A review by 7_minutes_of_weeping
House of the Beast by Michelle Wong

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

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

3.5

In this dark fantasy novel, we follow Alma, a young woman forced into a bargain with a powerful god by her estranged father and his noble family to save her sick mother. After tragedy strikes despite the deal, Alma seeks revenge against her father, aided by her unique connection to the god that only she can see.

This book’s atmosphere and world building sucked me in from the start. The story is rich in dark lore and fantasy, and Wong did an incredible job at building this world.

This book has everything I love in my fantasy books: political intrigue, deadly trials, unique monsters, and rich action-packed battle scenes. I found that Wong’s writing was strongest during the action scenes. They were fluid and so well written. 

What I struggled with were the characters. I didn’t particularly enjoy any of them, and the FMC was very childish to me. There was a weird time jump near the start of the book that aged her, but her character never seemed to mentally age and I kept picturing her as 11 due to how she acted throughout the rest of the book. The dialogue between all the characters just felt childish despite the content. 

I honestly struggle to rate the narrator in this one, because I can’t tell if I didn’t enjoy her voicing of the characters, or if I just didn’t enjoy the characters. After further reflection, I believe Jeanne did a great job despite the dialogue. 

Overall, I wanted to love this one due to so many people praising this story. While I loved the world building, plot, and action, I just couldn’t get over the characters. I can absolutely see why so many people enjoyed this one, though!

Special thanks to HarperAudio Adult/Harper Voyager and NetGalley for the access to this ALC in exchange for my honest review!