House of Earth and Blood by Sarah J. Maas Review

 Title: House of Earth and Blood: Crescent City 

Author: Sarah J. Maas 

Age Group: Adult 

Genre: Fantasy/Romance 

Series: Crescent City, book one 

Star Rating: 4 out of 5 Stars 

A dear friend of mine bought this book for me as a gift—thank you so much, Amelia! 

I’ve been in a remarkable slump lately; I’ve returned all of my library books and started on my own library. I received this book as a gift from one of my Discord friends, and I decided to read it when I couldn’t break my book slump. Overall, I very much enjoyed it, but I wish there had been more payoff, romantically. This is Sarah J. Maas’s first adult offering, and for the most part, I really liked it! I wasn’t sure about it at first, but this enchanting mystery won me over! This series is set in an alternate fantasy world, where gods and angels rule witches, faeries, demons and vampires.  

Bryce Quinlan is the daughter of a mortal and a fey, a half-breed. She’s an unapologetic party girl who loves her friends, but everything changes when her best friend, Danika, and the rest of her pack dies of mysterious circumstances. Desperate to find out the truth behind the death of her best friend, she finds herself entrenched in a mystery that goes far deeper than she ever could have imagined. Add to that the sexy angel, Hunt Athalar, who has his own reasons for trying to solve the murder. Forced into an unlikely alliance, Bryce and Hunt must discover the truth, and risk finding each other in the process... 

I’ll be honest: Sarah J. Maas and I have had a complicated relationship. I loved her debut novel, Throne of Glass, but I didn’t finish the series, and her young adult romance trilogy, A Court of Thorns and Roses, is my favorite. I wasn’t sure about this book at first; it was really slow going. But it really picked up around a hundred pages or so, and I was absolutely hooked! I loved the mystery that was presented throughout the novel; it was really interesting to read a fantasy with such a deadly catalyst at its center. I adored Bryce and Hunt and the buildup to their relationship, but I wish that aspect had been explored more. I’m so, so salty that I have to wait until 2021 for the next book! This was the one thing that bugged me about the book. There was too much romantic and sexual tension that wasn’t relieved near enough to my taste. Nonetheless, this series debut was still really strong, and I enjoyed it, despite not being quite satisfied. The bottom line: Sexy, romantic, and surprising, I loved House of Earth and Blood and I can’t wait for the sequel! Next on deck: The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab!