Review: House of Earth and Blood by Sarah J. Maas

A new fantasy by the famed ACOTAR writer. A new world and a new list of winged men.

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@shereadsbooks.sometimes

Dates read: 07/02/25 to 17/05/25

Word to describe: Twisty

Star rating:⭐⭐⭐⭐

Genre: Fantasy Fiction, Romance Fiction, Epic Fantasy, Crime Fiction

Entering a new fantasy era is always a journey and this one is certainly no exception. Bryce is a party-girl and a proud one at that, by day she works in an antique store to repay her debts to her boss and by night she's out partying with her best friend Danika. The plot opens seeing Danika and Bryce's friendship and one filled will love, adventure, and recklessness. I adored the relationship between these two characters (and even though its confirmed that they weren't lovers I'm still going to build that head cannon).

But all is not as it seems when a horrific demon attack leaves Bryce alone, scarred on her body, and grieving the loss of her friends. Several years later Bryce is still mourning the loss of her dear friend, she is sober, and working hard to forget her trauma, when she is approached by Archangel Micah when another Kristallos (demon) attack leaves an acquittance of Bryce's dead. Suddenly finding herself a suspect in a string of murders Bryce is enlisted to solve the case with the help of angel slave Hunt. Hunt being the very attractive, misunderstood and "alphahole" guy that keeps getting under her skin - and makes her all hot and bothered.

Hunt is a former soldier, who went to war and lost his true love in a battle for freedom and rebellion. A soft-hearted man with a hard exterior Hunt has had to work hard to gain his reputation as a killer but its not what it seems. For every kill he makes he is one step closer to freedom and living a real life. Tattooed as a slave for centuries Hunt works under Micah's ruling and has been promised a glimpse of freedom if he, and Bryce, can solve the murders in a limited time frame. Reluctant to work with former party girl, Hunt becomes stoic in his attempt to focus on the case. But, (typically), danger looms around the corner and Hunt and Bryce form an unlikely friendship in the process of solving the case.

What starts out as a slow burn setting up the storyline turned into a fantastical display of crime solving and monsters. The friendship between Bryce and Hunt evolves naturally and both broken souls help to heal each other in many ways - in short, its super wholesome and I love them. The twists and turns of the plot line kept me gripped once the story started to develop. Nothing is as it seems and everything the beginning of the book sets up is slowly unravelled and history itself becomes unreliable.

It's not uncommon for SJ Maas to trick her readers into falling for a false narrative (Tamlin and Feyre in ACOTAR) yet the way this was executed was fantastic! From a writers perspective, SJ Maas's development as an author is clearly seen in the difference between ACOTAR and Crescent City book one. Her style and approach to characters and plot lines is much more refined and calculated. Even if the plot line felt like a rollercoaster it was clear that time and effort had been poured into making this worthwhile.

My main negative opinions for House of Earth and Blood is how long it takes for the plot to get going. For the first half of the book it is all waffle and no syrup - meaning nothing really happens, the story doesn't go anywhere for a large chunk of the book whilst Bryce and Hunt aimlessly wander through the city in hopes of solving the Kristallos murders. Multiple side characters are met and then quickly dropped and then reappear at the end - most of them forgettable and not fleshed out enough to make them a memorable piece of the plot.

Overall, I'm looking forward to reading book two.