A review by jrayereads
House of Hunger by Alexis Henderson

3.0

 
The premise of this one was really interesting and I think Alexis Henderson’s writing is excellent and very bingeable, but I just didn’t feel connected to the characters. The beginning dragged a lot for me and it took quite a long time for me to feel invested in any action. It wasn’t bad, just kind of forgettable. Also, it’s listed as horror but I didn’t find it very scary. I didn’t even necessarily think it had very strong tension built until close to the end. It felt more like a historical fantasy with a splash of a gothic vibe to me. 
A couple spoiler-y thoughts below:

I liked that Lisavet ends up being the villain, but for much of the story it felt like I was supposed to be rooting for her and Marion as a couple because of all the time spent trying to make us sympathize with her. I wish that more time was spent developing Marion’s connection with the other blood maids. It could’ve even been messy to have Marion and another maid falling for each other while Marion is developing conflicted feelings about Lisavet. Things just felt very dry with the characters and I kept thinking “is that it?”. There was a lot of potential for something really twisted and engaging.