House of Earth and Blood (Crescent City #1)

Sarah J. Maas

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.

-Excerpt taken from Goodreads.

Check Goodreads to see the book’s ratings.

My Opinion

4 out of 5 stars (4 / 5) Maas has the ability to reel you in and hook you quickly. She had relationships solid and developed within the first few chapters. I knew the loyalty in them without a doubt. She also had my emotions on a roller coaster multiple times. I truly did not know what was to happen in this book. It was very unpredictable (which I love) and had me loving the characters, and their banter, very quickly.

I love how Maas writes and the types of stories she writes. She surprised me with a somewhat modern world (cell phones, cars, helicopters…) and fantasy world (spells/charms, angels, fae, magic, shifters….) combined. Oddly enough, it totally worked. I was fascinated by this world. The complexities of it, the Houses, the background, the wars, previous relationships…. it was so intricate and detailed that it was mind blowing, and sometimes hard to keep track of. But the imagination and thought that went into this book is astounding. There were multiple times she gave large “info dumps” and while these dumps were essential to the story, they made my attention wane quite a bit. I found I had to read much slower just to grasp everything.

As you’ve probably heard, those last 150-200 pages were CRAZY. I don’t think I’ve ever read a book that fast. I just soaked it up and couldn’t get enough. Wow. Just wow. It was a great ending. It had a finished feeling with just a hint of more to come. 

Now for the content. Wow, this was a doozy. If you know my rating system at all, just know this book was off the charts in every single category. I did not review the content because of it’s size and it’s not YA. There are hard drugs, alcohol, sex, detailed sex, blood and violence and serious language. It’s all there. There were well over 100 F words, for those of you that like to know. But cursing in general, even F words, was very casual and just the way they spoke. Let me state that this book is NOT YA. This is very purposefully an adult novel. Maas has only done YA before and I feel this was quite an extreme jump from how she typically writes. If the content is not an issue, I recommend this book to fantasy and romance lovers and those who love intricate world building.


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