I was so dang excited to read this book and it started off so intriguing. Then it turned into something too similar to what I’ve read before. Tbh I had this same reaction to Fourth Wing so this will
likely be a hit with those who haven’t read tons of coming of age fantasy.

Quell and her mom have been on the run for years. Quell has some deep, dark magic that keeps magical hunters tailing them. When they get too close Quell ends up at her grandmother’s estate and soon enrolls in her academy.

The academy seems a mix of a magical and a finishing school.

Of course there’s romance. Of course there’s the not like other girls. Of course there’s the so good at everything easily.

There just wasn’t enough depth for me.

DNF at pg 232, 58%

I ended up reading the end of the book and skimming some of the scenes in-between, so I feel very confident in this DNF. The House of Marionne is a magic boarding-school, dark academia-esque fantasy set in the modern day. In this world, the magic users assimilated to the rest of the world through using cotillions and debuts as the way to create a separate, exclusive world that they can call their own among the upper eschelon of society. There are four Houses in the US that take in those found to have magic within their territories, and prepares them for their eventual debut.

Quell, our main character is the granddaughter of the Headmistress of the southern House, House Marionne. However, her mother ran with her when she was very young and she hasn't been back. Quell possesses a forbidden, dark magic called toushana, and she and her mother have been on the run in order to keep her safe from those within the magical community who would harm her because of this. However, she is discovered shortly before she is set to graduate from high school, she is separated from her mother, and she decides to go back to her grandmother, or Grandmom as she calls her. She is inducted into House Marionne and begins the process of training with proper magic in order to finally gain control over her toushana.

So starting off with what I liked.
- I thought that this world was incredible. I loved all the details and the different teases we got of all that the magic could do. The school itself seems fascinating, and it is something that I was really enjoying at first. I loved that the students grow their own diadems or masks based on their magic, and it just felt like a very lush world. It's dark and it's decadent, so that part was 100% correct.
- Overall, I think that the politics of the world were intriguing. We didn't get to see much of them, unfortunately, and we also didn't get to see a lot of the extent of the magic system, but those were things that I was super interested in.
- I also was pretty interested in the storyline. I wanted to see what would happen to Quell and how she would navigate the situations she found herself in.

Unfortunately these positive aspects were overshadowed enough by the aspects I didn't like that they weren't enough to keep me going.

What didn't work for me, personally:
- I loved the setup and the details, but everything about this was tell and not show. We have a first person POV, and in this case, I think this was a huge detriment to the story because we just have Quell in her head the whole time constantly narrating everything in a way that got to be extremely repetitive and annoying
- The characters in this were extremely flat. Quell was interesting at first, and even though I felt like some of the decisions she was making were pretty silly ones, I was willing to go with it. However, as soon as she makes the decision to return to the person that her mother ran from when she was 5, she very much becomes a stereotypical young, YA protagonist. She is immediately excellent at everything she tries and is being touted by all her professors as the best they've ever seen. She immediately becomes best friends with her roommate, but there is no depth to their connection and where I left off, they were fighting because Quell had to miss some dress fittings.
- The relationship that was set up as the love connection felt extremely forced, and really didn't have any depth to it either. I felt like a lot of the characters were just created to fill roles that are common and expected in YA fantasy. I think it's supposed to enemies to lovers, or some sort of tension along those lines, but I never bought into it, and I never experienced that tension. Basically it was just Quell being afraid of Jordan because of his role in the society as one who goes after toushana users.

Now while this wasn't for me, I actually do think that this would be a good pick for readers in the younger end of the YA genre. Had I read this when I was much younger, I don't think that I would have been nearly as annoyed by all the pieces that just didn't work for me. I would be eating up the magic and the world. And I love that it is a story about a young, black girl that isn't focused on the difficulties of race. It's just her, living her life and having difficulty with something other than race. I think that representation is needed and important. However, it just didn't work for me and for what I specifically look for in YA fantasy, so I felt like I would get more annoyed the longer that I read it.

Thank you to Penguin Teen and Netgalley for an early copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. House of Marionne released on August 29, 2023.

Thank you so much to Penguin Group and NetGalley for the ARC!

I'll be honest - I read this book back in June when I was pregnant and I am now writing this review in September so I don't have the greatest memory of what happened in this book. I do remember that the plot dragged on for a bit and that it was a dark academia that had a pretty good story.

I will have to reread this book again before the sequel and give a better review when my memory is a bit refreshed.

With that being said - I would recommend that you check this book out because I do remember enjoying it while I was reading it even though it clearly wasn't the most memorable book I've ever consumed.

With complete power comes total chaos, and one girl's fight to remain true to herself while also bringing order to her world is what drives this story. The plot was detailed and elaborate enough to keep you on your toes while allowing you to follow the labyrinth of relationships and motives of the characters and be engaged throughout. This, unfortunately, ends as a continuation so you’re left with wanting more, but as you’ll see, it’s clearly not able to be wound up within this one book. Definitely a well done YA for those who like a bit of Sci-fi and adventure!

I'm not sure what all I expected going into House of Marionne, but what I do know is this didn't fit it. The world building was clunky and I feel like the story was sacrificed for the sake of the world, which didn't really make for a great reading experience. It has dark academia and secret societies like I was expecting, but not in the way I was expecting it? This book really perplexes me because I wanted so much more from this.

Thank you, Razorbill, for providing me with the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I'm deeply disappointed and disheartened to find myself leaving such a low review. House of Marionne was a highly anticipated release for me. Based on the blurb, I expected this book to be a fantasy, set in a secret society with elements of magic and secrets. It was supposed to feature an enemies-to-lovers dynamic and a lot of action.

Firstly, the book falls under the category of urban fantasy, which isn't inherently bad, but it caught me off guard as it didn't align with my expectations from the blurb. The plot was disjointed right from the beginning, and the various systems within the story were not adequately explained. We were bombarded with numerous names and terms as if we were already familiar with them.

My main issue was with our main character, Quell. Her mother had kept her hidden and on the run for years. When she finally gets some answers regarding their situation, her mother reveals that they fled from a secretive society and Quell's grandmother because these entities posed a grave danger to Quell. Her mother had given up her entire life to ensure her daughter's safety. However, the moment they separated, and Quell found herself in need of shelter, she went directly to her grandmother!

She was thrown into this secretive society, but she displayed no skepticism, suspicion, or hesitation; instead, she seamlessly embraced everything without question. Even when her mother stopped communicating with her, Quell blindly believed her grandmother's assurances that her mother was safe. This was in stark contrast to her earlier behavior when she had witnessed a sinister murderer claiming to have hunted her down. Despite all these ominous signs, Quell had no sense of doubt or inquiry.

As I continued reading, the story felt more disjointed. Quell's actions and responses did not align with the expectations set by the blurb or the story's initial setup. The romantic aspect of the story was disappointing as well. The pair did not make sense together, and neither character managed to win me over.

I believe that the book's marketing was somewhat misleading. Initially, it was described as "Bridgerton meets The Atlas Six," which, upon reading the story, didn't appear to be entirely accurate. The society portrayed in the book involved characters wearing diadems and tiaras, attending etiquette classes, and holding titles. The only aspect that remotely resembled The Atlas Six was the existence of the secret society.

However, just before the release, the book was rebranded as "Bridgerton meets The Atlas Six /Game of Thrones/Fourth Wing." At this point, I had already begun reading the book and was confused. I couldn't see any substantial connection between this book and Game of Thrones or Fourth Wing, unless the marketing team merely aimed to capitalize on the popularity of these books.

I genuinely wish that more attention had been dedicated to editing the story. With some rearranging of the timeline, more thorough world-building, and consistent character development for the MC, this story could have aligned more closely with the promises it made. Despite my disappointment, I still hold out hope for the second book in the series!

Thank you to Penguin Teen and NetGalley for the ARC!

I added HOUSE OF MARIONNE to my TBR in early 2023 and was super excited when I got approved for the ARC at the end of August. Penguin Teen's Instagram is really good at hyping books up!

What I enjoyed about HOUSE OF MARIONNE:

* Some of the unique magical properties. Diadem's growing out of debutante's heads? Melting magical stones onto magical daggers? Heck yeah.
* Quell! I appreciated the journey her character took and how she grappled with her magic. She was a thoughtful character whose fate I was genuinely invested in. I loved her relationship with her mom, loved how Quell worked so hard to master her magic, and loved how she came to terms with her power.
* Yagrin. His POV was my favorite part of the novel and I kinda hope the second book (if there is one) pivots to be strictly from his POV. Love this angsty boy who has rebelled from his toxic family. Can Yags and Quell hook up in the next one, please?

Things I was kind of meh on in HOUSE OF MARIONNE:

* Jordan. He's sweet and all, but he's well.... really boring. Can Yagrin and Quell please pair up in the next one?
* The overall magical structure. I understand that there's "good" magic and "bad" magic, but I don't quite understand where the so-called "good" magic comes from. Why is Quell's toushana inherently bad? I'm still confused about how magic works overall in this universe.

I really hope there is a sequel to this one that answers some of my questions and gives Quell and Yagrin a chance to shine on their own.

Thank you net galley for the arc.

It wasn’t a bad book just very YA for me
But I think it’s great for people who enjoy the genre. It had cotillion , dark academia forbidden magic vibes with enemies to lovers! I got bored halfway through the book but the story has a lot of potential !

Thanks to Netgalley and J. Elle for the advanced copy. The House of Marionne takes us into a world with an enchanting premise with great characters, especially Quell. Although the magic system was good, I do think it needs to be expanded upon in order to be less confusing. In addition, the book had a good solid plot, a solid writing style, an amazing family dynamic and immaculate vibes. I would love for my siblings or nieces to read this novel as it’s suitable for younger YA audiences. Overall, this book was a great read and I’m excited for the sequel.

House of Marionne - written by J. Elle - is a dark, suspenseful YA fantasy set in a secret magical society. As prospective members of the Order, young women and men develop their magic in one of four houses. House Marionne, with its French influences, is the most decadent. But dark secrets lie under the glamorous and genteel veneer.

The book’s strength is in its main character, Quell. The long lost granddaughter of Headmistress Marionne, Quell has a lot to learn about magic, the Order, and her family. She has grown up on the run, fearful of attracting assassins with her dark magic. When her luck runs out, she escapes to the only place she can think of, Chateau Soliel, hoping her grandmother will keep her safe. Quell, however, quickly finds herself “out of the frying pan, and into the fire.” Headmaster Marionne, a well-written antagonist, is powerful, manipulative, and terrifying.

Quell is a character to root for, as she navigates her grandmother’s expectations while struggling to keep her unruly dark magic hidden. When Quell is paired with Jordan - a Dragun assassin - as her mentor, she finds danger and comfort in equal measure.

I enjoyed this high-stakes, atmospheric mystery with its “enemies to lovers” romance. And clearly, this is not a stand-alone book. I look forward to the conclusion of Quell’s story.

Thank you to Penguin Young Readers, Razorbill, and NetGalley for this eARC.

There is magic in the world - magic that runs in families, families who send their most promising children for instruction at one of the four great Houses, to learn both magic and comportment; if the children learn both magic and comportment, they are debuted, a ceremony at which they demonstrate their skills in both. There are two types of magic: one unnamed, but accepted, which generates warmth in the wielder, and another, toushana, which generates cold. The accepted magic is used for a wide variety of things, all of them creative; toushana can be used for creative pursuits, but can also be used for destruction; in fact, the only way for a wielder to control their toushana is to let it destroy, usually by allowing it to disintegrate anything derived from plants.

Quell is the daughter of House Marionne - a house her mother, Rhea, fled with her when she was five years old. Quell and Rhea have been on the run since, trying to hide Quell's innate ability with toushana, which wars with her innate ability with the accepted magic. But when Quell is 17, a Dragun - a member of a society that exists to find and kill toushana wielders - finds them, and mother and daughter are separated. Following that, Quell flees to the only place that may be safe, the House of Marionne, run by her grandmother. As the long-missing heir, Quell is welcomed into the House, and enrolled in the classes that will train her magic and her manners - but all is not as it seems at House Marionne. Quell must play a difficult game, learning to control her magic while preventing her toushana from appearing and leading to her execution, all the while trying to find out why young women like herself are vanishing.

This is an intriguing and engrossing story, with a unique twist on schools for training users of magic. Hopefully, any sequel - and I do hope there will be at least one - will be as good. Recommended for high school and adult readers.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

My review in School Library Journal:

Gr 7 Up–Raquell “Quell” Janae Marionne has been running and hiding with her mother most of her life due to dark magic, toushana, inside her. After a magical assassin called a Dragun finds them, Quell must leave her mom to keep her safe. Hiding in plain sight at her estranged grandmother’s estate, Chateau Soleil, the runaway learns about the glamorous magical boarding school for debutantes she was born into. Headmistress Marionne is Grandmom, making Quell the heir to the House of Marionne, one of four elite houses. Quell must pass three rigorous rites to bind her “good” magic to keep her dark magic away. This sounds doable, until she falls for her mentor Jordan—a Dragun in training himself, schooled to hunt and kill anyone with toushana. All that glitters in this dazzling world is not gold. Deep secrets hidden for many years, secrets that may be even more destructive than toushana itself, emerge. The enemies-to-lovers trope is tense; Quell must decide if she can trust Jordan with her secret. Jordan’s character could benefit from being fleshed out a bit as he vacillates often in his loyalties. The alternate POV of Yagrin is fascinating, adding an additional layer to the intensifying plot. Set in a faux New Orleans, characters are described with varied skin tones. Political themes of power and privilege are at play, in addition to classism. In this world of magic and mayhem, Quell is forced to make a big decision: embrace her dark magic, or find another path to stay alive.VERDICT Genre readers will be drawn into Quell’s captivating and mesmerizing world; this is a must purchase where fantasy/magical stories are popular.
Reviewed by Lisa Krok , Sep 01, 2023

Dark magic flows through Quell's veins. She has kept it a secret for 17 years, until one night someone senses her dark magic. Now on the run from an assassin, she has to keep her mother out of harms way. Quell decides to go back to her grandmother's house, where she is inducted into a debutante society that she never knew existed. While there, she learns that is she passes the three rites to join she will be able to bury her dark magic forever. This way, no one will know her secret.

What Quell does not know, is that passing the rite is not as easy as she thought it was going to be. The man who is tutoring her, Jordan, is an assassin in training that she has more feeling for that she ever wished it. Quell soon discovers that there are certain lengths that the Order will go to in order to save their money and power. She has to choose, does she embrace her dark magic that she has always been running from or does she risk loosing everyone and everything she has grown to love.

This book has dark academia, secret societies, and high fantasy. I was just expecting more from the book. There was a lot of world building which made the book hard to follow at times. The book was interesting and did peak my interest but I do not think it is a series I would continue reading if there was to be a sequel. I was just expecting more. Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group for allowing me to read this ARC!

I will update the review with the link to on our blog closer to publication date. I'd like to thank the publisher Razorbill and Netgalley for providing me with a review copy in exchange for an honest review.

Dark and enchanting, full of with possibilities and hope! The next series from J. Elle starts on a high, introducing a super intriguing magic system and secret societies of magicians. The houses are in a somewhat rivalry, while also hosting boarding schools — to train the next magicians while also eliminating the ones bearing thoushana a dark and deadly magic.

The MC, Quell happens to have the latter, while also being able to preform ‘normal magic’. She is on the run with her mom, but after some unfortunate events, she is forced to go to one place: to her grandmother, back to House Marionne. Then she enrolls into the academy in order to hide her magic and have a safe place to stay.

Little she knows, the trouble starts here, with mystery, hidden secrets of the Houses, the dangerous presence of the collapse of the magical world. Rivals to Lovers, unexpected friends, mystery, academic vibes and beautiful diadems, balls will pull you into this story! Don’t forget to have your dagger with yourself!
I really enjoyed this first book, looking forward to know more about this world and what happens to the Houses,

Thank you so much for PenguinTeen for the e-copy! #PenguinTeenPartner

Imagine crossing dark academia and Bridgeton and you will get House of Marionne. Until the last pages I was sure it was going to be a series, and I was surprised reading the last page how the story was wrapped up and that it is stand alone book.
I truly enjoyed this YA fantasy, its characters, sparkle of enemies to lovers, and magic system. And if it would be a series, I would pick up the next book.

4⭐️/5

I wanted to love this so badly but it was such a struggle to get through. The cover is gorgeous and the premise sounded great, but I could not get invested in this story or the characters. The beginning was promising, but the shift to the magical boarding school setting felt jarring and I found the world-building/magic system confusing. I almost DNF’d this, but since it was an ARC I ended up skim-reading the second half. I don’t think that affected my overall opinion of this very much.

My main issue is that I expected this to be a bit darker and more mature than it actually was. This felt like a very young YA urban fantasy and I don’t think the dark academia label or comps to Bridgerton/Game of Thrones really fit. Sure, there’s a hidden boarding school with magic classes and etiquette classes. There’s a network of “houses” and important families, and there are some high society aspects as well. But it’s definitely not a historical romance or high fantasy, and it doesn’t really have the sort of high-stakes political intrigue you’d expect from GoT. Because of this it may appeal more to younger readers, but maybe not to someone who’s looking for something more complex.

Many thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

4.5 stars Thank you Penguin for this Arc
Ball gowns, magic, and political machinations that keep you wondering who you can trust! House of Marionne is a mysterious dark academia fantasy that I REALLY enjoyed reading.
Quell and her Mother are always on the run, in order to keep Quell safe and hide the poison that runs in her veins. A slipup lands her into the magical life her Mother tried to hide her from, and now she must try to survive and debut, or be cast out and be at the mercy of assassins.
There are breadcrumbs to what is going on, and some characters immediately act sus and I didn't trust them, while others took me by surprise with their plots,I love being kept on my toes.
My favorite part of the book is everything to do with magic! When it came to Quell in magic classes, and the overall magic system, it was so immersive and well thought out. I feel it was really one of the strongest parts of the book, all the intricates are really fascinating! However I do wish more time was spent with Quell learning and in classes, I like how there is history at the back, but I wanted to see more magic teaching. (Give me the lore!) It is a bit difficult to wrap my head around that Quell is able to succeed where others who have been trying to two years failed. There is a ton of information, history, and Latin that she has to learn, and the timeline for this book seemed all to occur in a handful of weeks. I could honestly read a whole separate book just all about this world's lore, magic, and different components and what they do. There is also a shift a good ways through the book where the focus feels like it goes from learning how to do magic, to etiquettes and cotillion style classes. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, I just wish there was more of a blend or mix.
May I just say I am obsessed with the crowns/diadems/masks! This is hands down the most original and coolest way I have seen magic represented in a book. It not only perfectly shows the personality of the wielder, but also really ties in nicely with the whole dark academia/regency/cotillion vibe of the book. Obviously I would have a fabulous crown, I'm thinking silver or gold with vine detailing, cascades of opals along the edges.
I love all the clothing and dress styles, it made me feel like I was walking around a regency era town! Everything felt so opulent and lush, it really feels like a ball. The imagery around the scenery and clothing Quell wears was top notch.
The romance was all well and good, I don't know if forbidden is the best way to describe it, we get to see more romance in the later parts, and "forbidden" isn't really a big plot point. I like how Quell and Jordan took time to get to one another, and it wasn't an instant love situation. The words Jordan said to her were so sweet! I really liked their dialogue. I will say if I never see another author describe facial features like "craters", I will die happy. I wish more time was spent building up friendships, there was a definite lack of substance when it came to any female friends or allies.
I'm only going to nitpick a bit because I really like this book, and J. Elle is an established author.
I do wish there were more character descriptions. So many characters and side characters I feel there is a vague description or maybe it is just mentioned once and left me wondering. (Except for the eyes, the eye colors are mentioned a lot) Really I think this is applicable to the hair, specifically Quells. I was surprised more attention and time wasn't given to convey the kind of hairstyle and what it looked like. It would have been the perfect moment to tie in the character to her race more, and not just retain the racial ambiguity a lot of the book seems to suffer from. (I.e. does she have a twist out, braids, a wash and go is it natural etc etc)
There was only ONE queer character in this book, and they only had a handful of sentences and a very brief tea party appearance. Please someone correct me if I missed others! I wish there were more queer characters, or a queer relationship. I lowkey was hoping for a genderfluid character, or maybe a masc presenting one with a pretty crown.
I like the cover a lot too, it is gorgeous and really captures the essence of the book perfectly. I like how Quell's dagger is on the front, it really makes it feel more inline with the book and not just a generic dark fantasy cover.
I highly recommend this, and I NEED the sequel! Seriously!! How dare you do a reveal like that and LEAVE ME HANGING!
I almost forgot to say, but I really liked the chapters with Yagrin's pov! I also have so many theories about the next book, so read this so we can discuss please. (Especially pertaining to a certain someone's parentage!!)

Magic! Seriously to find a book with a good magic system and good world building lately has been so hard. This book is on the right track but since there is a sequel I’m hoping for more world building to flesh out the magic system and characters.

Quell is a 17 year old on the run to hide the magic in her blood. To hide from the assassins, she enters a debutante society called the order for magical elites. Think high society bridgerton vibes mixed with Harry Potter magic school. I was expecting more of an upper YA story but this was definitely for the younger set. It does delve into the dark forms of magic and Quell uncovers some mysteries and questionable things about the school and her grand mom. Dark academia feels but just a bit to middle school for me to love.

Oh my God this book. Y’all need to add this to your TBR right now if you enjoy YA books. This book has everything. Magic, family dynamics that keep you on the edge of your seat, a mystery, and an amazing romance.

Once I actually started reading this book, I was unable to put it down. I wasn’t sure how much I was going to enjoy a YA fantasy but based on the blurb of this book, I had high hopes. I’m so so glad I went ahead and requested an ARC from Penguin Teen. That said, a gifted arc and finished copy have no impact on my review.

Going into this book, you’re thrown into a world where our main character, Quell, is on the run because of her magic. I loved being able to just jump right into the story and getting to know Quell and her mom while the stakes were high was so fun. I think it was such a great way to learn about their relationship and how much they care for each other.

The setting quickly changes to the school where Quell’s grandmother is the headmaster and it pretty much stays there. I loved that the story found a home in this place and allowed us to get to know the new setting with Quell. The descriptions were rich and everything kept you engrossed in the story. To the point where I was thinking about this book while doing other stuff.

The romance in this book is just so good. I can’t wait to see where it goes in the next book because there are certain characters that need to get things in order. When the two characters kissed for the first time I was basically a kid kicking my feet. It was so good.

I highly highly recommend checking this book out when it comes out but you can add it to your TBR now! I think this is such a good YA book if you enjoy dark academia and a subplot full of mystery.