Take a photo of a barcode or cover
4.01 AVERAGE
4.01 AVERAGE
challenging
dark
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
hopeful
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Honestly, the main reason for my middling rating comes down to the mis-marketing of this book. So many posts say this features a vengeful FMC. However Alma is more so a hurt girl looking for acceptance wherever she can find it - and despite the text SAYING she’s full of rage, I never felt like I believed it. Because her actions said otherwise.
This ended up being the biggest aspect that I had to readjust my expectations around - how this book approached what was supposed to be a messy and angry FMC. House of the Beast simply does not lean into the nuances or commit to the unlikeability of such a character. Alma was annoyingly…good hearted 😅 I wanted her RAGE and instead I got a pretty stable young adult all things considered who only occasionally had fits of anger (which would quickly dissipate as she worried if she was still a good person). I found myself craving more backstory and focus on the messier characters like Alma’s vicious cousin or Aster himself!
However, those key things aside…I did enjoy the setting and political/religious structure. Especially once we entered the Umbral plane! The illustrations throughout truly add to the story and I wish more novels could have this element! I would say this felt like a fun mix of Full Metal Alchemist with Studio Ghibli-like vibes (if it leaned into horror?).
This ended up being the biggest aspect that I had to readjust my expectations around - how this book approached what was supposed to be a messy and angry FMC. House of the Beast simply does not lean into the nuances or commit to the unlikeability of such a character. Alma was annoyingly…good hearted 😅 I wanted her RAGE and instead I got a pretty stable young adult all things considered who only occasionally had fits of anger (which would quickly dissipate as she worried if she was still a good person). I found myself craving more backstory and focus on the messier characters like Alma’s vicious cousin or Aster himself!
However, those key things aside…I did enjoy the setting and political/religious structure. Especially once we entered the Umbral plane! The illustrations throughout truly add to the story and I wish more novels could have this element! I would say this felt like a fun mix of Full Metal Alchemist with Studio Ghibli-like vibes (if it leaned into horror?).
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Veered on too dramatic but overall I had a good time with this and predictably loved the side romance between Kaim and Fion...
I was reminded a lot of Kerstin Hall's Asunder which was tbh actually very dark & properly body horror. In comparison, House of the Beast feels well suited to a YA audience.
I was reminded a lot of Kerstin Hall's Asunder which was tbh actually very dark & properly body horror. In comparison, House of the Beast feels well suited to a YA audience.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Epic fantasy with good world building. The stakes are high and the reactions of the characters makes sense. The resolution felt earned.
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This is really a 3.5⭐ but I see the vision.
Ultimately I wanted more from this but what I got was good. I think this type of story worked well with the illustrations (which tracks based on the author) and I felt that the vibes gave me what I wanted, but a few things held it back from being god-tier for me:
- why is this being marketed as an adult (dark) romantasy story? This is pretty YA, which is fine, but it's also NOT a romance lmao. Like, my expectations for reading this were all wrong. Thankfully I was able to get over them but that's the fastest way to get bad ratings or bad word of mouth. The relationship between Alma/Aster is toxic and co-dependent but a romance it is not.
- the characters needed more background, particularly Aster. I think the story we got for him was fine, but him being this dark beast that wasn't really super evil felt conflicting for me. The part of his history you do get is so quickly gone through at the end of the story that it's not really...helpful to the narrative.
To that point, I needed Alma to get with the program. She wasn't vicious enough for me. I suppose that's the point in the end, but her choosing to be helpful to people who wouldn't spit on her if she were on fire.....was a choice. Like girl, you're fumbling the plans here.
I wanted them to both be villains together and for someone to finally take us there. This book was filled with people who were pretty unlikeable but it wasn't able to commit. Alma had wishy washy feelings on almost everything and it took till the very end of the book for her to pick a lane. She picked wrong imo 😂
In addition, the history of the houses/other gods was minimal. It felt like they just existed for the sake of needing multiple gods but you don't ever hear from them, and patrons of their houses are only side characters (mostly without dialogue). At that rate, we could've just had ONE beast god and had that been the primary focus.
- I thought the violence and the setting were great, but I wanted more. It seems like the story was at its best when it was giving the gritty stuff so I wish we stayed in that for longer.
- the side characters were fine, but like I said earlier, almost everyone is unlikeable or shifty in a way that makes it hard to care about them. Sevelie was probably the only character apart from Alma who got a full arc, but personally I didn't care. I thought she was silly for way longer than she was useful (as did people in the book) so her change of heart wasn't super moving.
- the dialogue had moments where some of it felt a little too modern and out of place with the setting of the story, but the writing overall was good!
Idk. This was a banger near the beginning, but the longer it went on, the less passionately I felt. I just wanted more. Had this been a REAL adult dark fantasy I think it would've reached that peak for me.
Ultimately I wanted more from this but what I got was good. I think this type of story worked well with the illustrations (which tracks based on the author) and I felt that the vibes gave me what I wanted, but a few things held it back from being god-tier for me:
- why is this being marketed as an adult (dark) romantasy story? This is pretty YA, which is fine, but it's also NOT a romance lmao. Like, my expectations for reading this were all wrong. Thankfully I was able to get over them but that's the fastest way to get bad ratings or bad word of mouth. The relationship between Alma/Aster is toxic and co-dependent but a romance it is not.
- the characters needed more background, particularly Aster. I think the story we got for him was fine, but him being this dark beast that wasn't really super evil felt conflicting for me. The part of his history you do get is so quickly gone through at the end of the story that it's not really...helpful to the narrative.
To that point, I needed Alma to get with the program. She wasn't vicious enough for me. I suppose that's the point in the end, but her choosing to be helpful to people who wouldn't spit on her if she were on fire.....was a choice. Like girl, you're fumbling the plans here.
I wanted them to both be villains together and for someone to finally take us there. This book was filled with people who were pretty unlikeable but it wasn't able to commit. Alma had wishy washy feelings on almost everything and it took till the very end of the book for her to pick a lane. She picked wrong imo 😂
In addition, the history of the houses/other gods was minimal. It felt like they just existed for the sake of needing multiple gods but you don't ever hear from them, and patrons of their houses are only side characters (mostly without dialogue). At that rate, we could've just had ONE beast god and had that been the primary focus.
- I thought the violence and the setting were great, but I wanted more. It seems like the story was at its best when it was giving the gritty stuff so I wish we stayed in that for longer.
- the side characters were fine, but like I said earlier, almost everyone is unlikeable or shifty in a way that makes it hard to care about them. Sevelie was probably the only character apart from Alma who got a full arc, but personally I didn't care. I thought she was silly for way longer than she was useful (as did people in the book) so her change of heart wasn't super moving.
- the dialogue had moments where some of it felt a little too modern and out of place with the setting of the story, but the writing overall was good!
Idk. This was a banger near the beginning, but the longer it went on, the less passionately I felt. I just wanted more. Had this been a REAL adult dark fantasy I think it would've reached that peak for me.