A review by mattiedancer
House of Earth and Blood by Sarah J. Maas

adventurous emotional sad 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

4.0

Writing: 4⭐️/5 
The writing is solid throughout the novel. At points, the writing really shined through, but I found it very hard to parse the novel at the beginning. In fact, the first fifty pages (give or take ten to twenty) felt almost unedited. The grammar and spelling were fine, but the info dumps on every other page lent a sort of unpolished feeling to the opening.

Characters: 4⭐️/5
I felt the characters often had their own identities, even as I noticed a few similarities here or there with characters in her other novels. I found myself liking, agreeing with, and understanding their motives and perspectives. A couple of times, I did feel like they acted incredibly out of character, but it didn’t necessarily take away from the fun of the novel.  

Plot: 4⭐️/5 
The plot was fun – even with a couple of holes that I wish had been finessed further. I enjoyed reading about the mystery and the romance plot once I got into the novel. Again, the information dump that was the first portion of the novel did take away from this enjoyment.

Who Should Read This Book? 
  • Sarah J. Maas fans
  • Fans of urban fantasy looking for a fun read with a hint of spice
  • Readers who like romance-heavy novels that still have interesting plots

Content Warnings? 
  • Sexual content, sexual harassment, death, injury, animal cruelty, drug use, alcohol use, death of a friend, murder, gore, blood, vomit, gun violence, sexism

Post-Reading Rating:  4⭐️/5
I enjoyed it enough to say I’ll read the next one for sure! 

Final Rating: 4⭐️/5
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