scifi_rat's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
3.5
Graphic: Body horror and Blood
Moderate: Bullying, Confinement, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Chronic illness, Classism, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Murder, Physical abuse, Self harm, Slavery, Torture, Toxic relationship, and Violence
Minor: Child abuse, Animal death, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Pedophilia
missbsbookshelf's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Sexual violence, Body horror, Addiction, Confinement, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Animal death, Blood, Gore, Mental illness, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, and Emotional abuse
zany25's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
Also I’ve drawn blood for work in the real world and their blood letting descriptions were pretty spot on, aside from the sprinkling of supernatural of course, I enjoyed how they described the veins and scarring as a nice realistic touch.
Graphic: Blood, Classism, Drug use, Toxic relationship, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Grief, Domestic abuse, Death, Alcohol, Infidelity, and Sexual content
Minor: Mental illness, Self harm, Incest, Body horror, Forced institutionalization, Terminal illness, and Addiction
tnm94's review against another edition
- 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
4.0
Graphic: Drug use, Gore, Body horror, Mental illness, Self harm, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Child abuse, Cannibalism, Chronic illness, Death, Emotional abuse, and Murder
Moderate: Confinement, Animal death, Classism, Addiction, and Animal cruelty
Minor: Incest
gabym's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Blood, Mental illness, Murder, and Self harm
Minor: Death of parent
slicebread's review
- 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
3.5
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Death, Blood, Toxic relationship, Mental illness, Violence, Terminal illness, Self harm, Murder, Gore, Death of parent, and Classism
Moderate: Grief
Minor: Cannibalism
melissalivanos's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
Graphic: Blood
Moderate: Chronic illness, Confinement, Violence, Addiction, Self harm, Mental illness, Injury/Injury detail, Drug use, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Death of parent
melliedm's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Marion is from the slums of this pseudo-European fantasy world, both the social strata she was born into and her race contributing to her place in the world. She works thanklessly as a maid for a demanding mistress and fights to keep her earnings from her brother, who lost himself to sickness and drink and became the controlling, abusive figure they lacked without parents. Marion is also, straight from the outset, a lesbian—hell yeah.
When Marion sees a listing seeking a new bloodmaid, she sees an opportunity. You see, in this world the northern regions are ruled by a nobility who, inspired by dark tradition, consume blood. They're not vampires, per se—they're a more human metaphor for the desperate consumption and boredom of the upper crust. But hey, becoming a bloodmaid might cost you several pints or quarts over the years, but once you finish your tenure you're basically set for life. That's gotta be better than working till your death, right?
Marion ends up applying, and with the exquisite taste of her blood she gets fast-tracked into the court, where she's soon introduced to the Countess Lisavet, of the House of Hunger. From there, we enter into a thrilling and twisted toxic romance between the two, a courtly competition between bloodmaids for importance, and an old castle full of dark secrets to be uncovered.
Where House of Hunger could have been satisfied there, it instead takes things a step further and makes a firm commentary on the nature of class, the limits we can achieve within a system of capitalistic consumption, and how easily possession can be confused with love.
I loved Henderson's quick pace, especially her world-building. Too frequently I find that authors dump too much information or try to make their world too different from our own, forcing them to spend more time teaching us about how their world works and less time on how the characters interact with the world: Henderson didn't have that problem here. She takes what she needs from our familiarity, settles it into a gaslamp-esque setting, and adds her own twists that she works in where it's relevant to our characters, and doesn't bother giving us unnecessary details.
I had a great time with this read, and devoured it at breakneck pace. With this and A Year of Witching, Henderson is now on my "must read new releases" list.
Graphic: Gaslighting, Gore, Murder, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Blood, Cannibalism, Confinement, Violence, Body horror, Death, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Trafficking, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Mental illness
Moderate: Animal death, Classism, and Chronic illness
Minor: Addiction, Torture, and Racism
Needlesgiulianalb99's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
La verdad es que el libro como tal no está mal y la pluma de la autora es espectacular pero me ha dejado un poco sin más.
Tenía unas expectativas medias tirando a altas porque la sinopsis me pareció bastante buena, pero ha acabado siendo otro libro que seguramente acabe olvidando desgraciadamente. La idea principal que es básicamente cómo la nobleza se aprovecha de los más débiles bebiendo literalmente su sangre es genial pero, durante todo el libro, no pasa absolutamente nada salvo el proceso que va tomando la relación bastante tóxica entre la protagonista y Lisavet. Estaba en el 70% y todavía no pasaba nada hasta que en los últimos capítulos BOOM, y después me he quedado en plan “¿ya está?”. Leer tantas páginas de puro aburrimiento (que repito, la autora escribe súper bien) y relleno para llegar al final y que se resuelva todo tan rápido no me ha convencido del todo.
Lo que sí me ha gustado es cómo la autora ha plasmado (de manera digámoslo extraña) cómo los ricos obtienen y hacen lo que quieren mientras se aprovechan de los que no tienen tanto para vivir, así como las cosas tan raras que pueden llegar a hacer pagando infinitas sumas de dinero.
¿Recomendaría este libro? Sí, pero no creo que sea para todo el mundo ya que contiene sangre, tortura, horror, es bastante gore, abuso de sustancias tóxicas, relación tóxica, canibalismo, muerte, y un largo etcétera. Recomiendo leáis los trigger warnings antes de empezar el libro.
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Animal death, Drug use, Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, Toxic relationship, Trafficking, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Murder, Terminal illness, Addiction, Alcohol, Cannibalism, Gore, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Blood, Bullying, Incest, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Mental illness, Torture, and Violence
blacksphinx's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Drug use, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Drug abuse, Blood, and Death
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Cannibalism, Classism, Addiction, Bullying, Sexual content, and Confinement
Minor: Mental illness