House of Earth and Blood
Crescent City Book 1
by Sarah J. Maas
by Sarah J. Maas
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Release Date: March 3, 2020
Genre: Adult, Fantasy
Blurb:
#1 New York Times bestselling author Sarah J. Maas launches her brand-new CRESCENT CITY series with House of Earth and Blood: the story of half-Fae and half-human Bryce Quinlan as she seeks revenge in a contemporary fantasy world of magic, danger, and searing romance.
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.
With unforgettable characters, sizzling romance, and page-turning suspense, this richly inventive new fantasy series by #1 New York Times bestselling author Sarah J. Maas delves into the heartache of loss, the price of freedom—and the power of love.
Review:
Before I dive into my review of the contents of House of Earth and Blood I would like to make one comment on the cover of the book. While the illustration is pretty and the cover eye-catching, the fact that the actual title HOUSE OF EARTH AND BLOOD is in such small font it's barely noticeable on the cover and the name of the series Crescent City is in large, prominent font it makes it very confusing for the reader to distinguish which is the actual title of this first volume of the series without looking it up. The cover design department should really rethink that when tweaking the cover for the paperback edition likely to come.
Moving to the book itself, I was unsure if I would like this one based on other authors crossing over to other age groups with underwhelming attempts. But this book, if you've read any of the author's other works is easy to get engrossed in.
In fact, as I sit here a week and a half after finishing the book I realize the reason it's easy to see similarities between House of Earth and Blood and her previous works is because they all have similar themes: a main character who seems to be nothing special at first glance but who possesses an immense, incomparable power, strong friendships, hate-to-love romance, and villains you'd really like to slap.
So it's a safe bet if you liked the Throne of Glass books or the ACOTAR books you'll probably enjoy this adult debut... which is not really all that different content-wise from her other books.
House of Earth and Blood is billed as epic fantasy but I actually would categorize it more as urban fantasy. While yes, the world in which Bryce lives is not based on any real cities it has a much more urban setting than what I consider high/epic fantasy. Plus there is modern technology... smartphones and computers and other advanced tech you wouldn't see in a high fantasy that always seems more inspired by the medieval era.
While I can get behind the Bryce/Hunt ship my favorite character by far was Ruhn. And Ruhn's friends were pretty awesome. I hope they get more of a role in the books to come. The character that made me scratch my head was Bryce's boss, who I couldn't tell if she had actual friendly affection for Bryce or not because the ending would lead you to believe so but before that she's constantly threatening to turn her into an animal of some sort if she steps out of line.
The other thing I couldn't get behind was Bryce's name. To me Bryce has always been a guy's name, not a gender neutral name so every time I came upon it I had to remind myself Bryce was a girl.
And last, while the world of House of Earth and Blood is filled with diverse species there's nothing readers haven't seen before... fae, mermaids, vampires, werewolves, witches, shifters, and more all crammed into one city with a smaller human population. And anyone versed in mythology will note the nods to Norse mythology throughout.
Overall, while this was a good read, I wouldn't say it was anything unique that blew me away. I honestly felt like the ending could be the stopping point and you wouldn't even need any further books but I'm sure there will be at least 6-7 more books if Crescent City follows the mold of the author's other two series.
My Rating:
🌟🌟🌟🌟
4.5 of 5 Stars!
Before I dive into my review of the contents of House of Earth and Blood I would like to make one comment on the cover of the book. While the illustration is pretty and the cover eye-catching, the fact that the actual title HOUSE OF EARTH AND BLOOD is in such small font it's barely noticeable on the cover and the name of the series Crescent City is in large, prominent font it makes it very confusing for the reader to distinguish which is the actual title of this first volume of the series without looking it up. The cover design department should really rethink that when tweaking the cover for the paperback edition likely to come.
Moving to the book itself, I was unsure if I would like this one based on other authors crossing over to other age groups with underwhelming attempts. But this book, if you've read any of the author's other works is easy to get engrossed in.
In fact, as I sit here a week and a half after finishing the book I realize the reason it's easy to see similarities between House of Earth and Blood and her previous works is because they all have similar themes: a main character who seems to be nothing special at first glance but who possesses an immense, incomparable power, strong friendships, hate-to-love romance, and villains you'd really like to slap.
So it's a safe bet if you liked the Throne of Glass books or the ACOTAR books you'll probably enjoy this adult debut... which is not really all that different content-wise from her other books.
House of Earth and Blood is billed as epic fantasy but I actually would categorize it more as urban fantasy. While yes, the world in which Bryce lives is not based on any real cities it has a much more urban setting than what I consider high/epic fantasy. Plus there is modern technology... smartphones and computers and other advanced tech you wouldn't see in a high fantasy that always seems more inspired by the medieval era.
While I can get behind the Bryce/Hunt ship my favorite character by far was Ruhn. And Ruhn's friends were pretty awesome. I hope they get more of a role in the books to come. The character that made me scratch my head was Bryce's boss, who I couldn't tell if she had actual friendly affection for Bryce or not because the ending would lead you to believe so but before that she's constantly threatening to turn her into an animal of some sort if she steps out of line.
The other thing I couldn't get behind was Bryce's name. To me Bryce has always been a guy's name, not a gender neutral name so every time I came upon it I had to remind myself Bryce was a girl.
And last, while the world of House of Earth and Blood is filled with diverse species there's nothing readers haven't seen before... fae, mermaids, vampires, werewolves, witches, shifters, and more all crammed into one city with a smaller human population. And anyone versed in mythology will note the nods to Norse mythology throughout.
Overall, while this was a good read, I wouldn't say it was anything unique that blew me away. I honestly felt like the ending could be the stopping point and you wouldn't even need any further books but I'm sure there will be at least 6-7 more books if Crescent City follows the mold of the author's other two series.
My Rating:
🌟🌟🌟🌟
4.5 of 5 Stars!
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