4.5/5 ⭐️, 1.5/5 🌶

If you’re in the mood to curl up with a gothic fantasy that weaves together magic, mystery & just the right touch of romance — add this one to your TBR. ✨️ The world is richly detailed in a way that made it so easy to imagine... even down to the scents. I felt like I was there & gagging with the descriptions of the blight. 🤢

Edira is such a sweetheart, but don’t mistake her kindness for weakness — cough insect daddy cough. 😉 She fiercely protects her brothers, even if it means sacrificing herself.
That’s how she ends up magically bound to Orin, who offers his help... but of course, not everything is as it seems. 👀

As the story unfolds, it becomes clear: trust no one! I was collecting breadcrumbs like a detective, trying to uncover the truth & don’t get me started on the love triangle. 🫠 I knew in my soul who I wanted to root for, but the twists kept me second-guessing. The dark vibes, the sharp banter, the slow-burning tension? Absolutely perfect! I'm SO excited for book 2! 🫶🏽

Blight is spreading across the country, and only threadmasters can help heal the diseased. But as Edira helps others, her life is slowly taken away as her magic is passsed on. When her secret is discovered, she must make wise choices to protect her life and her family.

I personally liked this so much and looking forward to the next book already. It’s romantasy for sure in that there is world building (which is easy to comprehend) and there are stakes but it isn’t high fantasy and it does have a juicy little love triangle.

I wasn’t sure what to expect from this book, but I was pleasantly surprised by how well it was written and how much I loved the characters! Well…most of them.

I really enjoyed the unique take on immortal beings and magic system that I haven’t seen the exact likes of before. Every time I read a well crafted fantasy novel I’m rendered speechless by the sheer volume of creative ideas that have been somehow wrestled and arranged into what we, as readers, consume. House of Blight is definitely one of those novels!

Edira’s life has been anything but simple or easy, and I found myself getting teary-eyed multiple times at the weight she had to carry. The woman is STRONG!

The Fernglove family….oh boy do I have a lot to say about them. Lol it’s a good insight into how manipulative and deceitful people can be, but also how unlikely friendships can be formed in the strangest of ways. There’s also a found family element to this story that I loved.

The ending had me groaning in frustration but it’ll be a great way to jump into book 2!!

I’m an Arizona girl, so reading a book by an author who is from my home state is always extra special.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Maxym M Martineau for the gifted review copy. I cannot wait for the next installment of The Threadmender Chronicles!!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
🌶️

Thank you to NetGalley and Avon and Harper Voyager for providing the ARC.

This book has filled a dark fantasy void in me that I didn't know I had until just now.

Oh my goodness what a great start to this duology. This book is dark and tense, but in the most thrilling way possible. The characters are dynamic and flawed, and I am so drawn into their story. Edira is such an amazing character. She is fierce and brave as she faces something dark and sinister at Fernglove Manor. The two brothers, Orin and Rorik, are delicious and deadly. I really loved how the magic system worked in this book and I loved the deeper looks into Edira's magic as the book went on.

What a fantastic dark fantasy opener.

House of Blight has the elements I enjoy in a fantasy - a magical disease and a healer paired up with powerful magical family. Unfortunately I struggled to connect to the MC or the romance, and I predicted the ending fairy early. I think this fantasy is perfect for readers who are newer to the genre, but avid fantasy readers might find it repetitive.

I received an ARC from Avon and Harper Voyager | Harper Voyager via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

House of Blight is a sweeping gothic romantasy that will draw you in and not let go until the end.
The vibes are immaculate.

Thank you to NetGalley and Voyager for my review copy.

House of Blight is a gothic romantasy novel with secrets and uncertainties coursing throughout. With drama, cunning characters, and a house that appears to be alive, I would definitely recommend venturing into Maxym M. Martineau's unique world.

The story introduces us to our powerful but naïve protagonist, Edira Brillwyn, who is an exceptional threadmender, which means she can heal people. However, this magic has a cost: every time Edira utilises her power, she sacrifices a part of her own life. Edira has been forced to keep her abilities hidden, and just as she believes she is safe, the prestigious Fernglove family discovers her secret. Edira is compelled to join the family's enticingly sinister services in order to find a cure for the blight that is eroding her world to a deeper core than she realises.

If you love decay and grotesque beauty in every aspect of a novel, I highly recommend giving this book a try. I was engrossed in Martineau's world and could not get the pages to turn fast enough to see how this consuming living environment would progress, and it did not disappoint. Secrets are woven throughout, and the cryptic exchanges kept me on edge the entire time, as did the FMC's naivety, which made me want to yell at her at times because the manoeuvrings were so evident and she got so many signs. As much as I adored Edira and felt terrible for her in many situations, I thought her character was a little too naive for what she had been warned about; I didn't think her background or personality would let fall into so many traps. I believe she would be more curious, rather than shoving obscurities to the back of her mind. For me, she was bit too trusting. However, there are other aspects of her character that I simply adore, so she was redeemed for me.

The gothic elements perfectly blended with the fanatical, and Martineau produced a truly eerie and unique world that was simply incredible; I could go on and on about it. Everything just left me awestruck since the image of the gorgeous monstrosity of the world was so vivid, especially the glamoured forms of Ferngloves. The suspense and family intrigue were expertly portrayed; and I must make a special shoutout to Ywena, the sweetest moth companion ever!

Favourite Quotes:

"I'm training you to survive."
"Why?"
The rise and fall of his rib cage slowed, and I forced myself to match his breathing pattern. He waited until I'd settled into the new pace before finally answering.
"Because you deserve to live."

"Magic doesn't care about intention - just the word itself."

"You are stunning.
He stared at me as my words washed over him. "Truth or lie?"
"Which is more dangerous?"

🌶🌶/5

Thank you so much NetGalley, The Nerd Fam, and Maxym M. Martineau for letting me read this amazing book.

Can't wait to see what happens next!

You guys, this could seriously be my creepy gothic fantasy Roman Empire. My next One Dark Window. (<—If you know me, that’s a big deal). I’m going to need character art, special editions, and stickers. Please and thank you.
Welcome to a world of unique magic, complicated history, amazing characters, and a mysterious sickness that can’t be stopped. Edira lives her life hiding her Threadmending skills because to use it is to shorten her own threads. Until she catches the eye of one of society’s elite, and her brother’s fall ill to the Blight, thus forcing her into an uncomfortable arrangement with the Ferngloves. From there, she’s thrown into a crazy world of immortals and magic, lies and half truths, infatuation and hate.
The concept of being able to view someone’s life threads and mend them to heal people is a really cool concept in its own. Add in the fact that her healing comes at the cost of shortening her own life span and you have an amazingly unique magic trait within an already unique magic system. I also love that the different houses have their own elemental magic so to speak, and that they are a different take on the idea of fae.
Edira is a little naive for me at times but I think her selflessness and ability to be nice to people makes her character arc more special. Her need to put everyone first definitely has its pros and cons, and watching her realize it’s okay to put herself first sometimes is refreshing…even if I don’t always agree. I won’t go much into our MMCs because I don’t think I can discuss them without spoilers but let’s just say I struggled to decide if my theories about either of them were correct for most of the story.
I do hope we get more of Seville’s story in the sequel, and I wouldn’t mind knowing more about Vora either. I think she’s a very solid character and I bet her history is fascinating. Lastly, YWENA💚 I love her and I want one!

Thank you to NerdFamily, NetGalley, and Maxym for this amazing ARC opportunity!

Thank you for this ARC! I was hooked instantly by this gothic novel and the FMC unique magic! Can’t wait for book 2 in this duology!

4/5 Stars!
2/5 spice!

Quick Summary: Edira has a special power where she can cure people, but it comes with a cost of losing some of her life threads. Edira gets thrown into the house with Evers (those who are immortal/powerful) due to a sickness called blith affecting everything.

This book grew on me. For the first 50%, I was not vibing with it, but once it got going, I was shocked that it was over. The author uses such descriptive language, and it is necessary to understand how awful it is to have blith. I loved learning about all the characters and trying to figure out what their intentions were. There were some things I enjoyed about Edira (her empathy, how intelligent she was, and how she saw the world around her), but there were things I didn't like about her (she was intelligent but made dumb decisions). Overall, I did like her character development throughout the book and her will to do what she wanted no matter the cost. There is romance in this book, but I'm going to save it as a surprise because of how much I enjoyed the love triangle. The spice was perfect and fit perfectly in the book.

Overall, if you enjoy love triangles, books with family tension, constantly trying to figure out what is going to happen, and immersive worlds, this is for you!

Thank you to Maxym, Harper Voyager, and Netgalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review. I'm so excited to continue on with this series!

The first in the Threadmender Chronicles follows Edira, a thread mender who can trade years of her lifespan to heal others. After keeping her magic secret throughout her life, when her brothers catch the deadly blight, she takes a job with the Evers, hoping to heal her brothers and emerge alive.

The book has an incredibly unique worldbuilding, so it did take some time to fully understand the setting. I would really urge an interested reader not to worry if it doesn't instantly become clear - the book is so multi-layered, it is worth diving into it. I hope future books in the series will highlight some of the fascinating side characters (I loved cheeky Ever, Seville Fernglove), and really enjoyed the love triangle between Edina and two Evers - even if it was constantly unclear who she should trust.

The gothic fantasy made this an easy book to escape into and I am looking forward to reading the next book in the series

Edira is a threadmender, a special ability that allows her to cure injuries and illnesses, but at the cost of shortening her lifeline. Even more unfortunate, there is one illness her magic cannot cure, the blight that kills almost instantly. She has to keep her power hidden.
Edira finds herself at the Fernglove manor where one of the Ever families live. The Evers are immortals that need her assistance. But something seems strange within this beautiful manor with its beautiful residents.

This was marketed for SJM and Rachael Gillig fans. I’m usually weary of descriptions like this as these are typically a miss for me. Except, this was a hit and I think the marketing is spot on.

This was like a gothic ACOTAR with a real blight, rather than a curse. It was gruesome at times with descriptions of the illness. This author really captured the “gothic house” in regards to that constant feeling of “wtf is actually going on here. Everything is off. Something is wrong.” It was a great vibe & atmosphere the whole story. At times I thought Edira was making poor decisions but don’t we all? Especially when we’re blinded by pretty & happy things. I also appreciated the slow burn throughout this and man o’ man, I’m excited for a 2nd book. This doesn’t end on a wild cliffhanger but it does leave it where this author can add onto the story. I’ll be revisiting this world for sure.

Many thanks to NetGalley, Harper Voyager Publishing, and the author for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

firstly, thank you to the publisher for an arc!

this was a fantastic first book of a duology — i really enjoyed the suspense of edira trying to find a cure for the blight that troubles the immortal beings that recruited her for her healing powers.

i love when magic systems have repercussions for the user — i find it to add a level of complexity for the characters; they just can’t use their powers to achieve their goals without thinking ahead to consider the future consequences. to have the ability to heal others, only to feel the pain of the wound and lose seconds, minutes, days, weeks or even months and years of your life was unique!

i also listened to the audio as i read and the narrator did a great job!

3.5 stars. Thank you to NetGalley, Avon, and Harper Voyager for this advanced copy.! You can pick up House of Blight now.

This book was REALLY a mixed bag for me. It came highly recommended from several friends with similar tastes, so I expected to fall in love with it as much as they did. And it does, truly, have all the elements of a wonderful romantasy book: magical human hiding her power, invited to join the immortals to cure a devastating blight. Fascinating magic and politics within the immortal world, and glamoured beings whose beauty hides the ugliness within and without. Two heartthrob love interests, both with scarred pasts and high hopes for her future.

And while all of these elements were well executed, I just didn't connect with them the way I wanted to. I felt detached from Edira, our main character, and I found all of her choices (and the overall plot) to be predictable. Sometimes I don't mind that in a book, but in this case, I hoped to be surprised.

The best parts of this book were by far one of the main relationships (I won't spoil which one) and the ending. The last 10% of the book went CRAZY and increased the stakes in a way I wish the rest of the book had mimicked. And the romance between Edira and one of the immortal brothers was the perfect combo of snarky banter and vulnerability, which was fun to read.

Overall, I think the romantasy girlies will EAT this book up, and my take is likely the exception and not the rule. I'm still curious enough from that ending to see where the sequel goes!

The story was lacking a little bit for me. It just felt like something was missing. There were so many things going on, but they were all pretty surface level. I think this is an excellent story for someone coming to romantasy for the first time or if you want a fantastical novel that doesn't ask the reader to a lot of work to understand the world and magic system they're in.

Why do you do this to me? A cliffhanger ?!? Kill me now. Call me crazy, paranoid, or distrustful but not once did I feel myself settle. With great power comes great responsibility, the mc heals sickness but not without consequences. Having no other choice but work with the Evers, she finds herself in an intertwined plot of lies and deception. She tries but our girl is blind, half the time I wanted to shake her. I liked the characters but there wasn’t enough information or depth. I could feel the anger, frustration, and motivation through the pages. My biggest annoyance is the sly manipulation because I saw it a mile away but please, is this your first encounter with a man? And that was the biggest hurdle of the story don’t let it deter you. It was great I’m in love and I need more.

Thanks to NetGalley and Avon and Harper Voyager I received a ARC for an honest review !

Thank you so much to the Nerdfam, Harper Voyager, and Netgalley for the ARC!

Imagine having an incredibly rare healing ability that makes you coveted by the most powerful beings in the land. But every time you use it, it’s at the cost of time shaved off of your own life. That is what Edira has to balance in House of Bight. But if the Evers find out about her abilities, they’ll take her into their employment like her aunt, and she’ll never come out again. But when the blight threatens her family, Orin Fernglove may be the only one who can help her.

The vibes in this book were immaculate. I never wanted to put it down. This was gothic romantasy at its finest, with a dark and eerie atmosphere and a world I’m dying to see more of in book 2. I’m really looking forward to learning more about the Evers as the story continues.

Edira is a determined, caring, sassy FMC who definitely needs some more pointers on how to deal with fae sometimes. While overall I really enjoyed her character, there were times her naivety would make me think maybe I COULD survive in a fae world if I can figure this out. I was rooting for her the whole way, but how many times do you need to be reminded to not trust an Ever? 😂 Let’s be honest, I probably wouldn’t do much better if I kept getting distracted by the hot males.

I really enjoyed her relationships with the other characters in this book. The entire Fernglove family plays their different roles in the story, and many of them grew on me as the story developed. Seville especially was a standout character for me. I need her to be happy and loved. And special shoutout to Ywena, who proved to me that not all bugs have to leave me shuddering.

The plot of this book was definitely what kept me hooked. It was well paced and twisty at times, with enough kept in the dark that reveals always had unexpected details.

I like how this book feels wrapped up nicely while leaving me excited to see what is to come. A slow burn romance gets me every time, and I need to see where this goes! I absolutely recommend this book for gothic fantasy lovers, especially those looking for similar vibes to One Dark Window or Belladonna.

When the blight, infiltrating the land infects the brothers of Edira, a mortal girl with the ability to threadmend, she cannot risk using her magic to save her brothers without knowing what the consqences of that healing will have on her own life.
In come the Ferngloves, a family of Evers, immortal beings with powers of their own, a people who Edira had been trying to hide her true identity from her entire life. But when they barter a deal, in exchange for them using their magic to slow the progression in Edira's brother's, Edira agrees to join them in their home. She agrees to allow them access to her power, as long as they help her find a cure for the Blight.

Maxym's world building so easily transported me to this mythical world with magical healers and immortal Evers, I was quite literally hooked from the first chapter. With so many twists and turns, putting this book down was near impossible. The use of magic was incredibly creative, adding to the spooky air and mysterious true intentions of Threadmender's healing powers.

Its the perfect little package all wrapped into one.
✔Dark spooky vibes
✔A mysterious and incurable illness
✔Immortal beings with magical powers
✔Familial secrets
✔A romantic entanglement
✔A manipulative bad guy with ulterior motives

House of Blight by Maxym M. Martineau was wonderful gothic romantasy story!
This is the best type of fantasy! I don’t think I can quite put into words.
Martineau‘s writing is captivating. She knows how to pull the reader into a magnificent and intriguing place.
The story was absolutely engaging and the work that went into the settings was noticeable and superb.
The attention to details in her writing really set the scene and tone.
I can’t wait for book two in The Threadmender Chronicles duology.