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3.93 AVERAGE
3.93 AVERAGE
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
mysterious
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:
Complicated
ik zat er niet superlekker in, maar ik denk dat dat eerder aan mij lag dan dat het een slecht boek was.
wellicht doe Ik ooit een keer een herleesje
wellicht doe Ik ooit een keer een herleesje
emotional
funny
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
dark
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:
Complicated
adventurous
challenging
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I was drawn in from the first page. In a world of the fae, what is real? Who can you trust?
This is the first book in a series and I hope that future books explain what blight is and where it comes from. It is such a fascinating world built here and I want more.
This is the first book in a series and I hope that future books explain what blight is and where it comes from. It is such a fascinating world built here and I want more.
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
House of Blight is, for better or worse, quintessential romantasy.
I was intrigued by the prologue of the book; Martineaux captured a folktale-esque tone and set a promise of a story that would center a clever mortal woman in the fantastical, tricksy, dangerous world of the fey.
Did it deliver on that promise? For me, no. The moody, magical writing style of the prologue was quickly abandoned for 1st person narration designed to be skimmable instead of thought-provoking, with sentences. Punctuated. By. Periods. For. Emphasis. in the style of bad fanfiction; and anachronistic vocabulary and phrasings (why, in Medieval Fantasyland, are people talking about their adrenal glands and “default settings”?); and repeated phrases/crutch words used constantly (everyone chuckles darkly, everyone feels a strange heat/something heated because they don’t recognize attraction, etc.). The plot’s pacing dragged and flew by in turns, but never quite let me sit in any scene with satisfaction. And the characters… hoo boy. If you’ve seen one romantasy heroine, you really have seen them all.
But for fans of the genre? The promise is knocked out of the park. There are so many tropes and story beats that are perfect for readers who are looking for the familiar in their reading:
We follow Edira, an orphaned and parented FMC with a Unique Physical Characteristic (moon-white hair that glows when she uses her powers) marking her as special. She has some Not Like Other Girls tendencies/thoughts upon introduction, of course, but that’s only because she’s So Smart and Good At Medicine (we do not se evidence of this on page except as informed characterization. Edira is a smart apothecary in the same way that Caelena Sardothien is a ruthless assassin: only theoretically). The magical beings Edira is summoned toward, called the Evers, are basically fey; don’t worry, they’re all of the Gentry variety (so hot! Supermodel humans with pointy ears and magic! No uggo, weird lil guys here!) at least on the surface, and their more bestial qualities don’t move them so far out of the realm of humanoid that it’ll make them undesirable. The Ever women immediately inspire girl-hate, with Edira clearly being the moral victor of the interactions, but through her great compassion the animosity is handwaved away by the end.
And naturally, the two Ever men Edira interacts with are immediately attracted to her (feeling is mutual) and regularly flirt and proposition her instead of, like, actually talking and getting to know each other in any capacity (in Martineux’s defense, they DO do a little feelings-talking here and there, but there’s far less of that than the “banter”). We have stoic, gruff softy Rorik, who’s So Mean! to Edira while he trains her how not to die when she uses her magic but is also so protective and has little insect familiars he dotes on. And noble, charming, tragic Orin, who despite having almost the same name as his brother couldn’t be more different in that he’s overly kind and attentive to Edira (he’s also very clearly Evil. We all got that, right? We all knew he was evil?). They’re both, like, maximally powerful, too. Of course.
Anyway, with both parts of this love triangle, you get the annoying-to-me, presumably really-hot-to-romantasy-fans classic of refusing to admit attraction. It appears too fast, but it’s like there’s this odd desire for purity alongside it, like admitting to having attraction would taint Edira. It feels very puritan-coded and squicks me out, but it’s so common that I have to imagine fans of similar books would love it here, too. were also more informed of bonding rather than shown on-page relationship development (see: Endira sassing Rorik at end of chapter 10 as though they were close and he was safe to sass). And because Martineux wanted both spice and slowburn, the Rejected Love Interest got to have sex with Edira, whereas the Real Love Interest mostly got to pine tragically. Honestly, kudos to the author for that. A true having your cake and eating it, too moment. I think the romantasy girlies will go wild for it.
I’m not a total curmudgeon, and there were some elements to the story that I appreciated. I do read in the hopes that I’ll like things, and House of Blight has some! Edira’s determination to fix her brothers’ illness doesn’t just disappear when she arrives in fairyland, and remains her central driving factor even after she decides she in love with one of the Evers. The insect familiars are such an unusual choice for animal companions, but the varied nature of bugs leaves so much room for personalization and distinction, and I find them fitting for the fey. It’s a shame that it’s just the one of the Evers who has them, because the weird bug thing makes them less the supermodel with nothing going on/ACOTAR types (a comparison that will be made for any romantasy with fae, for better or worse) and more weird and cool. And honestly, I like the eponymous Blight! I think it is a cool system for driving horror and plot progression! I like the idea of rot creeping in on an eternal source of life, and it was delightfully visceral every time it was depicted on page. The rules of it don’t quite make sense to me (why are insects immune and how are their carriers? From what does it stem? What is the symptom progression?) but it’s great for the vibes. And I did like that the concept of heartbonds isn’t just yet another fated mate thing. I liked that you could have multiple heartbonds (though presumably only one at a time), and that you had to mutually choose each other. And I especially loved!! That the immediate logical question that arises when you learn that magic shared via the bond is kept forever by the one who outlives the other is answered!! We don’t just have a gaping plot hole in one of the magic systems!! I can’t overstate how rare that is in romantasy, and it’s single handedly added a half-star to my rating.
I recommend House of Blight to fans of Sarah J. Maas and Rebecca Yarros, who are looking for a very easy to read new author telling a familiar type of story to tide them over until the next release of their favorite series. I will not be continuing with this series, but I’m excited that House of Blight’s story isn’t over for the readers who will love it.
Wow, this was some excellent YA fantasy. I found the pacing a bit off and the plot a bit sluggish in the middle, but I still enjoyed it. I loved listening to the audiobook narrated by Catrin Walker-Booth and could visualise the story as it unfolded.
I found the ending a bit predictable but I'm still eager to read the second book. The characters were interesting and the atmosphere dark, everything woven together by brilliant writing.
Overall, it has some flaws but I enjoyed it a lot. Thank you to W.F. Howes and Netgalley for the ALC
I found the ending a bit predictable but I'm still eager to read the second book. The characters were interesting and the atmosphere dark, everything woven together by brilliant writing.
Overall, it has some flaws but I enjoyed it a lot. Thank you to W.F. Howes and Netgalley for the ALC
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
The book just wasn’t fleshed out and was too predictable for me personally.
The Tamlin inspired initial love interest develops quickly and seemingly out of no where. The second love interest set up to be her main once she realizes the first guy is evil is another walking cliche. Interesting concept and fun if you’re okay with knowing where it’s going.
The Tamlin inspired initial love interest develops quickly and seemingly out of no where. The second love interest set up to be her main once she realizes the first guy is evil is another walking cliche. Interesting concept and fun if you’re okay with knowing where it’s going.