Finishing a great book is bittersweet. On the one hand, you discover what happens to the characters you’ve come to love. But on the other hand, you know you’ll soon have to leave the world you’ve spent so much time in.
You’re probably familiar with this feeling if you’ve just finished the Crescent City series. Sarah J. Maas creates a vibrant world of humans, fae, demons, angels, and shifters. Bringing together fantasy romance with an urban setting, Maas introduces readers to half-fae, half-human, and entirely unforgettable heroine Bryce Quinlan.
House of Earth and Blood (HOEAB)is the first book in the Crescent City series. House of Sky and Breath (HOSAB) is Crescent City book 2. It’s best to read the Crescent City books in order, but if you accidentally started with book 2, the first thing to do is to go back and check out House of Earth and Blood.
However, if you’ve finished both books, the good news is that many novels like the Crescent City series are out there. The only bad news is that you have many choices about where to start!
Sarah J. Maas has written many other novels, including the renowned A Court of Thorns and Roses (ACOTAR) series. This is a great place to start if you like her writing style. However, these aren’t necessarily the most similar books to her Crescent City series—though they contain another fierce protagonist.
Instead of immediately diving into ACOTAR, consider what most moved you about Crescent City. Was it the fantasy romance genre? The city setting? The world-building? The complex plot?
Then, look at our recommendations below to find the perfect book to fill the space Crescent City has left in your reading life…at least until the next book in the series arrives!
Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas
The best way to fix a craving for a Maas book is with another book by Maas! Throne of Glass was Maas’s first publication. A high fantasy retelling of Cinderella, the saga follows an assassin with a mysterious past who attempts to bring peace to her world.
Bonus? If you like the book, there are seven more in the series!
Like Crescent City, Kingdom of the Wicked brings together different types of creatures. Here, you can expect to find twin witches living among humans, struggling to keep their powers secret.
When one dies, the other sets out to get revenge…even if it means using forbidden magic.
The romantically charged Caraval series has garnered extensive praise and thousands of fans for a reason.
In this saga that begins with the love between two sisters, Scarlett and Tella disobey their father to attend a magical performance that changes their lives.
Readers who like Crescent City’s mythical aspects will fall in love with the dark fairy tales at the center of The Hazel Wood.
When Alice’s mother disappears, she has to seek her out at the center of the one place she was warned not to go: the Hazel Wood. Her journey involves storytellers, curses, and mysterious pasts…and is continued in the sequel, The Night Country.
If sharp-tongued Bryce was your favorite part of Crescent City, dark sorceress El will steal your heart.
Trapped in a school for teenage magicians—with no adult supervision—El and her classmates must avoid getting killed by a series of creatures sneaking in from the outside world.
Like Bryce, October Daye is half-fae, half-human. But, unlike Bryce, October is pulled back into the faerie world to become a knight for a local duke, forced to solve the murder of a local regent.
With crackling wit and more than a dozen mysteries in the series, October Daye is another heroine who’s not afraid to confront hard truths.
Ready to dive in? Rosemary and Rue is the best place to start the series. You can find Book 1 here.
Written in Red by Anne Bishop
In the Written in Red world, vampires, prophets, and shape-shifters live among humans. And just as in Crescent City, the gifts of these creatures’ skills all come at a price.
As the book begins, a blood prophet takes sanctuary within an Others-run community…led by a shape-shifter who doesn’t trust her.
Louise le Blanc, a witch in hiding, and Reid Diggory, a Church huntsman sworn to kill all witches, are central to this powerful series. When they’re forced to marry, their feelings diverge from what their roles demand, and the characters make some unexpected choices.
If you fell in love with the Grishaverse with the Shadow and Bone series—or if you’ve never heard of it—King of Scars provides the complex world-building Maas uses in Crescent City.
With political intrigue, suppressed magic, and long journeys, this first book in a pair is hard to put down.
Once one of twelve sisters, Annaleigh is now one of only eight. As her sisters tragically die, she must investigate who—or what—is killing them before it’s too late.
With the propulsive power of a Maas novel, House of Salt and Sorrows will have you flipping the pages as fast as you can.
What lies beneath the surface of our cities? In this series, an invisible library is everywhere and nowhere at once.
The Invisible Library contains a wealth of secrets about a spy working on its behalf and her mysterious assistant, all revealed at precisely the right time.
The Bear and the Nightingale has the lyricism of the Crescent City books, with the same magic that transports readers to another world.
In the first book of a trilogy, Arden tells the story of a family living in a small Russian village and the spirits a young woman must summon to save herself from an unimaginable future.
Centered on Karou, a naturally blue-haired artist in Prague, the book begins as people discover winged strangers leaving black handprints on doorways. An encounter with one of these strangers leads Karou to answer after answer as she tracks down solutions to problems of the past—and future.
In Victorian London, Henrietta is a sorcerer who can set herself on fire: the first woman to do so in centuries. But as she joins her fellow trainees, she learns about the true meaning of loyalty as they fight the demons wreaking havoc on humanity.
In the Seven Kingdoms, some children are born with a Grace: a remarkable ability of any kind.
Katya, the heroine of Graceling, has a Grace for killing and has been forced by the king to become his assassin. But a chance meeting with a prince from another kingdom helps her learn the truth about her talents and the secrets at their world’s heart.
Find the first novel in this fantasy series, Graceling, here.
A Shadow in the Ember by Jennifer L. Armentrout
Because Seraphena was selected as a sacrifice to the Primal of Death before she was born, she has always known that her life doesn’t belong to her. But a twist of fate reveals her true destiny: to kill him.
The one thing she never counted on? The feelings that the Primal will awaken in her.
In Gild, Raven Kennedy tells the tale of King Midas from a new perspective: that of a girl he rescued from the slums. But when war strikes, she must reconsider her assumptions about her king.
With adult themes and explicit language, this book is best for mature readers.
Set in New York City, City of Bones begins this series centered around the Shadowhunters: a group of assassins out to slay demons.
When ordinary teenager Clary finds herself pulled into the group through a series of chance accidents, she starts experiencing special powers that nobody can explain.
This novel by the master of fantasy, Neil Gaiman, takes place in a London parallel to the actual city: Neverwhere. Richard ends up here when trying to assist a wounded girl, Door.
But Door ends up being an orphaned aristocrat seeking vengeance on her family’s murderer while saving Neverwhere from obliteration…and the only way Richard can get back home is to help her.
Whether Crescent City was your first entry into the world of fantasy romance or you’ve been exploring the genre for decades, there’s much more to discover! Whatever you enjoyed about the series, you will find even more to love in the books above.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are the Crescent City books connected?
The Crescent City books—House of Earth and Blood and House of Sky and Breath—are deeply connected. They feature the same heroes, Bryce Quinlan and Hunt Athalar. Furthermore, book 2 in the Crescent City series picks up where book 1 left off.
Will there be a Crescent City 3?
To the delight of readers, there will be a Crescent City paert three. Author Sarah J. Mass estimated that the book would come out between 18 and 24 months after House of Sky and Breath. Readers are currently anticipating a release next year.
What author is similar to Sarah J. Maas?
Fantasy romance authors, including Jennifer L. Armentrout, Leigh Bardugo, and Shelby Mahurin, have the most similarities with Sarah J. Maas.
What fairytale is Crescent City based on?
Crescent City is not based on any fairy tale, though Mass is known for basing her other books on fairy tales. For example, the Throne of Glass series is based on Cinderella, while A Court of Thorns and Roses is based on Beauty and the Beast. However, Maas has cited composer Steven Price’s music “Shenzou” as an inspiration for the series.
Is Crescent City a spin-off of ACOTAR?
Crescent City is a stand-alone series, not a spin-off of A Court of Throne and Roses (ACOTAR). However, Mass has previously made crossovers between her series, so fans of her other work shouldn’t give up hope of spotting a familiar character or two as the Crescent City series continues!
Rachel Kapelke-Dale is the author of the novel The Ballerinas, The Ingenue, and the forthcoming The Fortune Seller, as well as the co-author of the memoir Graduates in Wonderland. She loves everything about books, from their escapism to their smell! She currently co-hosts a podcast about Parisian love stories with two other writers: We’ll Always Have Paris.
![[Written in Red] (By (author) Anne Bishop) [published: March, 2014]](data:image/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciIHZpZXdCb3g9IjAgMCAxIDEiIHdpZHRoPSIxIiBoZWlnaHQ9IjEiIGRhdGEtdT0iaHR0cHMlM0ElMkYlMkZtLm1lZGlhLWFtYXpvbi5jb20lMkZpbWFnZXMlMkZJJTJGNTFxdTN3enE4NUwuanBnIiBkYXRhLXc9IjEiIGRhdGEtaD0iMSIgZGF0YS1iaXA9IiI+PC9zdmc+)
