Reviews with content warning for Cannibalism - House of Hunger

Another great dip into a horror staple from the author (I also enjoyed A Year of Witching) that balances gothic romance, body horror, and class commentary in an accessible, and fast-paced read.

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.

Content Warnings

excavatingmytbr's review

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challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Content Warnings

etyines's review against another edition

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dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

i did enjoy this gory, disgusting dark romance but insta love AND insta hate in one? no thanks!

also just kinda realizing now that they're all such flat characters....

plot's really engaging though (except when she literally says, time passes like this + verbal exposition)

Content Warnings

blacksphinx's review

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dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

Content Warnings

ktgoodman's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

2.0

Content Warnings

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