Review: House of Sky and Breath

House of Sky and Breath by Sarah J. Maas
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Where do I even start with this? There are three things you need to know about this book. First, it's fucking long. Second, it didn't need to be as long as it was. Third, it's absolutely batshit crazy. 

 I was hopeful for this new, more adult series when I first read it last year, but it actually wound up being not all that different from ACOTAR, or what I read of TOG (I haven't finished that yet and I'm not sure I will). 

 Now that I mention it, there's probably a fourth thing you should know about this book - Sarah J. Maas writes the same story, over and over. The minor details might change, but the major ideas, themes, and concepts are all the exact. same. thing. Partially human girl? Check. Ridiculous amount of powers and abilities? Check. Status as chosen one/savior? Check. Hot, over-muscled, similarly over-powered SO that everyone else is really afraid of? Check. Quest to save the world that only our aforementioned heroine can complete? Check. Lots of fucking/growling/purring/roaring? Check check check check. 

 Honestly, the list could go on and on. And really, I could have forgiven sticking with a certain theme (horny fae is definitely her shtick). The fact that SJM is now not only copying her own concepts over and over again, but literally smashing all of those previously separate worlds together is where I draw the line.

Why bother writing new stories if they're going to exist so closely alongside each other? It's not like you're getting additional perspectives or more details on side characters. You're having three separate heroines (Aelin, Feyre, Bryce) have their own separate-yet-shockingly-similar storylines, um, separately, but now you're actually going to have them (well, some of them anyway) start telling those stories together? 

 Again, what's the point of touting this as a new series in a new world if you're just going to wind up smushing them all together at some point? The little wink to Prythian you see in TOG was a cute lil' surprise, but now I need to suffer through Rhys's bullshit in a series that he wasn't even originally featured in? What kind of torture is this? Oh, I'm sure SJM felt she was being terribly clever in doing this, and I'm sure those readers out there that are content with shock value like this (even if it was telegraphed from literal miles away, as so many of SJM's little "surprises" are) were really thrilled. 

For those of us that were hoping she might be able to redeem some of the faults of prior series in this allegedly "new" one, it's nothing short of a disappointment to find it going not only in the same narrative direction as the others, but to LITERALLY THE SAME DAMN WORLD. I'm not asking SJM to write a western or anything, but trying doing something even a little different, for christ's sake. We all have our comfort things, I understand, but if I wanted to eat Chips-a-hoy all the fucking time, I'd eat them all the time. Sometimes I want a damned Oreo, or a Fudge Stripe, not just another chocolate chip cookie. And no fair saying they're different. TOG, ACOTAR, and CC are different in the sense that Chips-a-hoy and chewy chips-a-hoy are different - in name only, with some slight changes to consistency. And I'm not even putting this review in spoiler tags because honestly, you're not going to be shocked when you read it. 

If you're smart, you'll be disappointed, you'll roll your eyes, and then go back to reading authors that have a knack for writing things that are different yet have similar vibes (like Holly Black, par example). 

A few thoughts: 

1. Too much smut is an actual thing. Bryce and Hunt fuck constantly, when they finally get around to it, and much like I'm sure Bryce will go numb after getting railed by Hunt for the nine-billionth time, so too will you, the reader, go numb at having to read about. Again. 

2. Mates again? Really? How about allowing characters some modicum of independence for once and have them actually choose who to love instead of just chalking it up to literal hormones? I thought we were going to go there at first with Bryce and Hunt, since they seemed to choose each other on a non-biological level, but no, they're actually bonded which means I actually have to suffer through numerous instances of Hunt going all feral over Bryce or having the need to claim her like he's some kind of zoo animal. Actually. 

3. Dream sex. Or psychic sex. Or something, I don't know, but it was fucking weird. 

4. On an actually critical level, the constantly shifting perspectives, even in the same chapter, were so confusing. You just can't do that with a cast of characters this big and expect people not to get confused. 

5. Speaking of cast of characters, it's way too fucking big. I have no idea who is who, who is doing who, and who's on first. We need Thanos to show up and finger-snap this cast down by 2/3 just to make the book more readable. 

6. The lore and world-building is ambitious, I'll give SJM that, but she doesn't do a great job of explaining what any of it is. I remember not really enjoying the initial info-dump on the world that was the first part of HOEAB, because it was a lot to consume right off the bat, and ideally you want to hook a reader with some interesting shit before explaining it in painstaking detail, but I could have used a refresher here. Firstlight? Secondlight? Starlight? The Drop? Give us a damned glossary or a previously seen on or something to catch us up (I thought the Aurora Cycle by Aimee Kaufman and Jay Kristoff did a great job of doing this, so it's not like it's unheard of). In any case, I spent a lot of my time reading this either being really confused or wondering when I'd see Ruhn again. 

7. Speaking of Ruhn, I'm glad he doesn't appear to be another Rhys (even if he's like his physical twin, but, like, way hotter), but now I'm going to have put up with his romantic interest (The Hind, Agent Day, surprise, except it's not a surprise because it was so goddamned obvious it was almost a little embarrassing) herself being another Rhys. I can't wait for the entire chapter devoted to a point-by-point explanation of how all the things that this character everyone sees as a psychopath murder whore actually weren't that bad and even if they were they were only done because she needed to, or because it was for the greater good. 

8. Bryce is a selfish, immature, pseudo-grownup masquerading as a competent girlboss that does everything for those that she loves. So in other words it's totally in line with SJM's other work. 

9. Since it looks like we're going to Prythian now, I'm going to start taking bets on how many pages it takes most of the CC characters to start shitting on Tamlin too, and/or how long before The Hind is forgiven for her past atrocities when she admits that it "made her sad" and that "she didn't really enjoy it" and then turn around and say that Tamlin is still wrong for locking Feyre up, even though he too shows that he's sorry, it made him sad, and he didn't really like it either? But it's Tamlin, and he needs to be a dick, so whatever. I'm sorry, I'm still salty.

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