Reviews with content warning for Gore - House of Earth and Blood

Reviews tagging 'Gore'

House of Earth and Blood by Sarah J. Maas

273 reviews

kayanoelle's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Interesting.

I liked the premise of the story, the writing style and the characters. Bryce is one fierce lady!!

This book was too loooong. The only good thing about that was that the relationship between Bryce and Hunt had time to blossom, they’re so lovely.

The plot was too predictable but maybe that’s just a me problem💀 I feel like when you read a lot of books, you get very good at predicting where the storyline is headed because there’s only so many plot devices you can use, so it’s understandable.

Another thing I tend not to like about fantasy books (including this one) is that everything works out too well.

Yes, there are high stakes and yes we fear for the characters safety and such but we always know that the protagonists are going to survive the first book. I know for sure that if I were part of this world I would’ve been attacked by one of the demons and it would’ve been over for me.

But this is fantasy and our protagonists are special so it’s okay✨✨

The epilogue left us with a lot to chew on so I am excited for the next book!!

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bowedbookshelves's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

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rchulin1's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful lighthearted sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

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euleau's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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amateur_bookworm's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Genre: Fantasy, romantasy, fiction

My summary: Bryce Quinlan is a half-fae half-human party girl living in Crescent City. Her roommate and best friend since college is Danika Fendyr, a powerful wolf shifter that will someday lead her pack. The two are inseparable, as well as with Danika’s pack, until gruesome murders occur that rock Bryce’s world to her core. Two years later, when another similar murder occurs, Bryce finds herself pulled into the investigation to try to find the killer and avenge the deaths of those closest to her. Bryce is saddled with Hunt Athalar, the Shadow of Death, a fallen angel and a slave to the Archangels, in the investigation. In a world ruled by the Asteri and governed by the Archangels, the constant war between the Vanir and the humans set a backdrop of Bryce and Hunt trying to save Crescent City in their quest for vengeance.

My thoughts: Wow. Just….. wow. I really don’t know why I waited so long to read this one. I absolutely loved Sarah J. Maas’s A Court of Thorns and Roses series. But then I really didn’t enjoy her Throne of Glass series so I just put off starting Crescent City, figuring I’d wait until closer to the third book coming out in January 2024. I was worried the hype around this series was too much, but, no, no, so far the first book is as fantastic as everyone said it was. This is some serious fantasy. I’m generally not too much of a fantasy reader and the world building in this is A LOT. I knew on page 20 (out of 799 pages) that I would definitely have to re-read this again to even begin to really understand all of it, which feels really daunting at that point of a book this long. I had literally no idea what was happening through the first third of the book. If you find yourself in the same boat, just keep pushing through and it is so, so worth it. The last of the book is so intense and I literally cannot wait to start on the next one in the series to keep going with it.

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kelceyreads's review against another edition

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adventurous hopeful medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

I don’t read a lot of fantasy and I found the world building for the first 100 or so pages to be pretty difficult to get through. HOWEVER… it was worth it. I very much enjoyed the rest of the book. I loved the crime solving, the friendships, the building romance, the internal struggles of the main character, the hot angels (!). There were lots of twists and turns I did not see coming. I also don’t tend to like split POVs (controversial I know) but this one flipped between the two main characters quickly and I actually really enjoyed the pacing and mixed view points. Very excited to read the next books now that I’m fully immersed in the world. Gave less stars since I felt that the fantasy aspects and parts of the world could have been made less confusing and provided a better opening to the series (I almost did not make it past the beginning of the book) but this may not be a problem for avid fantasy reads/fans.

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ksilvio's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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kmf0023's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

Strong character development? Yes

4.25

Mostly very slow to me until the end. By the ending you realize how important every little detail was.
Modern technology in a fantasy world was interesting, kind of funny to read about 200 year old beings using cell phones.
Slow burn friends to lovers.
Some Maas-universe cross over quotes towards the end.

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yarisbooksandbevs's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

I really enjoyed this one! The characters were so easy to love and root for! I thought the magical realism was explained well. Sometimes I got a bit lost in the world building but it wasn’t too bad. I love the way this book handled grief. It really showed how differently it can manifest. The writing was good. Every time I thought I had it figured it the plot twisted the other way and I was surprised.

Bryce’s goodbyes had me crying and I absolutely loved her relationship with Hunt.

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samellecooke's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful inspiring sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

Five gold stars for the Queen of Romantasy, SJM. I put off reading this until we got closer to the release date for HOFAS (Crescent City #3) and THANK THE GODS I DID! I don't think I could have waited the 2 years some people did for the other two books.

For those new to SJM and her wonderous works, I highly recommend you read the ACOTAR series first. While not totally necessary for CC #1, I think you'd be doing yourself a complete disservice if you begin your SJM pilgrimage here. So go on that amazing journey first, then come back. I might also recommend just reading TOG while you're at it too, even though this an insanely long reading adventure...but well worth it IMHO. At the very, very least, read ACOTAR 1-3.

I loved everything about this new world. The introduction of technology in the urban fantasy landscape, knowing that one or more of SJM's other worlds (which do NOT have modern day tech) may be involved, was impeccably done. The new cast of characters are all A+ in my book. I may not have loved each of them initially or throughout the entire book, but by the end everyone has their place and I loved them for that. This is one, of many!, of SJM's strong suits - character development.

Loved that we started off the book on an unexpected bang. I remember reading various reviews saying that the first 100 or so pages of HOEAB would be rough and you'd need to take notes, so on and so forth. After finally reading it, I didn't find that need at all seeing as she kills off AN ENTIRE GROUP OF PEOPLE almost immediately. Lol, a fucking queen.

But that's ok because we collect a whole new cast of characters who are all badasses in their own rights. I won't say too much about the remaining content except for this: that ending WRECKED me. I think it was worse than the endings of ACOWAR and ACOSF combined. I am not a crier...I shed tears twice. "Light it up."

I went into this book almost completely blind. I bought this and HOSAB site unseen. Didn't read a single summary, back cover, or jacket flap. In Maas, I trust. And you better believe, she delivered! On to CC #2.

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