Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

House of Hunger by Alexis Henderson

43 reviews

jasper_is_atypical's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Gore, Grief, Violence, Abandonment, Addiction, Alcohol, Blood, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Murder, Self harm, Animal death, Cannibalism, Classism, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Excrement, Toxic relationship, Trafficking, Body horror, Bullying, Gaslighting, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Sexual content

Moderate: Xenophobia, Adult/minor relationship, and Torture

Minor: Death of parent and Incest

archaicrobin's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

I have a very unpopular opinion here, I know tons of people love this book and it is beautifully written but the plot dragged on in my opinion and I honestly wasn’t that invested in any of the characters which made it even more of a slog for me. 

Based on the real Blood Countess Elizabeth Bathory, Marion is a new blood maid for the House of Hunger where girls are bled for the wealthy nobles to drink. She’s not only a blood maid, but blood maid to one of the most hungry and insatiable of nobles Lisavet.

This is the second book I’ve read by Henderson that fell flat for me. I had read Year of the Witching previously and had the same problems with plot and characters. While her writing is very atmospheric and lyrical, her plots and romance all come off as stale or slow to me. House of Hunger started off great, I was invested in the story and curious as to where it would go but once Marion arrives at the castle it all just slows down. The focus shifts to the relationship between Lisavet and Marion, and it turns from a horror novel into some weird toxic romance. 

Romance is not my thing, I don’t read it, I don’t pursue it, and I don’t mind it as a subplot if it’s well done, but in House of Hunger the relationship was so abusive and toxic from the start I never got behind it. Unfortunately, a huge chunk of the book is just Marion and Lisavet in the castle bleeding for each other and shooting boar, not really interesting to me. 

By the time the plot picks up again, the story goes in to hyper speed and then it’s over, the pacing is not the best. Also, If you know the history of Elizabeth Bathory the twist is not a shock to you, which again probably ruined some of the intrigue for me since I’m a huge history buff and was probably unhealthily obsessed with Bathory as a child so this story was just a miss overall for me.

I can definitely see why so many people love this, it’s dark paranormal romance with gorgeous prose and a bloody story but it’s not what I’m looking for in my own reading. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cannibalism, Confinement, Blood, Body horror, Chronic illness, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Classism, and Death

kassidyreads's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Violence, Physical abuse, Gore, Drug use, Terminal illness, Death, Self harm, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal death, Sexual content, Drug abuse, Toxic relationship, and Child abuse

Minor: Death of parent, Cannibalism, and Torture

looking4thedr's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

I really enjoyed this book. Some parts were slightly predictable and some parts were uninteresting to me, and I would have liked the side characters to have had a bit more focus. 
I liked the world building (I’m a vampire fan) and the themes of female friendships and camaraderie in the face of threat (not letting someone/a system take them from their community).  If there is a second instalment, it would be interesting to see where the characters go from here.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Blood, Violence, and Body horror

Moderate: Toxic relationship and Drug use

Minor: Alcoholism and Death of parent

minycrd's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood and Gore

Moderate: Murder and Death

Minor: Confinement, Death of parent, Incest, Drug abuse, and Drug use

shadowspinner's review against another edition

dark tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Toxic relationship, Blood, and Death

Moderate: Sexual content and Addiction

Minor: Death of parent and Child abuse

goolaina's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

Enjoyable read, not sure how I feel about the story overall. Probably not one I'd be wanting to reread, but would recommend it to the right person (goth lesbians and the people who love them).

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Trafficking, Classism, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, Blood, Toxic relationship, Self harm, Torture, Suicide attempt, Sexual content, and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Drug use

Minor: Death and Death of parent

eldritch_archivist's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Finally the toxic lesbian vampire horror story we've been waiting for. Bit of a slow start but a tense and cinematic ending. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Chronic illness, Emotional abuse, Medical content, Cannibalism, Classism, Addiction, Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, and Violence

Moderate: Confinement, Kidnapping, Sexual content, and Gore

Minor: Excrement and Death of parent

behindpaperbacks's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Addiction, Blood, Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, Body horror, Violence, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Death of parent

gabym's review against another edition

dark slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Mental illness, Murder, and Self harm

Minor: Death of parent