"House of Earth and Blood" Spoiler Free Review

This week I finished "House of Earth and Blood" by my goddess Sarah J. Maas. And boy... it was an experience! We asked, and Queen Mother Sarah delivered, in all her godly glory. It was amazing, it was beautiful, it was sexy, it was heartbreaking, and altogether quite impossible to praise enough. 

This book is the first in the "Crescent City" series. It takes place in another world, a planet called Midgard, which is very similar to ours in terms of modern technology and clothes. In this world, fantasy creatures walk openly among humans, and magic is as natural as breathing. These creatures, called vanir in the book, are virtually immortal, and are divided among four houses, which they are governed and protected by. These houses are: Earth and Blood, whose members are the humans, shifters, witches, fauns, and ordinary animals; Sky and Breath, which is for the fae, angels, elementals, and sprites; Many Waters, reserved for the merpeople, river spirits, water beasts, nymphs, kelpies, and nøkks; and last but not least Flame and Shadow whose members are the vampyrs, necromancers, daemonaki, reapers, draki, dragons, and many other evil things. 

This world has several continents, and all cities are governed by one leader. Aside from this, in every city there is a king or queen for each of the houses previously mentioned; all of the houses respond to the city governor. Regardless, every monarch and governor in this world respond to the Asteri, the most powerful beings of all, whose power is that of stars. They are cold, evil, distant and ruthless. 

Now as for the story it centers around Bryce Quinlan, a 25-year-old half-fae, half-human. She works in a magic antiquities shop in the city of Lunathion (or Crescent City) for a sorceress called Jesiba Roga, who is very much alike Miranda Priestly. Two years before the real action begins, Bryce's best friend is brutally murdered in their apartment, leaving Bryce in a deep state of shock and depression. Two years after the murder, the archangel and governor Lunathion called Micah, sends her on a mission with angel Hunt Athalar to trap her friend's murderer and solve the mystery surrounding her death.  

Bryce and Hunt. 
Credits to Bxromance I think. 

That's pretty much what I can say without spoiling anything. And no, writing about the friend's murder is not a spoiler; it's written on the book's description. That said, I'd like to make a list of my pros and cons regarding this book. Let's start with the good things! 

Pros: 

1- The Characters: they are believable, they are badly broken on the inside but dealing with their healing process, and they feel human despite what their species are. Sarah J. Maas really managed to capture the complexity of the healing process in a very beautiful, respectable and heartbreaking way. The character I loved the most was Bryce, of course. She's very brave, compassionate, sassy, funny, but dealing with a horrible trauma. The way she learns to open up to people again, and how she struggles with her mental health really hit close to home. It's refreshing to see a character with mental health issues and reading her progress throughout the book was inspiring. There's also Hunt, the angel who becomes her lover, and Bryce's friends: wolf shifter Danika, faun Juniper, and Fury the assassin. 

From left to right: Juniper, Fury, Bryce and Danika. 
Credits to Inky Jar. 

2- Language: Queen Mother Sarah doesn't hold back in this book! There's a LOT of cursing which I personally enjoyed a lot; for me it made the dialogues more realistic. There's also some... intimate scenes very explicitly described, even for Sarah's standards. Not that I'm complaining, of course. The writing style flows very naturally, and every conversation seems 100% real. 

Bryce and Danika
Credits to Sncinder

3- Villains: they deserve their own category. I hated them with a passion from the get-go. Sarah really made these villains jump out of the page. They are monstrous, despicable, vindictive, cruel, and at times sadistic. The one who murdered Bryce's friend was especially evil. But then at the same time, most of the villains feel almost human. You can see the pain behind their actions, which was amazing. I hate villains who are evil just for the sake of being evil, like Sauron in the "Lord of the Rings". Tip: watch out for Sabine, Danika's mother; she's a real pain in the ass. 

This is Micah Domitus, the governor and an asshole.
Don't be like Micah. 
Credits to Morgana0anagrom

4- Romance: GOOD LORD, I CAN'T. The romance and passion between Bryce and Hunt was something else. They have both been through trauma and a lot of darkness in their lives. They don't even start liking each other; in fact, they cannot stand the sight of the other at first. So, this is a classic enemies-to-lovers story. By the end of this book, their love is strong enough to change the world and the course of history- literally. They bring each other to life again, in more ways than one. I'll forever ship them with all my soul. 

I LOVE THEM WITH MY LIFE

5- Setting: this world that Queen Mother Sarah has created is rich in complexity and history. You can feel as if it were real. You lose yourself in this world, and at times you even wish you were a part of it. It can be deadly, like any other fantasy world, but it's so beautiful and vast. Nothing I've ever read can compare to it. 

Part of Lunathion, also called Crescent City. 

6- Complexity: like I said, this world is rich in complexity. It has some very specific rules of magic, and there are even more to be discovered in the future books. Every species has its abilities, and some of them are even determined by the continent they are born into. The political system is well explained, and the social rules and customs too. It is very fleshed out society. 

Sorceress Jesiba Roga, Bryce's boss. 
She's a 400 years old. and is famous for turning
people who annoy her into animals. 
Credits to Morgana0anagrom

7- Diversity: Queen Mother Sarah has improved on this! In this book there are characters of color, from Asian to black, which was amazing. These characters are written beautifully and respectfully; they're not vilified or used to propel the protagonist's journey. In fact, Bryce is not precisely white, and neither is Hunt. Bryce is described as having gold-dusted skin (think of Danna Paola and there you have her), and Hunt's skin is described as light brown. There's also Hypaxia, who is black and the queen of the witches. Aside from the racial diversity, there's also LGBT+ characters, who again are not vilified or used disrespectfully. There are more of them in this book than in Sarah's previous works, which is a good sign. They don't fall into cliches, and are not used as the comic relief, for which I am very thankful.  

Hypaxia Enador, Queen of the Witches. 
Powerful healing abilities, she works as a doctor. 
Will probably kick your ass. 
Credits to Talia Nobel

Now let's go for the cons. 

Cons: 

1- World Building: it was good, it was brilliant, but it was delivered way too fast. In the first 50 pages or so, all the information about this world (or at least most of it) is thrown at you. I had to read more than three times certain paragraphs to assimilate all the information I was being given. I would have preferred this to be a little slower, and more spaced throughout the book. 

That's it. That's my only complaint. 

Queen Mother Sarah has stated that the books will be written as a trilogy, but that she's still unsure if it will be so. After all, her "Court of Thorns and Roses" series was also going to be a trilogy at first, and we are currently expecting the fifth book. I sincerely hope "Crescent City" doesn't end as a trilogy. I believe this world can be explored deeper, from their planet Midgard, to the world of the Asteri, and even Hel. 

I have to do some research on Norse mythology though. Some therms in this book I believe are taken from it, such as Midgard and vanir (I think). My best friend and I have agreed that we'd like to investigate more about Norse mythology, and now I found the perfect motivation to do so. 

I wish I could write more about this book, but to do so would be to spoil it a lot. I hope that if you're reading this, something sparked your curiosity enough to give this book a try. Many people have said that they hated it, others like me loved it; I recommend you try it for yourself and reach your own conclusions. I sincerely cannot wait to go back to Crescent City and have adventures with Bryce, Hunt and the rest of the gang too. 

From left to right: Ruhn, his sister Bryce, and Hunt. 
At the top is Lehabah, a fire sprite and Bryce's coworker and friend. 
Credits to Jemlin Creations

P.S This book touched my soul in multiple ways, and I love it deeply. If you read it and end up hating it, please don't come at me to criticize it. I don't want my experience to be tarnished by anything. 

Quarantine Book Tag

Hello readers! Welcome back to my blog. I know I wrote in my first blog I wouldn't talk about the quarantine again. And it's true, I won't do it- not really. But I found this tag online, and I decided it would be fun to do it! I personally love book tags: I read and watch them all the time. This is a tag originally created by Our Booknook, so check the video- it's amazing. 

As with other tags, this comes with a series of questions to be answered with a book or book series. Quick disclaimer: please don't get offended by the things I might write, because that's not my intention. You are entitled to your own opinion about books, as I am.

Without further due, let's get started!

1- Must-Have: A book you must have with you while quarantined.

This new book is written by goddess Sarah J. Maas and its setting is in a world very similar to ours, where fantasy creatures (fairies, witches, angels and such) live freely and openly among humans. The protagonist is this awesome half-human, half-fae called Bryce Quinlan who teams up with an angel to hunt down her best friend's murderer. I ordered this book a couple of weeks ago, and I'm still waiting for it to arrive! I need it more than the air to breathe. 

2- Isolation: A book where the main character (MC) spends most of their time in the book alone. 

This beauty is the second volume in "The Book of Dust" trilogy, the sequel to "His Dark Materials" by Philip Pullman. In this book, Lyra Silvertongue has grown into a twenty-year old woman, who's daemon Pantalaimon separates from her. To put it shortly, their relationship has been hurt a lot, and they can't stand each other anymore. Lyra goes on a world search for Pan, while hiding her daemon-less nature from her world inhabitants. Even though she meets many people, she is completely alone without Pan. It's a much more adult novel than its predecessors, and it handles themes such as depression, identity, sexuality and others. 

3- Binge Read: A long book series you'd recommend to someone who has a lot more time on their hands. 

Percy Jackson and the Olympians

I started reading "Percy Jackson and the Olympians" in high school and it absolutely changed my life. I've continued reading its sequels "Heroes of Olympus" and "The Trials of Apollo" which are equally amazing and get better with each book. It makes me feel at home, as if I were reading about my best friends. If you are not intimidated by long book series, if you love fantasy and mythology, and if you like a good written adventure of good versus evil, then these series are for you. 

Heroes of Olympus

Trials of Apollo

4- Toilet Paper: All the TP is gone! What book are you using? 

I feel like this question is a bit mean hahaha, but I don't really feel that guilty with my answer. I have nothing against you if you like "Twilight", but I do have some strong opinions about the books. I'm not choosing one, I'm taking them all for toilet paper. 

5- Anti-Viral: A book that went viral that you have avoided or not read... yet. 

I really can't stand this man's writing. I have read three other books from him, and another I couldn't even finish- "Looking for Alaska". I won't bother with this one. Thank you, next! 

6- Super Binge: What book and TV series combo would you recommend? 

I really can't stress this enough: "The Magicians" is one of the most brilliant pieces of literature of modern times. Epic, realistic (even for a series focused on magic) heartbreaking, fun, and filled with deeply flawed and beautiful characters. Its TV adaption is just as great, and it is my number one series of all time. It doesn't get all the love it deserves. 

That's all for now! Thank you for stopping by and reading my new post. I hope everyone is staying safe. Tune in next Sunday for my new post. 

P.S. Just in case you missed it, the link for the original video is at the beginning of the post in the bold red letter of Our Booknook. Go give booktubers your love and support!