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A review by readwithbee
House of Earth and Blood by Sarah J. Maas
adventurous
challenging
funny
mysterious
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? It's complicated
5.0
Woahhhh. Why did I let the length of this book intimidate me so much!? I don't want to provide a synopsis of this book, out of fear of spoilers and if you're like me and are only just now getting to reading this - IT'S ROUGH OUT THERE AVOIDING SPOILERS.
This book was incredible! I was definitely intimidated by all the people who told me the world building was intense, but it really wasn't hard to follow. I was very interested in this massive world and all these characters and it felt fun to me to try to keep everyone straight. I did wait until I finished to look for any kind of guide to avoid spoilers, and I found some SUPER HELPFUL info graphics about the world building and characters from yaz.the.bookish that don't spoil anything. So, if you'd like them, let me know!
This read was so packed with likeable characters, mystery (and whodunit vibes), plot twists, action, and slow burn romance. In typical SJM fashion, the last chunk of the book took me on A RIDE. I did cry because SJM also has a tendency to make us like characters only to put them through hell, or worse. I think, too, this was the first book in a long time that I genuinely felt betrayed by a character and needed to put the book down and take some space before diving back in. I'm very interested in how this experience will affect my reading of the second book!
I also wasn't sure how I'd feel about fantasy with cell phones and internet, but SJM makes it WORK in this world. It's like the foundation was urban fantasy (fantasy in an urban, city setting), but she built upon it her own fantasy world keeping only a few things from our world.
Overall - I ABSOLUTELY recommend this book for lovers of romantasy, massive world building, action, strong female characters, and books that make you question your feelings about other characters.
I cannot wait to read book 2 and I'm probably going to avoid the internet for the next week while I work on that, so I can avoid the spoilers of it. Somehow I've gone this far not knowing what happens, just that something does happen at the end. So here goes!
This book was incredible! I was definitely intimidated by all the people who told me the world building was intense, but it really wasn't hard to follow. I was very interested in this massive world and all these characters and it felt fun to me to try to keep everyone straight. I did wait until I finished to look for any kind of guide to avoid spoilers, and I found some SUPER HELPFUL info graphics about the world building and characters from yaz.the.bookish that don't spoil anything. So, if you'd like them, let me know!
This read was so packed with likeable characters, mystery (and whodunit vibes), plot twists, action, and slow burn romance. In typical SJM fashion, the last chunk of the book took me on A RIDE. I did cry because SJM also has a tendency to make us like characters only to put them through hell, or worse. I think, too, this was the first book in a long time that I genuinely felt betrayed by a character and needed to put the book down and take some space before diving back in. I'm very interested in how this experience will affect my reading of the second book!
I also wasn't sure how I'd feel about fantasy with cell phones and internet, but SJM makes it WORK in this world. It's like the foundation was urban fantasy (fantasy in an urban, city setting), but she built upon it her own fantasy world keeping only a few things from our world.
Overall - I ABSOLUTELY recommend this book for lovers of romantasy, massive world building, action, strong female characters, and books that make you question your feelings about other characters.
I cannot wait to read book 2 and I'm probably going to avoid the internet for the next week while I work on that, so I can avoid the spoilers of it. Somehow I've gone this far not knowing what happens, just that something does happen at the end. So here goes!