[A quick Note: This is one of those great books I put off, and put off, and put off. Knowing it would be amazing, but not wanting to enjoy it quite yet. And then kicking myself for not reading it sooner. Like all of SJM’s books, really. I’ve only started reading her THIS YEAR and I’ve almost read all of her stuff. I’ve read more SJM books this year than other books. She continues to blow me away as an author. I guess I just really resonate with her writing style, storytelling style, etc.]
“𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭’𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐢𝐭, 𝐁𝐫𝐲𝐜𝐞. 𝐎𝐟 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞. 𝐓𝐨 𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞, 𝐭𝐨 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞, 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐭 𝐦𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐯𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐡 𝐭𝐨𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐨𝐰. 𝐈𝐭 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐬 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐦𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬.”—Sara J Maas
In this everything but the kitchen sink fantasy, we see what true sacrifice really means. Bryce has the perfect life, until a life-changing murder rocks her to her very core. She’s pulled into an investigation and teamed up with an unlikely partner, an alphahole of an angel named Hunt. The murders continue and with them, new evidence surfaces that leaves Bryce questioning everything she thought she knew. As they dig deeper into Crescent City’s secrets, Bryce might find herself making sacrifices that could change everything.
This book was EVERYTHING. Hands down, my best fantasy read of 2020, perhaps of all time. I’m left at a loss for words. There were so many aspects I loved about this book. The merging of technology with magic. The secrets swirling around the murder investigation. The sizzling romance. The snarky dialogue. The strong, bad-ass female hero who could get into and out of trouble all on her own. It was FANTASTIC. All of it.
The world building blew me away. There wasn’t just one race of fantasy based beings. There was literally everything. Vampires, werewolves, mermaids, angels, fae, shifters, witches. Was there anything Maas DIDN’T leave out? And OMG why did they all have to be so steamy and hot?! Maas found a way to tangle all of these entities into a dynamic world, adding a mesh between technology (like cell phones and computers) and magic. It was seamless, fun, contemporary, but still entirely fantasy.
Bryce’s struggle with loss really hit home. Maas had a way of creating sympathy that pulls at your heart strings. She made Bryce relatable on so many levels. My heart broke for her over and over. As a character, she was crafted with layers upon layers. All of the characters were.
I loved that Bryce and Hunt both vastly misunderstood each other. Yet, once they got to know each other that all changed. They were just so cute together.
“𝐘𝐨𝐮’𝐫𝐞 𝐦𝐲 𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝. 𝐖𝐡𝐨 𝐰𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐬𝐡𝐲 𝐓𝐕 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐦𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐩𝐮𝐭𝐬 𝐮𝐩 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐦𝐲 𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐭. 𝐘𝐨𝐮’𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐈 𝐝𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐦𝐲𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟 𝐭𝐨—𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐢𝐭 𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐞𝐞 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐈 𝐚𝐦, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐝𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐫𝐮𝐧 𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐢𝐭.”
Everything about them left me warm. I’m a little salty that we never got a full on sex scene with them. But I suppose I have that to look forward to in the next book?
I’ll add that I appreciated this story didn’t end on a huge cliff hanger. The ending was beyond edge-of-your-seat but ohhhh so satisfying. I don’t think I can sing enough praises about this one. It totally lived up to the hype. Far surpassed it even. 𝗠𝗬 𝗥𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗡𝗚: 𝟳/𝟱⭐️ (am I allowed to do that?)
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