bethboo's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
This book was a little strange.
The premise is wonderfully interesting. A world divided by class and ruled by blood. Sapphic characters and relationships and sensually dark obsessions and fatal alliances. A big almost empty manor that used to be beyond lavish with old money and old tales and old histories and old fears. It's a book that is purely for the vibes, because the execution was lack luster at best. The author and the writing style was lacking in finesse. It reminded me of a Wattpad story. Some of the stories on their are crazy interesting, but the writing is amateur in all of them.
So, as someone who listened to the audio book and just put it on in the background, it was a fairly decent book. The vibes were immaculate but the plot definitely missed the mark.
I think the development of characters and later plot lines moved way too quickly, and kinda felt like the author just trying to wrap things up sloppily. The ending was a bit unexpected, so I'll give it that, but it definitely didn't go where I wanted it to.
I would give it a worse rating, but the atmosphere was good and the premise was great and the summary of it all is fabulous. Simply the writing disappointed the book. Even the title and the cover art and names of characters and places and the world was all amazing. But I hated the writing.
The premise is wonderfully interesting. A world divided by class and ruled by blood. Sapphic characters and relationships and sensually dark obsessions and fatal alliances. A big almost empty manor that used to be beyond lavish with old money and old tales and old histories and old fears. It's a book that is purely for the vibes, because the execution was lack luster at best. The author and the writing style was lacking in finesse. It reminded me of a Wattpad story. Some of the stories on their are crazy interesting, but the writing is amateur in all of them.
So, as someone who listened to the audio book and just put it on in the background, it was a fairly decent book. The vibes were immaculate but the plot definitely missed the mark.
I think the development of characters and later plot lines moved way too quickly, and kinda felt like the author just trying to wrap things up sloppily. The ending was a bit unexpected, so I'll give it that, but it definitely didn't go where I wanted it to.
I would give it a worse rating, but the atmosphere was good and the premise was great and the summary of it all is fabulous. Simply the writing disappointed the book. Even the title and the cover art and names of characters and places and the world was all amazing. But I hated the writing.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug use, Domestic abuse, Death, Sexual violence, Blood, Confinement, Sexual assault, and Injury/Injury detail
brittknee52's review
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
natashamontgomery's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Wow, a well-developed, seductive, sapphic whirlwind of a book. A fantastical setting you'll buy into and a societal construct that seems awfully realistic.... A novel about demeaning, abusive love and its ease of exploitation.
Dropped a star because of personal preference. I realise I don't really need plot in my stories so the last 100 pages was just a lot of plotty plot.
Dropped a star because of personal preference. I realise I don't really need plot in my stories so the last 100 pages was just a lot of plotty plot.
ceceleininger's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
2.0
ava_aurum's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.25
creativeflow's review against another edition
5.0
An intriguing, compelling gothic story about a desperate woman.
I'm going to start by saying how much I enjoyed this book. House of Hunger by Alexis Henderson is a chilling, wicked, dangerous and atmospheric story about a young woman Marion Shaw who is really desperate to run away from her miserable life and her abusive, addict brother. She decides to follow up with an ad in a newspaper. Naive and trusting Marion decides to become a new bloodmaid for House of Hunger ruled by Countess Lisavet Bathory. The countess has a rare disease, which requires drinking young girls blood to keep the disease at bay.
Right from the beginning the book becomes compelling and I kept wanting to turn the page to progress in the story. Marion has no idea in what she involved herself into, but soon she starts seeing creepy hints, people disappearing, deceptions and lots of lies. She can't trust anyone, at some point not even herself!
Lisavet is such a strong, mysterious character, that right until the end of the book, I was not sure exactly what kind of role she would play right at the end. I like how feasts, nobles, the blood drinking parts were described. It gave me chills and at some point I even felt repulsed (in a good way). I loved how all bloodmaids at the ends overcame all the obstacles and sticked together.
There are simple not enough adjectives to describe House of Hunger. This book is perfect for autumn, as Halloween approaches and we all like a bit of spookiness at this time of year. I highly recommend it. I was a bit torn between giving this book 4 or 5 stars, because I did expected a little bit more from the ending. But I enjoyed the whole entirety of this story so much and so I'm definitely giving it 5 stars!
I'm going to start by saying how much I enjoyed this book. House of Hunger by Alexis Henderson is a chilling, wicked, dangerous and atmospheric story about a young woman Marion Shaw who is really desperate to run away from her miserable life and her abusive, addict brother. She decides to follow up with an ad in a newspaper. Naive and trusting Marion decides to become a new bloodmaid for House of Hunger ruled by Countess Lisavet Bathory. The countess has a rare disease, which requires drinking young girls blood to keep the disease at bay.
Right from the beginning the book becomes compelling and I kept wanting to turn the page to progress in the story. Marion has no idea in what she involved herself into, but soon she starts seeing creepy hints, people disappearing, deceptions and lots of lies. She can't trust anyone, at some point not even herself!
Lisavet is such a strong, mysterious character, that right until the end of the book, I was not sure exactly what kind of role she would play right at the end. I like how feasts, nobles, the blood drinking parts were described. It gave me chills and at some point I even felt repulsed (in a good way). I loved how all bloodmaids at the ends overcame all the obstacles and sticked together.
There are simple not enough adjectives to describe House of Hunger. This book is perfect for autumn, as Halloween approaches and we all like a bit of spookiness at this time of year. I highly recommend it. I was a bit torn between giving this book 4 or 5 stars, because I did expected a little bit more from the ending. But I enjoyed the whole entirety of this story so much and so I'm definitely giving it 5 stars!
birbmcbirb's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-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? No
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Classism, Trafficking, Murder, Emotional abuse, Medical trauma, Blood, Violence, Gore, Torture, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Domestic abuse, Medical content, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Child abuse and Drug use
kaydub23's review against another edition
dark
fast-paced
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
2.75
Felt like a poor knock off of Mexican Gothic. Never cared about the characters much. Had to push through to finish
lnb_sweety's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-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
4.0