Spoilers in comment so beware. You bring up a really good points about the tempo of the plot and having high expectations for this book. One thing that I had a hard time with was the death of the Autumn King. He was such an interesting character and even though he was bad I didn’t feel like he was bad enough to be killed off the way he was (sorry Ruhn). Maybe it’s because I love that he always seemed like a wealth of untapped information and we never got more details about his relationship with Ember that left me feeling unsatisfied. Or maybe it’s that he’s close to the same age as Rhys yet he’s a father to adults and we don’t have very many examples of multigenerational fae family dynamics. Idk. It just felt like it happened quickly because he needed to be killed off for the end of the story to work and I had really high expectations for getting a great back story out of his character.

Agreed with what you said! I think the one thing that bothered me about HOFAS that made it 4 rather than 5 stars was how Bryce’s reaction to Hunt’s trauma was written as so dismissive. And there wasn’t a more healthy processing of that trauma, if not through his relationship with Bryce, than with his friends. It could have been so powerful. And it slipped too much into toxic gender roles, aka “man up” mentality.

I also expected more from the crossover and was a tad disappointed that more time wasn’t spent with it. However, I ended up appreciating how each story was kept separate and that ACOTAR didn’t overtake the whole of the HOFAS plot. Also loved seeing the similarities between Nesta and Bryce. Overall, great read! Really enjoyed it!

I really feel like there were so many areas where we could have spent more time on this story, and the complexity and number of story arcs could have lent itself to multiple additional books, especially the exposition sections you mentioned. It had the potential to be a full epic series, and it feels like the limitation of the contract being only for 3 books really forced it to the form it's in so it can fit here. I think Sarah did a fantastic job doing exactly that, and I also think she's ready for a full epic fantasy with multiple POV and story arcs that last like 15 books hahaha.

I was also a bit disappointed with the crossover but it was realistic to the characters and situation. Like of course they don't trust each other immediately. Bryce does not like the fae why would she trust them and shes being so secretive why would they trust her? I did like how Nesta did end up trusting her at the end and that scene! of Nesta and Bryce's mom 😭 . I love her so much. I cant wait to read the next ACOTAR book and see whats next in the world.

I didn't know the series was only contracted for 3 books. That explains alot, sooo much happened in this book. I did not expect everything to tie up in this book but i can totally see why it was done this way. Sarah is 100% not done with this world there are so many loose threads with the characters.

100% agree with everything you said. I was so upset they were enemies 😩

I 100% agree with your statement about not liking “Spice for the sake of spice” - I find I really don’t like when that takes over the book and the story comes second. I did love this book! I also wanted to see more from the ACOTR cross-over and hoped they would be hero’s in this story too - however, as Azriel is my favorite, I was super excited that he was one of the main ACOTR characters we got. The shooting of Lidia in the leg was the definition of an Alphahole move in my opinion and I expected better of Rune. Overall, this was an amazing wrap up if we don’t get another - I hope we get a novella or any form of story of how their life is now after the battle and how is it going.

Ahhh i agree!! I was hoping for a lot more crossover material!! I think bcoz of all the build up and anticipation for ACOTAR characters, it didn’t hit 5 stars with me either 😢 Also i was thinking we will have more “answers” about characters and their arcs.. but we didn’t get that. And i think i cried the least in this book lmaoo 😂 it wasn’t as emotionally wrecking as my other SJM faves are 🤷🏻‍♀️

@8:32 it just seemed like torture for torture's sake. Ostensibly, they were trying to figure out where Bryce was but number 1, I'm fairly certain the Asteri knew, and number 2, you don't even get a scene where anyone even asks them!! No one even attempts to torture anything out of them!!! And for me, the worst offense is that hunt made a huge point about how it was harder this time around because he was there with people he now considered friends and yet YOU NEVER EVEN SEE THEM INTERACT TOGETHER FOR THE REST OF THE BOOK!!! They should have been so close afterwards, checking in with each other, supporting each other, but SJM has this habit of writing trauma for trauma's sake but not actually supporting her characters' trauma, just leaving them hanging (ha! No pun intended). It's REALLY disappointing

I agree with so much of this! One thing is didn’t love was how often (and how quickly) she switched between POVs within a chapter. I felt like right as I was getting pulled into a plot line it got ripped away from me. I think this is mainly what contributed to the lack of “gravitational pull” for me personally.

Never clicked on a video so fast, neeeeeded somebody else's opinion, all my friends are still working on it 😅

I agree with you about SJM’s characters... but didn’t necessarily feel the same about CC characters as I do about ACOTAR and TOG. I just can’t with Tharion and Ithan... I also just thought the Sigrid storyline was such a fizzer... but I guess book 4 might flesh it out a little more?

Agreed! I wanted this book to all be in the ACOTAR world sort of like how Tower of Dawn was on another continent

I get you.. I loved her and I love a good story.. when you step outside of her fantasy world for a year you’ll understand that there was a lot of plain unnecessary.

The torture was a bit much. I also didn’t like that the whole chewing off of the hand was for nothing. Why did she do that to us 😩 I felt the whole Ithan/Sigrid storyline amounted to nothing. Why make such a big deal about another Fendyr heir just to have it end like that? I agree with your thoughts about her interactions with Azriel & Nesta. I did really like Ember & Nesta together! I’m glad Nesta got some mom time. Overall I did really enjoy the book!

I agree with practically all of your thoughts!! Especially the crossover stuff. I think after having to wait 2 years our expectations were SO high and there were so many theories out there that it was a little letdown. Curious your thoughts on Lidia! Connected to Aelin? Stag shifter, the ring, fire power. I’m looking forward to more with her. I was also a little disappointed with the Ruhn killing Sigrid storyline.

I gave HOFAS a solid 4 stars! Not my favorite SJM to date, but I still love her and still enjoyed the book. I had the exact same qualms as you!

Couldn’t agree more with what you said! I’d give it a 4.5 ⭐️ and a 4.5 🌶️

Ok! I agree with so much of what you said. My heart was hurting that Bryce was a bit of an enemy with Nesta and Az…I get why she’s not going to trust them, but at the same time I wanted them to be friends hahaha, though that special chapter did show a little more of Bryce and Nesta playing nice to each other. Also the shooting of the leg was so dumb to me, because it was for nothing! She still showed up and they had to figure out a way to not get killed. So, he risked their whole relationship for nothing…it’s not like Ruhn wasn’t going to take care of her sons once she asked him! he didn’t take care of them because he felt it was the only way for her to forgive him for shooting her, he did it because he loved her. So it just didn’t fit. I enjoyed the less spice and even a little less language. I appreciated both, because the second book was just too much for my liking too.

i felt like there is more to unpack with tharion maybe thats the next book the jump to another character like acosf

I really liked the crossover part of this book. By not getting to meet all the characters, and being imprisoned made much more sense, because from their point of view she was a threat to their world, with potential to bring unwanted war. Not to mention, she didnt have time to waste.The part about the crossover that made me cringe was Rhys the feminist. Seriously. A strange woman from another world just drops into your world and you dont want to look into her mind to find answers- even when she's lying to you- because "its her choice". That got so old in ACOSF, and it's so dumb, because I bet if Hunt had been the one to crossover, he wouldn't have hesitated to find out whats what. Smh P.S this book made me love Nesta! I absolutely hated her in the previous acotar books, but this one really showcased the best parts about her. Also the part with Cassian, Ember and Randall made me laugh. It was nice:)

I agree with a lot you said! Although your star rating was much more forgiving than mine, I only rated a 3 out of 5 on Goodreads. I was disappointed in the ACOTAR crossover as well. I also expected to get "sucked in" and never really did. I agree it felt like there was some stuff that was unnecessary and like you said it was kind of a lot of plateau for excitement. The Roller coaster never really reached the peak for me which was pretty disappointing. I struggle to understand why Tharion gets so much focus in the book. Don't get me wrong, I like him, but his POV doesn't ever seem that necessary for the plot progression. I did love Bryce's parents going to the House of Wind and hanging out with everyone and becoming so close. I'm not sure if time passed differently between the two worlds but it honestly didn't see like enough time for them to build that close of a bond with anyone as was portrayed in the book so that felt a little forced/weird to me. After the last book, I kept telling every ACOTAR fan they HAVE to read Crescent City. And knowing how it shakes out now, it no longer feels like a must. But I do understand trying not to impact the plots so much that the crossovers become really messy.

I gave it a solid 4 ⭐️. I really enjoyed it, but had a few things that made me have to mark it down a star. I also wished the crossover gave us more interaction with all the ACOTAR characters, but I liked the give-and-take with Bryce and Nesta. I loved the relationship formed between Ember & Nesta. I think Nesta needed that motherly influence, even if it was for a short time. I thought the story flowed pretty well until they reached Avallen. I know that part was important, but I felt like the story slowed way down. A few things happened that I thought was out of character ::spoiler:: I doubt Ruhn would have not noticed Dec & Flynn being MIA for a day & a half. That just seemed far fetched to me. I also agree that the Autumn King’s death was a let down. I mean, he was written as a “bad guy” but there was always an undercurrent of whether he was as bad as he seemed. At times he acted like he cared. My biggest gripe was how whiny the boys were. Tharion constantly felt like everything that happened was his fault. Same for Ithan. And while some of it was their fault, I felt like they spent too much time lamenting over it and not enough time doing something about it. I felt like the last two spicy scenes (one with Bryce & Hunt and the other with Ruhn & Lydia) were just thrown in there. They were possibly about to die, so let’s come together once more just in case 🤷‍♀️ I don’t know, it just didn’t flow naturally for me. There’s a lot more I could say, but this would be a ridiculously long comment, so I’ll just stop here for now 😂.

I personally would give this book a 3.5, you mentioned not getting a pull with this book like others and that's what happened for myself. I was so so excited for the crossover and instead *spoiler* we got around 22 chapters of the caverns/caves. While I understood the importance I got a little bored and felt let down, plus Bryce's attitude was a big driving force for my 3.5 rating. I know she was in an unknown world surrounded by enemies, trying to get back to Hunt, stressed to save Midgard but the constant deceiving and attitude towards everyone especially Hunt was just not it for me. She grew so much in book 1 and I felt she totally regressed back in this one and soured CC for me. Thank goodness for Ruhn, Lidia, Az, Nesta and all other characters.

Spoilers! I absolutely agree with you about the high expectations for ACOTAR crossover. To be honest I was too a little bit disappointed that we didn't get more of the characters (like Rhys who had like 2 chances to show up when Bryce was talking to Nesta). But I really loved the small mentions of them (like when Azriel was naming all the characters who mean something to Nesta, or when Nesta mentioned that mobile was driving Rhys and others crazy 😂). I hope that we will see them together in future (I NEED to know what would happen if Rhys and Ruhn ever met each other and obviously I need to see more about Hunt and Cassian being alphaholes). And overall I loved this book so much! And it was first SJM book which I read directly after it got published (English is not my first language and I usually waited for it to be transleted) and I love that now I can see all the first reactions to the book (like yours)!

Him shooting Lidia had me going you did WHAT? Wtf? And then they just like oh yeah that happened, yeah it’s fine… like uh….

I dont rate by stars but i liked it. Funny thing is with kingdom of ash i read it back to back 2x. This one i wanted too but after part of i kinda didnt. Surprised me! The only thing though is either its a plot hole or hidden info, i think amren is the lost princess solely on the fact about how she says in the cell that she went into the prison before the people left & came out after. Plus her insane knowledge of the history? Then in the hologram the princess said she made the prison after they all left. Could be wrong but we all know amren is totally fine with lying to anyone & everyone so wouldnt surprise me.

I wanted to see all the acotar characters interacting with Bryce! I was expecting them to team up in a more meaningful capacity. I understand why they didn't trust each other and think that may be more true to the characters, but it was still a bit of a bummer. But I'm interested in how Bryce's interference in their world will affect what happens in the next Acotar.

I just wanted... more... I needed more. I felt like the acotar link was poorly explored. It could be so much more, so memorable. it was a little disappointing. The book had great moments, lots of answers, a few loose ends. Overall is a great book, but from SJM I expect no less than amazing!

I had mixed feelings about the Bryce dying but oh wait not dying. I mean I liked the ending, but that just feels played out now. That and the minimal ACOTAR crossover kept me from my own 5 star ranking too.

I had a lot of similar criticisms, but I rated it lower. This book just wasn't it for me. Somehow an 800+ page book felt rushed, but also dragged? Usually, I can't push down a Maas book, but I didn’t feel that way about this one.

😓 Promo`SM