend themselves to more exploration for the books to come (in my opinion). I have to say, I rolled my eyes when we got introduced to Sathia, another down-trodden, fiery female character so much like Maas’ other heroines that it seems abit overdone at this point. However, I think the potential love triangle with Tharion and her old boyfriend could play out in the next instalment of Cresent City and make for a interesting read. I also think we’ll see more of Ithan and Perry and a potential romance between the two. I LOVED that Ithan got named heir and became Prime; I was rooting for him so I’m glad he got the pay off he deserved. Although I will say, the introduction of Sigrid’s character was a complete waste of time; it didn’t add anything to plot and seemed pointless given the fact that Ithan became Prime in the end anyway.

Despite being underwhelmed by the book, I still enjoyed parts of it. Whilst it wasn’t the best book I’ve read, I’ve definitely read books that were far worse. It’s nice that Bryce and Hunt’s story has now come to an end because I think some of the other characters she could explore in the next book could provide quite interesting storylines, so I’m excited to see where she’ll take it. In interviews, Maas has said she’s currently working on the next instalment of ACOTAR, which I would say is my favourite of all her series. I’ll now be patiently waiting for that book, excited yet nervous to see how it plays out, hoping it doesn’t fall short of expectations like House of Flame and Shadow sadly did.