Spoiler-Free Blog
If you’re a fan of fantasy and mystery, and if you enjoyed the show Lucifer, House of Earth and Blood may be the book for you.
Click below for my reviews for the rest of the series:
What’s House of Earth and Blood about?
A half-fae “party girl” and an enslaved angel must work together to solve a gruesome case involving murder, demon summoning, and black market drugs.
I felt such a range of emotions reading this book.
When I say I laughed and cried – I mean it. I’m constantly looking for books that check all of the following boxes:
- Emotional salience (make me cry, giggle over banter, or burn with righteous anger)
- Excitement – that edge-of-your-seat feeling
- Rich plot with buried hints and foreshadowing, subplots, and developed characters
- Vivid world-building
- Character arcs that impact and improve the plot
And this one hit them all. The last 200 pages had me ruining my sleep schedule just to finish it. In fact, it was those last 200 pages that officially made it a 5-star read for me.
I feel I should warn you that this book is dark and gruesome at times. The major inciting incident caught me by surprise. Which is great – I have felt lately like the books I’m choosing are no longer catching me off guard. This was a welcome change of pace, despite the many emotions it sent me through.
Another note: this book is less steamy than the A Court of Thorns and Roses series by this same author. There is only one sexy scene, and it’s somewhat truncated. I felt that was a good thing, and it worked for this story. The romance truly functioned as only a subplot. It was a slow burn, too, which felt more realistic given the intensity of the plot and gave the relationship breathing room as both characters developed emotionally.
The steaminess level may change in the rest of the series, but for book 1 it was more intrigue than spice. I only bring this up because if you’ve read ACOTAR, this really has a different vibe so make sure you have the right expectations going in.
Let me just say: it’s true that that the first 30-40% of this book contains a lot of info dumping. However, I went into this book knowing that would be the case, so I felt I had a leg up stamina-wise. I was prepared. But the inciting incident hooked me, and it was smooth sailing after that.
Should you read House of Earth and Blood?
Yes, I highly recommend! Especially if you’ve read other works by this author. This is for you if you enjoy urban fantasy, heavy world-building, and murder mystery plots.
Since I haven’t yet read book 2, take this with a grain of salt – but I have heard through the grapevine that you should read the Crescent City series after A Court of Thorns and Roses. I have a suspicion as to why, but I will be sure to come back and confirm in my review for book 2.
Thanks for reading!
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2 responses to “House of Earth and Blood (Crescent City 1): A spectacular series opener”
This book sounds really intriguing! Seems like there is plenty of suspense and action. I bet you got lost in it!!!!
I sure did! Great for escapism LOL.