Thank you Netgally for the opportunity to read this ARC. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. From the very beginning I was hooked, I finished it in a day. I highly recommend this book and can’t wait for the next one.

The actual writing was good but the story wasn't that great. I just couldn't get into it long enough to keep my interest. I put it down many times before I finished it. Definitely not a read-all-night-to-finish-it type of book.

First off, thank you to the publisher for granting me an ARC to read…. This book was so fun!!! This book was super sexy and I LOVED the enemies to lovers storyline 😍 It was a little hard for me to get into at first but once the story picked up, I was HOOKED! I will definitely be looking to read more books from this author in the future!

⭐⭐⭐⭐ 4/5

Firstly, thank you to NetGalley, Karolina Wilde and Xpresso Book Tours for the ARC of House of Pain.

Secondly, this book had me fairly hooked!! It felt like a mixture between Harry Potter and Zodiac Academy, with a good dosage of enemies to lovers to enemies to....who knows?

The magic, lore and families were so interesting! You can tell there's so much history between each family, that this is a generational thing and that there's a lot of meat there for more stories if we don't find out more in the sequel.

I adored Alecto!!! It was so interesting and amazing to have a female MC who is strong, sex positive and its never viewed as this bad thing, it is just *is*. She knows how to handle herself, and I feel like we're just getting the tip of the iceberg with her growth. Her relationship with Blaze is so interesting because it reminded me of Dramione fanfics and even Darius/Tory from ZA. Morally gray tortured boys are amazing, and Blaze fits that perfectly!!

I will say a few cons for me were:
- I felt like we were dropped into it all very quickly without much explanation about the game, or the day to day running of the school and their houses.
- There were certain things I felt needed more in depth focus like Val, and Rogue (totally under used) and the girl who was found in the House of Tigers.

I'm really excited to read the sequel!!!!! Definitely a good read for people who like enemies to lovers, magic, bully romance, strong female mcs and a bit of spice!

First, thank you Netgalley for the opportunity to read & review this book. The cover of the book and the synopsis made me absolutely want to read this. Dark Academia is a genre that I'm dipping my toes into and figured I would give this book a shot especially since a lot of people were talking about it on Goodreads and IG. Well, if this book is what Dark Academia is about, I'm just going to take my toes right back out of the genre.

I, in no way, shape or form, am a prude. I have a mouth like a sailor and sprinkle Fuck in every sentence like parsley. I can turn any comment or statement into a sexual innuendo. It's not hard....

After about 100 pages of these bratty teenagers talking about cocks, fucking their professors for a good grade and the endless talk of drugs & sex, I threw in the towel. I just can't. What is the point of this book? I thought it was about magic and dark arts? Where's the magic? Why is it all cock? Is it a magical cock? Are they going to pull a white rabbit out of the cock? Unfortunately, I'll never find out because this is a solid DNF for me. I would absolutely NOT compare this book to Harry Potter or Gossip Girl. It's neither of those. I don't think I can even think of any book or show that comes remotely close to this. Maybe when I read Erotica but even then, the Erotica books had a story line. This book seemed to just get off on throwing cock around (see? not a prude)

If you're a reader that appreciates content & trigger warnings, the author does have a good number of warnings at the beginning of the book. Unless it's animal cruelty & death, I don't really need to know about content & trigger warnings but I know some people do need it before deciding on reading a book. This author definitely did a good job with adding them. That's about the only positive thing I can say about this book.

Again, thank you #netgalley for the ARC of this book.

Welcome to Venefica, an academy of magic where cruelty and bloodlines reign over all. Alecto is a half-witch with a powerful and influential father. But being a legacy at Venefica doesn't save her from being taunted as a half-breed. Her cruelest tormenter happens to be a member of her own house, Blaze. While having to work together to win a competition between the houses, their mutual loathing and sizzling chemistry create a volatile reaction.

The magic system was really creative, and having them be a part of a house that uses sexual energy for magic was a great touch. Creating moments filled with tension while they still insist they hate each other is the best type of slow-burn. A good bully-romance is hard to find and this one delivered on both the pain and the pleasure.

This might be a petty complaint, but many of their names made me cringe. An important character is literally named Rogue Smolder. Because of this and other writing choices, sometimes the book reads like satire.

Overall, I still rate it four out of five stars. I really enjoyed the tension, the pining, the confusing feelings, and all the cruelty. It just reads like a fan-fic sometimes rather than a full-length novel.

House of Pain is best described as if King of Corium had a naughty love child with a Dramoine fan-fic and Zodiac Academy.

Please read the content warnings, as there are a plethora. A few of the big ones I'll mention are mentions of SA (nothing graphic), dubious consent, revenge p*rn, and mutilation.

Thank you NetGalley for a copy of this ARC.

HOLY WITCH PORN!

That's what it is. Witch-Porn. And I loved every steamy second. Now, admittedly, I read this while I was at work and that added to the spice; but truly this book does not skimp on anything. I've read many books with "smut" scenes and have enjoyed some things being left to the imagination, but every once in a while I love a good book that provides me with it all. The enemies-to-lovers (maybe lovers????) plot also added to the steaminess. Alecto and Blaze are complete assholes to one another and I love the trope. I do hope that in sequels we dive deeper into their actual "relationship" and see what keeps them together as well as apart.

Putting the porn-plot aside, this book had amazing tellings of a witchy college campus. The "Game" and everything about it was intriguing and didn't make me miss a lack of sex scene; it all flowed very well. That being said, I hella don't trust Val whatsoever and actually hope that in future books, she turns out to be like... some type of big bad. Something just is off with that one.

Overall, a great read. I couldn't put it down and knocked this out in a little over a day. Some spelling/grammar errors, but that's to be expected with an ARC. Super pleased and can't wait for the sequel!

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!

This one is unfortunately not for me, but I am very thankful the author included trigger warnings. I would highly encourage readers to pay attention to that list of trigger warnings (as it is a mile long lol) if you think there is any chance you could be affected.

This book was well-written with an interesting premise. At times, it didn't seem balanced and I found it hard to absolutely love any of the characters. However, the main story and the writing are what let me stay engaged. The book itself could use some copy-editing and has a few errors, but that doesn't affect the overall writing itself.

First I want to give a big thank you to for this E-ARC!...now lets get into this book

Enemies to lovers to still enemies BUT lovers
Dark Acadamia
Dark Fantasy
A little bit of mystery
A little bit of action

This book really surprised me in the best way possible. It started a little slow and I'll say almost confusing. But after the first few chapters I was drawn into this book-world and couldn't find the way out until the very end. Alecto Black is a woman of many words, and I absolutely loved how this MC knew who she was and how to bask in her glory. She knew what she had, her strengths and I am really looking forward to this characters growth! Swoon worthy toxic relationship? Its all there and it is amazing. I can't wait to see what's in store for Alecto and Blaze ( I mean the man is obsessed lol ) but also for the snakes!- and the game....who will win I wonder...

I wasn’t sure exactly how to feel about this book at first, but once I got into it, I was hooked. I’ve spent the last 6 hours pouring over this book hardly able to put it down for more than a moment. I really admire the authors ability to take me from absolutely HATING the MMC and pitying the FMC, to finding some common ground between the two and not really hating either, although I’m still a little iffy on him although the next book may change that. They’re both jerks in some ways and definitely are toxic in some ways as well, but the chemistry between them is so thick you can feel it even just reading the book and it takes a talented author to make that possible. Some twists with the entire situation between the student body shook me to my core and I may never fully recover from the shock of it. Overall it was an impressive read and I cannot wait to get my hands on the second book and watch as these characters I’ve come to love progress into stronger witches as well as just stronger people in general. I just know the next book is going to be absolutely fantastic if the first is any demonstration of that.

This is a story of witches. Not kind witches, but evil, cruel, and heartless witches. The question is, does Alecto Black have a witch’s soul from her father or a mortal’s sense of wrong from her mother?

This book’s story pulls the reader forward as we’re thrust into the world of dark academia and the “Inner Circle” of one of the witch university’s most powerful houses. The main character, Alecto Black, is half mortal and finds herself constantly under scrutiny and judgment from the other witches, despite her father being one of the most powerful warlocks in the area. Our second POV comes from Blaze who is also a member of the Inner Circle and confused about…a lot.

The book does uphold its promise of steamy romance and Ninth House / Zodiac Academy vibes, but I wouldn’t truly reference Harry Potter or Gossip Girl as the publisher suggests.

While I really enjoyed the story, I felt like the book read a bit like fan fiction and needed some additional editing and review. The book has quite a few misspellings, grammatical errors and was choppy in a way that felt more like a second draft than a final product.

The author does include a list of trigger warnings at the beginning of the book, which I would highly recommend reviewing in detail before pursuing as this is a dark academia bully romance.

I would like to thank NetGalley for providing me with an E-Arc of this book to review.

I got an advanced copy of this book from NetGalley for a review. This book has an interesting premise. I do see that a lot of the storyline is very similar to a Harry Potter fanfiction or Zodiac Academy. Enemies to lovers and paranormal romance is my favorite so I really enjoyed the tropes in this story. Blaze and Alecto are compelling characters and I really want to learn more about the houses and the magical world we are introduced to in this series. Was this book my favorite? No, but it is a fairly easy read and I enjoyed the story. I will read the sequel as I want to see Alecto and Blaise grow together despite the obstacles in their way. I also really liked Jolene!

Arc from netgalley.
This book was just okay for me. I felt like it was all something I read before. Borrowed themes and plot points from other books

- Dark academia
- Enemies to lovers, to enemies…lol
- Witchcraft
- Trauma and abuse

This book exceeded my expectations. Great world building, and I am always a sucker for any magic. Thought the characters were well rounded and likeable. Appreciated the trigger warning. Trauma discussed and seen in the book.
Definitely looking forward to the next installment.

4.5/5 stars

First of all, thanks Net Galley for the e-ARC!!
I have to admit I didn't really have any expectations about this book. I found it interesting in the description so I applied for it. I FREAKING LOVED IT!!!
I read the first sentence and was immediately hooked. I loved the characters, the world, the magic, and all the events. Except maybe for one or two things that happened to the protagonist, but I believe they were important for the plot.
THE SPICE OMG!!!!! It was so good! I reached a certain part and couldn't put the book down!!
I'm so glad I read House of Pain, I love witches and this book's premise was really great.
I actually need the next one, like ASAP.

I really wanted to love this book from the description of Harry Potter meets Gossip Girl but I got about 10 pages in and it was just too much. The characters seem too young for all the sex references

You'll know whether this book is right for you within the first chapter. It's heavy on the 18+ aspects, and you definitely want to read the trigger warnings!

That said, I really enjoyed this one. It's not my usual cup of tea, but I was in the mood for something dark and delicious. I think the biggests draw for me on House of Pain was that, unlike so many DNFed "dark" books on my shelf...this one was written well! It balanced a great line between colloquial and descriptive. The prose didn't make me cringe, the dialogue was realistic, and even the "Dark fantasy" elements seemed plausible in Wilde's world. I will put books down in a heartbeat if they're not well written, no matter how intriguing the concept is. Luckily this one delivered on both fronts, and was a unique spin on "magical house games".

If you enjoyed Zodiac Academy but wanted it to jump into those darker 18+ elements right away...give this one a shot.

There’s steam, then there STEAM.
Idk if I could classify this as a bully romance? A sex positive one?


I wished there was more background info. I didn’t understand exactly what houses were for, why some were elite, what the …. Purpose? Of the plot was?


I’m still gonna read the second but it was a lot of pent up sexual tension, smut, and little plot. If that’s your thing- great. I just wanted more.