Olivia

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Olivia is Currently Reading

Olivia is currently reading

House of Earth and Blood (Crescent City, #1)

by Sarah J. Maas (Goodreads Author)

bookshelves: adult-romance, fae, fantasy, favourites, magic, urban-fantasy, hate-to-love, witches, werewolves, paranormal, currently-reading

Reading for the 2nd time

read in January 2024

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Olivia said: " There was so much to love about this book, it was incredible and definitely up there as one of my favourite SJM books. HOEAB is an urban fantasy story that focuses on healing, action and mystery with Bryce aiding the investigation to find who was res There was so much to love about this book, it was incredible and definitely up there as one of my favourite SJM books. HOEAB is an urban fantasy story that focuses on healing, action and mystery with Bryce aiding the investigation to find who was responsible for her friends deaths whilst also being a story that focuses on recovering from that loss. There are constant twists that you don’t see coming as well as a great slow burn romance between Bryce and Hunt and incredibly detailed world building. I loved the mature themes covered and you can see how SJM has grown as an author since writing TOG.

I know some will find 800 pages daunting but I thought it gave the story room to breathe without feeling rushed, especially as there was a lot of world building in the beginning which was initially a little confusing as there was a information to take in, but it’s repeated often enough that you don’t have to work too hard to remember it all. This book gave me serious ‘Pretty Little Liar’ vibes, Danika kept so many secrets from Bryce that it makes you wonder what other secrets she might be keeping.

This is a story that keeps you on your toes, I thought I had everything sussed and then suddenly a curve ball was thrown and you feel as if you don’t know anything again. I had a pretty good idea of who might be behind it all, but the book keeps you second guessing yourself throughout, but the book still succeeds in making the reveal shocking, even if the suspicions were there already. There were so many twists and the last 200 pages were a whirlwind of constant revelations it was so well written. It was incredibly powerful, it sent my emotions were all over the place and I was in tears as I was reading. SJM might as well have ripped my heart out!

I really loved Bryce, she was a no-nonsense, sassy FMC. In fact, I loved all the characters, there is so much depth to them and they are very well written. I especially loved Ruhn and the relationship that he has with Bryce, which is initially fractured, you can see the beginnings of them healing their rift towards the end. The slow burn romance between Bryce and Hunt was amazing. I loved the banter, the chemistry, everything about them was incredible. I can’t wait to see more of them in CC2. Whilst I loved the slow burn it wasn’t my favourite relationship in the book, as I loved Bryce’s love for her best friend Danika and it was so beautiful to see Bryce climb her way out depression and heal herself over the course of the book. The healing journey that Bryce went on was beautifully written and it felt so real.

There were so many Easter eggs from her other books, you will definitely get more from this series if you’ve already read SJM’s other series. It’s safe to say that HOEAB has reignited my love of urban fantasy, I didn’t realise it had been years since I had last read one but I can definitely see myself reading more this year, starting with HOSAB. I have so many questions that I need answers to and it has me wondering if this is going to become my new favourite SJM series. ...more "

Feb 07, 2024 11:57PM · see review