House of Earth and Blood Book Review

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.

• Slow start but non-stop action in the second half of the book
• LOTS of swearing and sexual innuendo (almost too much). This is an adult book and Sarah let’s you know that.
• Multi-layered characters your heart breaks for
• Insanely good twists that made my mouth drop
• Bryce is the strong female character Sarah J Maas writes better than anyone
• Excellent world-building. Modern world with our favorite fantasy/magic elements
• Touching portrayal of female friendships

There are a few reasons I love reading books by Sarah J. Maas. Strong female protagonists. Eccentric, entertaining and lovable side characters. A heart-pounding plot storyline. Excellent romantic tension. Non-stop action in the endings. And shocking plot twists. Each of these can be found in House of Earth and Blood.

This book is different from Sarah’s others in a few very key ways. Unlike her previous books, this is her first adult series. The themes and circumstances in it are darker and more mature (things like slavery, drug use, judgmental misogyny, etc). There are also graphic fighting scenes and a few sex scenes. Oh, and LOTS of swearing. 

Its other major difference is that it is set in a modern world. It has a lot of the creatures we see in other books (fae, witches, etc) and fun new ones (oh hey angels) and features the cool magic us fantasy lovers adore. But it also has them on cellphones, watching TV, using computers, etc. It was fun to see the fantasy elements we’re so familiar with in a completely different setting.  And it also is the most complex world she’s created as far places, histories, hierarchies and cultural intricacies.

The main character is Bryce, and she is your typical Maas female protagonist. Strong-willed, stubborn, highly intelligent, moments of compassion, outcast by society, and relatable flaws. Bryce has excellent character development throughout the story, though with the time jump we missed a lot of it. Which is fine, but that makes me wish the party-girl hedonistic person she portrayed Bryce as in the beginning hadn’t been so extreme.  It almost made me not like her. Hunt is the other main character and he was my favorite. Talk about a complicated person who learns to be open minded and grow. He’s everyone’s favorite moody bad boy who you know will learn to love and open his heart.  I liked how both characters are thrown together, which creates that delicious tension SJM fans love. Lots of scenes that have you saying “oh just kiss and get it over with.” My favorite!!! And no insta-love, in case you’re like me and hate that. 

Between the flirty banter Bryce and Hunt exchange with each other and the fun, quirky side characters, there is a lot to be entertained by. And these moments are so important because they provide much needed levity in the midst of some of the more harsher realities in the story. 

Do you like to be surprised by plot twists in the books you read? Then look no further. I pride myself on seeing a lot of plot twists coming. But somehow, Sarah J. Maas manages to surprise me in EVERY SINGLE BOOK. This made House of Earth and Blood fun to read because I never knew what would happen next or when some shocking revelation would come to light.

The biggest reason I’m taking a half point off is because of the over the top swearing and how slow the story started. Part of me gets it. It’s an epic fantasy and those need lots of world building, especially in the beginning. But so much of the first few chapters just felt like buckets of info-dumping were being poured on me. I wish it would have been spread out more, or somehow incorporated into the story so it wasn’t paragraph after paragraph of textbook-esc lessons. Also, the swearing in the beginning! My word. I really try not to be too much of a prude, but it felt like every fourth word was a swear word and it made the writing feel choppy and it lost the easy flow I’m used to with Sarah’s books.