Crescent City by Sarah J. Maas
Crescent City by Sarah J. Maas centers on Bryce Quinlan as she teams up with Hunt Athalar to catch a scheming murderer. Bryce is half human and fae while Hunt is an enslaved fallen angel. They are both conscripted to find whoever is summoning a nasty demon before the big gathering of leaders happens, otherwise they’re toast. You see, Bryce is not well liked and Hunt has a very similar affect on people. Instead of hating Hunt though, they hide from him. They are both looking to change their lives through unraveling the mystery of the killer. Will Hunt be set free? Will Bryce stop yelling at people? All of these things are answered throughout the book.
This book takes place in the aptly named Crescent City where magic and prejudices mandate who gets power in their society. There are a myriad of creatures in this world such as: werewolves, vampires, mermaids, faeries, angels, etc. Since Bryce is human, she is considered lesser than most beings and is treated as such throughout the book.
Everyone is also really angry in this book. The tension is constantly high, people are yelling and threatening each other, and it takes a surprisingly long time to get some friendly conversation little over halfway through the book. Keep in mind, this book is 803 pages long.
Previous to this book, I would have described myself as a huge fan of Sarah J. Maas’s work. I own all of her books from the Throne of Glass series, a series which really inspired me to write my own works and cemented a love of world building for me. Crescent City is Maas’s first book since her departure from young adult writing, and some will say that she takes the assignment for writing ‘adult’ a little too far. At times, it feels like she’s being overly sexual, gross, or violent just because she can be. She wants us to constantly be reminded that we’re reading an adult book.
Don’t get me wrong, I was still entertained by the story. Maas has a way with making the world seem real to you in terms of magic and scale. However, that doesn’t distract from the fact that the story drags in certain places. There are easily 400 pages that could have been cut from this book and it still would convey the same story. For a while it just feels like Bryce and Hunter show up at murder scenes and they don’t get anywhere.
In conclusion, will I read the sequel? Yep, you bet. It’s true that Crescent City is at times a trashy read, but it’s also enjoyable as hell. Bryce and Hunter share an interesting dynamic and lots of sexual tension. Their flirtatious dialogue often made me laugh out loud. I want to see more of them and because of that I give it 3/5 stars.
Genre: Fantasy, Romance
Rating: Adult
Review: 3/5