With HOFAS due to arrive at my house on February 2nd I did it again and read another book consisting of over 700 pages in less than 48 hours. I could not put House of Sky and Breath down, and it wasn’t because I was in a rush to read the newly released third book of the series. We finally got answers to the many questions that we were left with at the end of HOEAB. On top of that, new mysteries were placed before us in this second Crescent City novel, and I found myself surprised more than once with things I wasn’t even considering and did not see coming. I was happy that there wasn’t an overload of new information right at the start which seemed to overwhelm me and the majority of everyone else who has read the first book. However, we were given just as much new information to mull over and try to sort through. I did have to add to my pages of notes that I took during the first book because I knew that there was no way I was going to remember everything. I also knew that even the smallest thing could come up big in the future. Even though I know I will be re-reading these books at some point in the future, the notes are good to have on hand.
I will preface this next paragraph by saying there are minor spoilers ahead, but if you are here reading this it is likely that you have already finished reading HOEAB and hopefully HOSAB. I am not going to give an overview of the book, it would be impossible, I am just going to express some of my overall feelings. You may now continue if you wish, you have been warned.
At the end of HOEAB Bryce and Hunt were in her apartment trying to wind down after saving the city from Hel’s demons. Before they could seal the deal, they were both interrupted by phone calls, Bryce getting one from her mother and Hunt getting one from Isaiah. They both end up going to help sort out all the chaos that occurs after the battle which also included the deaths of two very important leaders. We find out in HOSAB that afterwards, instead of going home and finishing what they started, Bryce told Hunt that she wanted to take things slow, and get to know each other better. Several months have passed and they have been working on their friendship, and in terms of their physical relationship it seems like at most they have been holding hands and doing cheek and forehead kisses. Then we learn that she suggested a date to consummate their relationship, and that it is still months away. I was so disappointed when I read this, I believe I actually let out a drawn out, “What?” in frustration. I tried to make peace with myself after coming to realize that it was going to be a long time before any action happened. Luckily, my hope of Bryce changing the terms came true and we ended up not having to wait too long for something to happen, if you count a quarter of the entire book as not being too long. But the wait is worth it, because this book gets spicy. For two people that were incredibly attracted to each other, they have an amazing amount of self control. I feel like the wait we had to go through as readers was as frustrating as it was for these imaginary characters in their situation.
Obviously, there is way more to this book than just the spice. We get to learn more about Hunt’s friend, Tharion, the mer man. He actually has kind of a tragic backstory and you end up feeling really bad for the guy. Ithan gets a bigger role in this story, which I ended up loving. He’s a really selfless, kind guy, he just believed in the lies that were spread because no one was able to present him with the truth until recently, and I am glad he and Bryce were able to mend their friendship. The story ends really tragically though, with some of the characters being captured and the core gang getting split up. But it is the last chapter in the book, the chapter with the biggest and most exciting cliffhanger I have ever read, that is probably the greatest thing to ever happen in fantasy novel history. I was more excited about getting to read HOFAS than I was when I got to read Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows after that two year wait. I will just say that it has something to do with my favorite SJM series. After finishing this book, I think that this is now my second favorite series in the SJM universe. And I think after I have finished the next book in a few days I will be solid with my resolve in this decision.
Nonfiction and Nonsense 