House of Earth and Blood, Crescent City #1 by Sarah J. Maas *Spoiler Free* Review

I hope you all are staying safe out there! Today’s review will be for my first adult fantasy, Sarah J. Maas’s House of Earth and Blood! I loved this book from the beginning to the end and I’m really excited to share my thoughts with you all. I do want to preface that this book contains adult content.

*Content Warning* If you are under 18, I would strongly advise against reading this book due to suggestive themes(Graphic violence, Explicit Language, Sexual Content) If you are over 18 feel free to use the link below to check out the synopsis and buy the book if it intrigues you.

Let’s get into the review!

Initial Thoughts

This is the fourth SJM novel I’ve read so far so I had pretty high expectations going in. I love Maas’s writing style, and reading Crescent City has actually inspired me to write my own story about faeries(more on that coming soon). I put off reading this novel because of the length(over 800 pages) but I’m glad I picked it up. Once I started reading the first chapter I was unable to put it down. The characters were captivating and I found myself liking Bryce Quinlan’s character more than I initially enjoyed Feyre in the A Court of Thorns and Roses series. There are things I like about both of these series but I will specify what I enjoyed more in the next section of this review.

Favorite Moments

Lehabah and Sphinx: I won’t go into much detail to refrain from spoilers, but I loved how these “side/sidekick” characters were described! Both of them reminded me of nostalgia reads from my childhood.
Bryce Quinlan: After finishing the novel I have to say Bryce is one of my favorite female heroines I’ve read about in a story. She reminds me a lot of Alosa if you’ve read my review of Daughter of a Pirate King. If not you can click here to read it. When I first read the ACOTAR series, I didn’t really like Feyre until the end of ACOTAR. From the very first chapter I was intrigued by Bryce’s character and become thoroughly invested in her story until the end of the novel.
Hunt Athlar: I loved Hunt! His character especially in the beginning reminded me of Dean from Supernatural. I tend to like sarcastic, brooding male characters in both novels and movies/tv so I knew from the synopsis I was probably going to love Hunt’s character.
World Building: This book was gigantic. At first I wasn’t sure if I could keep up with it but I realized this was because of how in depth Maas detailed the different realms in the story. Like any fantasy novel, it takes a few chapters to take in all the different names, references, etc but by Part II I felt like I was well versed in the world of Crescent City.
Urban Fantasy V.S High Fantasy: This novel was my first “Urban Fantasy” read. I typically read “High Fantasy” like to ACOTAR series, but I found myself really enjoying the Urban Fantasy setting in Crescent City! The world felt more modern, something I could relate to despite the mythical creatures.
Friendship:There are multiple themes in this novel, but I think Friendship is one of my favorites. Bryce goes through so much in Crescent city and after finishing the book I really saw how important this aspect was for her in the novel…and ultimately how it helped her as she navigated her trauma.

My Rating

Playlist

Overall Thoughts

Overall, I really enjoyed this novel! I will definitely be giving it a re-read and am excited for the second book in the series to be released. Like I mentioned before this book does contain adult content. I have never read an adult fantasy before this one although some parts of it reminded me of ACOMAF. There was a lot of cursing and graphic violence, but I was able to look past this in order to see the true meaning of the story. Bryce also goes through quite a bit of trauma that I won’t disclose due to spoilers, so if any of that triggers you I would advise against reading this. There are plenty of YA fantasy books that have limited to no adult content. Feel free to check out my other reviews if you’re interested! I plan on making a post of YA Fantasy recommendations so if that intrigues you feel free to leave me a comment!

I hope you enjoyed today’s review! I loved this book so much and I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments. Have a wonderful day, and I’ll see you soon with more bookish content.

With Love & Magic,