HOUSE OF SKY & BREATH BY SARAH J MAAS | booktalk with XTINEMAY 

Yall just want to note cuz past christine in this video didn't make this clear: IT IS MY FAULT I GOT SPOILED, AND NO ONE ELSE'S. I CRUMBLED UNDER MY OWN PRESSURE and thus was spoiled by excited people when i talked about the book on socials. i broke all my how to not get spoiled rules

I’m almost positive Danika is going to be related to Fenrys from Throne of Glass. I mean he’s a wolf shifter and like Fenrys and Fendyr??? It’s so similar. I really hope we see Aelin and crew in House of Flame and Shadow as well!!

I must be part of the small number of people that really love Hunt and Bryce together. And Hunt as a character. I really enjoyed this book. It’s okay that some didn’t. Not everyone can like every book and that’s okay.

I don't understand how christine can listen to the audiobook and STILL pronounce every single character's name differently 😅😂

THE NOSTALGIA FROM “WELCOME TO BOOK TALK” 😭

I low-key want the demon cat guy and Bryce to fall in love with each other (I already forgot his name because it's been so long), but I'm so curious where that relationship will go because there's so much mystery behind it, but also just enough chemistry to be like oooooo

The animal thing - that all of the Fae have an animal counterpart - comes from the Throne of Glass world. Every Fae from that world can turn into one animal (spoiler); Rowan is a hawk, Fenris is a wolf, Aelin is a human, etc. So my theory is that all of the beings in Bryce's world were once Fae (not everyone but close), so like, Bryce's deer friend is descended from someone from the Throne of Glass world, while Bryce and Ruhn are descended from the ACOTAR world.

Why does everyone dislike Hunt I love him and his storyline sm

It's so interesting because I felt more emotional connection in this book than CC1. In the first book I felt the whole time learning the world that I couldnt get into the side characters. In CC2, I had a better idea what was going on, so I was able to get into the characters and their arcs more.

I'm so happy that you decided to film and upload this booktalk, I love hearing your thoughts! I also feel conflicted about this book, I'm not that big of a fan of the ending but now I just have to go with it. And I just know that Sarah herself will be lurking in these comments and watch you theorize, because you do it so well.

1) I think Lydia is Rowan and Aelin's daughter 2) Jessiba is Yrene's Mom 3) Aelin is meant to "Rattle the Stars," aka the Asteri, aka the Gods she was communicating with. She is also the only character described as "The Queen of Flame and Shadow" 4) Cormak from TOG and Cormak from CC 5) I think her and Hunt are Carenam but are chosen mates, I think Bryce will come face to face with her 'true' mate. The bond might be broken already, but we'll know. 6) Ruhn mountains in Throne of Glass, and I think his mom is Rhys' sister... might have something to do with the Starlight pond in the spring court 7) Elain is possessed with her engagement ring like the princess in Tower of Dawn. Either by Koschie or a normal Valg 8) Aidis is in Silver Flames, and the Baste cats in the Torre library travel between portals 9) Jurian is from Crescent City 10) Tamlin's beast form is a chimera, and he might be a descendant of Aedion and Lysandra 11) Rhys' last name might be Moonbeam 12) Azriel is a vampire or a Prince of Hel 13) The Archeron sisters will become the three-faced goddess

I’m rereading acotar and acosf, and then I’m getting to crescent city 2! I’m so freaking excited. It’s crazy to see Sarah’s books become as popular as they are. I remember buying ACOTAR the day it hit the shelves, and you talking about TOG all those years ago.

wait, there are so many people who don't believe in hunt & bryce being endgame? 🥺 my world is shattered

I don't see another love interest coming because, unlike ACOTAR and TOG, the romance with Hunt has been set up as so concretely end of the world, this is my soul mate type of love. With Tamlin and Kaol there was always other love interests in the periphery - Rhysand was present in ACOTAR as a sexy enemy to lover type, and Dorian was a secondary love interest in TOG. I think the ship has sailed. Also, Hunt is just like a slightly re-vamped Rowan, so...

I think we see Aelin lock the Asteri in Midgard when she tricked the "Gods" in Kingdom of Ash. I really think she is the other starborn princess.

I almost agree with you on anything. Except that Hunt and Bryce need to be endgame. I will DIE on that hill.

missed you so much!!! cant wait to watch this

I swear to god I screamed when this book ended So glad you posted!!

I miss the booktalks 😢 our reading interests match so well

The day we’ve all been waiting for.. YAYY

I cannot name a single thing that happened before the last 50 pages of this book😑 I love your bookish thoughts so much💞

11:38 - I think what you might be confused about is first light and second light? First light is when someone makes the drop the "first" time. Second light is the light someone gives off once they "pass" into the Enteral Realm. When someone dies their souls goes to the Bone Quarter. But they don't pass immediately into the Eternal Realm. I THINK they are worried about Conner's second light because he hasn't passed into the other realm. And they want to warn him that the Asteri are eating the second light as well?? 23:15 - I'm so glad I put in headphones for this 😆 30:18 - The "shifter Fae" are not from Prythian. It's a hard detail to miss because so much information is thrown at you but the head Asteri , when he's explaining things to Bryce, says that they took those Fae from a different world where all Fae have alternate animal forms. Which is exactly how Aelin's world is. So it took it to mean, those Fae were taken from her world. 31:25 - Been holding out for Bryce and Adidas since book one 😆 33:17 - I believe Sarah has mentioned you will be able to continue the ACOTAR series, technically, without reading CC3. 35:25 - I think Ithan will be with the Fendyr heir! He felt a physical connection to her when he saw her for the first time. So for the next book, I haven't allowed myself to make a lot of predictions because I find it more fun if I don't figure it out because when I put my mind to I figure everything out lol. But the few things I've come up with: I don't think we will spend the entire time in Velaris. Something tells me we'll train their, learn things we need, then move on to Hell. I will FURIOUS if Bryce goes for Azriel and I don't think its going to happen because Gywn. There was a mention of a fourth object in the Death Trove that got "lost" fully believe its the horn. Terrified for Ruhn and half of me thinks he's getting his castrated. But the biggest far off thing I want is the TOG characters to come into play. Like I need like it I'm dying.

Okay but Danika is probably the worst friend ever. Like the whole time I’m like Bryce… did you even know this girl?

Here is are some thoughts. I really liked your theory that Amren could be Aseri, interesting theory. Also, I was so heartbroken at the end as well for Hunt. I could also see another love interest coming into the picture for Hunt and Bryce. I'm so excited for Flame and Shadow, too! It will be exciting to see what storyline loops get closed and how the Rhysand world and Bryce's worlds collide. I've been watching for years and have enjoyed all of the books you have written. Keep doing what you're doing because it is awesome work!

I'm not sold on Hunt/Bryce either...and I am intrigued by Aidas 👀 Also, I forgot about like 1/3 of these plot points so as always, thank you for the booktalk, they are my favorite videos!!!

Something about Crescent City has always seemed a little like purgatory/heaven to me. Like obviously you have these angels ruling/watching over under the control of these gods, and way everyones immortality works, with offering up first light and making the drop and how they can all just REGROW full body parts/basically come back from mortal wounds unless its like their head is off. And also their dead all go to a physical PLACE that is IN their world, like its not just another realm, their spirts are kept on these specific resting places/islands

I’m also a Danika fan. She reminds me too much of Aelin and gave off more main protagonist vibes than Bryce. I’m also glad I’m not alone in thinking Hunt might not be endgame.

I also felt that the twist of firstlight being the thing that the asteri is using to survive/ steal and exploit everyone else was not surprising at all. I thought we already knew that the domineering and oppressive godlike forces would be the ones making the rules where they benefit the most and I thought that Bryce was commenting on this throughout the book. If you swap firstlight for money then that system is the exact one that we live everyday. I feel like that big reveal and twist was not the big revelation Sarah thought it was going to be

My favorite part of this was your Prime impression: “Did she smell of snow and embers?” 🤣🤣🤣🤣

Late (work), but yayyyy it's finally here! I think the reason I enjoyed it a lot is because I annotated it. But I also didn't get any spoilers lol. Also Hunt & Bryce all the way

Okay but Lidia (Hind) and Aelin could be related. When she was first described in the Ruhn dreamy-verse i thought that was Aelin. Like, the fire power, the descriptions were so Aelin. Then when we saw her in the real plane, the blonde hair. Also her father is a stag shifter. Lord of the NORTH? And she's a witch's daughter and has golden eyes. MANON?? If you see the Hind and Celeana's fanarts side by side they look so very similar

Miised these sooo much ❤

I don’t know how I didn’t get spoiled for this book LMAO. I read the first half the week is released, got busy with school and never finished it until this past April 😂 I had to start over because I forgot what happened and was SHOOK and GIDDY at the end like I KNEW the Maas-verse was going to be colliding ever since Kingdom of Ash.

I’m really happy with this honest book talk because I was also very confused throughout the story. I think my faith in SJM’s writing is giving me hope that maybe a lot of things will come full circle in the next book. In that case I am very excited bc there was a lot of crazy stuff going on. I can’t wait for Bryce to find someone else too :,) Hunt gives me Kaol vibes and she needs her Rowan/Rhysand. If it is Ethan that would be an interesting choice since he doesn’t feel so dark like the past male leads, but maybe that perspective would change if we also got to see a full Ethan character ark lol. Anyways, loved that this related to a lot of my thoughts while I was reading, this is why I always look forward to your book talks!

ANOTHER LOVE INTEREST???? NO please 😭 I love Hunt

FINALLY 🥹🥹🥹🥹🥹🥹

Yay! I loved Sophie’s character probably bc I was excited to see my own name in a SJM book lollll! But I rlly thought she would be alive that was so disappointing to me

I also thought we were gonna bring Lelabah back in, bc it seemed like she was brought up multiple times in the context of “oh she is PROBABLY dead” but also mentioning there was no solid proof she died other that it would be really really unlikely she survived, and it was a few times to the point I thought it was leading somewhere and it didn’t, but also not enough to convince she is actually dead, like maybe she is off with Jesiba

hi christine!!!! loooooong time fan! can you please do a booktalk on the ballad of songbirds and snakes!💚💚💚

All the new reveals with Danika reminds me of Allison from pretty little liars lmao

Even though i know theyre mates and probably endgame but hunt just isnt on par with sjm's other main leads. Honestly i couldnt care less about him and bryce. I enjoyed this solely because of Day & Night i loveddddd their storyline. And despite the obvious hints i was so shocked when it turned out to be lydia i loved the twists!

Finally 😍😍😍

I JUST SAW THIS VID AND IT MADE MY DAY. thank God I'm not the only one who got spoiled :(

I need a name chart for this series

I WANT ANOTHER LOVE INTEREST FOR BRYCE SO BAD!!

Christine pronouncing Rhysand reminds me of Christine pronouncing parabatai lol😭

Ariadne's house is, House of Flame and Shadow. I think she is who is on the cover of the third book, House of Flame and Shadow. So, it seems that Ariadne might come into play in book three. (I don't know if it's true, but there's a comment on Good Reads that claims book five in the ACOTAR series will also be coming out in January 2024. If it is coming out in January 2024, I wonder if it will deal with the crossover, or if the crossover will be in book six? Or one of the novellas?)

My favorite part was the end.. I didn’t like this book nearly as much as crescent city glad I’m not the only one 😩

Nithing can convince me that the auntimn king has nothing to do with the autumn court. The red hair!!!

Yay!

YES totally agree with you, Hunt was boring in this book and I'm totally waiting for another love interest.

Bryce kind of annoys me as a main character bc I feel like she has some of the characteristics I love in Feyre and Aelin….with absolutely nothing to back it up. Like Aelin and Feyre certainly had their faults and shortcomings. But I also GOT IT. Like I never doubted WHY people followed Aelin, her plans didnt always go right…but they typically were very well thought out. I have NO IDEA why anyone follows Bryce, she is the least qualified in that group to be making plans. Like oh everyone else who DIED finding out some of this info took months and years of careful planning, meanwhile Bryce with knowledge she learned yesterday and a week of training is like “lets go…TOMORROW” like girlie WHAT?!? NO

I'm so sorry for putting all that pressure on you to get to the end. When you were describing the comments... yeah one of those people were me... the time gap did kindof ruin it, it might have had the kick it had for me since no spoilers or hints were given to me. I thought you'd be blown away lol. Anyway thanks for doing the video. The description on cc3 is out btw :)

Lmao “Don’t hit me with anything”

You NEED to look into people talking about the Hind and Aelin and Rowan

Reiterating a common theory but flame and shadow is (I hope) Aelin and Rhys. Cause ya know powers.

I'm so excited to see interaction of ACOTAR characters and Bryce. I'm trying to figure out who in the group will befriend Bryce and who will be total bitch. Also Ruhn is my new fav Maas guy. Cassian is still my number 1 but I'm so intrigued about Ruhn and his story.

Me too. I dont like hunt for her

I wish i could comment on everything lol but just one thing, if our beloved TOG people get involved, i want it to just be Manorian. Also! Im also hoping they find Nehemia.. 👀 since the afterlife is like, a place that you can rescue someone from?? AND i dont think Cormac is dead.

I have no interest in Sarah J Maas books, but these book talks are so entertaining, they make me feel like I know the story anyway 😆

the way I'm happy that there are others who don't ship Bryce and Hunt. When the mating bond clicked in the second book I was like srsly? Don't hate me ya'll but they don't have the same intense vibes as Nesta and Cassian, or Feyre and Rhysand, or Aelin and Rowan.

When Aelin kicked out the gods, was she kicking out the asteri?

I definitely agree with you, I don't think I've ever been as confused as I was reading HOSAB out of all the SJM books. And I feel like we can definitely feel that SJM is expanding this multiverse situation so she's like, linking a LOT of things across all her universes, but this was just TOO confusing and I was kinda disappointed because HOEAB was GOD-TIER book quality (in terms of plot, world-building, characters, relationships etc). I felt like this book followed WAY too many characters for a book that's already trying to set up the multiverse thing, which just resulted in me being super confused and lost for 70% of the book. But I'm REALLY looking forward for the next CC book, because I feel like it's gonna be a w-i-l-d ride!! I loved your booktalk though! As always, it's always super interesting to hear other people's opinions :))

I like the recap but there was no warning about the other books plot. Disappointed that I got spoilers before I could shit the video off.

This book definitely gives the vibe of Danika secretly being alive. 😅 The whole Sophie and emilee storyline seemed very strange, like a dead end. I’m not totally sold on Hunt as a character, I seriously thought he might die at the end. I’m also not quite sold on Bryce. WHY DID THARION SELL HIMSELF!?!? WHY???? The sex scenes were so overdone, not romantic at all. So ridiculous. Overall, the plot was so all over the place. So many storylines connected too easily!?!!! I agree about not having the one main character as a driving force, TOO many characters. Too much going on! I don’t know, I couldn’t keep track of everything! I did enjoy the first book way more. I will still read the next book in hopes that it is better!

also yes I wrote in my notes that Bryce and hunt had no chemistry!! it was kind of just like "you're my person now we are together so that's it" and there was just no substance there

The description of Rhys, Rhun and Maeve are all the same. Coincidence? Also Bryce's star blade is the blade from the stories and works with Azriels dagger. I like Hunt and Bryce. Though Bryce has an annoying habit (like Danika) to keep secrets.

11:36 wait! I can see Connor coming back and him being end game for Bryce

I thought I was the only one that didn’t care for Hunt 😂

I hated the ending, this series was my favorite all of all sjm’s and Bruce and hunt were my fave ship. It deserved to stand on its own like the others imo 😢

I feel like this book was kind of stalling for the rest of the series

i kinda feel like you went into this book expecting not to like it because a lot of what you’re confused about is explained in the book :/

Am I the only one concerned about who’s taking care of Syrinx??

Hunt and Rowan have the same energy to me - boring brawny powerful dudes. Cas is a little more interesting as a bastard, but still. Same energy. I think he's end game for her. Rhys was an outlier. SJM's side male characters are always better - Azriel, Dorian, Ruhn.

I mean you could’ve just said prythian but rhysand world is so mucg better 🤣🤣🤣🤣

The best books are written by dead men.

I still need to read the first 🥲