I was so excited to read this book, but unfortunately, it just did not land for me. I think this is a classic case of a publishing house marketing department trying to make the book sell, instead of actually writing an accurate blurb. I did not get Brigerton vibes AT ALL. This was listed under epic fantasy on netgalley but is really more urban fantasy and read very much on the young side of YA. I read a lot of YA and this still felt young. The main character was not written in a consistent way. She's street smart enough to elude capture by a crazy powerful magic-wielding dragun at the beginning of the book, then IMMEDIATELY lets her guard down when she gets inside the school. I'm just not buying that a character who was on the run for years is settling into a society role that quickly. If she was at least a little bit suspicious and not just automatically trusting of everyone she meets except the love interest, it would be so much more believable. The pacing felt slow and I really struggled to understand the world-building, often reading a scene and sensing that something important was happening, but I didn't have the context to understand it. I think this would be a better fit for younger readers who are looking for an urban fantasy set at a magical boarding school. Sad to say it just wasn't a good fit for me, but i appreciated the arc in exchanged for my honest opinion.

I don’t even have words for this book! It was so so so so good! From the very beginning I was drawn into this story!

A soft 3 stars for it was interesting but I’m not sure I understood a minute of it.

“House of Marionne” finds Quell and her mother on the run and with nowhere else to go she seeks safety on the estate of her grandmother who also happens to be the Headmistress of an exclusive boarding school of magic. Trying to come into her own while hiding a deadly secret Quell works to navigate social circles and political alliances without giving away her secret.

There was a lot of elements here I found really creative mainly in terms of the Rites and what happens if you fail setting up this life or death scenario that extends a bit beyond typical embarrassment that would fall to Quell trying her best to make her grandmother proud. The rest of it and the differences in Houses and the magic system overall is still lost on me and I’m not sure if that could be fleshed out in future books but as of now a lot of it I just shrugged my way through hoping it would be better explained eventually.

The characters were fine if not expected of your typical book of this nature and while I don’t think I will remember any of them after today they did what they were supposed to for the plot. I think Quell’s fish out of water story was hindered a bit by how easily she was able to do most things or at least hide what she couldn’t and that took away a bit of conflict I would have liked to see. It would have be nice too to explain a bit more about the negative consequences of her talents as she had the opportunity to research this world she was left out of but alas we didn’t have time.

Overall I think with a bit more breathing room it might have turned into something better but based on my experience all future invites to bare witness to the comings and goings of House Marionne or any other for that matter will go unopened.

*special thanks to the publishers and netgalley for providing an arc in exchange for a fair and honest review**

thank you netgalley for the arc !

ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ 1/5 stars *ੈ✩‧₊˚

read if you like:
♡ dark academia
♡ enemies to lovers
♡ slight bridgerton vibes

ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ endowed with a scintillating premise, promising magical secret societies throbbing with darkness and a boarding school setting à la hogwarts, house of marionne fluently draws the eye. for lovers of the dark academia subgenre this is the promised land of literary potential. regrettably, the operative word there is potential - which as you may have inferred by now, remains unfulfilled.

ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ quell and her mother have spent their lives in a constant state of flux having to flee from city to city. born with a dark and persecuted magic, nowhere is safe for quell. and now, on one ill-starred day, someone’s just found her out. in an attempt to evade her would-be killers - a deadly cadre of assassins who call themselves draguns - quell’s going back to her roots to live with her grandmother. a grandmother who belongs to an elitist magical society which would just as soon see someone with quell’s magic dead. in order to make it out unscathed, she’s going to have to navigate three rites of induction, hide her powers at all costs and keep her wits about her when it comes to her byronic mentor - and incidentally also an assassin after her - jordan.

ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ in deference to an attempt at giving j. elle the benefit of the doubt, i’ll admit that had i not spent 80% of this book utterly bemused by the magic system and world, my rating would have been more middle-of-the-road (so the jury’s out on whether or not the blame lies with me for this). of all the shortcomings i’ll suffer least in a novel, it will always be lack of clarity. it’s frustrating and does such a disservice to any author who for all intents and purposes has potential - which it's plain as anything that elle does.

ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ as a self-proclaimed composite of bridgerton, harry potter, ninth house and allegedly even succession (someone definitely didn’t read this book in marketing for that one), the plot trended towards a strange centrifugal motion from any solid idea. with the storyline having to cover so much ground, my attention was simply stretched way too thin. there’s something to be said for being too ambitious in times such as these. veined with this absolute bulk of ideas, it’s no wonder that the pacing then struck me as being jolting. also, there were more than a few abrupt and opaque time jumps just interloping in the middle of pages. suffice it to say, my confusion did not benefit from that.

ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ however, giving credit where credit is due, the writing itself works well (if perhaps more geared towards middle grade than ya). what i could comprehend of the magic system was enticing and inspired and the ending itself was surprisingly very enjoyable. whilst i was indifferent to most of the characters, yagrin distinguished himself in my eyes. his moral ambiguity in particular - delineated within the chapters told from his vantage - consistently enthralled me. despite his lesser literal presence in view of, say, quell’s or jordan’s, he felt far more flesh and bone than they ever did.

ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ conclusion:
i could wax some more lyrical on other aspects i took exception to but i’m not in the business of overdoing things. i think it’s apparent enough this just wasn’t the book for me. nevertheless, if you’ve an affinity for fast-paced dark academia books, house of marionne could still be for you

I will be 100% honest and say that the cover is the main reason I needed to read this book. It is absolutely gorgeous! Then I read the synopsis and I knew that this would be one I would need to get my hands on it. I was extremely excited when I was approved to read this. The beginning of the book throws you right into the story head on and doesn't let up. Once Quell gets to the school, it does slow down a bit, but I appreciated being able to dive into the world building at that moment. I do think that towards the middle the pacing got a touch too slow, but it picks up towards the end again. I feel like possibly this could have been shortened to speed up the pacing, but I was still able to continue to enjoy the book. I have a feeling though that this may read a tad bit too young and some may not enjoy this as much. I did want more world building and it did detract a bit from my rating. I am very eager to continue reading this series and cannot wait for the sequel!

Unfortunately, this one was a miss for me, which makes me sad because the premise sounded so cool. I am normally hesitant to rate books this low because book preferences are so subjective (so do with mine what you will), but the initial set-up for how Quell got to the House of Marionne was so implausible, that I really struggled to move past it. I get that characters make poor choices in books, but Quell seemed to be making them because it was more convenient for the plot rather than because Quell had bad luck or made bad choices.

Quell is a 17 yo girl who has been on the run with her mom for her whole life. She finds out pretty quickly that the reason they’ve been in hiding is because there are assassins who kill people with magic (toushana) like Quell’s, so her mom stays back to distract the assassins literally beating on their door, giving Quell a safehouse address and a magical compact that will teleport her anywhere in the world. Quell arrives at the safehouse to find it destroyed and another assassin waiting there to capture her. The compact only has enough magic to teleport her one more time, but instead of traveling somewhere safe (literally anywhere in the world) she chooses to go to her grandmother’s house, which her mother had just told her was the Hogwarts-equivalent for these assassins who are hunting her. I get that Quell has to end up at the House of Marionne for the plot of the book, but I can’t for the life of me believe a seasoned runaway would consciously decide to escape one assassin by going to a place crawling with them. We do finally (in the seventh chapter) find out there is a legitimate reason for her to choose to go there (bonding to one of the “allowed” types of magic would help her better suppress/hide the magic that would get her killed), but by that point, I was already having a hard time getting invested in Quell’s journey. I really wish the book had started with her knowing that and using that as the reason to end up at her grandmother’s house.

I did really like the magic system and world J. Elle created, which is why I still gave the book three stars even though I struggled so much with Quell. In some ways, the world felt very familiar (Hogwarts x Bridgerton), but in other ways it was very unique in the sense that I didn’t feel like I’d already read this story before (which is hard to do with someone who reads so much fantasy). I also think she did a very good job capturing the toxicity/cult-like feeling of Southern debutante culture, to the point that it was almost triggering to me after growing up with/rebelling against that culture.

Thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Young Readers for the early copy of this book.

J Elle writes outcasts carving a new life for themselves so darn well. I love this book. There is quite a bit of world building which is important to the plot but also if thats not your cup of tea this may not be the book for you. This book features Quell, an incredibly endearing antagonist. Her journey with her dark magic and with herself was wonderful to see. I loved seeing her confidence grow. I adored the ending and I'm excited for the second one.

This book is a captivating read that seamlessly blends elements of magic, dark academia, enemies-to-lovers romance, and mystery with thrilling action. The author's skillful storytelling kept me engaged from start to finish, and I found myself completely immersed in the world they created. The characters are well-developed and their relationships are complex, adding depth and intrigue to the plot.

This book just wasn’t it for me. At 20% finished I had to put it down for now. I couldn’t connect with the main character or the plot. There wasn’t enough background info for the mc, her magic, etc to really hook me as a reader. It really has potential with the magic school and unique forbidden magic of the mc but if I have to read 1/5 the book and there’s still no hook or anything that makes me feel like I can’t put it down… then it’s just hard for me to continue

Arc provided by netgalley. This book was such an easy read and so much fun. I read the whole thing under 24 hours and enjoyed it immensely. Of course for a YA novel it was cliche and predictable at times but it didn’t hinder my enjoyment that much. The only thing I wished was done better was the relationship between Jordan and Quell, it felt very one note and underdeveloped. Additionally, the beginning was slightly confusing as all the terms and lingo was being thrown at me. Overall, a fun YA novel . 3.75 stars

Okay I read this book in one day. I kid you not I could not stop reading. I am so in love with this book! It was so magical and I can't wait to read more.

Quell is thrown into a world of fancy dresses and magic when she's targeted by assassins sworn to kill anyone with her type of magic. At the school that her grandmother is the head of Quell must protect her secret or risk being killed.

While navigating this new world Quell makes new friends and forms a tentative relationship with an assassin in training.

This book sucked me in so easily. Yagrin's chapters might be the reason why because I just wanted to know more about him. I feel like J. Elle is weaving an intricate tale that leaves you wanting more and as the first book does a good job of setting things up.

Other things I loved were the magic system, family dynamics, magical crowns, and that ending!

I definitely recommend this to anyone who loves magical schools, a girl accepting her power, and lots of intrigue.

Out August 29, 2023

I enjoyed the setting and imagining the school, its history, the danger lurking in the surrounding forest. - it was very atmospheric and I could vividly picture the winding corridors and secret passages. I also really loved Quell and Abby’s friendship and thought they complemented each other so well, bringing warmth to the story. But, I found the romance subplot underdeveloped and the chemistry lacking. I think the story would have been better with the romance removed.

The plot was slow to start and I found myself a bit confused when characters names, abilities, and houses were mentioned since we had to real introduction to them or the magical system and history. It was written in such a way where the reader was assumed to know about the magic system and history. Also, I’m not sure if it was the formatting of the digital ARC, but the writing felt choppy and chaotic. That being said, the last 20%ish percent is EXACTLY what I wanted from the whole book - sinister secrets revealed, the suspense heightened, and the pace sped up. I really wish the romance had been eliminated so we could’ve had more information about the headmistresses and the Draguns.

To be honest, the Bridgerton comparison confused me and I was expecting a historical fantasy, or at least time travel, so I think it’s important to note this was, in my opinion, not an accurate comparison. I think it’s a bit more comparable to The Atlas Six, just add a cotillion. I liked the dark academia elements, but I wanted more magic and less finishing school elements.

While I don’t think this was perfect and needed some major editing, I liked the ending and that the door was left open for another book.

2.5 stars rounded up.

I loved the world building and drama that occured. The magic aspects were very pleasing to read for me. I loved the drama and exclusivity of the wealth and the commentary on the parallels of this fictional world and our real world. The family dynamics and relationships was written in such a stellar way. Also the found family in this was epic. I loved the relationships between Quell and the other people she meets on her journey. The ending definitely to me seems to like up to a possible next book in this world and it that happens I would automatically buy it. While this was my first experience with this author, I loved every minute of it. The twists at the end shocked me and had me ranted to my very confused family and people around me in the airport. Overall, I loved the world and how Quell was a strong female badass character who while falling out of love soon after falling in love, the breakup didn't damage her journey and mission.

Thank you netgalley for this eARC in exchange for my honest review.

This had such an exciting premise. I think YA fantasy is some of the best. This was just okay for me though. I thought the characters were well written but the plot was just a little bit slower than anticipated.

3/5 ⭐

I was gifted this ARC in exchange for an honest review of the work, these opinions are my own.

Knowing that she has something dark within her Quell and her mother are on the run. Her mother wont go into detail much further than telling her that she must keep herself invisible, that is until she runs into a stranger that leaves her no choice but to face her fate.

I have to say that I must be getting really lucky with these ARCs because this was another exceptional read!! You know a book is good when it gets you out of a reading slump that another had been putting you in. When I first looked into this, the thing that caught my interest was when it spoke of an assassin and a magical school haha; I jumped right in and was taken away to the land of Chateau Soleil. One thing I really look for in a book is seamless world building, world building where you dont consider it to be world building at all and this book hit that mark.

The characters. To start off there are two main character perspectives that we get one is the MMC POV of a man named Yagrin, and the second is the FMC POV of Quell; I loved both. I was eager to hear and see from both of their eyes.
* Quell: Shes smart, ambitious and isn't a naive girl. For having her be 17 I was thoroughly pleased with where her maturity level was, some authors I see make the girls immature and then grow them over time. While Author J. Elle made her realistic, she had to grow up young and in turn is mature for her age. BUT she still develops throughout the books, it was just all great!
* Yagrin: He's cunning, secretive and perfect for the role that was set up for him. At first I believed him to be the love interest but I actually like that he was set up just how he was described to be, the assassin. I was expecting an assassin and target love story but it actually takes a much more interesting turn. He is older and has obviously been in the world, that Quell is thrown into, for much longer; His knowledge shows.

I wasnt expecting an ARC to pull as many plot twists as this one did!! And the way the love interest relationship is set up also had me squealing, I really believe this is such a well put together read and highly suggest others to try it out, I am actually anticipating the second book because where we were left was enough to make you hunger for more. Below are the tropes present in this novel:

Slow-burn Romance
Morally Grey
Mentor x Student
Chosen one

Big thank you NetGalley and to the publisher for the chance to review this book pre-release. I really loved this book. I didn't know what to expect going in, but really enjoyed every minute, and loved the MC. A more formal review will be available on my IG/TikTok and Goodreads.

I couldn’t get all the way through this one, which is unfortunate because I was interested in the first couple chapters! The writing is a bit boring and I feel like a lot of things are never fully explained or fleshed out well. The plot started slow and couldn’t quite grasp me at any point, and I just didn’t care enough about the characters to finish.

Wow. My head is still reeling from that ending.
Thank you for allowing me to review this book early! I want to say that what drew me to this book initially was the beautiful cover. It’s very eye-catching, and the designer should definitely be proud.
I really liked this book. I think it was a little slow starting off. I wasn’t pulled in right away, but I became pretty invested once Quell made it to the House of Marionne.
Other than the slow start, I really don’t have anything bad to say. The writing is exceptional, and there’s nothing in the way that J. Elle writes that nagged at me. She’s a good author, and it’s a win if I can get through the book fully understanding what I’m reading.
The relationship between her and Jordan was perfectly executed. It wasn’t too slow, it wasn’t too fast, it progressed exactly how you would expect it to.
I have more thoughts on Jordan *coughs* but I’ll just leave it at that.
The BEST part about this book was the ending. The reveal was way more than I expected, and it was such a good plot twist.
Here’s the thing, plot twists, I have found, are tricky to pull off. I’ve read a lot of plot twists that I either saw coming very early on, or I felt it was only written for shock-factor. The latter meaning that the author wrote a plot twist that I feel made no sense, and was disappointing, but wrote it that way just to surprise you.
J. Elle pulled off the perfect plot twist. I didn’t see it coming, AND it made perfect sense, so absolutely bravo!
I’m really excited for the release of this book, and I’m excited for book two!

Quell has spent most of her seventeen years on the run with her mother. They bounce from city to city, trying to hide the magic in Quell's veins from those who seek to do her harm. But with an assassin trailing them, Quell is determined to keep her mother out of harm's way, so she decides to enroll in the Order, a debutante society full of magically social elites. All Quell has to do is pass three rights to become a member, and she'll have to tools to bury her magic forever. Turns out, becoming a debutante is harder than Quell imagined, especially when she has to deal with Jordan, her mentor and assassin-in-training. When Quell discovers just how far the Order will go to defend its wealth and power, she must choose between embracing the magic she's feared her whole life or risking losing everything she's come to love.

The synopsis promised some lofty goals, and I don't think it was delivered. I was prepared to get swept up in secret societies and dark magic, but it all felt bland. I don't think the world-building was strong enough to immerse yourself fully. Things felt either glossed over or not explained, especially the magic system and the different Houses. We kept getting told how powerful the Order was, but I never got the true sense. I also found it hard to connect with the characters. None of them felt fleshed-out, especially Quell, which made me not care about what happened to them. The relationship between Quell and Jordan was fine, but again, nothing to write home about. I think this had a lot of potential, but it sadly missed the mark for me.

The uncontrollable, dark magic that seethes inside Quell has meant a life on the run for her and her Mom, yet her Mom has refused to discuss the strange magic that haunts Quell or their past. When an assassin threatens Quell’s life, she and her mother must split up to escape, and Quell ends up at her Grandmother’s house seeking protection. There, Quell learns that magic is a part of her family’s history and her grandmother is headmistress of a school of magic which trains its students for three dangerous trials to bond them to their magic. Her mother sends word that Quell should stay in her grandmother’s protection, and so Quell commits to her role as heir. Her grandmother assigns handsome and mysterious Jordan to be her mentor, but Jordan is a dragun and is sworn to seek out and kill any who wield Toushana, the dark magic that Quell must hide from everyone. Jordan is not the only dragun stalking Toushana: Yagrin is tasked with killing Quell before she can become heir. I wanted to love this series and it has a lot that will appeal to many readers: Dark academia with rival houses, an enemies to lovers romance, and courtly etiquette complete with dresses and dancing. I did not feel much for Quell other than annoyance. The plot could have been improved with more switches in perspective to Yagrin to build in more suspense and to help make Yagrin and her farm girl crush seem less one-dimensional. The world of Marionne felt incomplete and underdeveloped and some of the elements felt awkward – permanent crowns or masks that permanently grow out of your head just seemed gruesome.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin/Razorbill for an advanced reader copy supplied for review