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

I really enjoyed the immersive experience of the full cast audio production! It definitely added some extra flair to the writing. I've read some of Maas' work before (ACOTAR series) and while I was definitely kepy engaged and entertained, I didn't adore the quality of the writing. The intrigue of the mystery kept me locked in, and I loved the slow burn romance. I will probably not race to read the next ones, but I will totally listen to the sequels as GraphicAudio releases their audiobook versions

lol just read other reviews & have to come back and add: I also really struggled with the first bit of the book being a drag, but it picked up after a bit. It's okay to kinda zone out for the worldbuilding in my opinion - I never really processed a lot of the political factions & I didn't have any trouble following the main plot

Content Warnings

meg53's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense 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

5.0

Content Warnings

jevette15's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous emotional 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

3.5

Content Warnings

livbreading's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious tense fast-paced

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

5.0

Content Warnings

poisonviolet's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense

5.0

YES YES YES! Reading this felt like watching Agents of SHIELD or another Marvel show but in the realm of fantasy (Yes I know Marvel is technically fantasy/science fiction), scratch that, this was a Marvel universe made by Sarah J Maas. Two of my favorite things here people!

To the root of it, this is a story of a young woman dealing with the grief of a close friend during a vulnerable time of life. The best parts of this book were part 3 and 4. The first two parts were good and still managed to keep me hooked, its just the world building had to be done and honestly, props to her for doing it in such a short amount of time. If I were trying to write out the intricate and expansive world that this takes place in, I would be yapping for the length of the entire series just trying to make myself understand the rules of the world. Anyways, parts 3 and 4 were the moments I couldn’t put the book down. The angst and hurt/comfort were just incredible.

To sum it up in even less words…. a girl, her cat, and her dead best friend are unstoppable. A sentence I find myself relating to on the rare occasion I have an ounce of confidence in my bones. ANYWAYS, this book was very good. Sarah J Maas knows how to punch me in the gut and somehow make it so I’m the one thanking her for doing so. I am both terrified and excited to read the second book.

Blah blah blah, thanks for reading my yapping

Content Warnings

lizgom's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark funny slow-paced

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

4.0

I didn't particularly like the characters until like 80% of the book. I always have a hard time getting into SJM's characters but her writing is so easy to read that I don't realize I'm almost done reading the book when I finally start liking them. (still a Feyre hater ngl)
its not a quick read considering its a 800 page book, BUT the audiobook for this absolutely SLAPS. honestly thats probably the only reason this isn't a 3 star.

Content Warnings

the_duck28's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous emotional mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

Content Warnings

gattolinos_nerdy_nook's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous mysterious medium-paced

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

3.75

Original Read 4 ★

This was a reread for me and honestly it didn't hold up as I imagine.
I found that I started disliking Hunt and Bryce's relationship in this book. For the most part I felt like it didn't work or was forced, which was a surprised to me as I liked it when I originally read this book.

With the exception of the relationship and Hunt annoying me for parts of the book, I really liked the story that was written. Whilst this is meant to be a romance book as well i found that I much preferred the moments without. The mystery didn't hit as hard this time around as I knew what was happening but it still held up and was what kept me going. The side characters are also strong in this series and I'm happy that we get more POVs in Sky and Breath.

I do find it interesting how much an opinion can change between rereads. I remember very much enjoying this book but it was just a different experience the next time around.

Content Warnings

More...