Does It Live Up to the Hype? Crescent City Series

The covers of the books in the series.

Crescent City is the third series from the best selling author Sarah J. Maas. As of this blog post there are three books in the series, House of Earth and Blood, House of Sky and Breath, and House of Flame and Shadow. No more books in this series have been announced. 

What is the series about? (SPOILER FREE)
The series follows Bryce Quinlan, a half-human, half-Fae citizen of Crescent City in the world called Midgard. They have the internet and smart phones and all that jazz, but it's powered by a type of magic called firstlight. Bryce comes off as a party girl as does her best friend and heir to the wolf-shifter throne, Danika. But when Danika is murdered, Bryce falls apart. She must piece together the last days of her bff's life to solve the mystery of who killed her and why, and in the process learns far more than she bargained for. She's also partnered up with over-powered angel/slave Hunt Athalar. Their choices together have the chance to change the world as they know it.

Does it live up to the hype?
I knew very little about this series going in except that the first 100 pages were famously confusing and that book 2 ended with a major cliffhanger that had everyone buying book 3 as soon as it came out. 
It lived up to the first 100 pages being confusing. Knowing nothing would be explained, I rode it out and waited. There was a lot of info dumping in a short period of time and then other things mentioned and never explained.
It also lived up to book 2 ending with a cliffhanger. I could see why people flocked to book 3. And yet, I realized no one I knew had discussed book 3 much. After finishing it, I understand why. It was not my favorite.
These books were fine, don't get me wrong, but there were subplots and characters that seemed slapped in there for length and had very little impact on the main storyline. Be aware this series also has much less smut than ACOTAR, but more than Throne of Glass. 

So does it live up to the hype? It was a fine read, but it wasn't one I'll be re-reading and if there's a fourth book, I might not buy it immediately. 


This series is for you if you like contemporary fantasy but want a secondary world, if you like multiverse/connected universe concepts, and if you love the SJM style of leading ladies who have secret plans all along. It's not for you if you love mysteries because you enjoy solving them, if you're looking for sword and sorcery fantasy, or if you are looking for quick reads (each is over 800 pages.)


Have you read Crescent City? Which series from Sarah J. Maas is your favorite? Let's discuss in the comments!