House of Earth and Blood: The first book in the SENSATIONAL Crescent City series, from the creator of ACOTAR
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House of Earth and Blood: The first book in the SENSATIONAL Crescent City series, from the creator of ACOTAR

4.7/5
Product ID: 513615901
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House of Earth and Blood: The first book in the SENSATIONAL Crescent City series, from the creator of ACOTAR

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Reviews

4.7

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A**G

This books is EPIC... You need to read it!

This book in one word... Epic! And I wholeheartedly mean that! Read it and then tell everyone you know, and their Granny, to read it too! It's just that good!Crescent City is a murder mystery with an urban fantasy twist. Honestly, from page 1 this played out in my head as a top class, big city, detective drama with mythological creatures - compareable to those you'd watch on HBO. It's literally shock-after-shock twists (page 599 anyone?) but, particularly in the last 200 pages, it has a way of going from 0-100 in seconds! It plays with your emotions, in pure Sarah J Maas fashion - one minute you're crying, hysterically I might add, body wrecking sobs and all (those photos and that phone call), and the next minute you're laughing at something that's been said or done. And Gods, the slow-burn romance! I love and hate it in equal measures. It's amazingly written and I adored seeing their story develop but I wanted more action, especially as this is an adult book and ACOTAR had more, even in the first book. I'm assuming SJM has this up her sleeve for book 2 and she's purposefully left us hot and bothered, longing for more.We see our main character, Bryce Quinlan, as the ultimate party girl, enjoying life to the full, before it is ripped from her by the brutal murders of her closest friends. Over the span of two years she coasts along, a ghost of her former self, while she battles on a daily basis to cope with her grief and come to terms with her devestating loss. But soon up pop similar murders, despite the original suspect being behind bars. In order to solve the mystery Bryce is thrown together with dangerous fallen angel, Hunt Athalar, the Governor of Crescent City's very own top assassin. The two must work against the clock to find out what is going on but in the process they unravel a fifteen thousand year old secret that many had assumed was lost forever. Their bond deepens and blossoms into friendship, helping each other heal from their own tragic pasts but their passion can't be denied.This is Sarah J Maas' first adult book and it dives in covering a range of themes, from grief, loss and suicidal thoughts to sexism, discrimination and body image. It focuses strongly on the bonds of friendship and loyalty, with Bryce and Danika's story played out with just as much emphasis and importance as Bryce and Hunt's. The character development, especially in the last 200 pages and particularly with Bryce, is immense and the world building is fantastic, albeit a bit heavy in the beginning but, like any good fantasy or detective story, as long as you're paying attention none of it will go over your head. The side characters are as alluring at those in other SJM series and I find myself hoping their stories will be expanded on in coming books. I really want to see more of Ruhn but also Aidas, Queen Hypaxia, Tharion, Jesiba, Ithan, Flynn and Declan.Bryce, as a main character, has now become my favourite leading lady. She is smart and sassy, caring, loyal to a tee and she is as fierce as they come - you definitely want her in your corner. Not to mention she's drop dead gorgeous and curvaceous with stunning long red hair (check out the fanart). I love how she is not afraid to be herself, in all he glory. She curses and speaks her mind. But there's a strong vulnerability there although she does allow those close to her to see.Hunt is a breath of fresh air in the respect that he's a non-toxic male. He's the poster-boy for soft (but still sexy as Hel). He's there for her when she needs it. And he has easily joined the ranks of my favourite SJM winged males. I am well aware of the pattern that her other books follow but I'm hoping that this time things will be different. When reading it I felt a lot of similarities with the behaviour between another certain revered couple from the ACOTAR series and I hope, with all hope, he's endgame! (I'll admit to having over 50 tags from the book, where the wording is similar to the 'mate' descriptions used in the other two series, in my desperate attempt to decode some of the foreshadowing for book 2)Be prepared to go through the motions with this book. You will laugh, you will cry and you will freeze with shock, curse at the book and be half afraid to read on. But you will love it! You will love it so much that, like me, you'll have already started a countdown to November 2021, anticipating book 2.Pros:Immense character developmentFantastic world buildingExtremely well writtenLovable and interesting characters - main and sideA strong and relatable female leadA non-toxic male love interestRelatable (despite being in a fantasy world)Cons:World building can be a bit heavy, especially at the startMore action needed between Bryce and HuntNoteworthy quotes:'Light it up!''I see you, Quinlan. And I like all of it''Through love, all is possible''You're the person I don't need to explain myself to - not when it matters. You see everything I am, and you don't run away from it''That's the point of it, Bryce. Of life. To live, to love, knowing that it might all vanish tomorrow. It makes everything that more precious''He'd been waiting for her form the moment he'd been born'

M**J

One of my favourite SJM books!

I don’t understand why some people who like ACOTAR and TOG don’t like this! It’s faster paced and I didn’t get bored at all (which I did with TOG). I love the characters and the twists so far this series. Not as predictable as some of the others.

V**G

Well worth the wait

Since it was first announced, I’ve been waiting for this to be released. I loved ACOTAR and TOG etc., and generally love anything that Sarah J Maas does - this is no exception but it was nowhere near as good as her previous work.Saying that, I adorned the journey that the main character, Bryce, goes on. The themes are more adult in nature but her journey through grief is universal and I love how it’s portrayed - even if it’s hard to read sometimes!Bryce is a solid female character with a hatred of ‘alpha holes’ and a vulnerable yet independent streak that is so often missing from female character led stories. I really like her, for all her flaws more than anything else.Overall, I did enjoy it - a lot - but it didn’t capture me as much as her previous work. For starters, it felt like it took a long time to get going - the first third of the book felt long and drawn out. Then, there’s a major plot twist (which I won’t spoil), that comes out of nowhere and it’s so frustrating because it’s a great twist and the remainder of the book becomes fast, punchy and addictive. The plot twist though has no real foreshadowing (and I’m not convinced it makes that much sense for those characters to be doing those things at that time due to injuries/the laws of time and physics), it just...it really threw me out of the story and I had to decide to ignore the fact that it makes no sense and instead just keep going - driven by my love for the characters and the typically addictive nature of the love story. (Lets be honest, Rhys and Feyre will always have the best love story)Unlike her other series, I probably wouldn’t reread this one - I’m glad I read it but I have no burning need to go back to it (where as I couldn’t get enough of TOG and kept rereading it).It feels like there’s going to be a sequel and now that all the clunky world building is done, the sequel is probably going to be amazing.Overall, I would recommend but maybe don’t put it at the top of your list... but if you’re a massive Sarah J Maas fan...then what the ‘hel’ are you waiting for? Go read it!

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