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House of Earth and Blood (Crescent City, #1)

Sarah J. Maas

Start date: February 1, 2022

Finish date: February 28, 2022

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What Members Thought

Mar 28, 2020 Jamie (TheRebelliousReader) rated it liked it

Shelves: adult, 3-stars, 2020, great-side-characters, nothing-but-hype, would-rather-watch-paint-dry, annoying-heroine, borrowed-from-library, fantasy, look-at-the-pretty-cover

3 stars. Okay, so obviously I’m in the minority here but what else is new amiright?

Let’s start with the things I did like. The writing was good. I liked Hunt a lot, he was great and I was intrigued with his back story. Also, the ending to this was pretty solid and is the reason I will read the next book when it comes out. Some of the side characters were pretty interesting. I also liked that this was light on the romance. We get romance but it definitely is not the main focus which was great. It ...more

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Aug 05, 2020 Madeleine rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorites

I honestly think this is one of the best things that Maas has written. It blindsided me a little bit because I wasn't expecting this to be so good, but here we are.

First of all, the characters are amazing. Each of them I feel like has a reasonable amount of depth to them, enough that they feel complicated, but they're straightforward enough that they're easy to follow. What's really, really fascinating is their relationships with each other. They way Bryce perceives Ruhn, Hunt. The way both of I honestly think this is one of the best things that Maas has written. It blindsided me a little bit because I wasn't expecting this to be so good, but here we are.

First of all, the characters are amazing. Each of them I feel like has a reasonable amount of depth to them, enough that they feel complicated, but they're straightforward enough that they're easy to follow. What's really, really fascinating is their relationships with each other. They way Bryce perceives Ruhn, Hunt. The way both of them think of her, of each other. They each have a few puzzle pieces missing from their perception because so many things go unsaid between them all for so long, because they make assumptions, because there are things about the others that are simply to complicated to understand. Reading all of that, seeing how perception differed from intent...it was just amazing. And it's not just between these three--it's with everybody who ever gets the mic. The interpersonal conflict playing out across these pages is definitely the B plot to the investigation, to the action, but it's never, never sidelined, and it's breathtaking.

The actual plot of this book is also incredible. It's got a vibe going somewhere of if, like...Vampire Diaries met Bones?? I guess?? Like, the vibe between Bryce and Hunt is definitely 100K slowburn enemies to lovers in a buddy cop series (which is why I picked those two shows to compare this to--they're the closest anything existing, that I've seen, gets--but there really isn't a fair comparison anywhere). The investigation twists and turns and every answer that comes before the end reveal feels both gut-wrenchingly plausible and yet too easy to be true. All in all: SO. MANY. TWISTS. SO MANY SURPRISES. Some of them, granted, were a little easier to guess than others. (view spoiler) But some of them had my throat getting tight at the flat betrayal that I DID NOT see coming.

The length of the book belies it's pacing though. This is not an edge-of-your-seat book. It's fucking long, and it's twisty, but it's not heart-pounding. This is the book equivalent of a full TV season. 22 episodes, each 45 minutes long. Maybe closer to an hour since, let's be honest, with all of the drugs and partying and mentions of sex, this is absolutely and HBO show. It took me a while to read this book because of how this book was paced and I am not and never have been a binger. Developments come at a realistically slow pace, but those developments also bring nice time for character development and world building. Maas has previously started with same casts--three main characters, minimal supporting characters. I don't care to count, but while this whopper has the expected three main characters, there's also a slew of side characters to keep track of, all of them significant.

On the note of how this compares to her other work, I want to add a caveat. While I do think this is some of Maas' best work, I'm disinclined to say it's one of the best works of urban fantasy ever. And, in comparing it to Maas' canon of works, I will admit that she borrows a bit from her other two series her, and I'm not just talking easter eggs (and there are some easter eggs). Certain character traits, phrasings, relationship dynamics that have popped up in her other works all exist here. To be perfectly clear, however, I do not think this detracts from the overall work. In fact, I think Maas makes it work for her. There are absolutely similarities, but for the most part, Maas is twisting them into a new story. She's formulaic (all your predictions about Bryce's power are probably 100% correct), but a lot of genre writers are formulaic. Yes, she always writes overpowered women main characters. And the boys are always a little bit broody with massive soft side. What. A. Crime. She also manages to write an incredible subplot about female friendship and supporting other women, and with those broody men, she always lays a good bit down about the importance of guys who are openly emotional, affectionate, and guzzle a gallon of respect women juice daily. Yes, all of her characters are impossibly attractive. I'm not saying that I don't have a little bit of beef with her on this, as well as her characters' obsession with sex (it's like Maas' has never heard of asexual people before, which, given our society, might actually be true), but she's also a romance writer, and not a really innovative one at that. I'm disappointed, but I'm not surprised.

The important thing is, I think she's starting to become aware of her overused tropes, and trying to work on the areas where she knows she's weak as a writer. I think there's hope for her writing more diverse casts. The body count in this one was heavy on the white people, and two SIGNIFICANT characters are lowkey in a lesbian relationship, revealed through a declaration of love from the scary, badass one. I also think (so much that I'm holding my breath and honestly hoping) that Bryce and Hunt will stay together in book two. No more sinking ships and sailing new ones for Maas here. Bryce and Hunt meet at the level of emotional damage that her other big ships did, and they help each other work past it in a meaningful way. I can't see her renigging on that. Also, she pokes a lot of fun at "alphaholes" and domineering male characters. There's a big emphasis on this book in guys learning to let women guide their own lives and make their own choices, and women learning that it's okay sometimes to let a guy into their life and be a little bossy because that's how friends are.

It was just...So. Good. And after that cliffhanger end, I want the next book as soon as possible, because, like so much else going on in this book, even when it seems like everything has been made clear, there's always another layer, a little something more we're not seeing just yet. ...more

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May 22, 2025 Penny Well Reads rated it it was ok

Shelves: 0-read-most-read-list-choice-award, 0-most-read-list-choice-award, 0-dnf-did-not-finished, f-read-fantasy-romance

DNF at 60%

I couldn’t get into it, not a bit. There were too many characters and very little story. It required too much effort to put into it when I just didn’t care about anything. At some point I realised I was wasting my time since there was no way I was going to suddenly and magically be interested in the story or characters, so I decided to leave it unfinished, which in retrospect, I should have done much sooner.

I cannot not recommend this book.

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Mar 05, 2022 Jessie Rae ☾ rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

My heart is broken.
Lehabah. :(

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Aug 20, 2021 Naomi rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: 2021-rrrc-challenge, shifter, challenge-corner-series-challenge, mystery, paranormal-romance, magic, fantasy

There was so much happening in this book honeslty will require a re-read at some point. With that being said the author did a great job of building the world and giving us a good plot. I really liked Bryce's determination. ...more

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Jul 15, 2020 Ashy Khaira added it

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Jan 29, 2024 Mucia rated it it was amazing

Shelves: fantasy

The craziest thing was how I predicted some of the reveals and yet was completely shocked the last 200 pages in true SJM fashion. The wild ride that she always manages to take you on those last pages is *chefs kisses*🥰

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