House of Earth and Blood

Crescent City #1

By Sarah J. Maas

TheStory

After the murder of her closest friends by some type of demon, Bryce Quinlan, a half-human, half-fae woman, has her life uprooted and everything changes. After the supposed murderer is locked up, Bryce finds herself in the middle of the mystery when the murders continue.

As the demon’s rampage continues, Hunt Athalar, a well-known Fallen angel enslaved to the Archangels running the city, is tasked with helping Bryce find the murderer. If he can help her, his freedom will be within reach. 

But as the two of them work together to unravel this mystery, they are led down a dark and tumultuous road of corruption, evil, danger, and death. 

TheReview

It’s time to paaaaay attention! Information is here, being dumped left and right, right in the very beginning. But pay attention because it is all important and essential to the story. If you have to reread it (like I did sometimes), do it, because it is soooooo worth it. 

Part one of our story is just giving a feel for Bryce, her life, her friends, etc. Essentially, it is building her background and basically giving you a reason to care. Since, from the synopsis, you know her best friends are murdered and that is the catalyst for the book, the whole of part one is leading up to that and making you care about the deaths. 

In part two, we have the mystery of it all (*collective ooooohs*). After the death of her friends, Bryce, Hunt, and Ruhn are enlisted to investigate. The three of them are following the clues, trying to find killers, and having near death experiences. 

NOW… Part three…. is when everything goes to absolute Hel. It is just a whirlwind of horribleness and bad things flying from all directions - the Summit, creatures from Hel coming through the gates, betrayals left and right, battle, death, etc. 

But most importantly (to me), the relationships! Hunt’s and Bryce’s slow burn starts slow burning about half way through and let me tell you… it is the slowest slow burn in the history of slow burns. I loved every minute of it. 

Bryce is really funny and sassy and badass. Hunt is… everything. Broody, feisty, moody, snarky. They can totally meet each other blow for blow and tit for tat. Their banter was amazing. Ruhn is a wonderfully perfect little brat. All the character building is very well done. It seems to be setting up for deep and meaningful group vibes in the next book. 

As with any SJM book, the last 100 pages or so are an absolute wild mess. I actually cried twice. The ending was good and has a sense of closure, while still retaining interest for the second book.

I absolutely loved this book. Now, I am a smidgen biased because I love SJM's books, but I put this one right up in my top favorites of all time. If you are also a fan of SJM, this one goes right up there with ACOTAR and way above TOG. I waited soooo long to finally start this series and I am thrilled I finally get to dive into the world of Crescent City. 

TheRating

Storyline: 5/5

Characters: 5/5

World Building: 5/5 

Writing: 5/5

Overall: 📘📘📘📘📘

Spice: 🌶️🌶️🌶️

Crescent City Series

House of Earth and Blood

Crescent City #1

House of Sky and Breath

Crescent City #2

House of Flame and Shadow

Crescent City #3