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4.06 AVERAGE
4.06 AVERAGE
Thank you netgalley for the arc.
This is unfortunately a critical review.
I followed Michelle Wong for years due to her work on the Legend of Korra comics, and seeing artists break into publishing piqued my interest.
I followed Michelle Wong for years due to her work on the Legend of Korra comics, and seeing artists break into publishing piqued my interest.
This book unfortunately felt very undercooked. The prose is direct, with little sentence variation and perhaps the worst case of telling not showing I have read in a long time. The book telling you exactly what is happening at all moments so your mind doesn’t need to fill in anything or have any questions to ponder made me think this was YA until I looked up the book and it says adult. It really doesn’t read that way.
The love interest is supposedly the dread beast, a god whose followers are great fighters. Why is his personification so boring? Having him have some more otherworldly aspects would make sense as being something Alma imagined as a kid where he can have a more horrifying appearance that Alma still finds comfort in would help emphasize how lonely she is. Instead we learn he makes himself beautiful because she wanted him that way and the only otherworldly part of him is his hair and maybe eyes. She really couldn’t give him more interesting features?
He falls in line with the many shadowy but also incredibly plain love interests that have dominated romantasy.
Him being manipulative and not aligning fully with Alma is so telegraphed it makes her seem stupid. The book is already incredibly direct with the plot, and it is in first person. Alma catches all these hints about him and has doubts, but not enough to think even a little deeper? She only seems to get what's happening when someone tells her.
The book is described as an epic fantasy, but it really doesn’t read like it. The world and the gods do not feel filled in enough. We get some sense of the magic with the tinkerer that I really enjoyed, but the other gods and their vessels are really lacking in what they grant their followers. The dread beast’s vessels are all great fighters, but they also train from a very young age. Their connection to their god just doesn't seem to grant them much.
Alma’s connection to her god also takes away so much tension. You are never worried for her because her god is right there helping her. She moves her prosthetic hand immediately when it should take weeks, she is good at swordfighting without training because of her god, she defeats the test better than her cousin and father with more training than her because her god is there.
The book just feels like it has a lot more to offer but doesn’t. More of the body horror or sacrifice aspects of their gods and powers would help to give a sort of consistent logic to the world. At first I thought all of the vessels need to sacrifice something to their gods, but now I’m not sure. The beast takes an arm, the heavenseer takes an eye? The tinkerer’s things seem to take a piece of them but it's unclear and The weeping lady’s followers just don’t get much to work with.
I will say I liked how Alma breaks away a lot. She meets and grows to trust others and learns to care for them the way her mother always told her. Sevelie and her relationship was a highlight for me.
Overall 1.5? Only the climax kinda interested me. The rest of the book just doesn’t give much for you to chew on.
dark
medium-paced
NetGalley Audio ARC
I really wanted to like this book but it just did not hit for me. The ONLY characters I cared about in any way were Fion, Kaim, and Six and they unfortunately were hardly in the book at all. This book simultaneously felt way too long and also not fleshed out well; the concepts were there- interesting gods, creepy other realm, political intrigue and revenge plot. I just feel like it could have been so cool but I was having to drag myself through finishing it.
I really wanted to like this book but it just did not hit for me. The ONLY characters I cared about in any way were Fion, Kaim, and Six and they unfortunately were hardly in the book at all. This book simultaneously felt way too long and also not fleshed out well; the concepts were there- interesting gods, creepy other realm, political intrigue and revenge plot. I just feel like it could have been so cool but I was having to drag myself through finishing it.
Vessels of House Avera were raised in violence. With violence, we would settle our affairs.
Dark, twisted, violent, heart-wrenching. Everything you could experience as your heart is being carved from your fucking chest. This book was a wild ride.
My father had brought me here to be a Hand of the Dread Beast, a host for the Harbinger of Blood and Ash, a vessel of destruction. I would show him that he should have been careful what he wished for.
4.5 stars
Set on a gothic, god-based world, Alma is taken in (forcibly) by her father to serve the Dread Beast. So ensues family infighting, petty schemes, warring families, betrayal, heartbreak, horror, gods and monsters, and emotional damage.
“You blame yourself for everything. Even the things that no one would think to blame you for. If you spend all your energy fighting yourself, how shall you defend against the ones who actually mean to hurt you?”
Wow, this was great. And fucking terrifying. Have you watched Doctor Who? Do you remember the Weeping Angels? How could you forget those if you’ve seen DW lmao but a version of them appeared in this at one point, unfortunately it was late a night for me so that was *fucking terrific*
Eventually, I was too weak to defend myself any longer from the thing that had been waiting for me in the dark.
Alma was such a devastating character, completely alone in the world, resented by everyone, used by her father; she broke my heart.
”You ever think that it could be different? That sometimes, it doesn’t have to be us against the whole world?”
Aster. Her invisible, make-believe companion, who got her through her childhood, but maybe not so make-believe? Maybe he was real, waiting for her to live up to her potential. Maybe they created a dependent corelationship on each other, maybe it ruined them in the end.
Over the years, I had spent many a day imagining what it would be like to finally give in and kiss my monster.
There was a lot of info at the start, but if you push through that, horrifying and emotionally devastating. Just what I needed. Highly recommend.
Thank you to Harper Collins Canada and the author for this ARC!
There’s pictures in the book, drawn by the author, and they were amazing, scary, and yes, emotionally damaging.
“I always knew this story wouldn’t have a happy ending. But still, I wanted to dream, for a while.”
Dark, twisted, violent, heart-wrenching. Everything you could experience as your heart is being carved from your fucking chest. This book was a wild ride.
My father had brought me here to be a Hand of the Dread Beast, a host for the Harbinger of Blood and Ash, a vessel of destruction. I would show him that he should have been careful what he wished for.
4.5 stars
Set on a gothic, god-based world, Alma is taken in (forcibly) by her father to serve the Dread Beast. So ensues family infighting, petty schemes, warring families, betrayal, heartbreak, horror, gods and monsters, and emotional damage.
“You blame yourself for everything. Even the things that no one would think to blame you for. If you spend all your energy fighting yourself, how shall you defend against the ones who actually mean to hurt you?”
Wow, this was great. And fucking terrifying. Have you watched Doctor Who? Do you remember the Weeping Angels? How could you forget those if you’ve seen DW lmao but a version of them appeared in this at one point, unfortunately it was late a night for me so that was *fucking terrific*
Eventually, I was too weak to defend myself any longer from the thing that had been waiting for me in the dark.
Alma was such a devastating character, completely alone in the world, resented by everyone, used by her father; she broke my heart.
”You ever think that it could be different? That sometimes, it doesn’t have to be us against the whole world?”
Aster. Her invisible, make-believe companion, who got her through her childhood, but maybe not so make-believe? Maybe he was real, waiting for her to live up to her potential. Maybe they created a dependent corelationship on each other, maybe it ruined them in the end.
Over the years, I had spent many a day imagining what it would be like to finally give in and kiss my monster.
There was a lot of info at the start, but if you push through that, horrifying and emotionally devastating. Just what I needed. Highly recommend.
Thank you to Harper Collins Canada and the author for this ARC!
There’s pictures in the book, drawn by the author, and they were amazing, scary, and yes, emotionally damaging.
“I always knew this story wouldn’t have a happy ending. But still, I wanted to dream, for a while.”
challenging
emotional
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:
Yes
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
When Alma’s mother falls deathly ill, Alma reaches out to the father she’s never met and begs for his help. He agrees to hire healers for her mother, but only if Alma joins his house, a noble family who are devoted to The Beast, the most brutal of the four gods. With no other options, Alma agrees, but immediately regrets her decision. Her new family despises her because she was born out of wedlock, and her father only wants to use her as a pawn to help him achieve his own dark ambitions. Alma is treated terribly by her family and is trapped within the family estate. But Alma has a bond with The Beast, who appears to her as a handsome prince named Aster. Together they plot revenge, vowing to destroy Alma’s father and everything he stands for.
This is a dark fantasy book. I’ve seen this marketed as a romance, but I strongly disagree with that. There is a romance subplot, but it’s only one small part of the story and doesn’t have much of its own development. That’s not a criticism, I really liked how it was handled - but if you go into this book thinking it’s a romantasy you’ll be disappointed!
The story is mostly focused on Alma’s revenge, which I really enjoyed. The bad guys in this book are awful, so her revenge feels really satisfying and justified. Even though she is dead set on revenge, Alma doesn’t completely abandon her morals. While I like Alma’s character arc, there were a few times when I felt like it wasn’t developed on the page as much as I would’ve liked. There was a scene or two where it felt like she just suddenly grew a conscious, but for some reason it wasn’t relevant until that moment, which felt weird. This wasn’t a huge issue, just something I noticed once or twice, and I did like her character arc as a whole.
I thought the world building was very interesting. The gods, their powers and followers, the technology (or lack of) in the world, etc. were really interesting! Alma’s god appearing to her was really cool and worked really well. I would have loved to know more about the world, but I think the author did a good job balancing giving enough details to get the reader interested without getting too bogged down in the details.
Overall, I thought this was an enjoyable read! If you like revenge stories or darker fantasy books that aren’t too dark, I would recommend this book. I listened to the audiobook and really enjoyed the narrator, so if you like audiobooks, I think it’s a good choice.
Thank you to Netgalley and Harper Audio for providing me a copy of the audiobook in exchange for my unbiased review.
This is a dark fantasy book. I’ve seen this marketed as a romance, but I strongly disagree with that. There is a romance subplot, but it’s only one small part of the story and doesn’t have much of its own development. That’s not a criticism, I really liked how it was handled - but if you go into this book thinking it’s a romantasy you’ll be disappointed!
The story is mostly focused on Alma’s revenge, which I really enjoyed. The bad guys in this book are awful, so her revenge feels really satisfying and justified. Even though she is dead set on revenge, Alma doesn’t completely abandon her morals. While I like Alma’s character arc, there were a few times when I felt like it wasn’t developed on the page as much as I would’ve liked. There was a scene or two where it felt like she just suddenly grew a conscious, but for some reason it wasn’t relevant until that moment, which felt weird. This wasn’t a huge issue, just something I noticed once or twice, and I did like her character arc as a whole.
I thought the world building was very interesting. The gods, their powers and followers, the technology (or lack of) in the world, etc. were really interesting! Alma’s god appearing to her was really cool and worked really well. I would have loved to know more about the world, but I think the author did a good job balancing giving enough details to get the reader interested without getting too bogged down in the details.
Overall, I thought this was an enjoyable read! If you like revenge stories or darker fantasy books that aren’t too dark, I would recommend this book. I listened to the audiobook and really enjoyed the narrator, so if you like audiobooks, I think it’s a good choice.
Thank you to Netgalley and Harper Audio for providing me a copy of the audiobook in exchange for my unbiased review.
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
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:
Complicated
I thought this book was amazing. It's more fantasy with a little romance. The setting is dark with light horror elements towards the end. The world building was incredible. The main characters were both awesome and showed great character development. The side characters were well written, too. I loved the ending; it was beautiful and had a bigger emotional impact on me than I expected.
🎧 I listened to the story via audiobook and I thought the narration was great.
A big thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the wonderful audiobook.
All opinions are my own.
🎧 I listened to the story via audiobook and I thought the narration was great.
A big thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the wonderful audiobook.
All opinions are my own.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Body horror, Child death, Violence
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Thank you to net galley for providing me with an audio ARC of house of the beast.
I’m not sure why this book was marketed as a dark romance. In my opinion the relationship was shown to be more like abused children who are codependent than romantic. I think this would be more accurately a fairytale, the original kind with dark endings. I honestly liked the world building and atmosphere and would have liked it a lot better if our MC’s internal monologue would have been less repetitive. I do not think this was a bad book but I think if you go into it with the expectations from the blurb you might feel like this was not the book you signed up for.
I’m not sure why this book was marketed as a dark romance. In my opinion the relationship was shown to be more like abused children who are codependent than romantic. I think this would be more accurately a fairytale, the original kind with dark endings. I honestly liked the world building and atmosphere and would have liked it a lot better if our MC’s internal monologue would have been less repetitive. I do not think this was a bad book but I think if you go into it with the expectations from the blurb you might feel like this was not the book you signed up for.