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A review by theinquisitxor
House of Earth and Blood by Sarah J. Maas
5.0
Reread: January 2022. I think I enjoyed this more as a reread than when I read it the first time. I think it’s because I’m already familiar with the story and world-building. Super entertaining and I can’t wait for the second book next month!!
4.5/5 stars
This was... a lot. I definitely enjoyed it and found it hard to put down, but at 800 pages there is so much that happens. It took me about the first 200 pages to get into the story, to start really understanding the world and what was going on. After that, this book played out as 3/4 murder mystery or urban detective story and 1/4 insane battle/magic/craziness plot.
Should this book have been 800 pages? Probably not, it probably should have been about 600 pages. First and foremost, I enjoyed the murder mystery element. Maas is quite good as twists and turns and this talent really shines through in this part of the story. From the very beginning of this plot to the 'big reveal' I was hooked and very engaged. Totally not suspecting of the big reveal and I thought it was well done.
Second, I enjoyed the world building. World building can be a weaker area of Maas's but even though we are confined to one city, and we don't get a formal map or in-depth knowledge of the rest of the world, it still felt solid. The structure of society was cool, the conflicts and 'ancient lore' pieces of information were great. In this, I can see how this story ties into the two other book series, and I honestly can't wait to see what Maas does this multiverse. There is a subtle element of portals/portal fantasy in the two other series, and it gets much further developed in this book. Which I am very excited to see. The society is loosely based off of the Roman Empire and there were a lot of cool little things that Maas included (history major here), which I was a little hesitant about at first, but I think she pulled it off decently enough.
Thirdly, the characters. They took a little while to grow on me, but by the end of the book I was attached. I like Bryce quite a bit now, even though I was quite indifferent to her at the beginning. As for Hunt and the other characters, I thought they were also well done, but I am always suspicious of Maas's first books in series. She is quite prone to shake things up. There are a few characters who were very minor in this book that I think will become major characters later on.
Overall, I enjoyed this and found it hard to put down. The pacing was a bit off at some points, and the book could have been about 200 pages shorter, but I liked it. It's certainly adult, and I can see how much Maas's writing and crafting as evolved since Throne of Glass. It's gotten much better and I look forward to reading the next installment of this series.
4.5/5 stars
This was... a lot. I definitely enjoyed it and found it hard to put down, but at 800 pages there is so much that happens. It took me about the first 200 pages to get into the story, to start really understanding the world and what was going on. After that, this book played out as 3/4 murder mystery or urban detective story and 1/4 insane battle/magic/craziness plot.
Should this book have been 800 pages? Probably not, it probably should have been about 600 pages. First and foremost, I enjoyed the murder mystery element. Maas is quite good as twists and turns and this talent really shines through in this part of the story. From the very beginning of this plot to the 'big reveal' I was hooked and very engaged. Totally not suspecting of the big reveal and I thought it was well done.
Second, I enjoyed the world building. World building can be a weaker area of Maas's but even though we are confined to one city, and we don't get a formal map or in-depth knowledge of the rest of the world, it still felt solid. The structure of society was cool, the conflicts and 'ancient lore' pieces of information were great. In this, I can see how this story ties into the two other book series, and I honestly can't wait to see what Maas does this multiverse. There is a subtle element of portals/portal fantasy in the two other series, and it gets much further developed in this book. Which I am very excited to see. The society is loosely based off of the Roman Empire and there were a lot of cool little things that Maas included (history major here), which I was a little hesitant about at first, but I think she pulled it off decently enough.
Thirdly, the characters. They took a little while to grow on me, but by the end of the book I was attached. I like Bryce quite a bit now, even though I was quite indifferent to her at the beginning. As for Hunt and the other characters, I thought they were also well done, but I am always suspicious of Maas's first books in series. She is quite prone to shake things up. There are a few characters who were very minor in this book that I think will become major characters later on.
Overall, I enjoyed this and found it hard to put down. The pacing was a bit off at some points, and the book could have been about 200 pages shorter, but I liked it. It's certainly adult, and I can see how much Maas's writing and crafting as evolved since Throne of Glass. It's gotten much better and I look forward to reading the next installment of this series.