#Review - House of Earth and Blood by Sarah J. Maas #Fantasy #Urban

Series: Crescent City #1
Format: Hardcover, 816 pages
Release Date: March 3, 2020
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Source: Library
Genre: Fiction / Fantasy / Urban

#1 NYT bestselling author Sarah J. Maas launches the CRESCENT CITY series: the tale of half-Fae Bryce Quinlan as she seeks revenge in a modern fantasy world of danger and romance.

Half-Fae, half-human Bryce Quinlan loves her life. By day, she works for an antiquities dealer, selling barely legal magical artifacts, and by night, she parties with her friends, savoring every pleasure known Crescent City has to offer. But it all comes crumbling down when a ruthless murder shakes the very foundations of the city—and Bryce’s world.

For two years, Bryce seeks blissful oblivion in the city’s most notorious nightclubs. But when the murderer attacks again, she finds herself dragged into the investigation and paired with an infamous Fallen angel whose own brutal past haunts his every step.

Hunt Athalar wants nothing to do with Bryce Quinlan, despite being ordered to protect her. She stands for everything he once rebelled against, but he soon realizes there’s far more to Bryce than meets the eye—and that he’s going to have to find a way to work with her if they want to solve this case.

As Bryce and Hunt race to untangle the mystery, they have no way of knowing the threads they tug ripple through the underbelly of the city, across warring continents, and down to the darkest levels of Hel, where things that have been sleeping for millennia are beginning to stir . . .

"My friends are behind me, and I will protect them."

House of Earth and Blood, by author Sarah J. Maas, is the first installment in the authors Crescent City series; which is the authors first foray into the adult genre. Crescent City is a place where all forms of magic (and technology) intersect into one, unforgettable town. Here you are likely to find shifters, witches, angels, fae, sprites, merfolk, wraiths, vampyrs, and humans who are lowest on the power index and are itching to rebel against their slave like conditions. If I actually caught the hint, this story takes place in the year 15035. The main characters; Bryce Quinlan, Hunt Athalar, and Ruhn Danaan. 

 

Bryce, who is 1/2 fae, 1/2 human, works for Griffin Antiquities by day, and is party girl at night. That means drugs, alcohol, and sex with whomever tickels her fancy. Her boss, Jesiba, is a sorceress who is almost always threatening Bryce with turning her into a variety of animals. Bryce is actually a rarity in that while she is a halfling, she's also born of two houses; House of Earth and Blood, and House of Sky and Breath. The Drop is the process that allows you to become fully immortal, but not without contingencies. The possibility of dying in the process is possible. Levels are also recorded to determine your rank in power.

Her best friend, Danika Fendyr, is leader of The Pack of Devils (A group consisting of several wolf shifters). Her co-worker, Lehabah, is a fire sprite who joined the fallen rebellion against the Asteri (Rulers of Midgard, control originates from the Eternal City—a continent of Pangera) 200 years ago and is now a slave of Jesiba's. Syrinx is Bryce's chimera who is adorable. Juniper Andromeda and Fury Axtar are two very curious characters, especially Fury who you should keep close eyes out for. Ruhn Danaan is Bryce's brother, although she's not allowed to reveal it to anyone since her fae father is a pure unadulterated douche canoe. Ruhn is also the alleged Chosen One as well as the bearer of the Starborn sword.

Ruhn and his friends Tristan Flynn and Declan are what's called Aux warriors. They, like Hunts 33rd Legion, are responsible for taking care of business when someone steps out of line. Ruhn and Bryce haven't exactly been close thanks to an incident that happened after she visited with the Oracle and ditched like garbage by her fae father. But, let's get to the crux of the story. Shortly after a priceless relic called Luna's Horn (Fae relic that belonged to the first fae and derived its name from this goddess) goes missing, Danika and her pack are massacred in the apartment she shared with Bryce. 

 

2 years later, after another demon attack in which Bryce saves an Angel, Bryce is forced to team up with Hunt Athalar. Hunt is a legendary fallen angel and assassin who is given a chance of earning his freedom if he can put a stop to the murders once and for all. Hunt joined the rebellion against the Asteri and is now trying to redeem himself for all of those he killed which number in the thousands. Hunt is pretty much a slave to the Governor of the city Micah. Micah can pretty much to do him anything he wants and nobody can lift a finger. 

 

This story has a complex mystery that begins to unravel the more you pay attention to the bread crumbs that the author lays out for you. Seriously, you knew there was a reason behind what happened to Danika and it was going to be something that goes nicely with the quote above. However, when the real true villain is revealed, you'll likely see it coming. I am not going to go off on a tangent and compare Aelion, Feyre and Bryce. I would say that there is a comparable level of sex in both Feyre & Bryces's stories perhaps with a bit more heat in this story.

 

There are (4) Houses that exist in this world: House of Earth and Blood (Shifters, humans, witches, ordinary animals, and many others to whom Cthona calls, as well as some chosen by Luna), House of Sky and Breath (Malakim(angels), fae, elementals, sprites, and those who are blessed by Solas, along with some favored by Luna), House of Many Waters, (River-spirits, mer, water beasts, nymphs, kelpies, nøkks, and others watched over by Ogenas) and House of Flame and Shadow (Daemonaki, reapers, wraiths, vampyrs, draki, dragons, necromancers, and many wicked and unnamed things that even Urd herself cannot see).  

There is quite a bit of suspense and intrigue as to the reasons of their involvement and the identity of the killer. There were also scenes that, yes, I reached for a Kleenex because it broke my heart into little pieces. I am going to nag about the length of this book for a very long time. There is no reason, none whatsoever for a book to be 800 pages long. The book legitimately could have been 300 pages less and probably gotten rid of a whole lot of emptiness for much of the first 2 parts of this book. The final book, especially from page 700 on, was the best parts of this book without any competition which is why I continue to suffer through reading one of Sarah J Maas's novels from hell.

“Through love, all is possible.”

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