Review: House of Earth and Blood by Sarah J. Maas

Title: House of Earth and Blood
Author: Sarah J. Maas
Series: Crescent City #1
Genre: Urban Fantasy/ Adult/ Paranormal
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Publication Date: March 3rd, 2020
Edition: Hardcover, 803 pages
Source: Purchased
Purchase: Amazon US | Barnes & Noble | BAM | Book Depository | Bookshop | Powell's
 

Synopsis:
Bound by blood.
Tempted by desire.
Unleashed by destiny.
   Bryce Quinlan had the perfect life—working hard all day and partying all night—until a demon murdered her closest friends, leaving her bereft, wounded, and alone. When the accused is behind bars but the crimes start up again, Bryce finds herself at the heart of the investigation. She’ll do whatever it takes to avenge their deaths.
   Hunt Athalar is a notorious Fallen angel, now enslaved to the Archangels he once attempted to overthrow. His brutal skills and incredible strength have been set to one purpose—to assassinate his boss’s enemies, no questions asked. But with a demon wreaking havoc in the city, he’s offered an irresistible deal: help Bryce find the murderer, and his freedom will be within reach.
   As Bryce and Hunt dig deep into Crescent City’s underbelly, they discover a dark power that threatens everything and everyone they hold dear, and they find, in each other, a blazing passion—one that could set them both free, if they’d only let it. 

 

 

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 This might be a bold statement, but this might actually be Maas's best book. Honestly, my main issue with her other series' are the often strange sex scenes. I don't hate smut, but often her word choice makes me cringe and then I end up skim-reading them, and in her ACoTaR series' they happen so often I end up skimming 30-40% of the book. But this book has no sex, a couple of almost scenes, but they were dare I say, normal.  She still has a lot of info-dumping that derails the narrative at times. I understand that it's needed to explain the politics but I wish she'd find a more "organic" way of doing it.

I really liked Bryce as a main character. She has more obvious flaws, and comes across as a more authentic character because of that. I also like that she is very unapologetic of those flaws as well, and has a "take me as I am or fuck off" attitude. When she does make strides to better herself, she doesn't do it for others but for her own happiness. She is more self-aware than a lot of other characters Maas writes. I also liked that Bryce has parents who are active in her life, her biological father isn't, but the man who raised her loves her like his own and was the father she deserves. She tired to be fully independent, but she also relented to help when she stopped being stubborn enough to accept it.
 
I liked Hunt as a character as well. There was a complexity to his character that I'm not sure her other male characters had. Not to say that her other male characters were shallow, But they had an air of privilege that Hunt doesn't have. He was basically born into servitude, and in his "youth" that was manipulated (in my opinion) by a female commanding officer. She may or may not have truly believed in what she was fighting for, but she still preyed on that aspect of him. And things went poorly for the cause and at the start of the book he was in a worse position than he was before the failed uprising. And the offer of freedom is once again dangled over his head. I liked that he had his own motivations for what was going on behind all that.

There are numerous side-characters, most didn't have a lot of page time, but they did have purpose. Lehabah was my favorite, it helps that she had the most page time of the side characters. But she also had a more distinct personality than June and Fury. There were a bunch of character (Angels) who worked with Hunt who's names I can't remember beyond Isaiah. Ruhn, and his team, Declan and Tristan, I remember. Helps that it's only two other people. I hope that the other side characters have a more active role in the rest of the books.

 

I went into this book mostly blind, I was somehow able to avoid spoilers for the year and a half I've had the book on my shelf. It was unexpected. The Urban Fantasy setting was a nice change from her other Fae books. More types of 'creatures', but the world building was a little confusing at times, I would have liked to see more of a world map, there is one of the City. The whole story takes place in the one city, but I like visuals so I'd like to know where the different continents are located in conjunction to the City. There were times the plot felt a little meandering at times. But the way things were brought together at the end was quite the ride. It took me nearly a month to get to the 30% part, and then I finished the book in just a few days. I honestly can't wait for the sequel, and I'd love to see more of the world, places outside Crescent City.