Thank you to Harper Voyager for the ARC and Harper Audio for the ALC.

The House of Blight is a gothic fantasy focusing on Edira, a healer—except when she heals someone, she loses minutes, days, months of her own life. And she’s living in secret, until the fae leader (Orin Fernglove) finds her and makes her a bargain she can’t refuse and she’s moved to their castle/home.

I imagined their home on the moors; foggy, decrepit, filled with the Ferngloves but no staff. Creepy. Meanwhile, Orin and his family are basically at each others’ throats at all times, particularly his brother Rorick. Nothing like a bit of fae family feuding to make a human feel at home?

I’m suspicious at baseline so I kept side eying some of Edira’s choices; but I get it girl, you’re stuck between a rock and a hard place. I loved how she kicked ass at the end, she finally took charge and was the strong HBIC I knew her to be.

While this is the first in a series, it still felt like a complete story, with just enough of a cliffhanger to keep me hooked and on board for more. And I hope to read the next as audio! Alexandra Hunter (and the tiny parts of Stephen Dexter) fit the characters so perfectly, it made the reading experience that much more enjoyable.

This was a fun romantasy! It was one of the more unique ones, with a healer FMC (I really don’t see a lot of them in the books I pick up) who can mend “threads” for others at a cost to her, which is a shortened life. The dark, gothic vibes made this a very atmospheric read and I loved it. The moth sidekick was fantastic, and I really enjoyed the tension and conflict at the end. Very excited to continue this series!

Thank you to HarperAudio for an ALC in exchange for my honest review!

House of Blight follows Edira, a threadmender with the ability to cure disease and heal injuries. The only thing her powers are limited to is curing blight, so when her beloved brothers fall ill with the disease she has no choice but to turn to Orin Fernglove — head of a family of elite magic wielders who rule her village. At Fernglove estate, Edira will research ways to manipulate her magic to rid the land of blight, all while getting swept up into immortal feuds and dangerous secrets that have the ability to upend everything she’s ever loved.

I legitimately couldn’t put this book down! It took me no time to fall into the world and I devoured this story extraordinarily quick. I found the pacing to be consistent and the captivating energy had me anxious to see what happened next. I enjoyed hearing the narrators describe the sensory details and the audiobook really helped build the imagery of the world up in my mind.

Alexandra Hunter takes on the majority of the book’s narrations, as almost the entirety of the novel is told from Edira’s perspective. I loved the way she captured Edira’s wry sarcasm and the way she performed the banter between Edira and Rorik specifically had me giggling and kicking my feet!

The few chapters we get from narrator Stephen Dexter are very good as well. His deep timbre taps into the dark, puzzling nature of Fernglove and its inhabitants. There are still so many questions left unanswered and the way he performed his sections added to the mystery.

I would absolutely recommend listening to this on audio. Between the fast-paced energy and the high quality performances, House of Blight is one that I think romantasy fans are going to eat up!

Thank you HarperAudio and NetGalley for providing me with an ALC in exchange for my honest review!

This book sits somewhere between ACOTAR by Sarah J. Maas and A Court of Sugar and Spice by Rebecca F. Kenney and I LOVE IT.

This book gave me all of the good vibes a Romantasy book should—complex magic system, intriguing family and character relationship dynamics, and of course, a human out of place with non-human beings. It is everything I wanted and I need to read book two (which is not out...) IMMEDIATELY.

This book is magical, in a gothic and slightly creepy way, and the choices the characters have to grapple with all come with dire consequences.

High stakes, high fantasy, and I LOVE IT.

~~Tropes~~
✨Gothic, Dark Romantasy
✨Magical Vows
✨Fae-Like Beings
✨Slow Burn
✨Forced Proximity
✨1st Person, Dual POV

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
Spice: 🌶️🌶️/5

✨Thank you, HarperAudio Adult | HarperAudio, Avon, and Harper Voyager | Harper Voyager, for the ARC/ALC and finished copy of this book. All thoughts are my own.✨

📚House of Blight by Maxym M. Martineau📚

Thank you @harpervoyagerus @maxymmckay for my free copy and @harperaudio @netgalley for the alc💖.

🗓️Out 4/8/25

✨What it is about:
Edira is a threadmender with the power to heal,but it comes at a personal cost. When her brothers fall ill, she’s drawn into the mysterious Fernglove family’s world, where she works with the head of the family, Orin to find a cure. But as secrets unravel and her attraction to Orin grows, Edira must decide who to trust and what she’s willing to sacrifice to save her loved ones.✨

💭My thoughts:
This is the first in book in The Threadmender Chronicles & was unique, magical, eerie, and fun! It starts slow, but quickly picks up. Nothing is what it seems, and you’ll never guess what’ll happen next. The world building is done well, and the magic system is easy to understand. The vivid details of the story will make you feel like you are right there next to the characters! Edira is forced to navigate the personal sacrifice that comes with her abilities, and faces many decisions while in the middle of a group whose intensions are unknown. Her magical powers to heal come at the cost of her own life threads, so she never really knows when a healing will end her life. It was all so intense! The romance takes you by surprise in more ways than one too. It doesn’t end in an exact cliffhanger, but you get an idea of what to expect in the next story.
🎧The narrators Alexandra Hunter and Stephen Dexter did a great job letting us in the internal struggles of the characters. I hope Stephen gets to narrate the next book too, and that we get more directly from his point of view because one chapter wasn’t enough! His narration felt so real, and true to Rorik’s passionate nature 💖.

4.5⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Read if you like:
🪲Gothic romantasy
🥀Female Rage
🪲Forced Proximity
🥀Slow burn romance
🪲Magic
🥀Complex family dynamics
🪲Immortal beings
🥀Atmospheric reads
🪲Spring court but darker
🥀Hate to love

⚠️CW: Violence, injury detail, body horror, death, sexual content, grief.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/7453037753
First thank you NetGalley and Harper Voyager for the arc.

Edira lives a life in disguise, she is threadmender, with the power to heal others but at the cost of her own life. But with "Blight" infecting the land and people, staying hidden is no longer an option for Edira. Found out by the most powerful and head of the Fernglove family, Orin. Orin is as kind as he is handsome (and he's really handsome). But can Edira trust him? Or the rest of the hostile Fernglove family?

Martineau has written a feast for the imagination, this book has such beautiful imagery that its easy to feel immersed in this new fantasy world. She painted with words so vividly, its beautiful to read. Not mention the twisting and turning dark plot.

From the very first page we are thrown into a Edira's life and her desperate situation. At first it seems to a be leading us down standard formula in fantasy books, but Martineau has tricks hidden up her sleeve, behind all the dark glamour of the Ferngloves so many secrets await to be revealed.

Thank you Harper Voyager for the physical ARC as well as the ALC!

Book Rating: 5/5 🌟

Audio Rating: 5/5 🌟

This literary took me back to the early days of getting into fantasy books! The story that has been created is so unique and I have so many damn theories and just literally while reading these it gave me such ACOTAR vibes but it stands out by itself being a gothic romantasy!

The magic system was very cool as she is a Threadmender, which is someone who can see people’s life lines and can heal them but it takes away from the Threadmenders own life to do so. As for the Evers “the fae” there were very uniquely written as it gave me The Cruel Prince fae vibes and their power source was interesting and can’t wait for more on it due to the backstory.

I loved that I was able to do an immersive read for this as it setup the world and the characters 10x better and the narrators were great choices! I do wish this would’ve been a duel POV so we could’ve gotten the male narrator more instead of only the two times but I’m hoping that will change with book two!

HIGHLY RECOMMEND!!! Need book two cause my theories need to be answered!

I love a good gothic read and House of Blight was atmospheric in the best way. I also found the magic system that Martineau built to be fascinating especially, Edira’s powers. Edira is a threadmender and can “mend” the soul threads of those in need. However, this magic comes at a price. It’s an even bigger price when she gets caught by the Fernglove family and has to work for them. The good news for readers is that the Fernglove family is fascinating. I loved seeing how Edira interacted with each individual member. There’s also romance in this story, but it’s not as straightforward as it initially seems. This was great for me because I was rooting for a certain character the whole time. I will say, though, an “insect daddy” is a first for me. As someone who really hates bugs, it took me a bit to adjust to that. Ywena, though, was the real winner for me. I love an adorable sidekick, and Ywena definitely meets that. In terms of plot, the story started a little slow for me. However, it quickly picks up with twists and turns. Some of the twists were more predictable than others, but it was still enjoyable to see how Martineau carried out the twist. I combo read this via ebook and audiobook. The audiobook is narrated by Alexandra Hunter and Stephen Dexter. Hunter definitely carries the bulk of the narration in this installment, but I’m hoping we get more of Dexter in book two. They both did so well. There was plenty of energy and emotion. I don’t think you can go wrong with either the ebook or audiobook. I’m excited to see where book two goes.

Thank you to Netgalley and HarperAudio Adult for the early audio book
Loved this book way more than I thought I would. First the cover got me. I mean to me it's stunning. The description of the book intrigued me next. I've never heard of a book about threadmenders. The first chapter really sold me though! I thought the magic system was so intriguing in this book! Edira was a very strong but ~silly~ girl. She made some really great decisions and some really dumb ones. I liked her overall though and thought she was a strong FMC. I will say that if you've read a romantasy book or two you're going to know exactly what happens. I thought the narrator Alexandra Hunter carried the book. She did a great job with everything and the few chapters we hear from Stephen Dexter were also very good. Overall I'm surprised how much I loved this book and I can't wait to see where this series goes!

(4.25/5) I finished House of Blight in less than 24 hours—specifically, in 2 sittings. Maxym M. Martineau develops a beautifully gothic and mysterious world in this enchanting read, and I couldn't wait to see what chaos she threw her characters into. I couldn't help but think "Tim Burton would do an amazing job at adapting this for film" (a high compliment from me, as someone who loves Tim Burton films).

This book sucked me in from start to finish as it unpacked generations of secrets. It's marketed as "perfect for fans of Sarah J. Maas and Rachel Gillig," and I agree for various reasons. I'd also throw the Belladonna trilogy by Adalyn Grace.

I will say, I had no clue who she would end up with or if she was even truly interested in other man at first (and vice versa). There's a lot of cautious flirtation and banter, which I enjoyed.

The cliffhanger was perfect and has me excited to see how the author concludes this duology.

Specific to the audiobook, Alexandra Hunter did a great job at bringing Edira's character to life and expressing her emotions. I can't wait to hear more from Stephen Dexter in book 2.

This was such a fun and easy read. I was hooked from the very start.

Edira, our FMC, is a threadmender, which is a really cool style of healing magic where you pay for healing with your own lifetime (in seconds, minutes, hours, days, or even years, depending on how big the injury is). I loved this concept because it adds real consequences and naturally gets her into some pretty sticky situations.

The Evers are kind of like your typical Fae but with a twist. They have insect traits like wings and antennae, which made the already eerie, dying atmosphere even more interesting.

The romance was messy in the best way. I was constantly yelling at Edira but also cheering her on. Rorik totally stole my heart in that brooding idiot kind of way. Orin? No. Absolutely not. And Ywena the moth ended up being one of my favorite side characters.

If you're into romantasy, fae, plot twists, creepy manors, and a good slow burn, then definitely check this one out. I will definitely be checking out book two ASAP!

holy cow you guys, i blew through this book in ONE NIGHT. Not even being dramatic I could not put it down from the very first page. The author takes the time to build the world, build the lore and insert the needed history in a way thats not rushed but not leaving anything to be desired, Maybe its the nursing student in me but im always a lover of the healer role / trope but this was done in SUCH an interesting way! And the family dynamics in this book? talk about kooky? It was giving literary nonsense of a family and I LOVED IT! and the spice? of course we have to touch on the romantasy / spice aspect of a book and I have to say I was pleasantly surprised! There was enough romance to sustain the subplot and the LONGING? I LOVE YEARNING! AND NOT EVEN THE YEARNING FROM THE *MMC*, but the yearning from the **MMC** (if you know what i mean...)

I read this book as an eARC and was then sent the audiobook, so some of this is from there, but in terms of the audiobook? I loved it! Also enjoyed the little dual narration at the end for a *certain* character!

Easily a five star read and I simply cannot wait to read book 2 when released!

💜 House of Blight by @maxymmckay

✨ “If you think I can’t stab you while wearing skirts, you’re sorely mistaken.”

🪲 This book was the perfect Spring read! So many whimsy vibes and I loved it! I really loved the prose. The writing was so well done and was very immersive. I loved the atmosphere of Fernglove Manor.

💜 Edira’s love for her brothers is so relatable for me. I know I would do anything for my own brother, so I really connected with her. She’s a threadmender and sacrifices minutes of her own life to heal others.

✨ Edira is whisked away to Fernglove Manor by Orin to try and find a cure for the blight. He promises to keep her brothers safe in exchange.

🪲 But as the plot thickens, things are certainly not as they seem. There’s cracks in Fernglove Manor, and they slowly begin to show. But can Edira find the cure and save her brothers before it’s too late?

This is one of those fantasies that throws you in and explains things along the way instead of starting with tons of world building before anything happens (which is just how I like it).

Edira, the FMC, is moved into a whole new world filled with powerful magic wielders. Making her healing powers seem like nothing in comparison. And she’s not sure who she can and can’t trust. But let me tell you- she may not know who to trust, but I knew immediately

The magic system was interesting and there was a specific male character I was immediately drawn to. The plot was a bit predictable, but I still really enjoyed reading (listening) to it and will definitely be finishing the duology!

Oh, and there’s a cute little moth companion

The narrator had a wry drawl that I wasn't overly fond of, and some of her pronunciations were odd. She wasn't bad, but it did stick out to me.

As for the story, I saw it compared to Rachel Gillig and I think that is inaccurate. I would compare this much more in style and quality to Belladonna by Adalyn Grace. While it is gothic, and a romantasy, it lacks depth and immersive atmosphere. The plotting was a little bit clunky and I often found myself getting frustrated at the obviousness of the breadcrumbs being left that were not so obvious to the protagonist. The strongest aspect of House of Blight was the world building/conflict and I thought the Ever culture was interesting, even if it was just a different take on fae. Also, the concept of the blight/sickness was different BUT I don't think the story reached it's potential. The book hits a lot of the same points recycled in the majority of romance led fantasy and lacked depth and substance.

It was fine. I will consider picking up the sequel and can recommend this to my gothic romantasy loving customers. Just for me, personally, I thought it could have been better.

HOUSE OF BLIGHT is a witchy-adjacent gothic romantasy, filled with magical healing (with a cost), magical vows, tensions and a bit of a love triangle (between brothers 😏) The romance is swoony. The world is cottagecore. The characters are magical. It’s a lovely start of a duet that will leave you counting the days to book two. Perfect for readers of Rachel Gillig.

This was such a fun read. I loved the magic system, world building and character development. The romance and not knowing quite sure which direction it would go was perfect.

Thanks to HarperAudio for the gifted copy!

Edira Brillwyn is a threadmender -- she has lifesaving power, but it comes at the high price, taking slivers of her life as she uses it. When her brothers get sick with Blight, she endes up at Fernglove Manor, working with the powerful head of the household, Orin, to find a cure.

I LOVE a fantasy duology, but am not sure that gothic fantasy is always for me... it's just a little too slow-moving. I did love the side characters, especially the little mothy pet creature, Ywena, the magical vows, and the slow burn romance. This was definitely a unique take on a fantasy with the "insect daddy" and cottagecore aesthetic, and I think a lot of readers will appreciate these vibes. I did find some of the plotlines a bit predictable and wanted more of a certain brother, but we'll leave that for the next book ;)

I did really enjoy the narration by Alexandra Hunter and Stephen Dexter.

Let’s start with the obvious—this cover is absolutely stunning! It immediately caught my eye, and thankfully, the story inside is just as intriguing.

Edira’s threadmender magic is such a unique concept—she can heal, but at the cost of her own lifespan. When her brother falls ill with the Blight, she’s forced into an uneasy alliance with Orin, the mysterious MMC, to uncover a cure. The book starts with a bang, immediately pulling me in, and I was so excited to see where it would go.

While the middle hit a bit of a lull, I still thoroughly enjoyed the overall story. And let’s talk about the audiobook narration—Alexandra Hunter and Stephen Dexter absolutely deliver, making this world feel immersive and dynamic. I’d 100% add them to my must-listen list!

Final Verdict: Good, not great—but still an enjoyable read with a fascinating magic system, high stakes, and strong narration. 3.5 stars--I would absolutely recommend.

✨ Thank you to Harper Audio and NetGalley for the opportunity to enjoy the ARC and ALC copies of this read. My immersive read was lovely!

There is a healer main character, gothic fantasy setting and romantic tension. It took me until I was about 25% through to get into, but by the end I was hooked. There is an interesting magic system was interesting. The idea that the healer would take time off her life by using healing magic added to the suspense. I am looking forward to the characters growth in the next book.