[A quick note: Sarah J Maas is my favorite author of all time. It’s not even a contest. I was highly HIGHLY anticipating this release for over a year. I even did a re-read of the first book, which I almost never do because of my endless TBR and I’m usually pretty good at remembering details. Still, I’m glad I did! I decided to buy the standard edition. So I didn’t get any of the bonus chapters. Oh well…]
“𝐃𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐯𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐢𝐧 𝐰𝐚𝐫”—Sarah J Maas
SJM does it again, y’all!!! HOSAB packs a punch. There’s so many “HOLY SHIT” moments. Huge revelations dropped left and right. “Oh and by the way, BOOM.” I set the book down soooo many times, just to process all the huge reveals. This one dives much deeper into the politics and rebellion. It also continues to peel back the layers surrounding Danika Fendyr. While the plot felt a bit meandering, and I wasn’t crazy about the way the story ended, so many things happen. It’s a lot to unpack.
One of my favorite aspects about HOSAB were the side characters. SJM is queen of side characters. Every single one had tons of depth. I loved the way they began bonding together, and the way the found family develops. I mean, SJM is HANDS DOWN the queen of found family. So…is it any surprise? My favorite is Ruhn, DUHHH. I love him so much.
Dare I say, this one had a different feel compared to the first. The first felt a bit like a murder mystery. This one was more political. It felt like an awakening of sorts, where Bryce begins to find answers to so many secrets. She begins asking questions about EVERYTHING. And she also discovers that everything she thought she knew was a lie. Even though it had a different feel, it worked! I simply love immersing myself in this world; SJM could write the most mundane things in Crescent City and I’d still read it.
One of the coolest parts of this story were my suspicions. I began developing suspicions about Agent Daybright very early on. While this story wasn’t a murder mystery, I still felt there was a HUGE mystery to be solved. That mystery was all around Agent Daybright. This put Ruhn front and center as a side character. Loved that! And while I was teetering between two characters, my initial suspicions proved correct. It was SO SATISFYING. And so fun.
Okay, that brings me to the freaking ENDING. Holy wow. I was absolutely dreading it. My head was SPINNING after I closed the book. I feel shocked, confused, shocked…did I mention, shocked? I’m not sure I was ready for that. I have NOOOO idea how SJM is going to handle the next book. But I’m so ready for it. 𝐌𝐘 𝐑𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐆: 𝟓/𝟓⭐️