Title: House of Earth and Blood
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Year: 2020
Pages: 799
ISBN: 9781526623454
Series: Crescent City #1
Genre: Fantasy
Reading Time: 10 - 14 May
Binding: Hardback
Goodreads
Stars:
★★★★★
Blurb:
Bryce Quinlan used to light up Crescent City, partying all night in the clubs where the strict classes of angel, shifter, human and Fae merge into a sea of beautiful bodies.
And then a demon murdered her closest friends.
Two years later, when the supposed killer is behind bars but the crimes start up again, the city's leaders command Bryce to help investigate. They assign an enslaved fallen angel, Hunt Athalar, to mare sure she does. But as Bryce fights to uncover the truth - and resist her attraction to the brooding angel who shadows her every step - she finds herself following a trail that leads deep into her own dark past.
Review:
Wow. Wow. Wow. It's not often I read an 800 page book in 5 days. I read over 400 pages of this beast yesterday. Crying is also not on my list of things I do often with books but I did that yesterday too. I'm thinking this may currently be my favourite first book in a series by Maas. Maybe. Throne of Glass is nothing like the expansions for the rest of the series, A Court of Thorns and Roses is tough to read again when all you want to read is the final half of the book. This though, so much action and set up. Maybe it's just my love for any new Maas material. How long until the next one?
Let's begin with the setting. I'd like to call this a rich setting, there's clearly a lot of history in this world and we're allowed all sorts of possibilities with the knowledge that there are other worlds that can be reached within this universe. I'll be waiting for references to her other series! There are numerous species within this world and you'd better bet there's a pecking order. We've got mention of ongoing wars which I'll expect we're going to get pulled into later in this series, let's not mention that visitor from another world that I'm very looking forward to seeing again.
We've got a range of characters, though I think back and feel all our main characters have very similar backgrounds to Maas' other books. Bryce is a good looking party girl, doesn't fit in with either species as a half-breed. Much like Aelin and Feyre. Hunt has a long history of killing, but he's not as bad as everyone thinks. Much like Rowan and Rhysand. I'm not going to complain, this combination has worked for me so far and it doesn't stop here.
I like Bryce, like the intelligence and wit we get to see in her character. She's got a card up her sleeve and no one has much of an idea who she really is, not that they realise that of course. She's perceived as a vain party girl looking for her next hook up. There are chapters where she definitely is that but there is so much revealed about this character in this first book I don't know where she has to go next.
Hunt, hello, hello. I don't mind a fallen angel romance, not one bit. Intelligent, a history, powerful. A really good story for him so far and I'm really looking forwards to how it progresses. However we all know what Maas does to first book romances, please not again!
Other characters, well. I didn't read the blurb so I wasn't expecting a murder within the first few chapters. Luckily I didn't get too connected to those first characters, I think it was the f-bomb in every odd sentence that I wasn't looking forward to continuing to read. They didn't last long at all though, did they? Lele is beautiful, Ruhn is a good brother, the other Fae need a bit more page time, the Angels need a tad more personality, Bryce's friends are a bit of a second thought, I want to spend some time underwater and I want to see some more redemption for the wolves.
There's so much to say about this beast of a book but to try and avoid spoilers is so tough! Stick with this book, lots and lots have people struggled with the pacing. For me it wasn't a problem. Action in the first few chapters, catching up to the present time and the investigating. Usually the final revelation is in the last 5 chapters and this is an 800 page book so of course it will move a little slowly! Around the 600 page mark things just suddenly explode in to action. Twists, turns, ducks and dives. So. Worth. It.
I'm struggling to really identify a difference that makes this book adult against Maas' other books but now ACOTAR is being re-branded as adult. There is less sex in this than ACOMAF which needs to be immediately remedied! Our characters are a little older. The only thing is swearing. Which wasn't really needed but I still thought it fit the characters and it wasn't as persistent as everyone is making out.
Super excited to see this series continue!
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