According to your English Teacher
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According to your English Teacher
Crescent City Two: House of Sky and Breath
In this episode of the podcast we will be discussing Crescent City Two House of Sky and Breathe. We will talk about each character's arc and how they bring the plot together. We will also be discussing the themes and hopes I have for book 3.
So let's start with the plot.
We will start by finding the main conflict. Once again, since this is a large book there are many sub plots such as Cormac’s whole existence, the rebels, Ruhn and “the mystery woman” the hind, and finding out more information about Danika. However the main plot is about finding Sofie Resast and figuring out Project Tor. Since those two things were intertwined I consider both of these to be the main plot line. So let’s delve into the plot.
The exposition of this book is again very exciting. We meet another awesome character who dies before we get to know her. This seems to be a pattern in this book so if your favorite character starts in book 3… you might be worried. Maas starts by introducing another new magic type, the thunderbird. This is interesting to me because it sounds like Hunts magic, though it is different because it is found in regular humans and is wielded differently. It is also the first hint we have that this world has a mix of different types of magic from different places. Which is something you should look for in a reread of this book. The exposition for this book allows the author to set up the main conflict and bring in new and old characters. I do think it was an effective exposition because it gets us engaged in finding Sofie and her brother. I know that I had hoped throughout this book that both of them were alive and that they could help bryce solve the problem.
However, after the exposition, the beginning of this book is too slow for my liking. I am hoping that Maas ties all of these strings together in book 3. There are many magic systems to work with so and character to use that I have high expectations for the epic tales of book 3.
I think the best way to talk about the building action for this book is talk about each characters arcs so we will start with one of the new characters in this book/the man who introduces our plot Cormac.
Cormac is Ruhn and Bryce’s cousin and he's no one's favorite cousin. His appearance appearance in the book and the tie to the mysterious hooded man in the exposition was an obvious tie in for me. His appearance and caring about the rebel cause was a great way to get everyone, namely Bryce vested into the rebellion. He is also the perfect teacher for Bryce. He can deal with her sass and push her to become better. Now Cormac's biggest moment is when he sacrifices himself in the rebel battle. After finding out that the love of his life is dead, Cormac's sacrifice buys Bryce and team more time and helps the rebels as well. Although it is always difficult to lose a character, I didn't find this death too sad. Honestly, I don't think anyone really likes Cormac. He is a prickly guy and although he has a soft side, that we see when he takes Bryce to the dance and in his love in the rebellion, he is not a well loved character. Now I do love when authors include characters like Cormac in their novel because it's always good to have another character with a different perspective. Also he helped Bryce see a different side of him and realize that people are always more complex than we think.
The next journey I like to look at is Tharion. Now Tharion is one of my favorites. 🔥I like to think that Tharion looks like Jason Mamoa but that could be because he played Aquaman… In this book we learn more about Tharion's past and why he feels trapped in his current role. While Tharion played a minor role in book 1 he is instrumental in this book from the beginning. He helps Bryce search for the missing boy, he provides witty banter, and he saves the group by bringing them to the water kingdom. This move not only saves the group but gives them valuable insights into the landscape of the world and we find the body of Sarah?? At the end of the book Tharion is trying to escape from his poor life choices, wooing a princess because you want to sleep with her, when he signs his allegiance to… of all people… the viper queen. I am curious as to where this story is going to go. We know that Maas has hinted that there might be a 4th book in the series featuring side characters and since we haven’t had a book from the water court, it only makes sense that tharion gets his own book.
The next character arc I'd like to discuss is Ithan. Being kicked out of the clan by standing up for Bryce to Sabine we find Ithan homeless and on Bryce's doorstep. This is another character that we didn't see a lot of in book 1 that plays a big role in this book. Ithan is a sunball player and a total heart throb. He also has the hots for Bryce until he finds a woman who he thinks could be an heir to the wolf line, but I digress. Ithan is very lost in this book, much like Bryce was lost in book 1. Ithan helps Bryce to sneak around hunt to get more research done for the rebellion. He also helps Tharion who has been tasked with finding the boy for the queen of the river. Ithan is an excellent side character and I until recently thought that he had died when Bryce and Fury were saving Emile. But I am glad he is very much not dead. I am not sure how Maas is going to wrap up his storyline with everything else that is going on in the book. Again maybe this story line gets wrapped up in Tharions book??
Now let's move to Bryce. Bryce again makes a ton of character growth in this book both mentally and emotionally. At the beginning of the book, Bryce is still trying to figure out what happened with Danika. She and Ithan find a number of documents in one of Danika’s tables. These documents start the search for the rebels and the young boy. Also emotionally Bryce is trying to return to her life but going to dance classes. Bryce also finds a new job at the library where she is able to research project Thurr. As the story progresses Bryce learns more about Danika which leads her to the wolves where Bryce is made an honorary wolf by the head of the wolves which is a slap in the face to Sabine. We also learn that Danika was not as good of friend as we thought we was. She not only kept the rebellion a secret, but she was also a bloodhound and she had a mate. All of this new information is making me question Danika and her character. Maybe Bryce wasn’t really that good of a friend to her. What did she do to not make her trust her? I do feel like all this new information feels a out of left field. I don’t love that Maas has made Danika such an enigma.
Throughout the novel Bryce also grows her powers with Cormac as she tries to figure out how to train and teleport which sounds spectacularly useful. Bryce continues to search and it leads her to be attacked by a group of reapers. This is strange because most people do not seem to know much about these creatures and they are all supposed to stay in the bone quarter. All of this research and the mysterious attack lead to one of the coolest parts of the book.
Bryce is curious to know what happened to Danika and Connors souls and also wondering if she can get more information about the boy and the thunderbird/the random attack on her the other day. Hunt and Bryce go to the bone quarter to confront the under king for more information. The under king ends up revealing many secrets to bryce and hunt such as that he and his people feed on the first light and the souls that live in the bone quarter, and that he has lost control of some of the reapers. It seemed a bit suspicious that he was being so forthcoming, but that is because he was not expect to let Hunt and Bryce leave. Their fight scene is awesome and we get to see how powerful Bryce and Hunt are together. I will talk more about these two when I talk about hunt and more in the themes.
Ruhn: Now before we discuss Hunt, let’s talk about another male Ruhn. Ruhn has a few romantic arcs in this book. Now I would like to start by point out that I was correct about Hypoxia being the night nurse. However, I didn’t predict that she would have another romantic entanglement that would hinder her romance with Ruhn. Poor man. However, when Cormac trusts Ruhn with the rebellion’s secret crystal he is able to make a connection with a person who is an integral source for the rebellion. I think the reveal of who this connections was is one of the biggest reveals of the whole book! Looking back on it, it definitely makes sense that his connection is with Lydia, since she would have intel that no one else would be able to get their hands on, but it still seemed unreal when we saw Lydia at their meeting place. You just knew she was the one. I love this pairing and I'm hoping that everything works out for them. I also loved Ruhn and Bruces dynamic in this book. When Bryce declared who she is without realizing the true consequences, he is there to try to save her. They are also growing their power together as they become stronger together. Now about Ruhn’s prophesy, If he and lydia do end up together he might not have an heir because he will be disowned from his line. Also, from the way things are going, his line might end because there is not a kingdom anymore. I would like to think that Ruhn’s ending is going to be positive because visions from oracle are often puzzles and can be misleading. I really hope it doesn’t mean that he dies young or I might just die.
Hunt: From Hunts Pov we are able to learn more about the Asteri and how their government works. We are also able to meet the replacement for Micah, Celestiana. We are also introduced to three new characters who we have only heard briefly of and now they are in our city and in our faces. They are Baxian, the hind aka Lydia, and Polloux. We also learn more about Isiah, and the rest of Hunt’s crowd. Now I feel again like Hunt gets the short stick in this book that poor tortured man. In this book not only does he have to deal with Celestaina and her crew, but he also is having a hard time communicating with Bryce. In this book we also learn more about Hunt’s background. We learn about his mother and his love for her and how she motivated him. Her story is tragic. We also learn more about his relationship with Shahar and how it impacted him. I think it is interesting that was a bit of a predator and she was able to use Hunt to her own ends and this really impacts him and his relationship going forward. Hunt is very reluctant to join and revolution because he has already lost so much fighting for the last revolution. One might say that he also lost himself like Bryce lost herself when Danika died. So in losing that, it is very clear why he would not want to get involved with another revolution. Where he could again lose everything that he just gained anew. Another interesting thing we learn from Hunts story is more that we get more information about Baxian. At the beginning of the Baxian is trying to get close to Hunt but it feels very strange that he is. Later we learn that Baxian was Danika’s mate?? And we can understand why he wants to get away from the brutality of Pollux and his ilk. I especially feel for Hunt at the end of the book which is what we are going to talk about now.
The climax of this book is absolutely mind blowing. Of course in proper Sarah J Maas fashion the end of this book leaves us all in shambles. Throughout the book the team gathers information about Thur, the Resants, and all of the information eventually leads them to a room in Crystal Place called the Dusk room. Bryce and divide and conquer to find out more information and gain access to the dusk room. Bryce is able to enter the dusk room and she finds out that the Asteri have been feeding on everyone in the city and that this is not the first place that they have tried to do this (sounds oddly familiar to the vlaag in throne of glass). Then she realizes that she has been trapped by the asteri. Ruhn and Hunt are trapped, the saved by Lydia, and then they are all trapped again in a big room with mirrors. Hunt is again placed in his crown :(. Bryce uses her power to open a portal to another dimension and she winds up with Rhysand in the world of acatar! WHAT!?!? Now Hunt, Lydia, and Rhys are being held prisoner and Bryce somehow has to get back to save them! It’s going to be awesome and I cannot wait.
Themes:We see many of the same themes in this book that were in book 1 it is just that they have changed a bit with new characters and different situations.
Let’s start by analyzing our favorite theme. Love. Once again there are many types of love in this book. We have family love which we see with Bryce and her mother and step dad. I love at the end when Bryce’s mother takes in Emile and keep him safe. We also see Ruhn, Cormac, and Bryce work through difficulty and become more like a family. Which I love because cousins have a special bond. They are really the only ones that understand your family as well as you do. The positive family relationships in this book are again unique to this universe and I am glads for them. I think we can learn from these relationships that family is worth fighting for.
We also have a number of great friendships in this book. Even though we find out that Danika wasn’t really all that good of a friend, Bryce forms many new friendships in this book and reclaims many friendships that she lost in this book. I think one of my favorite parts of this book is when we learn about how Juniper saved Bryce’s life. In this moment we understand Bryce and the true extent of her sadness. We also see a vulnerable side of bryce that we don’t often see. There are also many friendships in this book thar are made and solidified. Ithan becomes friends with Ruhn and his friends. Tharios becomes friends with all of them which I think gives him the courage to leave the river queen. Bryce rekindles her friendships with Fury, Juniper, Ithan, and gets new friends. Hunt even seems to become closer to Isiah and sort of makes friends with Baxian. This book is all about building friendships and I hope that someone in these friendships save Hunt and Ruhn because who knows how long it will take Bryce to get back!!!
I think that we can learn a number of lessons about friendship and love from these relationships but I think the number one lesson we learn is that you are stronger with your friends than you are alone.
There are a number of romantic relationships solidified and made in this book but I really only want to focus on 1 of these relationships and that is Bryce and Hunt. yes I would love to analyze all of the other relationships in this book, but if I did i think we would be here all night so let's dive into these two. Bryce and Hunt have settled into their new lives and are living together in Bryce’s apartment. However, not everything is perfect in paradise. With Ithan moving in and bryce putting a certain month ban on their sex life. These two are still trying to figure each other out. I do like that they don’t just jump into a relationship and take time to get to know each other. However, as we know Bryce was pulling away from Hunt because she was afraid. Then we got the glory of the rooftop gym scene. Yep that was a good one. I’m really glad that they chose to fight for each other and stay together. What I love about Bryce and Hunt is that they build each other up. Yes they tease each other, but when it comes down to it they compliment each other perfectly. I love that we got to see their everyday life of watching sunball and Tv. Going on dates, and just being normal. Even though this book was slow and a bit painfully slow at times, I think it was worth it to see this relationship build as well as the other relationships in this book. What I think we learn from bryce and hunt is that true love builds you and helps you become the person that you are meant to be. That is the same message from the first book but I do think it’s important that she is consistent. We see this in Bryce and Hunt’s relationships as well as the other relationships or failure of relationships of the rest of the book.
Identity:
Like book one this book also covers the theme of identity. Although some of these characters are 100s of years old and some are only actually in their 20s they all seem to be about the same developmentally. Each of these characters is on a quest to figure themselves out and figure out what defines them. Each arc that I mentioned earlier has a person trying to figure it out, but none more than Ithan. In this book Ithan loses many of his key identifiers. Being a wolf without a pack must be very tough, but he also gives up his identity of being a sunball player. It seems like Ithan was a very good sunball players and this was probably an important part of him. Like Bryce in book 1 Ithan is trying to figure out who he is and what he stands for. I love Ithan’s journey because he learns to become an individual and how to make decisions for himself. He also might have found a new alpha to follow. Figuring out who we are by ourselves is a difficult journey, however the characters in this book do not do it alone. They find friends who are willing to accept them while they make mistakes and figure things out. Again I think the message here is similar to the last book with an added addition that in order to figure yourself out you need to take risks and be willing to break free from the norms. All of these characters are now rebels. They weren’t afraid to make difficult choices and stand up for what they believe in.
Thanks again for listening to According to your English Teacher. This episode was written by yours truly and edited by Dallin Gunther. If you have enjoyed this video make sure to like, comment and subscribe. I would love to hear what book you want broken down next. Make sure
to let me know in the comments which books you want me to do next.
Before I sign off let me leave you with one of my favorite quotes from this book and perfectly prepares us for the next book coming out Tuesday:
“Our love is stronger than time, greater than any distance. Our love spans across stars and worlds. I will find you again, I promise.”
Again I’m Sam Gunther and this has been according to your English teacher. If you liked this episode be sure to follow me on Instagram, Goodreads, or Tiktok for more content like this.