Overview
This book is sad, heartfelt and so beautiful. The author's love for the story and the characters just vibrates off the page. House of Frank is filled with magic, mystery, love and grief - it's almost overwhelmingly beautiful. The author portrays the sense of grief in a deep, heart-breaking way that feels so, so real. I'm not going to lie. I cried reading this. It's just beautiful.

Characters
This is one of those rare books where my favorite character was actually the main character, Saika, but honestly, it was a tough call, because I love the entire crew of Ash gardens. (Especially Frank, Phil, Oli, Merry, Morose, Evette, Bee and Ignatius 😄) Each one of them adds to the story in their own way, each one of them has their own burden to bare, yet they still manage to love each other more than anything. House of Frank is the ultimate found-family story. Not to mention that the cast of characters includes pretty much all the colors of the rainbow. 🌈

Plot
House of Frank read as cozy fantasy to me, yet it certainly had a story to it. I absolutely adored how Saika gradually uncovering the hidden secrets of the house and its inhabitants - and even herself. There was zero info dumping, (much appreciated ❤️) When I found out something about, say, the characters, it felt earned. (And trust me, there's a lot to find out.)

What did I love the most?
How the book proudly stayed true to itself until the very end, no matter what.

Anything I didn't like?
A few overused phrases. Occasional over-explaining. I could've used more worldbuilding. But that's honestly just me being a wannabe-writing professional.

Favorite quote?
"I trust you with my pain. I trust you with my heart. It's all I can give to you."

Similar books?
TJ Klune: Under the Whispering Door (Close similarity)
TJ Klune: House in the Cerulean Sea (Same type of crew of characters)
Travis Baldree: Legends and Lattes (Similar concept)
Maja Lunde: History of Bees (I don't know, just had the same, beautiful vibes)

Final thoughts
I predict a very, very bright future for House of Frank. For anyone who loves found family, uncovered secrets and sad, beautiful stories - this is for you. From now on, I will constantly recommend House of Frank (meaning I won't shut up about it) and I just feel really blessed to have been able to read it before publishing. It is truly a ride.

A lovely, heartwarming story about grief and learning how to move on. I loved the cast of characters and how they all had their own reasons for ending up in the arboretum. I also really liked how Saika narrates as if she's talking to her deceased sister. However, I didn't find Saika to be a very compelling narrator; I think she wasn't super likeable to me, and I ended up liking the side characters more. I also think the pacing was uneven, especially in the first half. Nevertheless, this was a warm, comforting book that I'd recommend to anyone looking for a cozy fantasy story.

Thank you to Netgalley for the ARC! This was a heartbreakingly beautiful story of love, loss, grief, and healing. I felt such a strong connection to the characters and I cried many times. Highly highly recommend.

This novel is a gentle hug. Thank you NetGalley and Bindery Books for sending this egalley in exchange for an honest review! What a warm, cozy fantasy about a witch's grief, about the piece of Saika that passed, her sister Fiona. This book confronts that pain and the journey that follows. What I loved about this piece, apart from the found family element, was Saika's second person address to Fiona. This thread continues throughout the book, and it greatly expresses Saika's struggles with greif, love, and loss. I did, however, want to explore that aspect even more. I would highly recommend this book to cozy fantasy lovers, especially if you're looking for something healing, something comforting. 3.5 / 5.0 ⭐️

This book was okay. I ended up skipping through a chunk of the book because I could not get into it and life’s too short to force yourself to read entire books if it’s not clicking. The dialogue for me was the weakest part of the book. There were quite a few conversations that just felt a bit clunky and cringy. The characters felt flat to me & I found the MC not super likable.

Thank you so much for the opportunity to read and review this book. I absolutely loved it! I will be posting my review on Goodreads.

Reading this book was such a beautiful experience. Every character was so unique and their relationships with each other were intricate and wonderfully written. I’m truly in awe of how Kay managed to capture such complex emotions and share them in such whimsical and tender hearted ways. 5 out of 5 fallen stars ⭐️

I loved this book so much!!! I recommend everyone to read this book asap. I gave it 4 stars. Loved every single second of it.

Thank you Netgalley and Bindery Books for the eARC - Opinions are my own


House of Frank does what it promises really well. It talks about grief and how it affects different people and does so effectively. The main character talking to her dead sister was interesting, at times annoying but used wonderfully near the end of the story.
I thought the main plot was good even if at times a bit predictable.

Sadly where this book falls flat for me the most are the characters. The main character was unlikeable and her love Interest wasn't much better. The rest of the cast of characters was fine in my opinion but it felt like they all had the exactly 1 character trait/falls into one archetype and besides that everyone gets a tragic backstory but that's it. They just felt really flat to me so I didn't care for any of them which is not good for a book that wants to have found family as a theme.

Also the pacing was a big issue for me. Nothing really happens in the first halt. The second half becomes way better and the ending even felt rushed. I really had to push through a quite boring and slow first half to finally get in a groove.

I liked the the different LGBTQIA+ representation and it's also nice to have more MCs of color.

I liked the ending although I wished it would have been given the time it deserved so I'm not mad that I pushed through and even glad I finished it but I didn't really connect with the rest of the book.

Overall I'd say If you want a book that talks about grief because you're also struggeling with it this may is the perfect book for you but I just thought it was okay.

This was absolutely wonderful. Cozy, heartwarming, magical... honestly, a warm hug in a book. Wonderful portrayal of grief and comforting.

The cover is gorgeous.
And the blurb sounded great.
However, every single character in this was argumentative, rude, selfish and honestly, awful. The main character was the worst of all - so judgemental and aggressive. I also found her talking to her dead sister off putting rather than emotionally touching. And the romance dynamic was unappealing. The characters were just unlikeable.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for this ARC in exchange for an honest review
This book was really cute, and the characters were very charming. I loved all the LGBTQ+ representation and found the themes of grief endearing. However, it felt really lacking in certain aspects when it comes to the plot and writing. It just felt a little boring at times, and while the characters were interesting on the surface, I felt like they needed to be explored just a bit further, at least some of the side characters. This book really had such a great setup, but I just felt like it needed more substance, and I would have enjoyed it more. It's still a nice book with some really cute characters, and it's still worth checking out once it's released.

Such a beautiful exploration of grief, that readers will absolutely connect with. The voices of the characters were real and meaningful, along with authentic character development throughout the story. I loved the setting too, the house and arboretum came alive in my mind. I will be handselling this to those interested in cosy fantasy and diverse representation in the genre.

I really loved this quick and cozy story about love and grief. I found the narrative style of having Saika speaking directly to her lost sister added a lot to the use of grief in the story. You can really feel her pain, and see her struggling with her journey through her inner dialogue. I also loved the way the unknown elements of the story unfold themselves naturally, and the reader gets to slowly pick up the pieces as they go along. I always find that much more enjoyable than being spoon-fed the backstory.

This kind of isolated story often feels limiting in how much exploration of the fantasy world and background we get, and while that did feel present here I think the length of the story allowed it to be a minor setback rather than a large glaring issue. It feels like a small bite of a grand world, and that makes it very digestible and focused.

While this is a quick and cozy read with a fun and unique cast of characters, House of Frank falls victim to clunky narrative choices. The conversation about grief is executed well but everything else falls short. It will make a nice autumnal read but I think it needs to go through one or two additional edits for sharpness and clarity.

I absolutely loved this cozy queer fantasy about grief. This book will always hold a special place in my heart

Yes, the amazing cover is a completely accurate portrayal of this cozy story about grief, healing, and found family! The author has depicted a magical world that includes a colourful cast of magical characters: different types of witches, a fairy, and a ghost to name a few - plus Frank, a beast, who is the caretaker of the house (as per the title of course). Saika, a witch with no powers, has come to Ash Gardens to fulfill her sister’s wish of having her ashes planted in the magical arboretum. Thus we follow Saika’s emotional journey as she mourns her sister while getting to know the supportive characters who live and work at Ash Gardens.

The writing is fine, very clear and descriptive, though the there were a few too many incidences of slow paced miscommunication for my taste. I didn’t always connect with the main character's first person point of view and found some of her inner angst repetitive (constantly being inside someone’s head for all of this telling-not-showing sad content did weigh on me at times). The other characters are diverse and have some depth: I wanted to read on to find out more about them, their magic, and how their relationships would develop. The author kindly included content/trigger warnings and a pronunciation guide at the start, and in addition to the heartfelt coziness sprinkles of humour throughout. My issues with the point of view aside, this really is a very sweet book.

Overall, I liked this story and its message and found the characters interesting even though I didn’t connect with the main character’s voice. If you like cozy, emotional, magical stories, and/or you enjoyed Under the Whispering Door by TJ Klune or The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna, then this book might be for you.

Thank you to Netgalley and Bindery Books for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

"House of Frank" is a beautiful debut novel by Kay Synclaire, in which our protagonist Saika is confronted by grief and experiences healing and forgiveness in found family and community. This book is wonderfully thought out, the characters are compassionate, and even though there is no true villain, those who are perceived to be a bit "mean" are treated with empathy. This is a gentle and cosy fantasy filled with bittersweet love from the first page to the last. It wraps you in magic and feels like a warm hug.

A big hearted, grief heavy, queer, cozy fantasy that was made with so much love and care it felt like the book itself was a gift crafted by Hilde. I can't wait for this to come out so I can pass it along to my fellow readers. I'll be recommending this to any cozy fantasy fan, but especially those who loved Sangu Mandanna's "The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches" , Emma Mills's "Something Close to Magic" or T. Kingfisher's "Nettle and Bone"

House of Frank is a cosy fantasy about grief and love and I adored this warm hug of a book so so much.

Saika is grieving the loss of her sister, and travels to Ash Gardens to lay her to rest in the magical arboretum, but struggles to let go, and is invited by Ash Garden’s caretaker Frank (a big fluffy monster who wears knit cardigans!) to stay for as long as she needs, helping around the house, finding a new family and maybe even falling in love. :’)

I loved all the characters, especially Evette and Oli, and thought the pacing and reveals were super well done. I read this book over the span of a couple of days and every time I wasn’t reading it, I was just thinking about how much I wished I was.

I would recommend House of Frank to any fantasy/cosy fantasy readers, and especially to fans of The House in the Cerulean Sea, Legends and Lattes, and The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches.

Thank you so much to Netgalley and Bindery Books for the ARC!