Parents' Guide to House of Earth and Blood: Crescent City #1

While lots of the worldbuilding is derivative, the plot is the commendable highlight in this fantasy novel. House of Earth and Blood: Crescent City #1 takes pains to establish its world, explaining, for example, the different races (elves, werewolves, witches, vampires, angels, humans, etc.) and "houses" that govern particular cities or realms. But ultimately, this story could have been set in any large city and have been described similarly. It's as if all the "fantasy" elements have been tacked on, either for fun or marketability or both, but it just doesn't feel organically built into the world. For instance, all the technology is the same as ours, phones, tablets, and so on, yet, many characters have magical abilities, too. The world's afterlife realm seems tacked on as well, a generic take lifted from any number of mythological sources. Some references are Norse, some Eastern, some borrowed from Tolkien, some clearly inspired by the Potter books. The systems feel thrown together for the sake of it, because, some kind of lore needs to be established, right? Also, the ridiculousness of pretty much every character being super "hot" and "sexy" and everyone being great at fighting and "amazing in bed" and how the main character is "achingly beautiful" and so on, is a lot to stomach. Without exaggeration, two characters "feel their insides or chests tighten" at the sight or sexual thought of the other so often, verbatim, over and over, that it's hard not to wonder if Sarah J. Maas lacked access to a thesaurus while writing.

But the good news is that the actual plot, the mystery at the heart of the story, is solid and the way Maas delivers her reveals are worth getting to. The political machinations of various family heads are thrilling, and the way Maas wraps everything up works. Despite all the problems, the length, and the over-the-top romance elements, the final third of the novel is blisteringly exciting.