House of Earth and Blood: Crescent City by Sarah J. Maas | Buy on Amazon UK | Buy on Amazon US

About Crescent City

Author: Sarah J. Maas
Publishing Imprint: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Number of pages: 816
ISBN: 9781408884416

Premise

Bryce Quinlan is a half-human and half-fae woman living in Crescent City among a pack of Vanir (shapeshifting wolves). She might not have everything, but she enjoys spending time with her best friends, working hard and partying all night. When her best friends are brutally murdered while she’s partying hard, Bryce’s life will be forever changed.

Two years later, when a similar murder occurs, Bryce is forced into an investigation to find out the true culprit of both slaughters. She’s paired up with a fallen angel, Hunt Athalar; and together, with help from Bryce’s fae brother Ruhn, they will unravel a mysterious conspiracy. While also growing closer together.

My thoughts on Crescent City

Outside of the spectacular personal brand that Sarah J. Maas has built over the years, one of the other things I love about her is how she’s able to capture an entire aesthetic in her prose. She has this ability to make the reader vividly see the characters, surroundings and their actions as she writes.

I saw many complaining about there being too much info-dumping and world-building in this book, but I would actually argue that this book has the least convoluted world-building I’ve read in a fantasy book.

But while I thoroughly enjoyed reading Crescent City and was entertained throughout all 816 pages, I cannot call it the perfect book. The book is marketed as adult fantasy, but when put up against other adult fantasy works it is nothing alike.

I believe the only thing that deems this adult fantasy is the fact that her characters are older than the ones in Maas’s previous books. But they generally act the exact same way her characters would act in her New Adult books. This left me asking the question, what exactly does separate this book from A Court of Mist and Fury? (My previous favourite Maas book.)

There’s tons more swearing, the characters are ‘older’, and instead of coming up with creative ways to refer to a penis, she flat out calls it a cock. But besides that, this book wasn’t exactly the kind of adult fantasy I was expecting. Either her previous books are already adult fantasy, or this one reads just like her NA/YA books.

Another thing I expected to see in Maas’ adult work, is more varied characters. And I don’t just mean characters of a different colour—which, she had a few in here. But they’re not exactly main characters that were present the whole way through—I mean characters who are completely unalike. But it seems like every one in Crescent City is a super model-like specimen who is attractive to all; including Bryce herself. Sure, Maas’ beautiful world pallet is something that separates her brand and makes her books standout, but again, in adult fantasy I believe more depth and variety should be given to readers. Even if the main cast are beautiful, powerful beings, why not have some supporting cast who are more varied in their looks and abilities?

My criticisms could just be a result of me misunderstanding what was meant by “adult fantasy” here, and in which case, I must commend Sarah J. Maas on another book full of dazzling escapism. But as someone who reads a ton of mature/adult books, I was expecting something that would enter the same realm but also have Maas’ signature fantasy aesthetic and prose.

Verdict

I want to be clear in saying that this is still one of my favourite Maas books period. I just had different expectations for it and in every review I write there’s a need to be critical.

With that being said, I recommend the book to anyone who has loved a Maas book (or something similar) and wants to try something in the urban fantasy realm. But if you’re expecting Game of Thrones or Black Leopard Red Wolf, then Crescent City is something quite different. Make sure you have the right expectations going in and there will be a ton to enjoy here.

Whenever a sequel comes, I’ll be the first in line to pre-order. Because Maas did create a new and fascinating world for new stories to be told.

For a long time I’ve had a liking for Sarah J. Maas‘s writing style. But with the Throne of Glass series not being 100% my style of book, it was difficult for me to be fully addicted to many of Maas’s books. I still read the Throne of Glass books just out of love for fantasy and Maas’s prose, but they don’t always scratch my itch.

Until last week, A Court of Mist and Fury was my overall favourite of Maas’s offerings. It had everything I needed as a fantasy lover: deep world-building, action, poetic prose, a compelling story and a well-developed romance.

But although I have Mist and Fury as a five-star book, I still felt like Maas was either holding back or hadn’t reached the potential that I knew she could. And now we have House of Earth and Blood: Crescent City, and after the first 100 pages, I’m already convinced this is Sarah J. Maas at her finest.

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Because this is adult fantasy and there’s not a younger audience to consider—although, let’s not kid ourselves, they’ll still be reading—I feel like Maas took her gloves off and dug into the deepest and darkest crevices of her writer brain, extracting a brilliant unhinged masterpiece. It’s because Maas was writing for adults first this time around; and with Crescent City she was able to get gritty enough to give us the full scope of how real shit can get in a city where humans live among magical species who only give a shit about themselves.

Crescent City carries over Maas’s signature prose and combines it with an edgy urban fantasy aesthetic. The book is the perfect blend of everything that I love in both fantasy and noir. And I now realise that what attracted me the most about Maas’s writing all these years was that I knew she had the perfect diction to pull off the epic novel that I’d longed to read.

As a writer myself, who’s taking a stab at writing fantasy, I can say that Sarah J. Maas makes this look easy. But it really isn’t. Her descriptions are well constructed and plant vivid images in the mind. This skill enhances the story significantly, even in it’s slower moments. Each time I finish a chapter of Crescent City, I feel motivated to pick up the pen and paper for myself. And that’s the exact kind of motivation a writer needs to pen their best work.

I’m not writing off the Throne of Glass or ACOTAR series by any means. Both series’s have their target audience and they’ve accumulated maas fan bases. But the writer that has graced us with House of Earth and Blood: Crescent City has transcended to new levels. And although she’ll still bless her YA and New Adult fan-bases, I’m happy that she’s now serving a new base of readers who were eager to see her unleash her pen with no limitations. Congratulations to Sarah J. Maas for another New York Times #1 Best Seller, this one certainly deserves it.

Despite her popularity, author Sarah J. Maas isn’t the most public of authors. But in celebration of her upcoming adult fantasy book House of Earth and Blood: Crescent City, Maas will be visiting the UK for a short media tour.

House of Earth and Blood will follow the half-fae half-human main character Bryce Quinlan as a brutal murder shakes the foundation of her city (Lunathion – the Crescent City). Two years later, the same murderer strikes again; and when Fallen Angel, Hunt Athalar, is assigned to watch Bryce, the two pair up to unravel the mystery together.

House of Earth and Blood: Crescent City is said to be full of unforgettable characters and page-turning suspense. On top of this, you can expect to see Maas’ signature illustrious prose and superb worldbuilding. And what I’m most excited about is that with this being an adult novel, she can push her boundaries like never before.

House of Earth and Blood will release on March 3rd, and the UK tour kicks off the following week.

To purchase your tickets, see below:

London 11 March, 19:30 | Alexander Palace Theatre
Birmingham 13 March, 19:30 | Birmingham Town Hall

House of Earth and Blood: Crescent City is available to pre-order now.