This is probably my favorite book I have received from netgallery. The world building was extremely interesting and each character felt well writing. They all had different personalities that meshed really well. I loved learning about the lore and how stories change depending on who is telling it. The action scenes were easy to follow and were enjoyable to read. I felt like it was nicely paced and after each chapter I wanted to find out what was going to happen next. One compliant I would say is the ending It felt too easy and to clean cut.

I won't lie, I initially picked this book up because of the fire wielding nuns, and let me tell you, it gave me that and so much more. While I did have a few issues with this book, I loved the story and characters, and would absolutely recommend for someone looking for a good stand-alone fantasy to dig their teeth into.

House of Dusk follows Sephre, and Yeneris. Sephre, an ex soldier and who took her vows to wield the flames of the Phoenix to purify the dead. Though she now spends her time gardening and creating herbal remedies, her past life of war isn't something she can easily shed. She lives with the ghosts of the people she lost in the war, as well as the memories of her actions. While people believe her a hero, she knows the truth and that is something that weighs heavily on her through the story. Sephre was an older character, something we don't get very often in fantasy, least of all as a main POV and, while I did think she was came off as younger at certain parts, I felt I was able to relate to her easier, namely her lack of tolerance for bullshit.

Yeneris is a spy. Sent to recover the bones of their holy saint, her work as Sinoe's, the princess', bodyguard was supposed to get her closer to her goal, not land her with some complicated feelings. She hates the King and everything he stands for, his war orphaned her and left the majority of her people dead, but while she is determined to bring the relic safely back to her people, she isn't willing to risk Sinoe in the process. Again, I felt Yeneris came across as a little younger than he supposed age (I think early 20's) in parts, but I enjoyed how Fagan dealt with her internal battle, her desperate need to help her people and Sinoe, even knowing it wouldn't be possible,

Alongside our two POV's Fagan treats us to a cast of fairly well developed side characters. Sinoe, the princess Yeneris is spying on. Timeus, Sephre's apprentice who was foisted on her against her will. Nilos, the stranger Sephre can't decide is friend or foe, and many, many more. Each character was distinct and had their own voice, but I did find some of the God's a little hard to get my head around. I felt like the distinction between the past and present wasn't as clearly cut as I would have wanted, and there were a few times I had to go a re-read a passage to work out if they were talking about current characters, or some from the past.

Apart from a few development issues, I really enjoyed the world building in this one. Fagan creates a world fairly easy to traverse, with only a few info dumpy moments, and I really enjoyed reading all the history and stories she created for it. The story was well paced and never really had any lulls, but it does lend itself to a slower paced reading, simply because of the amount of information and characters we are given. My one gripe would be with how easily some of the characters came to the 'revelations' they did in parts. I felt that we as the reader had been given enough information to jump to these conclusions, but the characters themselves hadn't, so when they suddenly proclaimed certain things, it almost felt as if they were jumping the gun a little. Whether this is because it's a standalone and the author needed these plot points sorted by a certain part? I'm not sure, but there were just a few parts where characters actions and declarations didn't really fit with their story so far.

The romances we get felt a little insta-lusty to me. Ok maybe not insta, but certainly close enough, and I did feel like Fagan maybe missed a trick with them. One giving off big forbidden romance vibes, whilst the other felt more like a very speedy enemies to lovers, but because of how they were set up I felt we could have had so much delicious tension, drama, making the end feel a little bit more epic if that makes sense. Instead, though slow burn to a point, they did feel a little rushed and a little too easy considering the circumstances surrounding both of them.

The story is tied up at the end, but Fagan has left it open enough for more stories in this world, which I hope she does because I would love to learn more. Whilst it wasn't amazing, I still found myself invested in the story and the characters, and felt Fagan paced it out brilliantly, throwing twists, some emotionally devastating, at the perfect time, and if you're in the mood for a stand-alone fantasy I would absolutely give this a go.

Thank you to my dad for taking me to libraries when I was younger. Thank you to my mom for funding my book fair splurges. Thank you to Ms. B my fifth grade teacher for buying me any and all the books I wanted. And thank you God for giving me these eyes, hands, and brain to consume literature. All your guys' efforts have led me here.

BECAUSE HOLY SHIT WHAT WAS THIS FREAKING MASTERPIECE. Where did this come from??? Why were my expectations not higher when I started reading this??? What just happened???

Uncannily similar to The Priory of the Orange Tree concept-wise but it's not like I give two rat-poops about that. I've been chasing the TPOTOT high ever since I finished it and now I can be a proper druggie again.

House of Dusk is told through two perspectives: war-traumatized soldier and now nun Sephre who gave up her sword and turned to the House of Dawn for a semblance of peace and bodyguard Yeneris who's infiltrated the Ember King's palace to take back her scattered people's saint and reunite them after the king's war destroyed their homeland. Sephre's journey starts because the long-banished supposedly evil Serpent god was rising to power again with a trail of dead bodies that the House of Dawn's Agia (leader nun basically) sends Sephre to investigate. Yeneris's journey begins when her prophesying princess lures Yeneris out to a circus and uses her to kill a Serpent god-byproduct demon spirit. We're off to exciting starts aren't we! If this doesn't make sense, it's because there's no way I can encapsulate this vivid world without spoiling anything. What I can do, however, is give you a list of things this book just absolutely completely delivered:

-world based off gods with different variations of myths and history based on region
-what story is right? theme
-nuns with powers based on god they worship and House
-closed off MC (Sephre) thawing because youthful friend + romance
-DELICIOUS MID-AGE ROMANCE REP romance ain't just for the young-uns ya know
-sapphic bodyguard (Yeneris) (who's actually supposed to be anti-princess's kingdom) x princess romance
-"ditzy" princess who's actually very clever and powerful
-complicated father-children tensions because he's crazy and power-hungry but still loves his kids
-ancient legendary people being reborn and history repeating
-POVs switch that aren't tiring and you actually look forward to (author how did you do that)
-tons and tons of beautifully fitting metaphors
-casually-dropped most hard-hitting lines ever like wow

And just a lot more but I don't have the word count for it. Guess y'all just have to read it for yourselves now 🤷‍♀️ Even though there's a lot, this book did not beat around the bush. The MCs figured out their business and they got to work man. Sometimes though, this was a bad thing. What made TPOTOT work was how long it was and all the words and chapters it could dedicate to flesh out all the beautiful concepts and characters. House of Dusk has all these beautiful concepts and characters, but not enough time with them to flesh it out. And I would've very gladly invested 10 more hours of my life reading if there was more to read. The fast-pace only negatively affected some parts though! Specifically Yeneris and her princess who were legit fantasy-version textbook U-haul lesbians. What do you mean they fake-kissed once and were ready to spend the rest of their lives together? It was almost unrealistic the lack of struggle Yeneris faced when choosing between duty and romance. There were also the too convenient plot points that helped speed things up. Characters rarely failed and basically just got what they needed first-try. All very BUP BUP BUP and not a shower I could soak in. And there were a lot of metaphors. Not enough to be annoying, but enough to be noticeable that there were a lot.

But I'm acting like these choppy things were super bad. They weren't. Look at my rating. I'm never forgetting this book. I loved the way Timeus softened Sephre's sharp edges. I love the way Nilos brought her to lightness. And I love the casual drop of the most hard-hitting lines in the universe of literature (exaggeration okay but still). I don't think I've ever added so many lines to my quote-book from one singular book before. It's an honor, author, to be blessed with your brain. So please give me more of it. A second book. A series. Posters for my walls. An animated adaptation. I'm getting slightly ahead of myself.

Anyway! Read this and join a beautiful new world. 4.5 rounded to 5 because I rate based off emotion not technicality and this book has all my feels. Thank you NetGalley and DAW for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and DAW Books for the ARC of House of Dusk by Deva Fagan!

I had a lot of fun with House of Dusk. I thought the author did a great job creating multiple interesting characters and POV's. I quite liked the dichotomy of Sephre and Yeneris/Sinoe. They're such different characters. The main POV's being characters of different ages was interesting because you could see how their maturity and trauma played into their decisions. My favorite character was probably Timeus or Sephre and i thought it was really cute to see the way Sephre went from annoyed with being stuck with Timeus to going to hell and back to save him.

I did think the romance was a little insta love but I can also see how the danger and secrecy bred the closeness so it wasn't entirely unrealistic. Going off the character's ages, it was actually a pretty realistic portrayal of puppy love. There were a couple of plot points that could have been expanded on a bit more, but overall, I was impressed. I think this would be perfect as a duology so we could delve more into Sephre and Nilos.

Overall, I really loved the way Sephre's POV ended. I was less satisfied with Yeneris and Sinoe's. But, four stars! I would definitely try another Deva Fagan book.

I really liked the story of this book.
You read about two strong women, who both want to save their world. I really liked that you at the beginning of the book don’t understand in which way their lives get crossed by eachother.
For me this kind of fantasy was new and I really like how it was different from other books I’ve read.
So I really liked the story, but I think it was a bit slow written at the begin.

All in all I really liked it and I think you should give it a chance if you like this kind of genre.

This unfortunately felt like something that I would have picked up as a last resort in the airport while waiting for a delayed flight. It was readable but not my cup of tea. I do however recommend people to check it out because I can absolutely see how this would appeal to others so don’t let my judgement of it turn you off of trying it.

This is an underrated gem and I honestly hope this becomes popular!

House of Dusk is told through the perspectives of Sephre, a former soldier who became a nun to pay for her war crimes, and Yeneris, a spy who's undercover to recover a stolen relic from her destroyed homeland. Their vastly different POVs give the story so much substance that I don't think I can point out anything wrong with the story overall, probably except that it was a bit slow at first and that it ended the way it did—not a cliffhanger, but it made you want MORE. Sephre and Yeneris were both great characters, with fleshed-out backstories and strong characterizations. Personally, I loved Sephre's POV more just because more interesting stuff happened, but that doesn't mean Yeneris didn't have a bigger adventure.

Borrowing elements from Greek mythos, this book was new and familiar to me at the same time. It felt like seeing an old friend, even though most of my exposure to Greek myth-related books is from Rick Riordan (sue me). Anyway, the book felt like it was teasing for a sequel, which I hope will happen! The worldbuilding is lush and anything can happen in it, I don't care if it's not told through Sephre or Yeneris. Their stories already ended in this book, but I wish their endings were explored a little bit more. The author only gave crumbs on Sephre' and Yeneris' endgame, and I think this is the only time I've wanted to see *at least* one make-out scene haha.

Thank you NetGalley and DAW Books for providing me with this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Refreshing and complicated and a standalone! Jackpot, You don’t get all three very often! I’ve recommended this book to all my fantasy gals and I’m so so pleased I got an ARC of this book. A richly imagined world, romance, tension that had stakes and I honestly couldn’t get enough.

Thank you to NetGalley, DAW, and the author for letting me read and review this arc.

This story combines the POVs of Sephre, an ex-soldier turned fire-wielding nun, and Yenereis, an undercover spy who is now the bodyguard of the prophesying princess. The switching between POVs was really well done, and I liked having the perspective of an older person compared to that of a 20yo girl. I loved reading about their journeys and how and why they got to where they are when we meet them. There are magic, betrayal, and mysterious tales that seem to have different versions, but which version of the story is the truth?

There is a romance subplot, and it's an actual slow burn!!! Both main characters have their romantic entanglements, one more juvenile than the other, but both as interesting.

The ending was a nice wrap-up of all the elements that were revealed throughout the book. It's an amazing standalone, but if the author decides to write a sequel or a spin-off off then I'm totally for it because I'd love to see more of these characters and their journeys.

By: Deva Fagan
Releasing: August 26, 2025

Happy Friday everyone! Today’s question- yearning or instant love trope?

I want you guys to know- despite how it might seem- I don’t put every book out here on my feed. Just the ones I need to read with someone or having omg-I-can’t-believe-that-happened conversations with in my DM’s. So we are skipping flat lay Friday for now so I can present to you this amazing book. Thank you to DAW for the advance reader copy and below is a no spoiler’s review.
House of Dusk- you NEED this book on your shelves. It centers around a FIRE wielding nun that has a slowing burning (get it? because she is fiery?) and yearning filled sapphic romance with the princess. The other POV is our princess, who also happens to have the gift of prophecy. My only first bone to pick- I can’t believe this is a standalone. I need more!
The vivid world building, compelling dual POVs, and beautifully written female characters are a refreshing change of pace in their ability to actually communicate with one another. There also wasn’t an instant “fated mates” connection, which I think led to the story being more believably for a fantasy. Don’t get me wrong, I love that trope, but it was nice to see the love story build over time. Both characters are morally grey BA women and will make you ru around your kitchen making little punching moments or longingly looking into your coffee wondering if anyone will ever hold such tenderness for you? Or maybe that was just me!


Stars ✨ : 4.5/5
Spicy 🌶️: 0/5
Girl power 💪🏼: 10/10
Yearning, pining, longing: ♾️/10

Lesbian dragons!? It felt like this was written for me until I actually read it. Both characters seemed very one dimensional and frankly unpleasant. Any character growth felt deeply unearned

There were a lot of good ideas in this book, and the worldbuilding was promising, but the execution lacked maturity and complexity, and it let the story down as a whole. My two biggest gripes: there are 2 POV characters, and while one—the soldier turned nun—has an interesting arc and narrative, the other—a spy posing as a princess’s bodyguard—reads very juvenile. It felt as if an adult book and a YA book had been intercut, which was jarring and disappointing. Second, both POVs had moments where the characters discovered some sort of plot twist, but the same twists were revealed twice, once in each POV. Not only did it completely break the narrative tension, it also missed a huge opportunity. If the two POVs revealed different plot points, each a piece of the puzzle that the characters couldn’t figure out but that we the readers could, there would have been so much more complexity and fun for us. A shame.

An ex-soldier fire-wielding nun, a spy bodyguard, a prophetic Princess, and dead bodies turning up.
Gideon the Ninth fantasy edition meets The Jasmine Throne and The Priory of the Orange Tree…

Sephre is an ashdancer, running away from her past. Her order’s duty is to guard the holy flame, to cleanse the dead and to destroy any creature of the underworld that dares trespass in the mortal realm.

It is lucky for Princess Sinoe that Yeneris had been hired to guard her life. Otherwise, Yeneris would almost certainly have murdered her. Naive, impulsive, infuriating, pretty. I mean, pretty annoying.

Sephre is filled with guilt and shame. Yeneris is tugged between two duties. Sinoe is struggling with her responsibility of the Sybil of Tears.

<b>Maybe there was a difference between the pains that were done to you and the ones you inflicted on yourself. The pain that was pure suffering, and the pain you could learn from.
</b>
This was fun! Lots of conspiracies and sneaking around. Lots of do-I-hate-or-love-this-person. Lots of internal strife.

Yeneris and Sinoe did act like teenagers, but it did make this lighter and gave you an angsty romance to root for (and roll your eyes at).
Sephre’s romance did feel slightly more forced and rushed, but a sequel could fix this…

This is currently a standalone and is satisfying as one, but there is so much potential for more. Similar to Samantha’s Shannon’s Priory set up, there is a lot of lore, twisting of history and prophecies, and threads for a sequel too.

Arc gifted by Daw publisher.

4.5 stars. There’s adventure, complex females characters, characters at different stages of life, and the romance is there as well yearning . The author does a great job with world building, and Deva Fagan has a beautiful writing style that made it easy for me to immerse myself in this world.

This was a good read with nice world building and complex characters. It took me a while to get into it fully but I had a good time once i got there.

It took me a minute to get fully into House of Dusk, but once I was in, I was IN. It's the perfect blend of magic, adventure, action, and romance, set in a beautifully crafted world with characters that I could practically feel breathing from the pages. In a market saturated with carbon copy shadow daddys and stabby FMCs, everything about House of Dusk felt fresh and new. The cast was robust, but I appreciated the limited POVs, because too often I think authors get caught up trying to show us everything, and then lose traction, leading to flat and boring characters. But I never once felt that here. Yen and Sephre are both strong and stubborn, yes, but their differences are obvious enough that each chapter was compelling. The plot twists are subtle, and even if some moments were predictable, I wanted to know how everything ended. If I had to offer any criticism, it would be that the climax felt a little rushed--but even this isn't really a complaint. I just didn't want it to end! Thank you to DAW and NetGalley for the ARC!

I have mixed opinions about this book. There is so much I enjoy about it ( the characters, the world building) however, I don't think the writing style is something I would enjoy reading again. This book was fairly easy to get through and engaging enough that I found myself interacting with the texts. Would I buy this myself? Probably not. But I do see a audience that would love this.

House of Dusk was a stunning romantic fantasy that had me at fire-wielding warrior nuns and a slow-burn sapphic romance between a prophecying princess and her bodyguard. And it more than lived up to my expectations.

This was a proper slow-burn too, with plenty of yearning, no kissing until the 75% mark, and wrestling with moral dilemmas of loyalty to the bodyguard's spy mission or to her heart. I didn't mind that I didn't get the POV of the princess too because I could tell how she felt through Yeneris's interpretations and hopes.

The story follows two points of view, starting with Sephre, a middle-aged nun for the House of Dawn who sought refuge in the cloisters from her PTSD from her previous life in combat. There used to be more houses, but only House of Dawn still stands. I found it interesting how the author emphasized that the philosophy of the stories the conquerers tell are the ones we believe in, even if they're wrong.

Sometimes the pacing could get lost in ethical dilemmas and political machinations but I loved the characters and worldbuilding.

The other pov follows Yeneris, bodyguard to Princess Sinoe, also known as the Sibyl of Tears. Cursed with the gift of prophecy, she is controlled by her father who believes himself to be the Ember King. But she's also a girl who sighs over romantic poetry and treasures a pet dragon/bird of prey creature. Yeneris is a double agent, secretly working for a group that seeks to return sacred bones to their rightful home. But she's also fighting a growing attraction to the princess.

I loved seeing two strong, smart butch women in this in the forms of Yeneris and Sephre, who has her own side romance with a mysterious green-eyed traveling man. I did not find that romance as compelling as that with Yeneris and Sinoe and almost felt that was too much romance for the story. They acted too much like teenagers.

The characters are fighting the rise of undead creatures who I thought at first were vampires because of the puncture wounds on their necks but act more like ghouls. They played a smaller part in the story than I expected vs the mythology and the politics of the religious houses.

Overall though I really loved this book, this world and the romance between Sinoe and Yeneris was swoonworthy. Priory of the Orange Tree was an excellent comp title. I hope this book has series potential because I would read more in this world. I got closure with the ending but it also felt like a small opening for that.

Many thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the advance review copy. I am leaving this review voluntarily.

I was drawn in by the gorgeous cover and the idea of fire wielding nuns, but unfortunately in the end the book didn't really work for me. It was a bit predictable, and felt a little too similar to books at times (especially Priory of the Orange Tree). While the two POV characters are not teenagers, the story uses a lot of the usual tropes of YA fantasy books which I just don't really enjoy anymore.

I received a free copy from DAW via Netgalley in exchange for a fair review. Publish date August 26th.

I requested this book because I was intrigued by its sapphic fantasy premise. In House of Dusk, an ex-soldier has buried herself in a monastery to try to escape her past, but her home is about to be ensnared in the king's ruthless power grab. Meanwhile, a young bodyguard to the princess is secretly a rebel agent--but as she learns more about the truth behind the throne, she must choose where her loyalties really lie.

House of Dusk is a dual POV book with little direct interaction between the two storylines. Although the two plots influence each other, the characters never meet. Yeneris is a youthful and hot-headed rebel who begins to question her handler's plams as she gets closer to the princess and the princess' secrets. Sephre is a woman well into her forties who deeply regrets the things she did as the king's soldier, and has dedicated herself to the flame as penance. Also she can throw fireballs. Of course, the problem with a two POV book is that you inevitably prefer one storyline to the other. In this case, I strongly preferred herbalist Sephre's middle-aged regrets to Yeneris' impetousness and extremely youthful romance, which felt a touch too YA for my taste. Both plotlines had their own romance arc, which felt a bit forced. However, I did like the bittersweetness of the resolution of Sephre's romance. I won't spoil it here, but it was beautifully done.

The mythology the book is grounded in is an intriguing mix of the familiar and things that Fagan has invented. There's the serpent god of the dead, the eternal flame, the barge that crosses the river of the death, the labyrinth of souls. In a book that's focused to revealing the truth behind the mythology, I liked that no one culture had the correct story, just fragments of the truth, even the culture using mythology to justify brutal foreign wars. Although the setting is mistily vague, I would tend to place it as earlier than the usual medieval setting.

A leisurely paced fantasy novel about faith and myth and prophecy. It reminded me a bit of Priory of the Orange Tree (albeit with much crisper pacing), or of the upcoming The Lost Reliquary by Lyndsay Ely.