House of Flame and Shadow by Sarah J. MaasMy rating: 2 of 5 stars
I am probably in the minority here but this book disappointed me. The much-touted crossover between A Court of Thorns and Roses series and The Crescent City Series was hugely disappointing. Bryce barely interacted with anyone. That said some major shakeups happened and some secrets were revealed, although why they are revealed to a certain wolf when they have been kept for centuries is a bit of a mystery.
(view spoiler)[Bryce meets Nesta and Azriel. She steals Azriel's dagger and returns home. The dagger when combined with her Starsword can open a portal to nowhere. Now most normal people would have returned and rescued their mate, brother and friend immediately. I mean they could have been killed at any moment but not Bryce. And they were pretty desperate Rhun asked Hunt and Baxian to chew off his hand in hopes of escaping. But nope Bryce drops in on her Father and is immediately taken prisoner by him. But that was all a plot by Bryce to get info from the Autumn King and ends with her locking him in a closet. Lidia meanwhile does rescue Ruhn, Hunt, and Baxian and blows her cover in the process. Lidia also frees Irithys (Queen of the Fire Sprites) to aid in the escape. Meanwhile, the Viper Queen sets a trap for Ithan when he arrives in the Meat Market to help Tharion escape her clutches. She'll let Tharion go if Ithan agrees to one fight. And after he agrees she names the opponent Sigrid in a fight to the death. Now why Sigrid agrees to this is beyond me and is never explained but of course, Sigrid winds up dead and Ithan gets to blame himself for the rest of the book and goes so far as to indenture himself to Jesiba Roga in order to get a necromancer to resurrect Sigrid. That doesn't go wrong at all...Sigrid returns as a reaper. Now honestly why have ithan rescue the lost Fendyr heir only to have Ithan accidentally kill her? Sigrid's entire storyline was pointless and unbearably sad. Ithan eventually accepts the fact that he is the one meant to be Prime. It seems Sigrid's entire reason for existing was so Ithan would stay behind and work for Jesiba, so the woman who has kept her secrets for centuries could spill her guts to him. And then spends her last moments on Midgard saying "Ask Ithan, Ithan can explain". Jesiba doesn't just have the books from Parthos she is one of the Parthos Librarians and was cursed by Apollion "to live unchanging until Jesiba showed him the power of the books". She bequeaths the books to Bryce.
Meanwhile on the Depth Charger we learn that Lidia has twin sons, and the Ocean Queen keeps them safe in return for Lidia spying for her. She isn't really happy that Lidia blew her cover. Or that Tharion who has a price on his head from both the River Queen & the Viper Queen is on the Depth Charger. But she is even less happy when Tharion disobeys her and leaves the Depth Charger to go to Avallen with Bryce & Company. Where Tharion winds up marrying Flynn's sister Sathia. Ruhn winds up killing the Autumn King and Bryce winds up killing Morven and claiming both thrones. One of Bryce's first acts as Queen is to free Avallen. Oh, and Hunt discovers that Apollion or Thanatos is his Father, his lightning is hellfire.
Hypaxia is no longer Queen of the Witches. Which allows Jesiba to maneuver her into killing the Under King to save Ithan and claim his crown. Hypaxia is also busy coming up with an antidote to the parasites the Asteri put in the water. The antidote makes everyone who takes it stronger.
Pollux kidnaps Lidia's twins. So they now have a two-part mission rescue Lidia's twins and destroy the Asteri's power supply. Bryce opens the gates of Hel after leaving her parents with Nesta and begging for the use of "the death mask". After tons of fighting and a lot of close calls it comes down to Bryce facing down the Asteri alone she uses the sword and dagger to open a portal to nowhere and throw the Asteri into it but stupidly she doesn't shut it before she falls into it herself. Hunt uses the death mask to go after her but she is dead when he gets her out. And now we discover Jesiba's final plan she trades her life for Bryce's. (hide spoiler)]
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