🏰✨ Just finished "House of the Beast" by Michelle Wong and wow—what a weird ride! 🎧 This audiobook had me questioning if I truly loved it or just found it intriguingly bizarre. Jeanne Syquia's narration brought Alma and Aster to life in a hauntingly beautiful way that perfectly matched this strange, fantastical world. 🌌 This story is like nothing I’ve ever encountered. It follows Alma as she embarks on a dark quest for revenge against her father’s house after the tragic loss of her mother, with her "monster" companion by her side. 🌟 In a gripping battle, she must defeat a fallen star to become the first hand of her house’s god, all while navigating the disdain of her cruel family. 💔 Alma, born out of wedlock due to her father's affair, faces a family that makes no effort to hide their contempt for her. But she and her monster are equally determined not to let anyone stand in their way! 🔥 It’s a thrilling race to see who will triumph when the dust finally settles. Fair warning: This book doesn't hold back on the violence—it's dark, it's weird, and it's undeniably original. 🖤 I rated it 3.5 stars, rounding up to 4 because I admired Alma's strength as she contemplates the cost of embracing Aster's violent nature. After all, what’s the point of achieving your goals if it means losing the essence of who you are? 🤔 If you’re on the hunt for something delightfully strange, dark, and whimsically enchanting, look no further—this is the book for you! 📚✨

Thank you to NetGalley and HarperAudio Adult for the opportunity to review this story.


>You can also find me on instagram @jessthebookjunkie

Overall Rating: 5/5 Stars

Synopsis -

Young Alma lives a quiet life in solitude with her mother until illness strikes. Desperate to save her, Alma seeks out her estranged father, a powerful noble and vessel of the fearsome Dread Beast deity from House Avera. To secure treatment for her mother, Alma makes a desperate pact: she sacrifices her arm to the Beast, binding herself to the House and its god.

Despite her sacrifice, Alma's mother dies, leaving Alma in the care of her estranged father at the Avera estate. It’s clear that Alma is viewed only as a pawn in her father's plans for power. Left alone and seeking revenge, Alma finds an unexpected ally in her "imaginary friend," Aster. Aster reveals himself to be a mischievous god, visible only to Alma, who has chosen her to bring about radical change. Together, they embark on a perilous quest to dismantle the corrupt aristocracy of House Avera and exact vengeance on Alma's father.

Thoughts -

Michelle Wong has done something unique and wonderful, creating an immersive experience for the reader. This novel is filled with drawings by the author herself, which adds immensely to the reading experience.

I don’t have the words for an eloquent and thoughtful review, since this is a book I will be processing for a long time, but what I can say is that it’s been a long time since I’ve cared for a cast of characters this deeply –
I am proud of Alma’s bravery and growth.
I am sad about the past that Aster had suffered.
I am hopeful for what’s going to come in Sevelie’s future.
I am expectant for romance to find Fion (wink).
And I am madly affectionate for our little cutie, Six.

This is sure to be a top read of the year for me.

HUGE thank you to Harper Voyager for providing me with an ALC and an eARC for review! All opinions are my own.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC. I was intrigued by the description, but I found this book boring. I wanted to like it - I really did. But it was repetitive and hard to get engaged in the story line and characters.

This is a tale woven of revenge and the seductive call to power. It's a gritty exploration of how grief and loss can bend, break, and rebuild us. I found it to be a nuanced character study first and foremost with the added bonus of a visceral and dangerous world to admire. There's romance but it flits about the main story, making it a complimentary...not the whole point.

In short, I was thoroughly captivated by my time inside of House Of The Beast. I do think that pacing might err on the slower side for some but I enjoyed the methodical and thoughtful undoing of our main characters.

If you are looking to usher in August with a break from run of the mill Romantacy, this could be an excellent pick for you!

I found the narration of this boook to be really off putting. I only got a few chapters in due to this. The book was also moving very slowly.

So so so good! I can't believe this is Wong's debut. The gothic atmosphere is everything. And the revenge aspect is so good. I can see this being one of 2025's top romantasys! And the narration...perfection!!!!

I give this a 3.5
Thank you NetGalley and Nerd fam for the Advanced reader copy !

This is a debut book, described as dark romance but there was only a tiny bit of that in here. It’s more of a fantasy with A touch of Drop Dead Fred( iykyk) I was super hooked at the start , it did get a bit slow for me towards the end.
Overall great story

Beautifully Detailed

House of the Beast by Michelle Wong was a grand adventure following Alma and her desire for revenge against her family.

Wong’s writing is beautifully detailed and fleshed out, but some may appreciate a faster pace. There were many suspenseful combat scenes throughout that I enjoyed. I was able to visualize the movements and details, and it made the book more interesting. Throughout I loved the fantastic depth many aspects of the book has.

Personally I was not invested in the romance in this book, but it was a sweet representation of young love.

Overall the detailed writing and gothic tones kept me interested in seeing what happens to Alma throughout her dilemma.

This book really delved into toxic codependency in a way that’s unique for YA stories. It had a lot of interesting elements and world building— so many, in fact, that I wish we got to dive deeper into the other houses and gods.
Alma had a pretty strong character arc exploring the pursuit of moral goodness amidst a world that is cruel and unfair. Maybe I’m too petty to appreciate it (this is probably the case), but I think I simply prefer stories with more vengeance and justice. Learning to let go of rage is definitely powerful, seeing our MC get mistreated and undervalued by society at large (with a handful of found family exclusions) wasn’t quite satisfying for me.

What an interesting read! I found that the world building and plot pacing for this story was good! Definitely a bit in the middle could have been cut out. However where I struggled was connecting with the characters. I know people have gripes about the main character but I didn't mind her wish washy behavior. She had been manipulated and guided pretty heavy handedly ever since she was a child; due to that it will be hard to find the path you truly want to take. Where I struggled was the side characters and Aster. We knew almost nothing about her companion until the very end and that made his character going up until that point kind of 2D. The side characters while initially made me excited, we didnt get more than a few scenes with each. This also lead to the characters feeling a little lack luster. The action though was very well written and exciting! Everything was good but nothing just latched on. I don't regret listening to the audiobook but I do feel people might connect more with the physical as there are a ton of drawings that go along with the story. This will make the story more atmospheric but I don't think it would have changed much for me. I couldn't find anything terribly wrong but nothing that stood out either.

DNF at about 40%. This just wasn’t for me. It was labeled as romance so I was expecting a stronger undercurrent of romance through the book and this didn’t have it.

Narration: 5/5
Book: 5/5
Playback Speed: 1.75x

You know when a book will stay with you for a while- this is one of those books. Brimming with vengeance, tenderness, plotting, elder gods, and monsters, this book makes you question how far would you go to avenge yourself against those that had wronged you.

This is a twisty book in the best way. The emotional roller coaster this has me on and the different ways women show strength in this book speaks to Michelle’s abilities as an author. The premise was fresh, the mystery was well executed, and who doesn’t love a deranged obsessive beast that is your only friend who looks like a prince and will burn the world for you?

As for the narration, Jeanne Syquia did an amazing job as a single narrator for this book. Her performance added to the experience as I found myself emotionally wrecked by the end of this book.

My only regret is that by listening to this book, I didn’t get to see what I am certain are jaw dropping illustrations by the author throughout the text.

If you are on the fence on whether to pick up this book- get off the fence and add to cart!

Thank you Michelle Wong, HarperAudio, Avon Books, Harper Collins, and NetGalley for providing me with an Advanced Listening Copy in exchange for an honest review.

⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

House of the Beast is a magical fantasy novel with divine rituals, combat, and romance.

Although I enjoyed parts of this one, it, unfortunately, fell flat for me. I enjoyed the magic system, but I longed for richer world-building. The characters were interesting, but I hoped for more development of the character relationships and the romance between Alma and Aster. I found it difficult to connect to Alma, but I enjoyed the plot. Michelle Wong’s prose was vibrant and beautiful, but the prose occasionally felt young compared to Alma’s actual age. The pacing fit the story, and the ending was fantastic, filled with action, yearning, emotion, and power. I would recommend House of the Beast to readers who’ve had their eye on it!

Jeanne Syquia narrated this one well. I loved her excitement, emotion, and accents. I recommend the audiobook!

Thank you to the publisher for the free ALC!

Finally, morally gray ML. I really enjoyed this. There are some oddities, like I don't really understand why ML is so obsessed with FL. But I still enjoyed their interactions. I do wish this had been multiple books, to allow more world-building but I'm a fan.

I have mixed feelings about this one, there are parts I really liked but then other parts DRAAAGED.. It had an interesting plot full of political intrigue and machinations but I found Alma to be a bit irritating as a main character.

I listened to the audiobook, so I missed out on the illustrations sadly.. Hearing this was made by the illustrator for Korra, it tears my heart up! (BRB Tearbending!) Alma's only friend being Aster/Dread Beast really tugged at my heartstrings for sure, seeing as how much I like Alma! Aster being so fixated on Alma is something else I heavily enjoyed. I think the book has a lot going for it!

I dual-read this with the audiobook, and I can't recommend that enough! Jeanne Syquia's narration was incredible. She brought so much emotion and depth to Alma's story, capturing her pain, rage, and resilience. The illustrations in the book were so beautifully done as well!

The atmosphere was rich and eerie, and I was immediately drawn in. Alma's desperation and grief were so raw that I couldn't help but stay with her, hoping that she would find a way out. Her sacrifice, which bound her to a terrifying god to try to save her mother, only to end up trapped with her father broke my heart! Aster, the beast she's bound to, is both her protector and the cause for so much more heartbreak. Their connection is intoxicating

The immersive worldbuilding was layered and full of unsettling horrors. The divine Houses, the rituals, and the estates all felt fully realized without being overexplained. It added so much depth to the story and made the stakes feel that much heavier.

If dark fantasy, gothic vibes, and being emotionally wrecked are your vibe, then this is absolutely worth reading!

Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and to Harper Voyager/Harper Audio for providing an ARC for my honest review.

Thanks so much to NetGalley, HarperAudio, Avon and Harper Voyager for the ARC and ALC. I tandem read these so I’ll review writing and narration separately.

Alma is an isolated child, content in her small world with her mother, but when her mother falls ill and Alma reaches out to the father she doesn’t know, her whole world comes crashing down. But her father sees her as a tool to be used until discarded, her imaginary friend is an evil demon who only she can see and everyone in her House despises her.

This was an ambitious novel, with notes of dark fantasy, and really made me feel elements of The Poppy War (I think Alma’s quest for revenge, being taken over by a god/demon and ambition for power above all else reminded me so much of Kuang’s cornerstone series.

Where this book succeeds -
* the art throughout the written copy is lush and brings so much to the world. Almost an interactive aspect to the story?
* Alma’s relationship with Aster is full of manipulation and power plays and I loved seeing him worm his way to ingratiate himself more and more.
* side characters are absolutely amazing! Six and Sevelie are particular favorites of mine, but Fion and Kaim are also amazing.

Where this book failed -
* it’s absolutely not a romance. I don’t know why it’s being marketed as such. It’s a tragedy, a tale of ambition and revenge between a father and daughter and of revenge between Aster and everyone (except for Alma, I think).
* the first 15% and the last 30% were SO good, but the story needs some major trimming in the middle. All the prep and endless discussions before the Pilgrimage took forever.

Narration -
There were moments where the narration truly shined, especially at the end when you can hear the teasing notes in Alma’s voice. All in all, a credible job as a voice actor.

Alma will do anything to save her mother including contacting her estranged father for help, but her plans didn’t go as expected and she was was forced to join the House of the Beast, under the promise that her father would take care of her mother with the best medical care possible. Nothing is as expected! Poor Alma is lonely and isolated and wants revenge against her father with a vengeance. Her “God” (imaginary friend of sorts) and her against the world! But the battle begins and things just aren’t what they should be and people aren’t really who she thought they were. Things take a turn but Alma’s fighting for her life and the lives of her people. Definitely dark, twisted, and suspenseful. I couldn’t make myself stop listening to this. Absolutely loved this and was completely blown away buy the ending! Remarkable ❤️

firstly, thank you to the publisher for an arc and an alc!!

a note about the arc — it was poorly formatted on a kindle but i was still able to enjoy it due to my audiobook experience!

this is for fans of full metal alchemist and naomi novik’s scholomance trilogy, and i don’t say that lightly as those are two of my favorite series!

i absolutely loved the illustrations that accompanied the story, but i’m not shocked that i loved them considering wong worked on the legend of korra, another one of my favorite series.

as for the audio, the narrator did a fabulous job!