The advertisement in the paper seems almost written in blood. It comes on behalf of the illustrious houses of the far north, where wealthy nobles live for the finer pleasures of human blood, relying on young women known as bloodmaids to supply it. Happening upon this strange advert is Marion Shaw, a young woman desperate to leave her current circumstances, yet with no hopes of doing so – until now. When a taster deems her blood an exquisite and rare taste, Marion is taken north to be presented as a potential new bloodmaid, where she finds herself the newest member of the notorious House of Hunger. Drawn into the dark world of which Countess Lisavet rules, Marion is quickly swept up in her allure and a hopeless desire to please her. The walls of the house cannot hide everything, and when an expulsion of the head bloodmaid reveals a pattern of past bloodmaids gone missing, Marion learns that deep within the house, lies something truly wretched.
House of Hunger is the unforgiving gothic horror of my dreams, soaked in blood and depravity. One look at its premise, and I could feel in my soul that this was going to be an instant favorite. With vivid descriptions and luscious prose, Alexis Henderson paints an alluring picture of a desolate house set on a sprawling estate and the noble families for whom the taste of blood still holds sway. Where desperate young women plucked from poverty are traded comfort in exchange for the endless supply of blood they can provide. Right from the get-go, this novel scorched a direct path to my heart, assisted by a devastating gothic atmosphere that slowly captured an essence of disquiet, building like a horrific symphony I could not look away from. Of course, no gothic horror is complete without its resilient leading lady, and Marion Shaw is certainly that, a sensational protagonist to follow as the truth behind the house of hunger is unveiled. Entangled in a hypnotic seduction with Countess Lisavet and set off by an unsettling discovery, Marion’s journey was everything I could have possibly asked for, fraught with disillusion and a descent from unwavering devotion into violence. Henderson did an amazing job balancing why someone in Marion’s position would be willing to enter into a bloodmaid contract, and how the wealthy took advantage of these women, that in their eyes, were easily expendable. Coupled with intensifying house politics, the claustrophobic feel of the narrative, and the revelation to the inner workings of the houses, this story takes a depraved and horrifying final bow. House of Hunger is everything I could possibly want in a horror novel, a fearsomely dark tale with a corrupted center.
Thank you to Edelweiss and the publisher for providing this arc.
Trigger warnings: blood, death, violence, gore, murder
Literaryrobin 