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3.92 AVERAGE
3.92 AVERAGE
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
ARC Review | House of Blight by Maxym M. Martineau
Release Date: April 8, 2025
Rating: 3.5 stars
House of Blight has strong Victorian-era gothic fantasy vibes, set in a world where healers known as threadmenders work alongside powerful, immortal beings called the Ever. The atmosphere is dark, moody, and full of secrets—perfect if you love a fantasy with a touch of the eerie.
I’ll be honest, the pacing was a bit slow in the beginning. It took a while for both the plot and the magic system to really click for me, and I didn’t feel fully invested until later in the story. But the last 10%? That’s what bumped this up to a 3.5 for me. The ending had tension, emotional payoff, and left me wanting more.
Even with the slower start, I’ll definitely be reading book two. I want answers..Can they actually cure the Blight? I’m also hoping for some serious groveling, because certain characters have a lot to make up for. I feel like the series has the potential to grow into something really strong.
Loved the set vibes of this book, the characters who all had secrets to keep, the way the magic worked and the disease permeated the manor. Eerie setting, great for One Dark Window fans.
Thank you to the publisher for the early copy.
Thank you to the publisher for the early copy.
This book was absolutely incredible. If I could have just sat down and avoided all other responsibilities, I could have read this in one sitting.
The story follows a healer, Edira, who uses a rare form of magic called threadmending but every time she uses her magic, she loses threads, cutting her life shorter and shorter each time. Because of this, she has to keep her powers top secret until her brothers are infected with the blight and the head of the Fernglove family barges through their door as she's trying to heal her brothers.
Orin is the head of the Fernglove family but this family isn't as it seems. There's tension between the members and unspeakable vows that keep this family in order. Orin seems like the guy you want to fall for and give everything up for but his brother, Rorik, is the real catch in my opinion. Orin says what Edira wants to hear but Rorik treats her like she matters and would do anything for her even if she doesn't feel the same about him.
The atmosphere is gothic and eerie, steeped in creeping dread and shadowy secrets, yet it’s also laced with soft, pastel springtime vibes like blooming flowers in a cursed garden. The haunting halls of the Fernglove estate are filled with whispers and hidden rooms, but the world outside still holds beauty, reminding us what’s at stake. That contrast between light and dark mirrors Edira’s own struggle between life and sacrifice, safety and truth.
There’s betrayal, love, and hate all wrapped up into a 360-page book that ended too soon. I was completely captivated by the rich worldbuilding, complex characters, and the aching tension in every relationship House of Blight is haunting, magical, and beautifully tragic, and I’m already desperate for more.
The story follows a healer, Edira, who uses a rare form of magic called threadmending but every time she uses her magic, she loses threads, cutting her life shorter and shorter each time. Because of this, she has to keep her powers top secret until her brothers are infected with the blight and the head of the Fernglove family barges through their door as she's trying to heal her brothers.
Orin is the head of the Fernglove family but this family isn't as it seems. There's tension between the members and unspeakable vows that keep this family in order. Orin seems like the guy you want to fall for and give everything up for but his brother, Rorik, is the real catch in my opinion. Orin says what Edira wants to hear but Rorik treats her like she matters and would do anything for her even if she doesn't feel the same about him.
The atmosphere is gothic and eerie, steeped in creeping dread and shadowy secrets, yet it’s also laced with soft, pastel springtime vibes like blooming flowers in a cursed garden. The haunting halls of the Fernglove estate are filled with whispers and hidden rooms, but the world outside still holds beauty, reminding us what’s at stake. That contrast between light and dark mirrors Edira’s own struggle between life and sacrifice, safety and truth.
There’s betrayal, love, and hate all wrapped up into a 360-page book that ended too soon. I was completely captivated by the rich worldbuilding, complex characters, and the aching tension in every relationship House of Blight is haunting, magical, and beautifully tragic, and I’m already desperate for more.
medium-paced
I really enjoyed and wasn’t deterred by the bugs (shocking). I want to know what happens next!!
Edira is shouldered with an immunity to a blight taking over her community. She is brought to the elite class to try and see if her powers can be molded into healing the blight in others. It had a lot of plot points/scenarios that are not uncommon in romantasy, but definitely make for easy consumption. Hello, forced proximity and a love triangle. There were certain things that I called from the others, while others were surprises. Is anyone telling the truth? I am interested in seeing where this heads!
Thanks to Avon and Harper Voyager, Hambright PR, and NetGalley for an eARC of this book for an honest review.
Thanks to Avon and Harper Voyager, Hambright PR, and NetGalley for an eARC of this book for an honest review.
dark
mysterious
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:
No
House of Blight is a gothic romantasy with a feisty FMC just trying to save what’s left of her family. Edira is a human hiding her true nature, a thread mender who can heal others by spending her own life force. Edira has spent her whole life hiding her abilities so her she isn’t exploited by immortal beings called the Evers. One day tragedy strikes and Edira’s twin brothers catch Blight, an immediately deadly plague in that land. As Edira tries to save her brothers’ lives, an Ever appears and offers her a bargain: he can halt the Blight by putting her brothers in a coma-like state if she comes to work for him and cure the Blight using his resources. Edira agrees and is thrown into the world of the Evers. The ensuing events are full of mystery, magic, bickering family dynamics, insect daddies, and pretty dresses.
Honestly, I enjoyed this book a lot. I was able to predict some of what was coming, but there were still some twists at the end that I appreciated! I really liked Edira’s character and am excited to see where her journey goes in the next book.
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
It’s been a long time since I disliked a book this much!
The premise actually had me excited - Edira is a threadmender with rare healing magic that chips away at her life every time she uses it. When her brothers fall ill with the blight (aka a mysterious and incurable disease), she’s pulled into the orbit of the powerful "magical immortal" family, where she’s meant to help find a cure.
Unfortunately, that’s where the fun ends. The characters felt flat, the antagonist was laughably two-dimensional ( the only missing part was "the Muahahaha"😂), and the plot just completely lost me in the last third. I was reading with a kind of horrified fascination, wondering how it had all gone so off the rails.
And the romance - oh please! I saw Orin’s intentions coming from miles away, and I never understood why Edira was into him. There was zero spark, no believable build-up, and no reason for me to care.
It’s frustrating, because the core idea had so much potential. I wanted to like it. But the execution just didn’t land for me at all.
2/5 ⭐
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.
The premise actually had me excited - Edira is a threadmender with rare healing magic that chips away at her life every time she uses it. When her brothers fall ill with the blight (aka a mysterious and incurable disease), she’s pulled into the orbit of the powerful "magical immortal" family, where she’s meant to help find a cure.
Unfortunately, that’s where the fun ends. The characters felt flat, the antagonist was laughably two-dimensional ( the only missing part was "the Muahahaha"😂), and the plot just completely lost me in the last third. I was reading with a kind of horrified fascination, wondering how it had all gone so off the rails.
And the romance - oh please! I saw Orin’s intentions coming from miles away, and I never understood why Edira was into him. There was zero spark, no believable build-up, and no reason for me to care.
It’s frustrating, because the core idea had so much potential. I wanted to like it. But the execution just didn’t land for me at all.
2/5 ⭐
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.
3.5 ⭐️ thank you HarperCollins and NetGalley for the gifted arc! I’ll be completely honest—I struggled with this book for the first 60% or so and contemplated dnf’ing multiple times. But once it actually picked up I couldn’t put it down and the ending was crazy. So that’s the main reason for the lower rating. But everything is not as it seems with this book.
The romance between Edira and Orin wasn’t doing it for me, and it was the focus of a big chunk of the book. The whole family is honestly nuts, but I’m glad some turned out okay in the end. I am looking forward to seeing how the romance develops in the next book
This book has SUCH a unique magic system, which is the main reason I kept reading. I was more interested in Edira’s research with magic and the blight more than anything.
The writing style was wonderful and very descriptive and atmospheric. This was definitely a really unique romantasy, which I appreciate when a lot are starting to sound the same.
The romance between Edira and Orin wasn’t doing it for me, and it was the focus of a big chunk of the book. The whole family is honestly nuts, but I’m glad some turned out okay in the end. I am looking forward to seeing how the romance develops in the next book
This book has SUCH a unique magic system, which is the main reason I kept reading. I was more interested in Edira’s research with magic and the blight more than anything.
The writing style was wonderful and very descriptive and atmospheric. This was definitely a really unique romantasy, which I appreciate when a lot are starting to sound the same.
Read This Book If…you enjoyed the Spring Court vibes in ACOTAR!
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
House of Blight by Maxym M. Martineau
Genre: romantasy
Series: The Threadmender Chronicles # 1
Spice Level: 3/5🌶, 1-2 open door scenes
Setting: fantasy world
POV: single, 1st person, past tense
Tropes: forced proximity, Fae-style vows, slow burn
Audiobook Thoughts: I really enjoyed the narration on this one! I read this immersively (audio + e-book) and thought it added a lot.
My Thoughts:
If you wanted Feyre to spending a little more time in Spring Court, but add in a little academia and gothic vibes, this is the book for you! There’s plenty of suspense and intrigue and angst and I loved it.
Overall, this is a slower and more predictable read, but it set up the romance and drama for book two so perfectly! I can’t wait to find out how this duology ends.
Memorable Quote: “Oh, Edira. The only pain I’d ever intentionally inflict on you is the agony of making you wait to feel the pleasure of release.”
Thank you to the publisher for my advance copy!
4.25-4.5
Wow, this was excellent and exactly what I was in the mood for! It started a little slowly but quickly picked up and I was thinking about this book a lot when I wasn’t reading it.
This book is absolutely hearkening me back to fantasy books I read a lot (and loved) as a teenager - although this book is absolutely Adult and has some very open door scenes.
Edira is a threadmender - essentially a healer who can solve illness and injury, at the peril of her own lifespan. She keeps hidden to avoid attracting attention of the Evers, a supernatural sort of group that basically rule above the humans. But there is a mysterious disease that is blighting (lol, get it?) the land and its people and it’s a death sentence. No one can seem to heal it, and it’s not until Edira’s twin brothers get sick that she will do anything in her power to save them.
The author did a really good job to have you questioning who is telling the truth and who is hiding something from Edira, and as the reader I think you can pick up on a lot more than Edira does in the moment! I was definitely yelling at her a little bit, because I could see a bit more how things were likely to play out with Orin and Rorik.
All that to say, I definitely didn’t predict everything here and was pleasantly surprised by the choices both Edira and the author made.
I’m really excited for the next book in this series! I want to know more about blight and its history - how did it start? Why is it so infectious? What’s the root of it?
Thank you so much to HarperCollins and Maxym Martineau for this eARC!!
Wow, this was excellent and exactly what I was in the mood for! It started a little slowly but quickly picked up and I was thinking about this book a lot when I wasn’t reading it.
This book is absolutely hearkening me back to fantasy books I read a lot (and loved) as a teenager - although this book is absolutely Adult and has some very open door scenes.
Edira is a threadmender - essentially a healer who can solve illness and injury, at the peril of her own lifespan. She keeps hidden to avoid attracting attention of the Evers, a supernatural sort of group that basically rule above the humans. But there is a mysterious disease that is blighting (lol, get it?) the land and its people and it’s a death sentence. No one can seem to heal it, and it’s not until Edira’s twin brothers get sick that she will do anything in her power to save them.
The author did a really good job to have you questioning who is telling the truth and who is hiding something from Edira, and as the reader I think you can pick up on a lot more than Edira does in the moment! I was definitely yelling at her a little bit, because I could see a bit more how things were likely to play out with Orin and Rorik.
All that to say, I definitely didn’t predict everything here and was pleasantly surprised by the choices both Edira and the author made.
I’m really excited for the next book in this series! I want to know more about blight and its history - how did it start? Why is it so infectious? What’s the root of it?
Thank you so much to HarperCollins and Maxym Martineau for this eARC!!