Mother. Forking. Shirtballs.

This was such a rollercoaster of a read. I was getting so worried at the beginning--I actually wasn't vibing with the book or Bryce very much at all in Part 1. Then by the end, I was like oh, okay, this is the best book ever and SJM reigns supreme once again.

House of Earth and Blood, book one in Sarah J. Maas' newest Fantasy series, Crescent City, is a whopping 800 pages (or 27 hours if you're an audiobook listener) of romantasy goodness. Yes, it's a long read and yes it starts a little slow and hits you with a lot of information, place names and hierarchies to memorise all at once. But, if you're anything like me, you'll go from bemoaning the pace and the unnecessary and indulgent page count, to fervently wishing it would never ever end.

Out of all of Maas' series so far, this one definitely had more of an Urban Fantasy flavour. There was a city backdrop, there was modern technology, vehicles and weaponry. And Bryce herself was a club-going party girl, at least at the start. Very different from the more historical fantasy vibes of her other two series.

Bryce, our main character, had a pretty epic transformation over the course of the book. I now think my lack of vibes at the beginning was intentional. My initial opinion of her matched Hunt's (main dude) opinion of her. Then she showed us who she really was and oh boy!

For the romance quarter, I'm not here for spoilers but can we just say slow burn deliciousness is my fave and I'm very happy.

I ended up really loving the worldbuilding once I got my head around it and got used to the change up from Maas' usual style. I will DEFINITELY be reading the next book as soon as I get my grubby little mitts on it.

I've got nothing else. It was amazing. That is all.

5 fricken stars
★★★★★