Reviews with content warning for Physical abuse - House of Earth and Blood

OH MY GOD! SARAH! YOU HAVE OUTDONE YOURSELF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I HAVE NO COMPLAINS (except for how damn long it took for them to finally have sex) SO GOOD!

ok maybe i have some complaints:

very hard to get into at the beginning (pretty standard with these huge fantasy novels though. Ive come to expect it)

again, i mostly listened to the audiobook and it took me 22 hours to get to the sex part- rlly just a personal preference thing but i kept being like JUST KISS ALREADY!!! HAVE SEX RN!!!!!!

other comments:

this book made me extremely emotional. An excerpt from my text conversation with my bestie:

"i have never wanted spoilers for a book in my life so damn badly I JUST WANT TO STOP THE PAIN AND KNOW HOW IT ENDS"

I got over it pretty quickly though (still kind of angry about that emotional damage sarah smh my head)

what's with the weird ass names????

it was a little long for my taste there is just so much plot. its really a personal preference thing tbh. I would say the sweet spot is like 500 pages so you can still fit a shit ton in there but also doesnt feel like theres a unnecessary 300 pages. I felt like some of the ending dragged on for too long.

the adjectives.
listen. im a whore for big words. but the big words in this book?? so many of them. I dont think i googled what a single one of them meant so maybe just have a higher reading level than me? (this sounds more like me calling myself stupid)
okok I mean it was a little too descriptive at times.

my fav characters (in no particular order)

quinlan
• shes cool ig. i like how mean she is (and how powerful)
fury
• how could you not love her???? hot sexy muderer woman??? yes PLEASE
ruhn
• the perfect amount of loyal
danika
• again hot lady murderer (there was a point in the book where i hated her but i retract that statement)
hunt
•ok. this guy. hes on both my lists. fuck this guy. BUT i still like him maybe i have a thing for alpha-holes
decklan
• YOU KNOW HOW DAMN IMPRESSIVE THAT WHOLE CAMERA THING WAS???? holy shit smart computer man (in my head hes really hot too so best of both worlds)
hypaxia
•sexy witch lady

my least faves (in no particular order)

micah
• i mean how could anyone like him after reading???
hunt
• its a love hate relationship
juniper
•character seemed one dimensional and dry. also the faun thing lowkey freaked me out

AND FINALLY! MY FAVORITE THINGS ABOUT THIS GLORIOUS BOOK!

I am just in love with hypaxia. hope to see her more in next book - every time we would get to see what shes up to i am just like EEEEE! MY FAVE!!!!! YAY!!!

the BANTER! oh my god it was like enemies to lovers but not like violent yk they just didnt really "get" each other...... yet. (also love how the banter didn't stop once yk.. they had their "situationship"

quinlans parents

THEY ARE SO IN LOVE AWWWWWWWWW love amber shes so cool reminds me of my own mom. also love the gun thing w stepdad. maybe i just think its hot when people know how to be responsible with their guns

story building:

honestly, by the end of the book i could picture every single place they went. great job sarah.

i would say on par with court of thorns and roses series in terms of quality.

5/5 stars ily sarah. u never fail me <3 looking forward to book two

Content Warnings

lisa_m's review

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adventurous emotional funny mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

I loved this book so so much!!! I already knew I liked SJMs writing but this was immaculate!!
After 100 pages I already was quite certain it would be a five star read and now I wish I could give it more than five stars. I just finished it so I might think a bit differently about this in a few weeks but this book is in the top 5 of all books I have ever read. I am still debating whether I liked it more than ACOTAR but I might have..

I was so immersed in the story that I physically could not stop reading. I finished it in 2 days and everytime I wasn't reading I was still thinking about the plot and the characters.
Most of the plot twists I did not expect or even if I expected them, the way it happened was still spectacular.

When I started reading today around 2 pm I wanted to get through about 300 pages and finish it up tomorrow.
I don't know what happened it, feels like time just passed me and I didn't realise what was happening around me. I feel like the world could have ended and I still would not have stopped reading. When I finally finished the 800 pages my whole body hurt and it was already 00:20. I thought it was early afternoon..

This book once again showed me why I like SJMs writing so much and why she is such a popular author. It is not for the smut which some people like to say (and which luckily was only like 2 pages in the whole book). She is incredibly talented and absolutely deserves the hype she is getting!!

I loved the characters and I cried for them. I felt their pain and I don't know if I will ever get over this book.
It is the best thing I have read in a long time and I cannot wait to read the next book!

I am really grateful for the ending though. It doesn't end on a cliffhanger so at least I can go to sleep now. :)

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Thoughts of my 2. read-through:

THIS BOOK IS MY FAVOURITE BOOK EVER I CAN'T HELP IT.

I also cried again. A lot.
This book hurts like hell but I also giggled SO MUCH.

I love the characters. I love the writing. I love the plot. I love the setting. I love the drama. I love the silliness. I love the friendships. I love everything because this book literally has everything I could ever want.

Content Warnings

michellemaas's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring mysterious 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? Yes

5.0

* Beware of minor spoilers

5 - ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

First Installment in the Crescent City series. This Adult Urban Fantasy novel features the "forced proximity", "forbidden love", "slow burn", and "hurt/comfort" tropes while dealing with themes of loss, elitism, and slavery.

It was amazing! Great variety of mythological creatures, relatable and lovable characters, and the story kept me intrigued up until the very end.

“That's the point of it, Bryce. Of life. To live, to love, knowing that it might all vanish tomorrow. It makes everything that much more precious.”

Bryce is breathing but she is not alive. Things have never been the same since the sudden death of her best friend and when another person turns up murdered the same way, Bryce is the only lead the police have. As a result, she is forced to partner up with the infamous Hunt Athlar in the hopes of finally solving the mystery surrounding her friend's death and bringing her killer to justice.

"With the strength of the most powerful force in the world. The most powerful force in any realm. What brings loyalty beyond death, undimming despite the years. What remains unwavering in the face of hopelessness . . . Through love, all is possible."

Phew, I have a LOT to say so buckle up for a hefty review. This book has exceeded every possible expectation I had of it. Its page count and the fact that it was Urban Fantasy instead of my usual High Fantasy made me weary at the beginning but it was AMAZING. The characters were well developed, the story had me at the edge of my seat, and despite being over 900 pages strong there wasn't a single paragraph I thought was unnecessary.

First and foremost, there was some really good -and surprising- social commentary in this. Mainly the discussion about racism, classism, and politics, but also the discussions about how different people deal with grief and experiencing loss. Bryce working through her loss was a huge theme in this book and I thought it was really well done. It showed how different people dealt with it- Juniper threw herself into her dance. Fury disconnected from her friends. Bryce put on a carefree front because it was easier for her to have people assume the worst than to let them see how broken the loss of her friend left her. Her life was completely ruined by the loss of Danika and since it's not "normal" for her to have been this strongly affected considering they were not blood-related or romantically involved Bryce was always made to feel that she had to hide how not okay she was. As if, if others don't understand why you need to grieve, you're not entitled to it.

“The power shall always belong to those who give their lives to the city.”

Secondly was the good relationship development. Bryce and Hunt felt like such an authentic slow burn. They became friends, they showcased some of their best qualities and they proved their loyalty to one another all before the attraction and eventual love developed.

Then the reveal was so beautifully done. I like that there wasn't a clean, perfect, and logical trail they followed to get the killer. They had to consider several possibilities (most of which were born of luck) and follow some dead ends before reaching their goal. Kudos to Sarah for designing such an intricate plot that kept me guessing up until the twist. Also a big old middle finger to Sarah for making me have an absolute mental breakdown at 1 in the morning after reading the reveal and not being able to sleep or continuing on functioning as a normal human being the next day. But actually though, the power of words on a piece of paper . . . This woman is truly brilliant. Still hate her for breaking my heart beyond repair though but the good kind of hate. The positive kind of hate. I don't react to books very dramatically. I never cry or want to throw books in anger or any of that. And it's not because I don't care, I feel deeply for these characters, I'm just not wired that way. I don't really react in a particularly dramatic fashion to real-life occurrences either but this book elicited SUCH a reaction from me. I actually cried over a book for the first time after 7 years of avid reading. Say what you will about her plots or questionable romances, but if there is one thing no one can take away from Sarah it is what a talented writer she is. She has a way with words that can bring out every single emotion in you, and just really feel for the characters.

“Bryce was a ghost for a long while, Hunt. She pretended she wasn’t, but she was. . . You brought her back to life.”

And on that note, I love that all our characters were so complex and so utterly and beautifully flawed. They all felt so rich and well developed from Viktoria to the Autumn King and of course our main people. Each character had flaws and redeeming qualities, there was no one character I went: that's the morally sound, perfect, and incorruptible character. They were all plagued by some sort of shortcoming even if they were "good characters". That made them feel so REAL and relatable. I don't want characters who are so high and mighty above everyone else, then judgemental when someone can't live up to their own level of perfectness. I want to dimension. I want realistic. And I got it. Not only did that make these characters more relatable but it made them so much better to read about. A hero can be flawed and a villain can be someone with good intentions despite their bad ones. I'll admit that having read 2 ACOTAR books and the first TOG book I didn't really get all the Sarah hype. . . Like yeah the books were good and I liked them. They were entertaining reads with some hard-hitting moments and good romances but I couldn't discern why she- above a lot of other authors who write very similarly- was so popular. This book though . . . I get it now.

Furthermore, I like that this was very distinctly adult with the topics it discussed but there wasn't a huge focus on sex. In fact, our main love interests didn't even have sex with each other (though they did with other people). I feel a lot of authors think "adult (insert genre here)" and go: cool, we'll take a YA story and just add a bunch of sex and innuendos and call it a day. That was not the case at all. The matters discussed were very adult and this book felt challenging in a way I would not have expected from a fantasy novel.

"You’re my friend. Who watches trashy TV with me and puts up with my sh*t. 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.”

Finally, I liked the inclusion of whatever the hell the opposite of toxic masculinity is. Toxic femininity? I consider myself a feminist when the end goal is equality. A lot of feminists believe in lifting up women by degrading men and that's just not the point. Regardless if you're addressing racism, sexism, or any other -ism it's important to realize that it's not about taking turns. It's not: oh well that group of people have been in power and favored for the past few centuries, so now it's our turn and after centuries we can go back . . . No. Women should be lifted up until we have equal rights . . . Not more rights. I love that that was addressed since I've never seen it talked about and also it didn't feel degrading either. Sarah handled it perfectly so that it wasn't offensive just an enlightening moment. For example, Bruce was super big on being an independent woman who didn't need help from anyone. And she was super cautious about accepting help or advice from men because her mother had been caught in a possessive and toxic relationship. However, Hunt talked about wanting the best for her well-being because he cared about her, not because it gave him a power trip to control her. Another time Bryce was on the brink of death and her friend told her not to give up because she had Hunt waiting for her on the other end, and Bryce replied "you're convincing me to live because of a guy" essentially which some might have seen as anti-woman, but her friend replied with "there's nothing wrong with caring enough about someone to want to live out your life with them- regardless of gender". There was such a thing about women being portrayed as weak in earlier years, then it tipped over to the other extreme of them not needing anyone at all but Sarah proved we can have both. Bryce is undoubtedly one of the most badass female characters ever, amplified by the fact that she had no power to rely on- only her own hard work, training, wit, and brains. That's what I think made this particular subplot not be offensive because Bryce could have stayed independent but there is no prize for it just like there's no prize for accepting love. Bryce was able to enter a relationship and rely on someone without that taking away from her skills or abilities. She doesn't need Hunt in a physical sense, but there's no shame in it if she did.

“And why is it a somehow a mark against your strength to admit that there is someone, who happens to be male, worth returning to? Someone who I know made you feel like things are far from f*cked.”

If I had to nitpick, I'd say the world was a little difficult to get used to. I'm a seasoned fantasy reader and even I was struggling with all the different creatures. I was also a little confused throughout different periods in the book (but that was very intentional on the author's part since she is going to do a bunch of big reveals in the sequels).

“Memento Mori. Remember that you will die, and enjoy each pleasure the world has to offer.”

Overall, I would absolutely recommend this to every human ever. It was beautiful, it was heartbreaking, and it was just so damn good. I cannot wait to read the sequel, even if I know that it will likely break me even more than this first installment.

* Please note that this is an Adult novel that deals with very serious and potentially triggering themes, therefore not suitable for minors or sensitive readers. Be sure to check trigger warnings on the author's website before reading. Your enjoyment is not worth risking your mental health for!

Content Warnings

christas_catalog's review

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adventurous dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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kellicat94's review

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense slow-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

4.25

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katiebookedout's review

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adventurous emotional funny 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

Literally speechless on how amazing this book is

Content Warnings

_alyssar_'s review

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challenging dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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jrobrien99's review

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense fast-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

4.5

Even after my best friend's glowing recommendation and insistence that I read this book, I was still not prepared for how good this was. This novel is Sarah J. Maas's best work yet.

First of all, the world that SJM has created here is absolutely incredible. I have read all of her other works so far, and world-building is something that she does very well. I was a little overwhelmed at first with all of the names and locations that are kind of thrown at the reader, but once you are sucked into the book, it all becomes easier. Midgard is familiar enough that the reader can relate to it, but is definitely fantastic with angels, sprites, shifters, witches, and more living in (semi) harmony with humankind. Lunathion (otherwise known as Crescent City) plops the reader in the middle of a metropolis that is just like our world, with clubs and drug deals and art galleries. The setting is more magical realism than fantasy - our world today but with supernatural elements.

However, the characters and plot are pure fantasy. Bryce Quinlan, a half-Fae, half-human, teams up with Hunt Athalar, an angel enslaved to the Republic because of his participation in an uprising centuries ago. These characters are complex in their own way, but both share the pain of grief, which is a central theme throughout this novel.

Bryce has to come to terms with her best friend, Danika's, death and realizes that she might not have truly known who Danika was. Hunt still grieves for his lost lover and for the dream of taking down the Republic that never happened.

Together, the two unlikely partners investigate a string of strange murders. What I loved about this novel was that it was mystery, romance, and fantasy all in one book. SJM combines tropes from multiple genres to create a true masterpiece of fiction.

This book was fast-paced without feeling too overwhelming. Each chapter furthered the novel in some way, whether it be intense fighting sequences, a shocking plot twist, or character development. Even though House of Earth and Blood is 800 pages, nothing feels like it is unnecessary. Part of me thinks that she might have put too much into this book, just because there are so many plot developments within the last 200-300 pages that seem like they could have been major events in later novels. But as always, I will trust Sarah to continue the story and the characters in a way that is exciting and new.

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