House of Earth and Blood

by Sarah J Maas

This is one of my most anticipated reads this year [I have about three tied for first now that Empire of the Vampire is pushed to release in 2021], so I wanted to take a different approach to reviewing it.

I know a lot of people who write book reviews to publish on blogs and similar places take notes as they read. I feel like that detracts a bit from the reading experience, and I am, foremost, a book reader. I mainly review to help fellow book readers out who like to read reviews before they decide which books to read and because I’m trying to improve my book recommendation skills for when I get approached with requests.

So, this time, I thought I’d try a sort of compromise – I took notes whenever I felt inspired or motivated to, and we’ll see where it goes from there.

First off, I heard a lot of people struggled to get into this world, that it was difficult to really sink into. Maybe it’s because I’m not a stranger to adult fantasy, maybe it’s because I’ve read nearly all of Sarah J Maas’s books already, maybe it’s because I’ve read so, so many books, maybe it’s because it’s one of my most anticipated reads and that made me persistent to push through – but I’m not struggling [I didn’t struggle] at all. By page 28 [I think?], I didn’t want to stop reading. Mind you, I wasn’t dying at that point to keep reading, I just didn’t want to go back to real life. But I certainly never struggled to keep reading – though I did struggle a bit to visualize some things – mainly Danika’s wolf form on that very first page [“the wolf’s fist” was odd to me – how do wolves make fists??], but I was never pushing through a barrier to keep reading.

Before the end of Chapter 5, I was invested. I’m not yet at the point of I-can’t-put-this-down-must-keep-reading, but I wasn’t struggling, by any means.

I connected more with Danika than Bryce, though I connected more with Bryce’s half-Fae race than Danika’s wolf-shifter race. I have nothing against werewolves/wolf-shifters at all, I just prefer magic to shifting. Not that Bryce has much magic to speak of, but if I had to choose basically-no-magic or weak-shifting, I would still choose basically-no-magic.

So, I know that a lot of people kind of knew this going in, but I’m so sick of spoiling books for myself because I read the summary, so I didn’t. I get very vague details about the plot behind the book [there are Fae, other races, Houses they all “fall” into, a murder mystery, kinda-modern in technology, city-based], so I had no idea what was going to happen.

We’ll get a little more into that after the spoiler line.

I like Bryce as a character. I like her story arc, even if it’s a tad predictable, and I like her drive, her attitude, her sass/edge, all of that. I don’t know if I’d like her as a friend or person, but she doesn’t ruin my reading experience.

Hunt . . . leaves something to be desired for me. I don’t know why. I don’t think I’ve “chosen” any of Sarah J Maas’s previous male characters in a way that would make me appreciate Hunt less or anything. There’s just . . . something missing. Maybe it’ll come in later books?

Alright, I’m running out of non-spoiler things to talk about, so – onto my recommendation!

Recommendation: if you’re open-minded about the worlds and races Sarah J Maas has created in other books/worlds, if you’re open to a more modern and city setting, and if you’re open to a sort of murder-mystery thing without it being super mystery, then I’d definitely give this book a shot. That being said – this book is definitely adult. Depending on the kid/teenager, this may not be right for them. If I were a parent, I would give this a read, or at least read certain chunks before giving it to any child.

I loved it, and I think a lot of others did too. You’re likely to enjoy it too if the idea of the book sounds interesting – and especially if you’ve enjoyed Sarah J Maas’s book in the past!

**SPOILERS NEXT! I’VE BEEN WAITING FOR SO LONG TO READ AND CHAT THIS BOOK, SO YOU’VE BEEN WARNED ON SPOILERS. SO. MANY. SPOILERS. SPOILER TIME!**

First and foremost, my very first reaction to this book was, “She done Up‘d me!” Very much to the confusion of my S.O., who sort of made a, “Um, what?” face at me. “You know the beginning of Up? A very short introduction of a relationship between two people and then one got ripped away by death shortly after? Yeah. The main character of this [I waved my book around here] is like the old man, and almost all her friends are the wife. Not. Cool.” [I got a very understanding, “Ahhhhhhh” in reply, in case you were curious on that exchange.]

I will say that the early banter between Bryce and Hunt is lacking to some degree, somehow. I’m not sure how – maybe because they’re hinting at falling into the painfully-obvious-but-the-author-is-trying-to-pretend-it-isn’t romance cycle and I’m annoyed with that exhausted trope? I enjoyed it, don’t get me wrong! But it wasn’t what I wanted it to be – there was something missing for me.

As much as Hunt’s history and the age gap are all weird/lacking and there are things about it that don’t quite leave holes but also don’t make for a solid story, the age gap is unsurprising for Sarah J Maas couples, and the history works enough for me.

So, if Danika is gone from being there for Bryce for the Drop, does that mean Bruce gets her “spot” back? . . . Does she even want it if Danika won’t be there? Because I did read that right, right? Danika isn’t waiting for Bryce anymore?

It’s a little cheap that two hard-to-kill beings are dead so easily and one with semi-normal means – and that Hunt was so mortally injured and then gets saved by Bruce’s Drop firstlight. I mean, you kinda saw it coming, and it isn’t THAT cheap, but it is a little too similar to ACOWAR to not note it.

Lehabah. Can we address this? How dare my feelings be hurt in that manner? How. Dare. You.

That’s all. [On that.]

I’m so glad I didn’t read the summary on this. I would have missed out on the blow that was the Pack of Devils – both the missed out stuff [them doing the Drop together, Bruce and Connor] and the deaths, as they’re really two separate things, in my opinion. I would have guessed too much before sitting down and reading it, and I hate doing that.

I’m a fan of saying that her ACOTAR series is a more mature writing style than ToG, and I stand by that. But I’m sad to say that House of Earth and Blood felt like a step back – or maybe more along the lines of having a lighter hand on the editing and revising side this time? The character development for Bryce and Hunt felt a little shallow and underdone – maybe I’ll feel different on a reread, maybe I won’t. This is definitely a book I’ll be giving a reread, so I’ll try to include that in my reread review. Ironically, the secondary characters – Danika, Connor, Ruhn and friends, Juniper, the Pack of Devils – felt more fleshed out – and more properly executed.

I don’t know, maybe that’s just me.

I read a rather scathing review on this book the other day [I like seeing opposing views on things, I feel it gives a more thorough evaluation] that I’d be up to addressing in a sort of mock debate sort of way, if that’s something that interests you guys at all. Definitely feel free to let me know!

I have a few reviews to catch up on [definitely reading faster than I can manage to get my thoughts on them down in a way that I feel is well done and accurate to my views and the book], so I’ll see you when I manage them!