So I’ve seen a few reviews of Crescent City that call this Maas’ first “adult” series, and I legit do not understand what they mean by that. There is plenty of sex and violence in her other series, in fact possibly more. What about this book makes it more “adult”?
It is certainly a much more complex world. While the ACOTAR and ToG settings were a faux-Renaissance with elves, Crescent City is a modern setting with cell phones and synthetic drugs.
In this world, there are multiple universes out there and in this particular one – called Midguard – at some point in human history a portal opened to let in invaders from other worlds. The history that the world once belonged solely to humans is suppressed. Pecking order is decided by power, and all the shapeshifters, fae, witches and other supernatural creatures have established their own power hierarchies in an uneasy peace. The angels are more powerful than the other super-natural beings so they are essentially in charge, ruling as representatives of the Astari, who are more powerful still.
Even though humans have basically been enslaved since the arrival of the other species, technological development has still continued. There is mention of the major war going on in another continent where machines are fighting against magic.
The mashup of different mythical beings was an interesting twist, but I did wish that was used to introduce more variety to the different characters. Handsome elf dude was described pretty much in the same way as handsome angel dude and handsome wolf dude and handsome mer dude and I get that big and muscle-y is Maas’ thing, but come on. I did think it was interesting how angels were treated as just another species and not in any way mythological beings. Especially given that Hel is also apparently a real place that can be reached by traveling through a portal. I thought the reference to Hunt and the other rebel agents as Fallen was a particularly nice touch.
I ended really liking this book, much more than the other of Maas’ series. A lot of that is due to the much more complex world-building. But I also really like Bryce, she is messy and imperfect and complicated. She cares about her friends so much, she fights with her mother, she lacks any kind of direction for her life, she makes terrible decisions on a regular basis. Her fighting ability is well-explained by a life-time of lessons from her soldier father, not just a boyfriend who started teaching her a week ago. The final battle was appropriately dramatic but also with some genuinely touching moments – the Prime calling Bryce a “true wolf” when she runs to help people. The Fallen angels standing and saluting Lehabah when she sacrifices herself to give her friends a fighting chance. I loved those moments.
And call me a massive sucker, but I loved that she got to say goodbye to Danika, finally.
So yeah, I’m hooked. I immediately reserved the next two books from the library and they are both on their way to my home branch.