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A review by mfsquared
House of Earth and Blood by Sarah J. Maas
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
I came to this book after finishing the ACOTAR series, so I'll open by saying it was somewhat jarring to go from there to here given how different the worlds are; that being said, it didn't take long for this world to completely reel me in! The similarities/analogs with certain powers and characters in ACOTAR was a little distracting at times, but I came to really enjoy this book and its characters for themselves. The tone to me felt very gritty, fantasy crime/mystery-novel, which was fun and different (and also very dark). The twists and turns were really well executed and kept me guessing, and I loved the care paid to the power of love in relationships that are *not* romantic. Those were the ones that really got to me here, especially between Bryce and Danika, Bryce and Ruhn, and Bryce and Lehabah. As usual, there were far too many "golden-skinned" characters and mainly white MCs, which seems to be a real weakness of Maas's books, as is her LGBTQ rep, although there was some in this book.
Graphic: Death, Gore, Gun violence, Torture, Violence, and Murder
Moderate: Drug use, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Slavery, and Medical trauma
Minor: Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, and Trafficking