I know I know, A lot of people believe Sarah J Maas to be overrated but I honestly can't get enough of her writing. The romance has all the tension, acceptance, as well as relationship problems. They aren't perfect and they aren't instant love either.
I was first introduced to her through her Throne of Glass series. I was intrigued by her strong female character who was bent on revenge. It got even better as the story morphed into something more. Before I even realized it, the story evolved into something completely different without even realizing it. By the end, I couldn't accept that it was all over. I still needed more!
Recently, I read the ACOTAR series. Feyre is so strong and I see a lot of myself in her. What began with simple story between a fae and a human turned into a world with so much depth and well-built characters. Even the 'side' characters had a story and each was told without taking away from the actual plot. my feelings for each and every character that was introduced made the reading experience better than I expected. It was so great that I bought the whole series for my mom on her birthday. I gave her no choice but to read it. On a visit out here a month later, I gave her the first book of the Throne of Glass series.
At this point, Crescent City was still fairly new and I was hearing mixed reviews but that has never stopped me before.
One thing I appreciate about her heroines is that she is not afraid to give them trauma that makes sense. None of it is added just to make the character spicier. Not only does the trauma make sense, but she doesn't shy away from the PTSD, depression, and healing that goes with such a traumatic event.
In Throne of Glass, Aelin was caught and imprisoned for her crimes. Prison was not easy on her. In fact her experience was so brutal that despite making her more stubborn and stronger, you can see it affecting her relationships with people and how she handles her trials at court. Her freedom from imprisonment is also where the story begins.
In ACOTAR, Feyre goes through different shades of trauma and she deals with each event differently. Her depression is deep and her PTSD even worse in some cases. One key event in book two sets off her powers in ways no one would've expected because of the flashbacks she so intensely re experiences.
For Bryce, in Crescent City, it is no different. She wears her apathy like a shield and in some ways this prevents her from any real personal growth but without realizing, the small things begin to bring her back. But this is not what I really loved about this book. Each character had their pros and cons. To the point where I wanted to slap Bryce for a few different reasons. Hunt as well would've seen my fist coming for him plenty of times if he had been a real character.
I related to a lot of the people in this book and my attachment to each and every one of them made for a very intense reading session when I came to the end. Multiple times, I had to put the book down and take some deep breaths. The anxiety was real and I may have snapped at my husband multiple times for trying to even talk to me. The tears were unstoppable and I had a moment where I thought I would throw up. The end was just not at all what I expected and switching from Bryce's POV to experience her fear then switching back to Hunt, where he was just as scared but could do absolutely nothing to help was agony.
Bryce had already gone through a lot just from her friends death in the beginning but at this point it was worse. She was there and unable to stop anything from happening. To her or her friends. All she knew was that she had to delay her own end in hopes that she could get her revenge and make sure everyone who was important knew that she was justified.
Honestly the best read of July for sure. I still prefer Throne of Glass out of all her series but Crescent City was what I needed for the month and out of the books I read, this was the one to stick with me most.
The other two books that I loved almost as much was Thorn by Intisar Khanani and For the Most Beautiful by Emily Hauser.
All links got to and indie book store in Colorado called Tattered Cover. I highly suggest going there if you are in the Denver Area, if not they deliver!!
