Spoiler Review: House of Earth and Blood by Sarah J. Maas

House of Earth and Blood

Sarah J. Maas

(Crescent City #1)

Publication Date: March 3, 2020

Hardcover, 803 pages, Bloomsbury Publishing

Genres: Adult, Urban Fantasy/Paranormal

Goodreads

Bound by blood.

Tempted by desire.

Unleashed by destiny.

Bryce Quinlan had the perfect life—working hard all day and partying all night—until a demon murdered her closest friends, leaving her bereft, wounded, and alone. When the accused is behind bars but the crimes start up again, Bryce finds herself at the heart of the investigation. She’ll do whatever it takes to avenge their deaths.

Hunt Athalar is a notorious Fallen angel, now enslaved to the Archangels he once attempted to overthrow. His brutal skills and incredible strength have been set to one purpose—to assassinate his boss’s enemies, no questions asked. But with a demon wreaking havoc in the city, he’s offered an irresistible deal: help Bryce find the murderer, and his freedom will be within reach.

As Bryce and Hunt dig deep into Crescent City’s underbelly, they discover a dark power that threatens everything and everyone they hold dear, and they find, in each other, a blazing passion—one that could set them both free, if they’d only let it.

With unforgettable characters, sizzling romance, and page-turning suspense, this richly inventive new fantasy series by #1 New York Times bestselling author Sarah J. Maas delves into the heartache of loss, the price of freedom—and the power of love.

My Review

Everyone and their sister has already either read or bought this book, so there’s really no need for me to keep this review spoiler-free. Therefore, you have been warned, there will be SPOILERS.

First off, the title for this book will always be Crescent City. I still don’t understand why the designers, editors, etc. decided to make the series title so large and the actual book title so tiny. And that’s coming from someone who used to work in publishing.

I have to admit, the first part of this book is my favorite. I think those of you who read it will understand why—the wolves. I love werewolves and the wolf-pack dynamics involved with werewolves. I truly wish Danika, Connor, and co. were in the book and not just the plot devices to push Bryce to her next life event. But no, SJM has gotta get those fae storylines in somewhere, so that means the cool wolves got to go. Boooooooo….

The book starts out with a lot of info-dumping. A LOT. Honestly, it would have been better if this book was number two in the series and there was a precursor novel or even a novella introducing Bryce, Ruhn, and the pack with Hunt and the other angels all living separate lives. That way, the ending of book one could’ve been all about the devastation of losing the pack. Anyone else like that idea? It would’ve given us more time to actually get to know Danika on-page and could’ve made her death more impactful, as well as help tamper some of that info-dumping. But that’s just my opinion.

I will say that SJM knows how to build awesome fantasy worlds. This one was a little confusing since it wasn’t technically a real urban fantasy—in that it didn’t take place on Earth—but was still an urban fantasy because it had technology. I did enjoy the mingling of angels, fae, witches, werewolves, and shifters. A+ for that. What’s not A+, is how long the story was; 800 pages was just too much. It could’ve easily been 500-600 pages. There were quite a few scenes that were either boring or didn’t feel totally necessary.

Around page 700 is where the action starts to pick up. And that’s where I was anticipating this book would be a 4-5 star read. Never mind its unnecessary length or info-dumping. I was truly getting into the story. I was a crying, emotional wreck. There was ugly sobbing. But then the “twist” I hoped wasn’t coming came to be. My heart sunk. I had to put the book down and wait until the next day to finish because I just didn’t care anymore. So yeah, here are those SPOILERS I was talking about.

Bryce, to me, was cool because she wasn’t special. I liked her character because she outwitted and outmatched the other supernatural creatures around her without needing fancy powers. The ending ruined that. Cheapened the whole storyline, in my opinion. Basically, Bryce was turned into another Aelin, and I just didn’t want that. Oh, and I have to throw in here that Ruhn is my favorite character. Maybe that’s another reason why the ending bothered me so much.

Also, everyone just watched Bryce fight for her life! WTF!?! All of them could’ve been in the city by the time everything started if they’d left at the beginning of the showdown. But nope. They just watched. Truly an awful way to frame a story. I rolled my eyes so many times.

The ending felt like an entirely different book. It was more fantasy than the detective story/urban fantasy we got in the beginning. I wasn’t a fan of the switch in tone. Also, there were way too many villain speeches during strange parts of the conclusion. No real villain talks for pages and pages of dialogue when they’re killing someone. They kill them and move on, especially if they’re trying to accomplish a big goal like our bad guy was.

As for Hunt, he’s an interesting character. I wasn’t so sure about the slavery aspect of the story (slavery in fantasy books just wigs me out sometimes), but SJM made me really root for him. I hope SJM really digs into the slavery issue in future books and somehow it’s resolved, otherwise, ick. Back to Hunt now. Hunt isn’t my favorite alpha-male warrior, but he isn’t my least favorite either, though the “twist” with him and his friends just had me scratching my head. I felt like that should’ve been foreshadowed a little more than it was.

So yeah, this book disappointed me. I was super into it, but then WHAM! the story completely changed tone and pacing with only 100 pages left. However, I know I’ll still end up picking up book two for Ruhn and his potential lady love. Unless I hear from other reviewers that SJM pulled a Rowan/Rhys love-interest switch. Then I will forget SJM ever existed. I am so tired of her changing love interests in the middle of her series. Hunt may not be my favorite immortal alphahole, but he deserves better than being turned into the poor schlub not worthy of the heroine’s time and affections. *cough* Chaol and Tamlin *cough*

*Note: I purchased a copy of this book myself. This in no way affected my opinion/review.