House of Earth and Blood book review

House of Earth and Blood by Sarah J. Maas
Published by Bloomsbury Publishing on March 3, 2020
Pages: 803
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.

House of Earth and Blood is Sarah J Maas’ new Adult Fantasy novel and was definitely my most-anticipated new release of the year! I couldn’t wait to get my hands on it and read it. I will say it was a rough start and I almost gave up on it but I am SO glad I kept with it. This book was definitely a guilty pleasure but then again most of her books are and I fully appreciate them for everything they are!

I actually think that the characters weren’t the best thing in this book and I think that is one of the big reasons why this didn’t get the usual 5-stars. I found myself hating Bryce for a lot of the book. I understand why she had the attitude about “Alpha-holes” but because the reasoning was never actually fully explained the book felt stilted and the conversations surrounding this felt more than a little annoying and painted Bryce in a horrible light that made it hard to root for her. I kinda wish that we would have had a proper explanation for her feelings it would have made me understand her more. I did love her friendships with everyone around her, the dialogue seemed natural and without shyness and I LOVED that.

I think the best bit of House of Earth and Blood was the fact that it has all the best bits of Sarah J Maas’ writing. There are great characters in a great world that have a great system. All of the things that make Maas an auto-buy author, I think I love the fact that she doesn’t shy away from a steamy romance and just adds to it with the fantasy elements and makes something so wonderfully fantastic. I love a good romance but I love it even more when there is something more about the characters and the story.

The worst bits about House of Earth and Blood would have to be the beginning. I felt a complete disconnect from the characters and the events that were happening. I don’t know whether it was because there was a lot of information packed into that short space of time or whether none of that information was actually explained. I really struggled to understand everything about this new world and the way that the story was told was almost as though we were supposed to know all of this in advance. It was a little discombobulating and I wasn’t sure I was going to get past it!

I was so happy to know that Sarah J Maas had written another book and series, I finally feel as though I’m ready to read Kingdom of Ash and I would definitely be recommending this series to anyone who loves any of Maas’ other works. This book was amazing and everything that I ended up hoping for, I did think the beginning was a little disappointing and I was considering DNF’ing a Sarah J Maas book for the first time ever. But I’m so glad I persevered because this book was everything I ever wanted.

Sarah J Maas is one of my favourite authors, she will forever be an auto-buy. Did you enjoy House of Earth and Blood? Was it your favourite read? Let me know!