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A review by woahshereads
House of Earth and Blood by Sarah J. Maas
3.5
GUYS?! NEVER did I think I would be giving an SJM book less than 4 stars but House of Earth & Blood is a solid 3.5 ⭐️ for me & I’m starting to think I just had too high of expectations going into it but…
Who said this was your favorite SJM book/series?! I think you’re lying to me.. If this is what I should be expecting for the book 2 & 3 I AM NERVOUS. Every fault I have with this book deals with Bryce and her character.
This writing felt so JUVENILE compared to ACOTAR & TOG & that’s saying something. This might also be the worst world building and female MC writing of hers yet. I was LOST when trying to visualize and imagine crescent City. Bryce is also pretty boring the majority of the book - her introduction is so surface level and I found it hard to emotionally connect with her.
There’s so much in this book that I am having a hard time getting over starting with how SJM presented Bryce to us. She is introduced to us as a party brat but then we’re supposed to get over it & pretend we all knew it was a facade she puts on for literally everyone in her entire life?! Like do we even know who Bryce really is? ** Spoiler alert: not until the last 10% of the book. Second, the world building compared to ACOTAR & TOG is next to none. Third, Danika dying in chapter 5 feels a lot like Sam dying in Chapter 8 of TOG. Except, we actually care about Cealana and Sam at that point. This entire book I was confused as to whether I am supposed to like certain characters or not? I couldn’t decipher the difference between playful sarcastic banter and someone just being an asshole - and that feels SO DIFFERENT and confusing to me because we know SJM can write that way & write it well.
An Angel’s most embarrassing nightmare and punishment is the loss of their wings but DON’T YOU WORRY, they grow back in mere weeks….
The horn being Bryce’s tattoo was surprising but in a disappointing way. I was expecting it to have something to do with Danika’s sword which would have been more interesting. I get SJM was trying to be clever here but it just didn’t work for me in this particular situation. Now Bryce’s starlight? We finally get to see her be the badass woman she is and just exactly the length she will go to save those who matter most to her & it felt so good to finally see that side of her. I hope it continues throughout the series because I could use more of this Bryce than the fake clumsy party girl persona she puts on.
This is a weird situation where I loved the Male MC’s more than Bryce - Maybe I am just expecting more from SJM in that regard but Bryce just fell flat for me for almost this entire book whereas I found all the Male MC’s (even some of the side male characters) more interesting than Bryce. Hunt, Ruhn, Aidas for crying out loud?! Yep would love to know more about them. Jesiba was even intriguing enough & I think we’re supposed to hate her but Bryce? I was just bored.
Like really Bryce agreed at one point to Fury that she “wouldn’t do something stupid, she would do something smart” & you’re telling me the only plan she could come up with was to go so far into debt she would never surface from it or become a slave to the worst person possible herself?! HOW is that NOT stupid?! I can’t…
RIP Lehabah, she did not deserve to die & we needed more time with her!!
Taking a break from SJM at the moment but will continue to read CC: House of Sky & Breath & don’t you even think I didn’t already pre-order CC: House of Flame & Shadow 🤣 I love SJM and am a STAN of her work but was thoroughly surprised by my lack of enthusiasm for this book. I hope this feeling doesn’t last & there are redeeming moments yet to come for me!!
Who said this was your favorite SJM book/series?! I think you’re lying to me.. If this is what I should be expecting for the book 2 & 3 I AM NERVOUS. Every fault I have with this book deals with Bryce and her character.
This writing felt so JUVENILE compared to ACOTAR & TOG & that’s saying something. This might also be the worst world building and female MC writing of hers yet. I was LOST when trying to visualize and imagine crescent City. Bryce is also pretty boring the majority of the book - her introduction is so surface level and I found it hard to emotionally connect with her.
There’s so much in this book that I am having a hard time getting over starting with how SJM presented Bryce to us. She is introduced to us as a party brat but then we’re supposed to get over it & pretend we all knew it was a facade she puts on for literally everyone in her entire life?! Like do we even know who Bryce really is? ** Spoiler alert: not until the last 10% of the book. Second, the world building compared to ACOTAR & TOG is next to none. Third, Danika dying in chapter 5 feels a lot like Sam dying in Chapter 8 of TOG. Except, we actually care about Cealana and Sam at that point. This entire book I was confused as to whether I am supposed to like certain characters or not? I couldn’t decipher the difference between playful sarcastic banter and someone just being an asshole - and that feels SO DIFFERENT and confusing to me because we know SJM can write that way & write it well.
An Angel’s most embarrassing nightmare and punishment is the loss of their wings but DON’T YOU WORRY, they grow back in mere weeks….
The horn being Bryce’s tattoo was surprising but in a disappointing way. I was expecting it to have something to do with Danika’s sword which would have been more interesting. I get SJM was trying to be clever here but it just didn’t work for me in this particular situation. Now Bryce’s starlight? We finally get to see her be the badass woman she is and just exactly the length she will go to save those who matter most to her & it felt so good to finally see that side of her. I hope it continues throughout the series because I could use more of this Bryce than the fake clumsy party girl persona she puts on.
This is a weird situation where I loved the Male MC’s more than Bryce - Maybe I am just expecting more from SJM in that regard but Bryce just fell flat for me for almost this entire book whereas I found all the Male MC’s (even some of the side male characters) more interesting than Bryce. Hunt, Ruhn, Aidas for crying out loud?! Yep would love to know more about them. Jesiba was even intriguing enough & I think we’re supposed to hate her but Bryce? I was just bored.
Like really Bryce agreed at one point to Fury that she “wouldn’t do something stupid, she would do something smart” & you’re telling me the only plan she could come up with was to go so far into debt she would never surface from it or become a slave to the worst person possible herself?! HOW is that NOT stupid?! I can’t…
RIP Lehabah, she did not deserve to die & we needed more time with her!!
Taking a break from SJM at the moment but will continue to read CC: House of Sky & Breath & don’t you even think I didn’t already pre-order CC: House of Flame & Shadow 🤣 I love SJM and am a STAN of her work but was thoroughly surprised by my lack of enthusiasm for this book. I hope this feeling doesn’t last & there are redeeming moments yet to come for me!!