Grab your tissues while finding your life in this book. Kay has brought forth this heartwarming tear-jerker that is sure to keep your interest and grow your empathy. For Saika life has been no crystal stair, but she has decided to stop running from her obligations. At Ash Gardens she finds more than she bargains for in more ways than 1. I enjoyed this book, it pulled my heart out and squeezed it til there was nothing left. I laughed, I loved and I found my way within the lines of the House of Frank. Grief shows itself in many forms, how you come out on the other side or even navigate thru it is what matters most. Know that you don't have to be alone.

I am a sucker for witch stories and found family. This book has them both. I really enjoyed this story and am considering it for a future read aloud for my grade 3 class.

house of frank a fantasy driven book about a lonely witch consumed by grief which then journeys to to a place where she discovers a whimsical cast of characters.

first and foremost, i would like to give the author a round of applause because they have outdone themselves with this book! it kinds of remind me of “hotel transylvania” (the movie) as well as “the house in the cerulean sea”. but the major difference this book has for me is how well written it is!

it was sad, funny, courageous, and everything in between! i absolutely loved the characters and the main character all the most. the plot was well paced, it wasn’t rushing anybody and it just kind of lets the characters move on their own. ALSO!! *ahem there’s sapphic romance !! EVERYONE CHEERED !!!!*

definitely a great read if you are into found family and wholesomeness <3

despite every lovely detail, i gave this a 4.75 star rating because i was actually finding a bit more coziness to the story. although yes, it was cozy and wholesome but it was also really HEAVY at most times. so definitely watch out for that! overall a fun experience <3

Thank you so much to NetGalley for this wonderful ARC and for the author who kindly allowed me to review this book <3

Don't let the harmless cover fool you - this is an incredibly sad book, exploring grief, sorrow and trauma on every single page, and I don't think I've cried this much reading a book in a long time. I'll include some other Content Warnings at the end of the review as well, but please go into this book forewarned that it is a heart-wrenching depiction of bereavement, which may be challenging for some readers (particularly those with recent experience of loss themselves).

I loved so much about this book, from the brilliant queer representation, to the heartfelt moments describing how people survive the many different forms that raw grief can take. It explores how people cope with loss (losing loved ones and losing themselves) and how they find support & love with each other - it's truly lovely to read, just also rife with tragedy.

I felt some of the characters deserved more in-depth explorations of who they are now, not just ticking off "what was your loss" one-by-one and then never addressing it again, but I still really enjoyed them all. The main character Saika's development and growth was good - I found her lack of self-awareness and empathy difficult to connect with at first, but she won me over by the end. And honestly I am all for a flawed MC, particularly when so many of their flaws likely have genuine justification like processing trauma (as Saika’s do).

I would say this is a great debut novel that I would highly recommend - and many thanks to NetGalley and Bindery Books for sending me an ARC in exchange for an honest review, I'm so glad I got to read this fantastic book! - and I'm keen to see what else Kay Synclaire has in store for us.

Content Warnings for those who find them useful:

**SPOILERS BELOW**

- Bereavement and grief (throughout), including bereavement by suicide
- Sexual harassment & predatory behaviour by a man in a position of power (multiple instances - described briefly as a recollection, not depicted in detail)
- Suicide (mentioned, not depicted, and not described in any level of detail at all)
- Terminal illness

Horrifically awkward prose, even discounting the very poorly done switching between first- and second-person (or maybe it's all meant to be second-person and is even *more* poorly done to the point that it's not clear? Possible.) Clearly trying to tap cosy-TJ Klune energy (as opposed to Klune doing angst or comedy) and failing *abysmally*. And I don't even like cosy!Klune! But he does cosy infinitely better than this trainwreck.

The cover's beautiful, the blurb is lovely, but the book itself is embarrassingly simplistic, clunkily-written toxicity in every direction. Everyone is *awful* and this found-family is borderline - arguably outright - abusive. What even. Just, no. This isn't the book the author thinks it is and it *desperately* needs to be taken back to the drawing board and rewritten a couple more times before it's ready.

Bindery Books, the indie publisher 'membership platform' launching House of Frank, is not off to a promising start if their editor/s missed how extraordinarily badly this book missed its mark - to say nothing of how it's being mismarketed.

If you want a cozy fantasy story, this book isn't for you. It is heavy with grief and losing.
I loved all the mythical creatures and the diverse cast of characters (especially Oli!). The writing is sometimes a bit clunky but still enjoyable. As I already said, be prepared for a story full of grief and dealing with losing someone and not so much a cozy found family book.

Thank you NetGalley for providing an eARC of this book!

I don’t read very much cozy fantasy but I always love books that delve deep into grief so I wanted to check this out. Overall very cute and emotional, but I just never really connected with the plot as much as I’d hoped for!

This does not read like a debut novel. This is the first book from Jaysen or Ezeekat's imprint with Bindery and it was equal parts cozy and heart wrenching. I went into this story somewhat blind, and I appreciated it so much so I won't go into too much detail. This follows the main character Saika, and she is dealing with the loss of her older sister. Her sister Fiona's final wish was to be planted at Ash Gardens.
When she gets to the estate she meets a cast of characters that are so unique and lovable. This story is about grief, holding on to those you hold dear and the struggle of moving on with life without wanting to move on without them. It's crazy how life comes full circle, l've been following Kay since her journey writing this story, before Bindery's Pitch Fest when she tasked herself with writing this book in 30 days. I had a similar loss to the main character last year, and she was one of the people who reached out to make sure that I was okay. And just like her reaching out felt like such a kind gesture, this felt the same but even more so. People need this story. Beyond how unique the characters are, there are so many different kinds of love. This is truly a precious book. Jaysen couldn't have chosen a more perfect story, I understand why he fell in love with it, I fell in love for the very same reasons. I highly recommend.

2.5 rounding up to 3. I really enjoyed the setting and concept of this book. Grief is a universal experience, and very difficult to talk about. It is good to see a theme like this handled in a cozy fantasy. Thank you to NetGalley and Bindery Books for the digital ARC.

House of Frank is a delicately crafted story exploring grief and healing as Saika, a witch lost in her grief after losing her sister, begins processing how to finally honor her sister’s wish to be laid to rest (“planted”) in the magical arboretum of Ash Gardens. When Saika arrives and agrees to help out around the large estate in exchange for a place to stay - and in turn prolong the time before she completes her sister’s wish - she begins to unravel the many secrets and mysteries of Ash Gardens, the other residents, and herself.
For me, this was a beautiful story not so much about coming back to yourself, but about discovering and learning to embrace fully living as who you are NOW.


Thank you to NetGalley and Bindery Books/Ezeekat Press for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This one's for the queer fantasy lovers.
A pretty cozy, magical, warm book-- a Sapphic romance with grief at its core.
The story is about death, love, and found family, with positive queer representation.

I appreciated the unique/grumpy characters-- elves, a mute ghost, bickering cherubs, a half-witch etc-- the setting and message.

For fans of The House on the Creulian Sea.

Thanks to Bindery Books for the digital Advanced Readers Copy!
When Saika’s sister passes her one request is to be planted in the Ash Gardens but years pass before she can bring herself there to finally say goodbye. This book has a crew of characters that have all either lost someone or something. As you travel with Saika she learns the Ash gardens could use more help than it’s getting so she takes on a task that could save everything but if she fails it could all fall apart. I enjoyed this book as a view of grief and the journey it takes you on and how healing is not in a straight path.

a very cozy fantasy about grief and love -i did get teary eyed so please purchase tissues. I wish I had the correct words to discuss this book, but it felt like a warm hug on a rough day, and i will think about it for a very long time. I cannot wait to purchase this book.
5/5 stars

An equal parts cozy and heart-wrenching read, this soft fantasy book is all about an eclectic group of people who have found each other through grief. What I loved about the book is its honesty on how grief transforms us, how we can become people who are just rather awful to be around or make drastic decisions when the world seemed to have crumbled around us due to loss. Every character, including our protagonist, Saika is flawed and deals with their personal losses in their own ways.

And the diversity! We have various queer representation, characters of various fantasy races, socioeconomic backgrounds and histories. For a book with such heavy themes, it felt like a comfort every time I read a chapter or so before bedtime, and I felt incredibly seen as someone who hasn't completely healed from losing someone even after more than a year.

Thank you Bindery Books, the author and NetGalley for the advanced reader copy. I leave this review voluntarily.

This book was a good read. While flawed, the characters were all loveable (or at least relatable) & you really wanted everything to work for the House of Frank. I enjoyed this story about friendship, family and the toll grief takes on us all.
I would like to read more about the characters & their stories that brought them to the House of Frank.

I thought this was beautiful, and I definitely shed some tears while reading. This was a lovely cozy fantasy that dealt mainly with the topic of grief. The found family storyline was deeply touching and well done. I'm not normally a fan of a second person narrative, but I thought it really worked for this book!
The pacing of this story was perfect and the character development was just superb. I ended up loving every single character in the end.

To start, I’m going to relay the thought I had nearly the entire time reading this book: this is like if The Irregular Society of Secret Witches had half (or less) of its charm.

I lost a beloved relative of mine 2 days ago. Luckily, I had an arc for this book, so I decided to pick it up. Shocking: media about grief doesn’t always help you grieve, especially when it’s halfassedly executed. So unfortunately, I read this entire book with dry eyes. No message will get across if you can’t connect to the material, and I was not connected or engaged or immersed here. It’s sad; it has all of these components that I would love, but the execution fell a bit flat.

I was very excited for both the fantastical elements and the theme of grief and what it can do to you. Unfortunately, I felt as if both of these aspects were underdeveloped and underbaked. As for the world building: there was 0 world building, with a very quick and ineffective explanation of how magic works. This is pretty damn important to know about in a story in which this is VERY relevant to the plot. I wanted to know about death himself, fallen stars, the entire fucking arboretum, the history of the different races, the different types of magic. I really wish more cozy fantasy books had beef to them: the coziness shouldn’t take away from that meat. I want to be transported and immersed, but I wasn’t in this book. At least in many cozy fantasy stories, the characters and character work make up for the lack of said beef, but we didn’t get any of that good shit in this book either (more on that later).

As for the themes and story, yes, grief can make people do selfish things. There were many characters here that I felt a little something for, as they had all lost people too, but Saika was unlikeable. She was selfish and stupid nearly the entire damn book, often crossing lines and boundaries. Of course, like in many cliche books, she suddenly sobers up and becomes a big hero at the very end…yawn. Oli I grew to like, as I did Phil, Merry, Hilde, and Evette. I went from Liking Frank to tolerating him. Every other character can kick rocks as far as I care. Speaking of characters, there was a startling lack of character development in general. No arcs, no progression, no nothing except for a rushed arc from Saika.

As for the story itself, we know too little about important characters and events. As such, the reveals and the climax are underdeveloped, and the story didn’t resonate. It’s like looking for gold and finding pyrite. Anyways, if anyone actually knows good fantasy stories about grief and navigating it (female centered please) I would love to know. Sucks that this book didn’t hit the mark for me at all.

I didn’t hate everything in this book though. I loved the descriptions, the house, and there were a couple of characters that I liked. The diversity of the different fantastical races and witchy career paths was also enjoyable to read about. I very much also like Beezlebub; she’s a good girl. In addition, this book did contain a nice atmosphere. I’m sure I’ll update this to make it more coherent as the days pass, because bitch I’m grieving too. Anyways, 3 stars.

eARC provided by Netgalley. Thank you!

I was first introduced to The House of Frank, written by Kay Sinclaire, from ezeekat, a TikTok and Instagram content creator I follow. This is the first book he acquired to publish by Bindery Books and I’m honored to be able to read it.

This novel is more than just a cozy fantasy novel. It is a journey of grief and self healing. It is about living, laughing and loving. It is about found family. It is a letter written for the dearly departed.

If you’ve ever lost someone, you can feel the anguish and heartfelt emotions conveyed by the main character Saika. It feels like you’re the only one suffering, but soon you come to terms with reality and that you can rely on others to help you through the tough times and find light in the darkness.

The cast of characters are diverse, with cherubs and witches, and mythical creatures. There is some queer romance in this as well, though not the main point of the story.

And as the title of the novel is called, it is about the house of Frank. A wonderful resting place for those who have passed on, and what a wonderful thing Frank does for those.

I would highly recommend this novel, to those who have lost a loved one in their life.

5/5 stars.

This was such a beautiful cozy fantasy. Fans of Legends and Lattes will love House of Frank. I enjoyed all the representation in the book! It is a great read about grief, found family, and perseverance.

Saika is a witch without powers who has lost her sister. Time hasn’t made it easier to lay her sister’s ashes to rest, and her parents pretending their only living daughter doesn’t exist certainly hasn’t helped either. So she just does it. Or, she intends to, but then there’s a storm and she kind of gets stranded at this … funeral home? It’s not a funeral home, but they do plant ashes, and take care of them when they grow into trees. They also take care of each other.

“House of Frank” has a cozy setting, but I would not describe it as a cozy fantasy – there was too much that could and did go wrong for that. It still felt safe, and I attribute this to a gentle love story.

Although the story was endearing, it felt a bit cluttered to me, and I think it would have benefited from being more focused. I also think the plot might have been better suited for a (long) short story than a novel.


Thank you to NetGalley and Bindery Books for the ARC!