3.5! ⭐️ The House of Blight weaves a gothic fantasy tale of sacrifice, secrets, and survival. Edira, a Threadminder who can heal at great personal cost, must navigate a dangerous bargain to save her brothers. The atmospheric world and intriguing magic system stand out, though some felt the romance lacked depth and the story didn’t fully realize its potential. A promising start to a series with room to grow.

This was insane. The emotional damage just from the first 30 pages had me eating this book up! Edira is a Threadmender, someone who can see the life threads of others and fix them. The downside though? It uses up her own life threads🫠 The Evers are fae that take in any Threadmender that they come across, never to be seen again, just like Edira’s aunt.

“𝑾𝒆𝒍𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝑭𝒆𝒓𝒏𝒈𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆, 𝑬𝒅𝒊𝒓𝒂. 𝑴𝒂𝒚 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒍𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒆𝒆 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒆𝒍𝒔𝒆.”

There was already hate for the Evers, but Edira’s forced to make a bargain with the head of the Ferngloves in exchange for her powers. As characters get introduced, I knew some shady shit was going on, but the who was down to the very last pages! It’s been a minute since I got full body goosebumps from reading a scene and when I tell you!!🙂‍↕️

“𝑰’𝒎 𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒗𝒊𝒗𝒆.”
“𝑾𝒉𝒚?”
“𝑩𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒅𝒆𝒔𝒆𝒓𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒍𝒊𝒗𝒆.”

There’s this mini love triangle going on, but I was more focused on Edira, her growing powers, and who tf was creeping around watching her like some kind of ghost always out of reach. I didn’t expect the betrayal, the savior, or really literally anything that happened in the last few chapters! I cannot wait for the next book because that cliffhanger got me SO bad😭

Thank you so much to the author, Harper Voyager US and NetGalley for the gifted copy!

I devoured this in a day! What a unique cool magic system and world.

I loved the FMC she is a human with healer magic and she is forced to join forces with the very immortals she loathes… “the evers”

“It’s delightful to know that I make you squirm.”

“a flicker of awareness sparked in my chest, and my world froze. It was small, like the first star winking to life in the presence of dusk, but brilliant just the same. And with it came a soothing warmth that beat through my limbs in time with my heart. My breath caught in my lungs.”

With twists and action, I could not put it down.

I need book 2 immediately!


Thankyou for the arc netgalley & HQ!

Edira was a great character. I thought the magic she had was unique and enjoyed that part of the book. The world building and the setting for the book was great. There were some spicy scenes in the book. I can't wait for the next book.

3.5 Stars
2 Pepper Spice

Synopsis:
In the world of magic, saving people always comes at a cost. For Edira, it is her own life source where she can cure diseases and heal injuries but it will take from her own health. Having her aunt’s abilities taken advantage of, she has kept her abilities hidden.
The Fernglove family has discovered her secret, and they want it. A powerful family with immortal life and magical resources want to have her find the cure to the blight. With both of her brothers sick with the blight, she has no choice to help to find a cure. Can she save her brothers while staying alive?

Review:
There are many mentions of fans of ACOTAR enjoying this book with rot and gothic vibes, and they are absolutely correct. You will look to start enjoying bugs (possibly) and the book has lots of twists and turns. I did overall enjoy the book but felt there were a few plot holes and difficulties that the FMC would not have been able to obtain without a critical piece of information received later on in the book. Regardless, I will still be reading the second book as I enjoyed the book.

Bottom Line: If you like Gothic Fantasies, you will enjoy this book. However, there will be some plot issues. If that bothers you, this might not be the right book for you.

Thank you NetGalley for this absolutely incredible arc!

I was invested in this book from the start. The magic involved is incredibly creative and nothing I have experienced before and I truly cannot wait for the sequel to this duology. This gothic fantasy should be on everyones TBR and i will talk to anyone about this.

This book has everything you need in a romantasy. There is a FMC who is a caring badass who would do anything for her family, two brothers that both seem to care for her with questionable intentions, and a creepy manor which is the perfect setting for this thriller girlie that is in her fantasy era.

The story follows a threadmender who can heal any ailment but everytime she does, it takes time off her own life. Her family has died to keep her secret and it is suddenly exposed when her brothers contract Blight, this book’s equivalent of the Black Plague. It affect humans and immortals alike with everyone desperate for a cure.

This book does not end on a cliffhanger but the atmosphere and characters make me desperate to know more

If you enjoy gothic romantasy with a slight love triangle full of tension and secrets, I would highly recommend this book.

The world building was pretty on point, and the characters were easy to fall in love with.

The magic in the world was truly interesting, and the story kept me guessing right to nearly the end. I already cant wait for the next book!!

From the beginning of this book it had me in a death grip. It had a lot of similarities to fantasies already published and popular but had a great subplot to it that I haven’t seen much at all. As blithe attacks the world Edira, a thread meander, lives in she always thought it would be impossible to cure. With Evers (nearly immortal beings made from an ancient deal) seeming unaffected by the blithe there’s never been a huge cry to cure this plague from the world. Edira learns a lot about trust as she falls in love with Orin, the lord of the Ferngloves, and is trained by Rorik, his brother. It ended on such a cliffhanger that I’m not sure if there will be a second book or if you’re left to interpret how it goes. Either way I will be lined up when it does come out.

I am really enjoying darker fantasy stories right now. House of Blight would fall on the lighter end of dark fantasy, but it still hit the spot! There is magic with a deadly cost, strong family bonds, a powerful immortal family with layers of secrets, and mix in some romantic tension. I really enjoyed this book!

We follow Edira, a human with the power to heal, but at the cost of an unknown time off her life. She's hidden her powers her whole life, but of course that doesn't last. She gets pulled into the world of the Ferngloves, making a deal to save her brothers' lives.

I did notice some clunkiness in the first part of this book, some repetition that stood out to me. But that being said, by the halfway point, the writing felt smoother, or I was just too invested in the story to notice anymore! I flew through the second half of this in one afternoon.

Thank you, NetGalley and Harper Voyager, for an early copy in exchange for this honest review.

Thank you to Netgalley for an eARC of this book.

House of Blight is the first book in a duology. It is the perfect dark gothic fantasy romance! I had a good time with this book from start to finish.

Edira is a threadmender who can use her power to heal others, but at a cost. Every time she uses her abilities, her own life shortens. When her brothers fall ill, she sees no other option than to accept help from the handsome Ever immortal, Orin. He wisks her off to his magical estate, where she soon learns that things are not as they appear.

This book was so wonderfully written. The imagery was spot on. The characters were well developed and easily relatable and likeable (or unlikeable, in some cases).

I would highly recommend this book, especially if you are a fan of:

-gothic fantasy
-eerie, dark settings
-powerful, magical immortals
-slowburn romance

I absolutely loved everything about this. I really if you enjoyed One Dark Window and Anathema, you’ll enjoy this. It’s not overly spicy which is refreshing, but you get the longing and yearning as well as a love triangle. SO GOOD!

Prediction: House of Blight is the next big thing.

Guys…

If you loved Acotar, if you loved Lightlark, if you love Fairytales… this.

If you love sentient magic, if you love cruel fae, if you love a “chosen one, save the world” trope… this.

If you love “touch her and die” vibes, if you love multiple morally grey baddies, if you love just a little spice, but make it a good one… 100% this.

If you love atmospheric folklore, if you love an unlimited budget glow-up moment, if you love plot twists that’ll leave you shook… 1000% this.

Honestly, this book had me hooked from the prologue. Martineau knew what we were craving and delivered.

The plot and pacing were incredible. The characters were developed and so fun to read and I enjoyed how it felt simultaneously familiar to some of my favorites, but also uniquely original.
I cannot wait for the next one, which will probably be a minute since this one’s not out until April 8th.

Thank you to Avon and Harper Voyage for the Advance Copy in exchange for my honest review. As always, it’s been a pleasure.

Eh. A pretty mid entry into the romantasy space for me. It's not awful but I don't think it has anything particularly new to offer, either. Edira, our heroine, is CERTAINLY a character we've seen many times before at this point; the self-sacrificing older sister who will do literally anything for her siblings because they have been tragically orphaned. Oh and she has secret healing powers. The Evers are basically fae by another name. But this book's real downfall is its pacing; it takes FOREVER to get going. Well over 50% of the book and I still felt like NOTHING was happening. A romantasy book can be light on plot, but then the romantic tension has to carry the day, and that did not happen here. In fact, it was a weird love triangle-ish setup involving two brothers which gave me the ick.

And you know what else gave me the ick? That Edira knew her love interest was LITERALLY ROTTING AWAY and was like "Yeaaah let's get it on." OMG VOMIT.

The writing isn't terrible. I liked the manifestation of threadmending for Edira's particular brand of healing magic. But the story in general was incredibly weak and the romance not prominent enough or with enough chemistry to buoy that weakness into enjoyability territory.

Also this is billed as Gothic--it's not. There are certainly some horror elements but it's not Gothic in the slightest.

This book was so good, I ate it up. The world is so vividly described in such a manner that I had no problem visualizing what everything looked like. The characters were all there with a purpose, no one really felt like they were there just to take up page space. The relationship between Edira, Orin and Rorik gave me such Tamlin, Lucien and Feyre vibes I was in love. The banter was fantastic and the plot was so engrossing. It was excellently paced and every chapter left me wanting more and more. I truly can not say enough about how much I enjoyed this book. From the beginning to the end I was never bored and was always looking forward to what was going to happen next. The characters all had their own motives in the story and helped it continue, it was just overall a fantastic book and I can not say enough how this should be on everyone's TBR when this comes out this spring. It really is a perfect blend of Gothic and Fantasy with a perfect amount of romance in it.

very much appreciate that while the book sets up a series, the ending is satisfying enough that when i return for the next installment (believe me i will) i won't be completely lost. a delicate balance to strike

I really enjoyed this book! It kept my interest the entire time. I needed to know how the story would play out and if blight was curable. And then for them to be bonded, but realizing they were rid of it yet! Can’t wait for the next book.

What can I say? I devoured this. The House of Blight is a fun new twist on a genre that has become pretty saturated in the market. I was not at all disappointed in the ending, which is always a plus. I finished it in a day, I couldn't put it down.

House of Blight by Maxym M. Martineau is an enchanting blend of gothic fantasy and romance that immerses readers in a world of magic, mystery, and dark secrets. The story follows Edira Brillwyn, a threadmender with the rare ability to heal injuries and cure diseases at the cost of her own life force. When her brothers fall victim to a deadly blight, Edira is compelled to ally with the enigmatic Fernglove family, particularly their leader, Orin, in a desperate quest for a cure.

Martineau's elegant prose crafts a richly detailed world where magic is both a gift and a curse. The narrative is imbued with a haunting atmosphere, and the unique magic system adds depth to the plot. While some readers have noted that certain plot developments are somewhat predictable, the overall storytelling remains engaging and immersive. The character dynamics, especially between Edira and the Ferngloves, are intricate and evolve throughout the story, keeping readers invested in their fates.

For fans of authors like Sarah J. Maas and Rachel Gillig, House of Blight offers a captivating tale that seamlessly weaves elements of romance, fantasy, and gothic intrigue. It's a story that lingers, inviting readers to ponder the delicate balance between sacrifice and salvation.

This novel has a Unique magic system, one where a threadmenders life span is tied to how much they are willing to sacrifice. The dark side of the ruling class is hidden from most. This was a great read with a gothic vibe. I highly recommend for those who enjoy fantasy, magic and deception.

I felt the concept for this book was really interesting but unfortunately I couldn’t get into it. It might just be that I’m not currently in the mood for this sort of book but I ended up Dnfing around 30 perfect. It did seem like it would be good for people who love romantasy and fantasy so I’d still recommend checking it out if you are in the mood for it!