Review: House of Earth and Blood (Crescent City #1)

Author: Sarah J. Maas

Started reading: July 19th 2022

Finished the book: July 26th 2022

Pages: 803

Genres: Fantasy, Romance

Published: March 3rd 2020

Source: Bought the book

Goodreads score: 4.48

My score:

Synopsis

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.

My thoughts

Yes, yes. SJM did it again! I was a bit scared to start this book. New world, new characters. Will I love it as much as her other series? Don't get me wrong, ACOTAR will always be my fave, but this book was GOOD! It took me 100/150 pages to get into it. It's a lot of worldbuilding, new characters and all that, but once you get the hang of it, I'm sure you're not goign to be able to stop! I actually started House of Sky and Breath right away..

Pros

• Characters: The main thing I love about Sarah J. Maas is that she just writes such damn good characters. It's from ANOTHER PLANET. The characters have so much personality. The relationships are exquisite and exactly what you'd (by now) expect from her. The characters do swear a lot, so if you're not a fan of the f-word, then I'm not sure this is a book for you. I loved Bryce so much, and she loves otters. The book has otters, cute and fluffy otters, what more do I need to tell you?
• Mystery: Where the other books in her series are really fantasy based, this also felt like a mystery series! The combination of fantasy/mystery and romance is a lot of fun. Something is happened in the past with Bryce and Danika, and that was very interesting as well, I couldn't wait to find out what it was.
• Plot twists: If you know SJM, then you know to expect a ton of plot twists. But in this book... It's plot twist upon plot twist and once you think you've solved the mystery, nope, just another plot twist! I loved it from the beginning till the end and the fast paced storyline makes it even better.
• Ending: Holy cow. These final 50 pages. I bawled my eyes out. It was AMAZING and full of all the feelz and beautiful and all the other positive words I can't think of right now <3.

Cons

*Insert crickets*

Overall

I am a huge ACOTAR and TOG fan and I can't imagine people not liking those books. Now I can add Crescent City to the list, because this series is amazing. I'm actually just waiting for SJM to poop out another book, because once I've finished House of Sky and Breath, there is nothing left for me to read? I'm currently re-reading ACTOAR for the third time, so that's what will keep me busy, I guess.

Other opinions on this book

"The mystery element presents a stunning twist, and the emotional depth of Bryce's relationship with both Hunt and Danika is incredibly moving."

- Booklist

"Tender, funny, frustrating, hot and satisfying... Modern day paranormal mixed with good old-fashioned fantasy... of truly epic proportions."

- NYT Bestselling Author Laurell K. Hamilton

Memorable quotes from this book

"A light had gone out inside her. A light had been extinguished. She might as well have been staring inside herself: Darkness. Silence. Mist."

"Most days, all I want is to go back. To how it was before. I can't bear to keep going forward."

"I'm scared." Danika grabbed her hand again. "That's the point of it, Bryce. Of life. To live, to love, knowing that it might all vanish tomorrow. It makes everything that much more precious."

Thanks for reading!

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