I felt like the whole time I was reading this, I didn’t really understand where the story was trying to go. Could be fun for lovers of the zodiac academy

This was a spicy dark academia for fans of Harry Potty and gossip girl. Fans of zodiac academy could really enjoy this book. While I really enjoyed most of this story I felt the spice was too forced and too frequent at times it took me out of the story and I felt myself skipping pages. I really enjoyed the characters in this story and the concept of a morally grey heroine really stole the show for me. I really enjoyed the mystery and action aspect of this story and I see myself being very excited for book 2 to see what happens with these characters next.

I think the book achieved what it was aiming for and is a fairly enjoyable read for fans of dark romance - though admittedly it skewed a bit dark for my taste and lacked some of the plot focus to balance that I would’ve wanted. All in all though, it was a pretty quick read that will definitely appeal to its intended readership.

Gothic Harry Potter meets Gossip Girl. I'd say it's more of the Zodiac Academy meets BDSM.

It was 400 pages, but I definitely felt it could've been longer. There was plot, smut, dangerous consequences and a fun magic system. Age recommended for 17+ as the adult content is very adult.




Thank you NetGalley and Xpresso Book Tours for the chance to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

DNF this Arc from netgalley

It just wasn’t for me, even thought the summary sounded so good, once I got in a few pages I had question about so much the the author just had a direction for the first 2 chapters I wasn’t seeing coming… making it lack so much I couldn’t continue
But this not to say that it isn’t right for someone else.

House of Pain is a great read if you like dark academia, boarding schools, and dark romance. Please read TW before picking up this book!
House of Pain promised a lot (gothic Harry Potter?). This book was enthralling and took you into a new world of boarding school and magic. It was a pretty long book and at a times I felt the plot was lacking but I stayed entertained throughout my read. I would recommend this to anyone who enjoyed The Atlas Six, Ninth House, and Zodiac Academy.

Thank you to Netgalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This book was absolutely fantastic. I've already added it to our list for order next year and will recommend it to students.

Gothic Harry Potter meets Gossip Girl This I such a great book and I can not wait for the rest of the trilogy

I will be recommending this book, but simply because of the subject matter. I am interested to see where the story goes and how things expand. At the same time I was wanting a little less smut and little more story.

This is not your usual college, it's dark, there's a whole lot of magic and plenty of spice 🔥 A bit of different twist the female mc is quite the morally grey character but so is the male mc pretty much this isn't a school for nice people.

I really wanted to like this book a lot. I was obsessed with the title, cover and blurb the moment I saw it ... But I couldn't find myself enjoying it as much as I wanted. Maybe I wasn't in the right mood for it

Overall rating: 3.75

House of Pain by Karolina Wilde is this wicked twist on supernatural academia that had me hooked. It's like a grown-up version of Harry Potter mixed with a dash of Gossip Girl and a sprinkle of Zodiac Academy vibes. You follow Alecto Black, a half-breed witch, as she tries to survive in a magical university where she's looked down upon. Her fellow House of Snakes member, Blaze, is one hell of a character—rich, arrogant, and sexy as hell. When the House competition, the Game, kicks off, these two have to figure out if they can work together or if their rivalry will tear them apart even more. The story had an intense plot, smut, and some seriously risky consequences, all set in a captivating magical world. While I would've loved more world-building and a deeper dive into the House game, the characters and their spicy romance kept me reading. I'm definitely looking forward to book 2 to see where this series goes. A big thanks to the author, publisher, and Netgalley for giving me an advanced copy of this magical and spicy treat!

Ultimately, this book wasn’t what I expected. I couldn’t get into the plot despite the characters being fascinating.

Thank you to NetGalley and to the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Unfortunately, I really could not connect with this book and DNFd. I should have read the synopsis more before requesting, because I do not care for dark bully romance.

Unfortunately did not connect to this one and DNF’d at 20%. I didn’t feel drawn to the characters or the storyline sadly.

DNF’d at 14%

I am unfortunately really disappointed by this book…
I didn’t enjoyed any of it that I’ve read, I couldn’t connected to the characters or the story. I just felt annoyed and rolled my eyes on the characters.
I want to say some good things about this book but I couldn’t, this just wasn’t for me that’s for sure.

Thank you to @netgalley for providing an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

This book is deranged. Off the rails level psychopathic shenanigans. And I LOVED every second of it. Starting with the world building; I enjoyed the setting of the campus and the different areas that house the students, I also enjoyed the areas such as the cursed/ blessed woods and the Blood Lake. I always find the nature in fantasy novels fascinating because I know that's where the creatures live. The world building in this novel is super simplistic which suits the story best for the biggest impact. The writing was fantastic, there wasn't any point that I felt it was disjointed in any way. I was kind of not impressed with Alecto at first, she seemed sorta spineless and self loathing and I wasn't sure if it was going to be an issue through out her whole arc. It was definitely not a problem, not only did she grow into her own but she grew some pretty deadly claws to boot. The dynamics between her and some of the other characters can be a bit much at times but it definitely all fits into the bigger picture of the story. Blaze I think for me was my favorite in their dysfunctional little family but Jolene is a close second. I'm sure I'm not alone in the fact that I hated Val every step of this story. I'm am however excited to see how their dynamics play out in the next book! It should also be pointed out that I wasn't prepared for the level of spice that is in these pages and oh boy does it get steamy!!

I do enjoy dark fantasy to some extent but I don't think this was the one for me. A lot of the elements in the book felt like they were borrowed from other books such as from Harry Potter or other fantasy worlds. I did like the heroine but I didn't like too much else unfortunately.

This dark, sexy fantasy is action packed from the very beginning! With a very dark Harry Potter-esque vibe, House of Pain will definitely leave you wanting more when it’s over!

(ARC from NetGalley but I read it after the pub date, my bad) This feels off brand, but this was ~too~ spicy. Plot? I don't know her and that's ok I just cannot get into bully romances.