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Ms. Woc Reader's Reviews > House of Hunger
House of Hunger
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Marion finds herself working as a bloodmaid in a manor owned by a mysterious countess with an allure she just can't resist.
As far as building the atmosphere and character, I thought Alexis Henderson did better with that in The Year of the Witching. In the beginning of House of Hunger there were a lot of descriptions right down to little details of the meals Marion ate on the train. And I braced myself for the rest of the book to read the same way but it did not. I had a hard time envisioning the manor because she stuck to more simplistic descriptions of it. It would've helped to get a clearer vision of how the manor was laid out. The scenes with blood being drawn were the most descriptive and fascinating scenes in the book Those were written in a way that was sure to make you squirm and keep you reading.
Marion came across so strong in the beginning of the book that I just found it unbelievable how quickly she became jealous and determined to be first bloodmaid. She never felt like someone who was naïve because she grew up basically on her own and her experience with past relationships should've made her aware about being used the way she was. So the desperation for Lisavet who was very obvious with the way she toyed with the other girls, never rang true.
The other girls had very little to them for me to have any feelings towards them and I was confused as to why they all seemed to except the ways of the house without question until one day Marion reveals the truth. There should've at least been some reluctance there. Even the dynamic between her and Lisavet was being painted as a dark and twisted romance but they lacked the chemistry needed for me to look past the power imbalances and feel anything towards them.
Though hints and brief explanations are dropped about the world outside the manor we never get a proper explanation about how race and politics work which makes everything feel very restricted to just the house. For instance it was pointed out that many darker skinned people live in the South while many pale people live in the North but we didn't really see a difference between the treatment within the house.
Maybe this book would've benefitted from more pages but I also think starting with Marion first arriving at the house would've helped tremendously. Because there were also parts of the middle that felt a little slow and redundant. So for me it was less of a length problem and more how it was executed.
I'll still be checking for her future books but this one didn't quite hit the mark. I think she had interesting ideas but I could tell she wasn't quite sure where to go with this one and just went the safe and easy route.
Full review below
https://womenofcolorreadtoo.blogspot....
As far as building the atmosphere and character, I thought Alexis Henderson did better with that in The Year of the Witching. In the beginning of House of Hunger there were a lot of descriptions right down to little details of the meals Marion ate on the train. And I braced myself for the rest of the book to read the same way but it did not. I had a hard time envisioning the manor because she stuck to more simplistic descriptions of it. It would've helped to get a clearer vision of how the manor was laid out. The scenes with blood being drawn were the most descriptive and fascinating scenes in the book Those were written in a way that was sure to make you squirm and keep you reading.
Marion came across so strong in the beginning of the book that I just found it unbelievable how quickly she became jealous and determined to be first bloodmaid. She never felt like someone who was naïve because she grew up basically on her own and her experience with past relationships should've made her aware about being used the way she was. So the desperation for Lisavet who was very obvious with the way she toyed with the other girls, never rang true.
The other girls had very little to them for me to have any feelings towards them and I was confused as to why they all seemed to except the ways of the house without question until one day Marion reveals the truth. There should've at least been some reluctance there. Even the dynamic between her and Lisavet was being painted as a dark and twisted romance but they lacked the chemistry needed for me to look past the power imbalances and feel anything towards them.
Though hints and brief explanations are dropped about the world outside the manor we never get a proper explanation about how race and politics work which makes everything feel very restricted to just the house. For instance it was pointed out that many darker skinned people live in the South while many pale people live in the North but we didn't really see a difference between the treatment within the house.
Maybe this book would've benefitted from more pages but I also think starting with Marion first arriving at the house would've helped tremendously. Because there were also parts of the middle that felt a little slow and redundant. So for me it was less of a length problem and more how it was executed.
I'll still be checking for her future books but this one didn't quite hit the mark. I think she had interesting ideas but I could tell she wasn't quite sure where to go with this one and just went the safe and easy route.
Full review below
https://womenofcolorreadtoo.blogspot....
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by
Chang
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rated it 4 stars
Jan 16, 2023 04:09PM
I completely agree. I haven’t read the year of the witching yet so I can’t use it as a comparison but these were all the same issues I had with reading it. But it was fun and so I’m pretty excited to read Year of the Witching and any of her future books.
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