House of Blood and Earth By Sarah J. Maas – A Book Review

Bryce Quinlan had the perfect life—working hard all day and partying all night—until a demon murdered her closest friends, leaving her bereft, wounded, and alone. When the accused is behind bars but the crimes start up again, Bryce finds herself at the heart of the investigation. She’ll do whatever it takes to avenge their deaths.

Hunt Athalar is a notorious Fallen angel, now enslaved to the Archangels he once attempted to overthrow. His brutal skills and incredible strength have been set to one purpose—to assassinate his boss’s enemies, no questions asked. But with a demon wreaking havoc in the city, he’s offered an irresistible deal: help Bryce find the murderer, and his freedom will be within reach.

As Bryce and Hunt dig deep into Crescent City’s underbelly, they discover a dark power that threatens everything and everyone they hold dear, and they find, in each other, a blazing passion—one that could set them both free, if they’d only let it.

House of Blood and Earth’s pages held a lot of what Sarah J. Maas is known for – femme fatale characters, hot supernatural beings and brooding mythical males. Some people are probably rolling their eyes already, however I think there’s something to be said for writing what you know. And despite a really rough beginning with a lot of info dumping, House of Blood and Earth turned out to be a really charming story, where friendship was at the centre of it all.

BOOK REVIEW: THE QUEEN OF NOTHING BY HOLLY BLACK

“You come from nothing, and it is to nothing you will return,”

Power is much easier to acquire than it is to hold onto. Jude learned this lesson when she released her control over the wicked king, Cardan, in exchange for immeasurable power.

Now as the exiled mortal Queen of Faerie, Jude is powerless and left reeling from Cardan’s betrayal. She bides her time determined to reclaim everything he took from her. Opportunity arrives in the form of her deceptive twin sister, Taryn, whose mortal life is in peril.

Jude must risk venturing back into the treacherous Faerie Court, and confront her lingering feelings for Cardan, if she wishes to save her sister. But Elfhame is not as she left it. War is brewing. As Jude slips deep within enemy lines she becomes ensnared in the conflict’s bloody politics.

And, when a dormant yet powerful curse is unleashed, panic spreads throughout the land, forcing her to choose between her ambition and her humanity…

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The Folk of the Air series has been a growing obsession of mine for the last month or so. I’ve been so consumed with Holly Black’s melancholic fae series, that when I finished reading this finale, I was left with a somber feeling that comes over me when I finish a particularly good series. Slowly I’m coming to the awareness that it’s over, and I won’t be joining Jude on any more deceptive (and occasionally violent) escapades that have been the highlight of my 2020 so far.

I also have reviews for book one The Cruel Prince and book two The Wicked King on the blog!

FANCASTING: THE DIVINERS SERIES BY LIBBA BRAY

Hello bookworms, how are you?! These last few months I’ve been binge-listening to The Diviners series by Libba Bray on audio, and I’ve come to easily love these merry band of magical ghost hunters. This series interchanges between 8 main narrators and when there’s such a large cast of characters, I personally need to appoint a real face to every main character otherwise I get so lost.

I’m not going to be humble, the four characters I’ve fan-casted I feel pretty passionately about. Some aren’t conventional (no, I didn’t use Elle Fanning as Evie) but personally that’s what I like about them. I think the only flaw of my list is that these actors aren’t close in age to the characters, but I’m pro-ageing characters up in adaptations, so please don’t hold it against me. Also, there’ll be no spoilers for the series! 😊