House of Blight

A Novel

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Pub Date Apr 08 2025 | Archive Date Jun 03 2025

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Description

The first novel in an eerie, darkly creative, and new gothic romantasy duology from Maxym M. Martineau, for readers of Sarah J. Maas and Rachel Gillig.

Edira Brillwyn is a threadmender. She holds a rare, lifesaving power that can cure disease and heal injuries in the blink of an eye. But magic always comes with a cost, and saving anyone sacrifices a sliver of her own life. She’s always kept her abilities hidden…until the powerful Fernglove family discovers her secret.

The Ferngloves are charming and beautiful, possess powerful magic, and don’t take no for an answer—especially Orin, the head of these ruling elites. When Edira’s brothers unexpectedly contract blight—an incurable virus killing people throughout the town, and an illness too strong for her to heal them both—Orin offers to help. Together at his estate they’ll research a cure while Orin slows their sickness and Edira hones her magic. His kindness and honesty surprises Edira, as does her undeniable attraction to him.

But the other Ferngloves are suspicious of her power and may be more dangerous than the ever-present disease. The longer Edira stays within the confines of the Manor, the more the family’s pristine exterior begins to crack—until Edira discovers a terrifying secret and must choose who she can save and at what cost…

The first novel in an eerie, darkly creative, and new gothic romantasy duology from Maxym M. Martineau, for readers of Sarah J. Maas and Rachel Gillig.

Edira Brillwyn is a threadmender. She holds a...


Advance Praise

“Reading—nay, devouring—House of Blight was a feast for the senses. Martineau uses stunning imagery and vivid details to paint an alluring, Gothic-tinged portrait of beauty, intrigue, passion, and dangerous magic. Addictively enchanting.” — Claire Legrand, New York Times bestselling author of Furyborn


"House of Blight is romantic fantasy at its finest. Martineau has created a world so vivid that the only thing that surpasses it is the cast of characters you can't help but fall in love with. The perfect mixture of magic, romance, and darkness, this is the romantasy every reader needs on their shelves." — Alexa Martin, author of Better Than Fiction


"Martineau weaves together a beautiful, lyrically written tale of romance mixed with dark stakes that bite. House of Blight has all the ingredients to captivate romantasy readers from the very first page and keep them under her spell til the very last!” — Lyssa Mia Smith, author of Revelle


"Martineau weaves a tale so rich in detail, you can feel cool soil between your fingertips and smell the fresh scent of moss as you live Edira's story with her. A sumptuous blend of fantasy and intrigue, grim realities and glowing magic. " — Piper J. Drake, author of Wings Once Cursed and Bound

“Reading—nay, devouring—House of Blight was a feast for the senses. Martineau uses stunning imagery and vivid details to paint an alluring, Gothic-tinged portrait of beauty, intrigue, passion, and...


Available Editions

EDITION Other Format
ISBN 9780063391192
PRICE $30.00 (USD)
PAGES 384

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Average rating from 110 members


Featured Reviews

First of all, I'm so happy there's more to the story to come because I fell in love with Rorik. Secondly, I loved the type of magic/healing used for the book. It felt magical and I can't wait to read more from this author.

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I devoured this book in one night. This is my first experience with this author, but I was so impressed by the detail from the world building and the characters. I love an immersive book where I can picture scenes clearly with detail from the author. Well written with twists and turns, never knowing who to trust and who isn’t telling the whole tale.


*Our journey follows a healer Edira, who is caught up in a tangled web of half truth and lies, trying to figure out how to cure the blight. Edira attempts to help the all powerful Evers with the cure, but it’s hard to trust anyone at Fernglove manor. Plus there’s Rorik so that’s all that really matters 😅.

I would love to see more of Roriks pov in the next book, but overall this was an amazing read. Thank you so much for the arc NetGalley and our wonderful author Maxym M. Martineau.




House of Blight by Maxym M. Martineau was refreshingly original with lush world building and imaginative characters. Highly recommend this page turning fantasy.

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This was absolutely incredible, five stars without a doubt, The prologue was so well written setting the theme for the rest of the novel. I appreciated how the author took her time to set up the world, the characters, and ease us into the story while learning about the history of this world. The main character Edira carried the story gracefully; there were a lot of moments that made me laugh and many where I felt the same fear she was. I also enjoyed the pacing of the novel, there weren't any parts that felt rushed and the end itself left me wanting more because of how enraptured I was. I can't wait to see what comes next!

Full review will be posted after publication

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Oh my god. This book will be the next big fantasy of 2025. From the world building to the entire magic system this book is fantastic. I was completely hooked. The character development is so well done I felt super connected to the characters. I was holding my breath the whole last few chapters. This book is incredible and I cannot recommend it enough.

SPOILERS
I was over here rooting for Orin and then boom plot twist. Suddenly I hate his guts. I fell so in love with Edina, I totally connected with the fact that she will do whatever it takes to save her brothers. It just made her that much more lovable. I also was totally invested in everything she was trying to figure out about the house the whole time.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Harper Voyager for giving me this ARC!

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This is the perfect book for those who love acotar series or the shepherd king duology. It’s an amazing Romantasy.

This book is absolutely amazing and it’s so hard to write a review on this one because I want it to remain spoiler free.

Edira is a threadmender who has been living with her abilities kept secret. When her brothers fall sick to blight, an incurable disease that is deadly once caught, she is lucky that Orin Fernglove, an Ever, is nearby to help put her brothers in stasis, in return for her threadmending services to help his family. Once at his estate she begins to learn more about her own powers but also the issues plaguing Evers and their families.

I loved the magic system that this book had and I loved the layout and progression of the story. Seeing Edira learn more about her powers and trying to cure blight while finding out the secrets about Evers and the Fernglove estate made this a fantastic read.

There is a bit of spice and romance with lots of passages about lust and longing. I’d rate it 2/5 spice level just because there is a spicy scene in the book.

I’m really excited for the next book and this is definitely the type of book I’d buy once it releases to have as part of my collection.

Other than that this is the type of story if I say to much it spoils it. Happy reading!

Characters: 4/5 stars
Plot: 5/5 stars
Writing: 5/5 stars
Overall: 4.75/5 stars

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First I want to thank netgalley for letting me read this ARC, I very much appreciate it!

This book was the best book that I have read in a very long time! I enjoyed every second, every word of this book! From the prologue all the way to the last page of this ARC I was enraptured in the world building, the characters and the plot. Everything was just *chef's kiss'. This is a book I am eagerly awaiting publication so I can add it to my shelves.

Bring in Edira, a threadmender, a healer able to see the threads of life. She can take those threads and stitch them together and heal you, but at a cost. Minutes, hours, days and even weeks off her own life.
There's this sickness going around, fast acting, killing people within minutes and there's no cure. Edira can't help either, the Blight is too strong for her to heal. One day, her brothers come down with the Blight and an Ever (a magical, immortal being) Orin walks in on her desperately trying to heal her brothers. He makes a promise to her that he can slow down the Blight with his magic if she agrees to move into the Fernglove mansion and learn how to wield her power. She agrees and from there it's a wild ride. Edira, during her stay, finds out untold truths and betrayals ensue.

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"For those who constantly sacrifice in the name of others, it's okay to save yourself first."

"I'm training you to survive."
"Why?"
"Because you deserve to live."

Once I picked up this book, I couldn't put it down! I felt like Edira was really relatable in the sense that she's constantly doing things to help other people. I love the subtle crumbs throughout the book that had to do with color schemes, the banter between Edira and Rorik, and the way the plot developed. This book kept me on the edge of my seat as Edira was trying to put together all of the pieces about the Evers, and when everything finally clicked I wanted to scream. I'm excited to see how that plays out in the next book!

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This was the fantasy book I have been looking for the last several months. Maxym M. Martineau has created a new magical world and crafted a story that was a delight to dive into. Edira is a human with powers that make her a threadmender. She can see the life strings in people and heal them but the magic comes at a cost as every time she uses this power she loses time off of her life. As a result, she holds back and hides this while she struggles to care for her two younger twin brothers. The worst part is that there is a disease called "blight" which is disgusting and kills humans quickly. I mean, mold spores and decay abound. (gag) This disease she cannot cure which is why she and her brothers are orphans.

She hides her powers, especially from "Evers," who are an immortal race of people with unique powers and beast attributes. Think of them as variations on Fae. The Evers eventually find her and so begins the story of her working for them to find a cure for blight. It seems like a noble act initially but there are so many twists and turns that I found myself not sure who to trust. I did predict a few things but there were always pieces missing and it may remain that way till there is a sequel.

I really enjoyed this book. I truly mean it. I can't wait for the next one in the series. The story ends with a resolution but there is a cliffhanger. I loved the world-building and hidden details throughout the story. Yes, Edira did make a mess of things with her decisions but it was all for the love of her brothers. The story has a bit of romance threaded through and some spice but it isn't nuts. There is tension, a lovely animal sidekick (which I love!), and constant bathing. Seriously, she is always bathing. There was one scene where I actually wondered if she bathed yet because it happened so much. Sorry, let me refocus.

Anyway, this was a delight and I highly recommend it.

I was provided this book as an ARC from NetGalley and Harper Collins. These are my real and honest thoughts.

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This is going to be the next big fantasy romance book, and I feel completely honored to have been able to read an early copy. I can't wait to read more. Now I'm off to read Martineau's backlist.

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