House of Sky and Breath
(Crescent City #2)
by Sarah J Maas
fantasy, chicklit, porn
copyright 2022
read in Dec 2022
rated 6/10: read to pass the time.
Maas has written for "young adults". This series is for the growing market of "new adult": Those who are old enough to have invented and practised sex. To target this market, this book is porn. Not soft, either.
I'm sure that book one had romance. The sort where the hero and heroine hold hands... and the sun shines more brightly, the birds all sing.
In this book the hero and heroine hold hands and his cock juts out against his shorts, while her knickers are suddenly soaking wet.
It's not subtle. It's just sex.
There is also some violence and a lot more promise of violence.
Every other character is being forced into violence, or into violent sex, against their will. Quite unpleasant really.
Yes there is excitement. There is also the strong feeling that the book was written as in stream-of-consciousness: a vague idea of direction and any old nonsense to get there. New characters appear, new threats arise, every new character turns out to have some secret relationship, usually bad, to every other character.
I was nearing the end of the book -- and it was obvious that there would be no clear end.
Sure enough, no threads are tied off. No subplots are resolved. But by that stage it does not matter. The characters have lost their appeal, it no longer matters that they are all facing imminent and separate deaths. It's a soap opera in at least three books, of which only two have so far been written.
Yes, the violence -- and the sex -- is enjoyable. It is also meaningless.
The last few chapters open up new worlds of, probably, sex and violence. With, potentially, dozens of new characters.
I may never read the next books in the series. It won't matter. More books will continue the excitement. It is unlikely that more books will ever reach a satisfying conclusion.
An enjoyable book. But ultimately pointless.
Dr Nick Lethbridge / Consulting Dexitroboper
... Agamedes Consulting / Problems ? Solved
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"Yesterday I knew nothing. Today I know that." ... per Ginger Meggs
Dying for you to read my blog, at https://notdotdeaddotyet.blogspot.com/ :-)
