r/crescentcitysjm

Obviously, there’s no way for CC4 to come out without having more backstory for ACOTAR right? Like obviously I haven’t read the third book, but I think we need some information. Too many plot holes.

The three princes of Hel… like the Valg princes????

Currently rereading the series and i honestly wish we had a book that was like the assassins blade that TOG has but for crescent city. Like it could be purely about Danika as she was one of my favorite characters when she was there. It could even be tragic and end in the apartment like in the story's beginning.

Sooo I’m almost finished with house of sky and breath anddd I have some major questions!!

- HOW did hunt get arrested by a harpy?!?! You’re telling me he couldn’t have electrocuted her like what???

-How did Lydia get free to release Rune Bryce and Hunt?? She’s been in jail for however many days and conveniently gets free upon their arrival?

-WHY DIDN’T THEY ELECTROCUTE TF OUT OF POLLYX WHEN HE CAME DOWN TO GET THEM IN THE DUNGEON LIKE WHAT THIS WHOLE FIGHT COULD HAVE BEEN OVER?!?!

-Bryce is so cavalier about joining the rebel movement and protecting humans and doing all this good and that is a HUGE responsibility. You’re telling me she still strongly doesn’t want to be queen? This doesn’t make sense. She’d be able to do so much good in a position of power so her not wanting to take on the title, after already taking responsibility is out of character for me.

I generally love SJMs writing style and story telling because it’s so captivating but I just can’t stop myself from noticing these points! Curious if anyone else has noticed this.

EDIT: I had not fully finished this book yet so I didn’t know that Lydia wasn’t being imprisoned. Also I have been listening to audiobook so pls forgive my spelling of character names 🫣

At what age would you make The Drop? Danika and Bryce chose 27 which is of course that mystical death age for some musicians.

What age would you make the drop? Cast your vote and let us know why that age in the comments!

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I’ve read ToG and ACOTAR, and always heard sooo many people say CC is their least favorite SJM series… while ToG will always have a special place in my heart, I’m only 7% into HOEAB and I like it better than I ever liked ACOTAR! 🤷🏼‍♀️ I’m enjoying the cyberpunk kind of feel, and though the world building is very front heavy, I’m not mad about it. Interested to see how it unfolds!

Reading CC for the first time and Bryce washing Hunt with lavender soap. SJM is actually evil for this hahahh

so, since everyone is doing rereads atm, i thought i would ask you guys to help me gather a list of other stories that are nodded to or retold or referenced in some way in the books. i have a very large theory i've been mulling over for a while that i'm still fleshing out... but part of the theory's foundation is that SJM is purposely making references to stories we know. so i thought crowdsourcing a list could help...

i'm not going to post my current full list, since i am interested in seeing what others see in the books... but some examples (mostly from CC because i just reread and it's top of my head):

example of retellings:

in ACOTAR the first book is obviously a retelling of >!Beauty and the Beast.!<

the first book in CC is basically a retelling/heavily inspired by >!Zootopia!<

some examples nodding to or referencing stories are:

in CC >!the Asteri in the crystal coffin under the prison with hair too black, skin too white, and lips too red to be natural is an obvious Snow White reference!<

in CC there is >!Jelly Jubilee aka my little pony!<

also in CC, >!Embers art of ceramic babies in heads of lettuce is Cabbage Patch Kids!<

and again, in CC, >!Hunt's (and the Thunderbirds) ability to raise dead bodies to life with lightning is a reference to Frankenstein!<

any references you guys see, no matter how tiny, would really help me flesh out my theory. i'm not implying anything negative to SJM for reusing other story elements/assets. i think it is deliberate and very clever if my theory pans out...

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Edited to fix my spoiler tags

I am kind of confused about Bryce's Ordeal.

In house of Earth & Blood Flynn says that fighting the Nokk would be her ordeal before it even begins. How does he know THAT is her ordeal? Or in general, how do they know what their ordeal is, does something change after they have fullfilled it??

(I have just finished the 1st book and am now reading House of Sky & Breath, so no spoilers beyond please :))

I’m listening to the first book using the graphic novel because it’s free on hoopla and oh myyy goodness Bryce’s voice is so annoying. I can’t handle it. Does anyone else feel this way? I’m considering just buying Elizabeth Evan’s narration on audible. I don’t feel like Bryce is supposed to sound like such an obnoxious brat? Maybe though? I’m tempted to stop
Listening because of how bad it is lol

(finally, I've been putting it off for months because of how huge these books are.) I'm about 16% in now, and I totally understand why people say it takes around 200 pages to really get into it.

• First, Bryce already feels so different. Not just from Celaena and Feyre as an sjm FMC, but from most fantasy FMCs in general. I actually like that. She somehow feels like a girl from our present time
• loved how Connor told Bryce to message him when she got home. It's such a small detail. It's such girl's girl thing to do from him.
• Ruhn also seems really protective of Bryce. He really gives beautiful big brother vibes. I don't really understand why she dislikes him... at least not yet.
• And finally...>!I REFUSE to believe Danika and her pack are just... dead. 😭 I genuinely thought she was going to be one of the main characters, so I never expected something like that to happen at the very beginning of the book.!<

Okay so, like many others, I have been re-reading the Mass-verse in prep for ACOTAR 6 with my bestie & we share theories. Spoilers ahead for CC & a little TOG

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Today we discussed if Ansel is Danika's great however many times grandmother because her house symbol is the wolf. Yes I know Ansel is human but that doesn't mean someone down the line didn't mate with a wolf shifter or something.

Anyway it led to discussing the Autumn King. We were trying to figure out if Rhuns powers come strictly from his mother or not but we know Einar is Theia's descendant. So why doesn't he have the starborn gift? My friend theorized that it skipped him & somehow Rhun, because its said he got his gift from his mothers side (though maybe not fully). Then I wondered. What if the parasite the Asteri put in the water that kept all the fae & shifters from manifesting both sets of powers, also kept the Autumn king from manifesting his star born powers??? Thoughts???

>!There are LOTS of most valuable players in CC but damn... I did not expect Shahar to be THE MVP. The idea to use the mech suit and then her being the ultimate catalyst to push the last Asteri into the event horizon while riding a freakin brimstone missile... crazy epic.!<

I want more stories with Aidas, Apollion, and to just explore Hel in general.

I finished reading Crescent City a little while ago, and even finishing it, though I understood the main story, I could not describe the lore to anyone!

The Crescent City and Zootopia parallels are getting suspicious

Spoilers, obviously.

Tell me why both have:

• A giant city where “everyone lives together peacefully,” but every species secretly hates, fears or politically outranks the others
• Neighbourhoods specifically designed around who lives there
• An underestimated female investigator: JUDY and BRYCE
• Her sarcastic, emotionally constipated male partner: NICK and HUNT
• A mystery drug that makes people violently feral
• Powerful government officials manufacturing chaos from inside the system
• Aggressive prejudice disguised as "civic harmony"

And the DISTRICTS?

Zootopia has Tundratown for Arctic animals, Sahara Square for desert animals, the Rainforest District, and Little Rodentia, where everything is literally built to mouse scale.

Lunathion said, “Great idea. Let’s make it politically horrifying.”

The wolves get Moonwood and the Wolves Den.

The Fae get Five Roses, ruled by the Autumn King.

The Viper Queen controls the Meat Market from her own Den, because apparently every functioning metropolis needs a reptilian crime lord with better intelligence than the police.

The mer have the Istros River and the Blue Court.

Humans are pushed into Asphodel Meadows, have no Head of their district and therefore no actual voice in city government.

And the dead get the Bone Quarter.

The segregation is so committed that dying does not release you from the zoning laws.

Then we have the characters.

Judy gets Nick: a sarcastic, distrusted, street-smart fox with emotional damage.

Bryce gets Hunt: a sarcastic, feared, government-owned angel with emotional damage and enough wingspan to violate local building codes.

The formula remains:

Woman who refuses to quit + man who pretends not to care but would commit several felonies for her + forced proximity + conspiracy.

Then there’s Mr. Big and the Viper Queen.

Both are terrifying underworld bosses operating from species-coded territories. Both have armed employees. Both know more about the city than law enforcement. Both could have you murdered before lunch but might help the heroine because she amused them.

Gazelle and Juniper?

Famous performers representing the glamorous, progressive face of their supposedly harmonious cities while everything behind the scenes is one badly handled press conference away from civil collapse.

And the villains?

Bellwether is a powerful official secretly using a drug to make predators turn savage so she can weaponize public fear.

>!Micah was a powerful official secretly using Synth to create violent monsters while manipulating the investigation from within.!<

Zootopia said:

“Predators are being drugged!”

Crescent City said:

>!“Perfect. Add demons, angels, witches, shifters, political corruption, state-sanctioned slavery, generational war and 600 more pages.”!<

Is Sarah J. Maas copying Zootopia? Hell to the NO.

I am simply saying Lunathion is Zootopia where everyone is hot, immortal, heavily armed and one bad night away from committing a felony.

Thank you for attending my completely stable literary analysis.