Reviews with content warning for Suicide attempt - House of Earth and Blood

I recently finished TOG series (which was a 5 star read for me) and was unsure if I’d like CC because of how modern the setting is.
TLDR: By the end I LOVE IT. The characters are funny and emotional, the plot is intriguing!

It did take make about 300 pages to decide I would like it and keep reading. The world building is heavy. There is a lot of adjusting to the politics and history of the world and characters pasts. Overall the main characters are funny, have good chemistry, witty banter, and have many layers making them complicated yet relatable.

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gretchenplz's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional tense 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

3.5

I was SO ready to say nice things about this book. And then the last 200 pages happened.

The award for the most random and inexplicable "third-act breakup" goes to this book. Like... what is the actual hell just happened? No warning. No hinting. Just made up. Randomly. Out of nowhere. Absolutely absurd.

And then *POOF* magically erased like it never happened. Surely there was SOME other way to move forward the plot without THAT taking place???

All the other twists were painfully obvious, which is why I am so insulted by this one in particular. There was a better way to move the plot forward the same amount without it. But that might have cut 100 pages from the book. And God knows SJM can't possibly put out a book shorter than 800 pages these days.

Also… did SJM panic at JLA’s popularity and decide that she needed to come up with a similarly convoluted power hierarchy/structure?! There was no need!!!

And please don't get me started on the "sudden onset powers!"

~~That's just SJM being SJM.~~

I could go on about recycled characters/personalities, but I won't. I'm sure you noticed. Bryce is at least not blonde, so the self-insert is a TAD less obvious. Because she's sooooo not like other girls!!!

I will be waiting for Hunt's complete personality transplant in Book Two and for Bryce to end up with... One of her brother's buddies? Conner's brother? Idk, but I'm sure it will happen.

The ending making me emotional is not enough to erase my memory of all the bullshit. But that just seems to be how SJM's books go. One day she will change her formula and I will fall over in shock. But today is not that day.

Big fan of the demon cat, though!

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ashleynp24's review against another edition

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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? Yes

4.75

I absolutely loved this book. It’s so different from previous SJM novels and I loved she tried the mystery genre out while still having that fantasy element.

The single reason I’m giving it a 4.75 is because I felt like there was a lot of romance between the two protagonists but it was such a slow burn for the whole book until the end when the climax hit. I wish there’d been just a little more before that point.

The ending had me sobbing uncontrollably. Danika and Bryce’s friendship during the drop was so special and I loved how at the end there’s closure with the rest of the pack. My biggest sob fest was for LeLe sacrificing herself.

Overall I loved the book and am excited to start the second to see where it goes from there.

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shellind75's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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larajgriff1's review against another edition

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adventurous 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

4.0

I enjoyed this book a lot. It reminded me of the Anita Blake books by Laurell K Hamilton and I loved those in high school. However I am giving this book 4 stars cause I just really hate how LONG Maas's books are. I do not need to be reading something that could double as a bludgeoning weapon! Also just the nonchalant comments of looking at someone's boobs, ass, pecs... someone might enjoy it, I do not, so it knocked it down for me.

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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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jdromsky's review

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adventurous dark emotional 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

Sarah J Maas outdoes herself yet again with fantastic world building! And while

Hunt and Bryce’s relationship

is crucial to the story, I loved that Bryce and Danika’s friendship was the crux. Their literally undying friendship

saved not only the city, but most importantly Bryce’s life

. It is very VERY rare I think to find a “romantasy” book where the focal “romance” is between platonic friends. We need more of this in not only the fantasy genre, but in life in general, and I’m 110% here for it!!

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kelseydear's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful 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? Yes

5.0

This book will put you through the wringer. There are so many unexpected twists and turns; I felt as though I was constantly on the edge of my seat! It’s not overly spicy. There are only a few moments of tension between characters and one intimate scene, nothing too scandalous, however. Looking forward to the next book!

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