House of Flame and Shadow

By: Sarah J. Maas

Narrated by: Elizabeth Evans

Length: 29 hrs and 42 mins

Publisher's summary

The stunning third book in the sexy, action-packed Crescent City series, following the global bestsellers House of Earth and Blood and House of Sky and Breath.

Bryce Quinlan never expected to see a world other than Midgard, but now that she has, all she wants is to get back. Everything she loves is in Midgard: her family, her friends, her mate. Stranded in a strange new world, she's going to need all her wits about her to get home again. And that's no easy feat when she has no idea who to trust.

Hunt Athalar has found himself in some deep holes in his life, but this one might be the deepest of all. After a few brief months with everything he ever wanted, he's in the Asteri's dungeons again, stripped of his freedom and without a clue as to Bryce's fate. He's desperate to help her, but until he can escape the Asteri's leash, his hands are quite literally tied.

In this sexy, breathtaking sequel to the #1 bestsellers House of Earth and Blood and House of Sky and Breath, Sarah J. Maas's Crescent City series reaches new heights as Bryce and Hunt's world is brought to the brink of collapse - with its future resting on their shoulders.

©2024 Sarah J. Maas (P)2024 Audible, Ltd

Impressive, imersive and wholly captivating

First of all I would like to start by saying that Elizabeth Evans is one of my favorite narrators! She did an excellent job portraying each character! Now onto this book that blew my mind on more than one occasion and left me laughing, yelling and sobbing throughout the entirety of it. Sarah J. Maas continues to leave me in awe of her ability to write star rattling, romantic fantasies, and HOFAS is no exception! This book was filled with so much action and intriguing that it left me sitting at the edge of my seat the entire time.

Amazing

Fabulous read, all the feels. Narrator was truly enjoyable as well. I wish I could stay in this world but I didn't feel cheated of story or time when it ended. Everything was exactly right.

Fantastic fantasy series with excellent audio!

The third book in the Crescent City series, it’s another exciting, surprising, all-consuming read from Sarah J. Maas. It’s the conclusion to the main storyline of the series (though there are more books coming), and I loved being back in this world!

The last book left us on a huge cliffhanger, and this book picks up from that point, so we’re thrown right back into the chaos of our fabulous bunch of rebels starting to uncover the secrets behind their world, and fighting back against those who have oppressed them for so long. There is nothing I can say beyond that that won’t be a massive spoiler, so this will be vague.

Bryce and Hunt continue to be the centre of it all, and Bryce continues her reign as queen of awesomeness, coming into her powers even more and leading the charge for the good guys. Hunt is by her side, fierce, powerful and loyal, and though the romance is less of a focus in this one, I do love them together.

“You’re my home, Hunt. Our love spans across stars and worlds, remember?” She smiled slightly. “I’ll always find you.”

Ruhn, Tharion and Ithan continue their own journeys, and there are some pretty huge developments for each of them (Ruhn for the win in this book!). I love that we continue to get chapters in their POVs! Other (spoilery) characters we’ve been introduced to along the way also appear, and all of the different parts of the story blend wonderfully with the overarching storyline to bring great depth to the story.

“I don’t fucking care who you are, so long as you’re mine. Because I’m yours.”

There were scenes that had on the edge of my seat, some that made my heart pound or had me tearing up, and wholly satisfying moments that made me cheer. But, for me, this book didn’t have that feeling of epic intensity that the earlier books had. There were parts which dragged, and almost an overload of world building/origin information. There were also a number of potentially epic scenes which fell short for me – reunions which were WAY underwhelming, and character reactions to big twists were often brushed aside or missed all together. And I’m sorry to say that the crossover was also sadly underwhelming.

But it’s a satisfying ending, and while the storyline seems complete for now, Maas has announced that there will be a fourth Crescent City book. Most loose ends are tied up in this book but there is more in this world to explore (possibly even a multiverse?), and some characters who haven’t quite gotten their HEA yet, so I’m very excited about the prospect of more from this series. I think Tharion may be the focus of the next one? I am so here for that!

Like the first books in the series, the audiobook is narrated by Elizabeth Evans, and she is fantastic. The way she voices these characters, each with their own unique voices, accents and inflections, is just brilliant, and I highly recommend listening to this series!

Underwhelming

I found the female lead very difficult to like, the story felt slow with minimal payoff. The characters seemed very flat in comparison to previous books in the series with little character development, and the crossover didn't feel like it captured the ACOTAR world very well. I was so excited for this book, but eventually had to trudge through it. I'm hoping this was just a segue into something more along the likes of SJM'S usual gripping, edge-of-your-seat magical storytelling.

Yaaasssss

Thank god for 3 times speed because I devoured this! She’s done it again. I cried three times from all the feels.

It shattered my heart

I’m still processing the book so I don’t have much to say, but the way I was ugly sobbing for the last 5 or so hours of this book was an experience.

10/10 book. Loved it. Will most likely be reading it a few more times.

And the performance, as always, by this VA was just incredible. She’s absolutely fantastic.

Bryce The Brat

Good story, Bryce isn’t my favourite though. The narration is excellent. I hope Sarah Maas does a prequel about Danika.

Unreal

Fantastic series I can’t wait for the next novel …… brilliant narration and story thoroughly enjoyable