Synopsis:
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.
Wow, just wow. First off… House of Earth and Blood is one of the longest books I think I have ever read. I read the sample, then bought the book and realized whoa 803 pages?! I honestly wasn’t sure I would get through it all. However, I was so, so wrong. This story just has action after action, betrayals, lust, friendships, shady business, darkness, love… I mean there isn’t anything this book doesn’t have. It is absolutely striking and full of power.
One thing I love about how long this book is, is that it gives so much time to properly develop the characters and Sarah J. Maas executes it perfectly. It’s not just like one page their friends, the next enemies, the next lovers. Each relationship you learn about develops over chapters and then weaves in and out of the storyline. It is super well done. This is also one of those books where you love every character, regardless if they are crappy or not. My favorite side standouts were definitely Ruhn, Syrinx, and Declan.
With our main characters Bryce and Hunt, their story is one you just keep constantly rooting for regardless of how many bombs go off, literally. I really enjoyed their development and know that there is SO much more I want to see from them.
I will say, the first couple chapters were a bit tough to get through. There is a lot of world building right at the start and even in the first chapter I was like what in the world am I trying to read here? These were basically my thoughts:
Chap 1 – So much world building almost tough to get through… 803 pages… am I really going to make it through this?
Chap 3 – Okay, this is really starting to click, I think I’m getting this now.
Chap 5 – WHAT. THE. HECK. JUST. HAPPENED. Heart wrenching, action starts and you’re totally ready to dive in.
With all that being said, KEEP GOING. Once you hit about chapter 5, the world explodes and it keeps bursting and does not stop. There are essentially 2-3 main mysteries trying to be solved and although I guessed the two main ones correct, there are constantly surprises and unexpected twists essentially every other chapter. My mind was consistently being blown.
It’s an absolutely outstanding start to this series by Sarah J. Maas and I cannot wait to get my hands on the next book! I’ll be very curious if our “main characters” stay as the main. You get lots of different view points throughout the book, so she could take it any direction. I know I would be happy with any result. It cannot come soon enough!
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