You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
4.07 AVERAGE
4.07 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This book was simply incredible. It really captivated me, I couldn't put it down!
I have a soft spot for strange little books, and House of the Beast definitely falls under that category. But, it wasn’t a new favorite. The beginning drew me in right away. The ending also had me hooked. But along the way, throughout the majority of the middle, my intrigue flickered in and out.
The main disconnect for me was the writing style. We had a lot of internal monologuing, so a great deal of information got repetitive, fast. Lots of telling slowed down the pacing, and it kept interrupting conversations, which annoyed me.
I oscillated between liking the characters and feeling bored by them. On the one hand, Alma’s determination was satisfying. I enjoy underdog characters doing things the longer, slower, more arduous way because they’re held back by limitations imposed on them by others, and then still rising above despite having a hand tied behind their back. And Alma was often in that boat. Another character that I enjoyed was Sevelie, who played a bigger role in the story than I expected and whose own character arc I enjoyed.
But on the flip side, I think Alma’s god felt a little undercooked for being such an important character. We’re often told he is an elder god, an eldritch being, but he really doesn’t come off that way. I wanted to be more unsettled, or more confused – I wanted to feel compelled and yet resistant, the way Alma described feeling toward him. But I didn’t. I found him kind of flat and predictable, at least until the end.
On a plot level, there were scenes that I struggled to stay focused on and others I couldn’t look away from. The majority of the really good stuff came at the end. Others have pointed out that, for a book labelled as an adult fantasy, both the tone and setup read more as YA (most of the time), and I have to agree. Outside some more adult gore, I don’t know that this is really an adult book thematically. I also wouldn’t really call it gothic or romantic, which are other labels it has – really, if I had to put a word to it, I’d describe this as a dark YA fantasy.
I'd recommend this to those who enjoy YA fantasy for the most part, but only if you don't mind some fantasy gore and violence. I'd also recommend it to anyone who doesn't mind a more expository writing style, or if writing style in general doesn't affect your enjoyment of a story. Plus, there are some interesting themes and questions around guilt, codependency, rage, and monstrosity that may appeal to other readers.
The main disconnect for me was the writing style. We had a lot of internal monologuing, so a great deal of information got repetitive, fast. Lots of telling slowed down the pacing, and it kept interrupting conversations, which annoyed me.
I oscillated between liking the characters and feeling bored by them. On the one hand, Alma’s determination was satisfying. I enjoy underdog characters doing things the longer, slower, more arduous way because they’re held back by limitations imposed on them by others, and then still rising above despite having a hand tied behind their back. And Alma was often in that boat. Another character that I enjoyed was Sevelie, who played a bigger role in the story than I expected and whose own character arc I enjoyed.
But on the flip side, I think Alma’s god felt a little undercooked for being such an important character. We’re often told he is an elder god, an eldritch being, but he really doesn’t come off that way. I wanted to be more unsettled, or more confused – I wanted to feel compelled and yet resistant, the way Alma described feeling toward him. But I didn’t. I found him kind of flat and predictable, at least until the end.
On a plot level, there were scenes that I struggled to stay focused on and others I couldn’t look away from. The majority of the really good stuff came at the end. Others have pointed out that, for a book labelled as an adult fantasy, both the tone and setup read more as YA (most of the time), and I have to agree. Outside some more adult gore, I don’t know that this is really an adult book thematically. I also wouldn’t really call it gothic or romantic, which are other labels it has – really, if I had to put a word to it, I’d describe this as a dark YA fantasy.
I'd recommend this to those who enjoy YA fantasy for the most part, but only if you don't mind some fantasy gore and violence. I'd also recommend it to anyone who doesn't mind a more expository writing style, or if writing style in general doesn't affect your enjoyment of a story. Plus, there are some interesting themes and questions around guilt, codependency, rage, and monstrosity that may appeal to other readers.
Thanks to Harper Voyager and Netgalley for the ARC. All opinions are my own.
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
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:
Complicated
House of the Beast is superb! Its a beautifully sad, dark fairytale like story about revenge. Its filled with rage, loneliness, and codependency. The prose is rich and reads like poetry in some areas. It's violent and deliciously gorey. The author even gives little illustrations throughout the story that pulls everything together in a nice little package.
The story follows Alma who is raised by a single mother that becomes deathly ill. In seeking ways to help her mother, Alma comes across who her father is. He's part of one of the four elder gods houses, specifically the one of the Beast. In exchange for helping Alma's mother she must leave with her father, sacrifice her arm to the beast, and train to go into the Umbral Plane to help her father become the beasts first arm. During the 8 years of training Alma is accompanied by a not so imaginary friend that helps Alma come up with plans of her own, revenge.
I can't praise this book enough! Its a debut novel even! There are all sorts of twists at the end. The characters are beyond morally gray. Every named character is given life. My only criticism is this was advertised as a romantasy and its not. There is building of relationships but I would have never tacked romance on as a genre for this. I would call it a horror fantasy and it doesn't need romance. Its beautiful without it.
The story follows Alma who is raised by a single mother that becomes deathly ill. In seeking ways to help her mother, Alma comes across who her father is. He's part of one of the four elder gods houses, specifically the one of the Beast. In exchange for helping Alma's mother she must leave with her father, sacrifice her arm to the beast, and train to go into the Umbral Plane to help her father become the beasts first arm. During the 8 years of training Alma is accompanied by a not so imaginary friend that helps Alma come up with plans of her own, revenge.
I can't praise this book enough! Its a debut novel even! There are all sorts of twists at the end. The characters are beyond morally gray. Every named character is given life. My only criticism is this was advertised as a romantasy and its not. There is building of relationships but I would have never tacked romance on as a genre for this. I would call it a horror fantasy and it doesn't need romance. Its beautiful without it.
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
dark
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
House of the Beast is a dark YA fantasy debut with gothic and horror vibes. It's a story about a young woman's plan of revenge and the bloody god that decides to help her. I think was a great start for Wong. The dynamics between the characters were fun to read about, personally my favorite is with M/M couple who I would absolutely LOVE to read more about especially with what happened at the end. Maybe a little novella?
<i> Thank you to Netgalley, Harpercollins and NerdFam for the e-arc! </i>
<i> Thank you to Netgalley, Harpercollins and NerdFam for the e-arc! </i>
challenging
reflective
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
This left me absolutely devastated in the best way.
I'm pretty stingy with my five stars, but House of the Beast earned it after only the first few chapters. Something about it just drew me in and had me absolutely hooked. I wish I could just crawl inside this book and live in it forever.
Alma was an interesting heroine to follow. She wasn't quite morally grey, but there was an aspect of her character that made it so she wasn't the stereotypical, virtuous fantasy MC we see a lot of. She struggled with sustaining the morals instilled in her by her mother, and the duty she was saddled with by her father. Wong did a great job balancing Alma's inner struggle with her actions. Her relationship with her monster gave me very complex feelings, but to me it was the highlight of this whole story.
The magic system was a little bit underdeveloped, but overall the rules made sense and were consistent. The worldbuilding was also lacking a bit as we were confined to one country that supposedly had different rules pertaining to magic than the rest of the world, but as we were confined to Kugara for the duration of the book and only focused on its inner politics, it wasn't very noticeable.
This reminded me a lot of Blood Over Bright Haven, not because the story or themes were similar in any ways, but just based on the way it made me feel. Kind of warm and comforted despite the though themes. I will be re-reading this book (and BOBH) many times in the next coming years.
I'm pretty stingy with my five stars, but House of the Beast earned it after only the first few chapters. Something about it just drew me in and had me absolutely hooked. I wish I could just crawl inside this book and live in it forever.
Alma was an interesting heroine to follow. She wasn't quite morally grey, but there was an aspect of her character that made it so she wasn't the stereotypical, virtuous fantasy MC we see a lot of. She struggled with sustaining the morals instilled in her by her mother, and the duty she was saddled with by her father. Wong did a great job balancing Alma's inner struggle with her actions. Her relationship with her monster gave me very complex feelings, but to me it was the highlight of this whole story.
The magic system was a little bit underdeveloped, but overall the rules made sense and were consistent. The worldbuilding was also lacking a bit as we were confined to one country that supposedly had different rules pertaining to magic than the rest of the world, but as we were confined to Kugara for the duration of the book and only focused on its inner politics, it wasn't very noticeable.
This reminded me a lot of Blood Over Bright Haven, not because the story or themes were similar in any ways, but just based on the way it made me feel. Kind of warm and comforted despite the though themes. I will be re-reading this book (and BOBH) many times in the next coming years.
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
𝙰𝚞𝚍𝚒𝚘𝚋𝚘𝚘𝚔 𝚁𝚎𝚟𝚒𝚎𝚠
🌟🌟🌟🌟.2
Now this book had my attention from the first chapter. In chapter 1, I knew this was going to be a good book to me! But, most importantly, I love how the author did not attempt to drag this story out and make it into multiple books! I applaud you, dear author Michelle Wong, for that! Because I just felt in my spirit that this book would end on a cliffhanger, while it doesn't!
This isn't your convenience romance, the chemistry between Alma and Aster. If you enjoy anime and watched Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood, this book will give you those vibes!
The audiobook is narrated by Jeanne Syquia. She did a good job telling the story and giving the characters depth! She was easy to listen to and also understand. I listened at 2x speed.
Thank you, NetGalley, and Harper Audio for the audiobook in exchange for my honest review.
🌟🌟🌟🌟.2
Now this book had my attention from the first chapter. In chapter 1, I knew this was going to be a good book to me! But, most importantly, I love how the author did not attempt to drag this story out and make it into multiple books! I applaud you, dear author Michelle Wong, for that! Because I just felt in my spirit that this book would end on a cliffhanger, while it doesn't!
This isn't your convenience romance, the chemistry between Alma and Aster. If you enjoy anime and watched Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood, this book will give you those vibes!
The audiobook is narrated by Jeanne Syquia. She did a good job telling the story and giving the characters depth! She was easy to listen to and also understand. I listened at 2x speed.
Thank you, NetGalley, and Harper Audio for the audiobook in exchange for my honest review.
dark
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
This was an absolutely stellar debut! House of the Beast definitely delivered on the dark, atmospheric fantasy novel that was promised!
The book was dark and broody and had definite Full Metal Alchemist vibes. Alma, a bastard taken in my her father and his family, is roughly initiated into the family when her arm is sacrificed to the Dread Beast. She is shunned and kept cloistered away from everyone except her imaginary friend, Aster. He’s been there her whole life. So imagine her surprise when she discovers that HE is the Dread Beast and he pushes her to seek revenge on her family! She spends the next 8 years training for the day when she can venture to the Umbral Gate and take revenge on her father.
I loved the journey Alma took from shunned bastard could to bad-ass in her own right. While having Aster at her side probably helped in some capacity it was satisfying to read that she knew how to fight on her own without him. Her character was so interesting - an orphan who wanted to make her late mum proud but also a vessel who wanted to please their elder god. Alma grappled between appeasing her his and her conscience and it made for a delightfully well rounded character.
I kinda appreciated that there was basically no romance to this book. Alma and Aster’s relationship, while super codependent, was good how it was and I think not adding a romance subplot was definitely the move.
I listened to the audiobook and it was fantastic. The narrator does such a great job of reading the various scenes and characters. I’d definitely listen to her narration again!
If you want an FMA fantasy where the main character is bent on revenge then pick up this book!
Thanks so much to NetGalley, HarperAudio and HarperVoyager for providing me with an eARC and advanced audiobook in exchange for my honest review!
The book was dark and broody and had definite Full Metal Alchemist vibes. Alma, a bastard taken in my her father and his family, is roughly initiated into the family when her arm is sacrificed to the Dread Beast. She is shunned and kept cloistered away from everyone except her imaginary friend, Aster. He’s been there her whole life. So imagine her surprise when she discovers that HE is the Dread Beast and he pushes her to seek revenge on her family! She spends the next 8 years training for the day when she can venture to the Umbral Gate and take revenge on her father.
I loved the journey Alma took from shunned bastard could to bad-ass in her own right. While having Aster at her side probably helped in some capacity it was satisfying to read that she knew how to fight on her own without him. Her character was so interesting - an orphan who wanted to make her late mum proud but also a vessel who wanted to please their elder god. Alma grappled between appeasing her his and her conscience and it made for a delightfully well rounded character.
I kinda appreciated that there was basically no romance to this book. Alma and Aster’s relationship, while super codependent, was good how it was and I think not adding a romance subplot was definitely the move.
I listened to the audiobook and it was fantastic. The narrator does such a great job of reading the various scenes and characters. I’d definitely listen to her narration again!
If you want an FMA fantasy where the main character is bent on revenge then pick up this book!
Thanks so much to NetGalley, HarperAudio and HarperVoyager for providing me with an eARC and advanced audiobook in exchange for my honest review!
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
In House of the Beast we follow Alma, an only child who is overcome by loneliness. When her mother becomes very ill, Alma reaches out to her father, a noble in one of the four houses of the gods that rule over Kugara. He comes to take her back to House Avera and make her another vessel for The Dread Beast, and in exchange he will ensure her mother's care. There was so much story packed into this book. I never really knew where it was going (in a good way) and every time I thought I knew what was coming, the story had me second guessing myself all the way up to another twist in the plot. It was addicting. There was never a dull moment. I definitely recommend checking it out.
dark
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