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rock_gnome's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Trafficking, Grief, Cannibalism, Murder, Abandonment, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
written_in_mold's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Trafficking, Grief, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Cursing, Incest, Infidelity, and Kidnapping
somelesbianwriter's review against another edition
- 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? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Body horror, Emotional abuse, Gore, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Cannibalism, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Addiction and Alcohol
Minor: Racism, Death of parent, and Classism
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: Body horror, Confinement, Death, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Trafficking, Cannibalism, Murder, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Animal death, Chronic illness, and Classism
Minor: Addiction, Racism, and Torture
Needlesbooksthoughtsandtea's review against another edition
- 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
Be careful... All the trigger warnings.
The main question in reading this book:
Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Murder, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Do NOT read if you are not okay with graphic descriptions of blood on every other page.