I got about half way through this and it just is not keeping my attention. Beautiful cover but I find myself struggling to connect to the story and the characters, DNF

House of Frank is a wonderful book. It is deeply emotional and magical. The characters are wonderfully relatable. This book is full of family, romance, grief and love. It is a touching and sweet story. I really enjoyed this book.

This book follows our main character, Saika, as she deals with the grief of loosing someone close to her. Though this story promises cozy, diverse, and found family, it’s important to note that the book digs deep into the feels surrounding grief. Overall a great read with a refreshing look on an emotional journey that we all have to face in our lives.

House of Frank was just incredible. Soulful, heart wrenching and heartwarming, and beautifully written. The story of Saika, a woman who lost her sister and in turn was cursed to lose her magic, as she finally comes to terms with the idea of laying her sisters ashes to rest at the enchanted arboretum known as Ash Gardens within the House of Frank.

A funeral home filled with wayward witches and other mystical creatures welcomes her with open arms and gives her refuge. While struggling to accept the situation she’s found herself in, her new found family offers her support and connection during an otherwise dark time.

When a storm hits The House of Frank and damages the house and food gardens severely, the group clamors together to regain normalcy. The collateral damage is more than just broken windows as secrets are reveled and the future of Ash Gardens remains in the balance.

This novel had me tearing up, I felt so deeply for every member of this found family and it was so moving to follow along on their journey. Saika was such a lovable character and I just wanted to give her the biggest hug.

This book will warm your heart!

House of Frank was just a cozy and beautiful story of grief, found family, and learning to love and accept ones flaws.

Disclaimer: I did receive an e-book advanced reader copy through NetGalley for the novel. But I did actually read it via audiobook that I purchased myself. this is my honest and voluntary review.

House of Frank was not what I was expecting at all. I knew going in that it was about profound grief, but it was so relatable and well done. There was great representation for a found family, as well as a diverse cast of characters and a normative queer relationship. I related emotionally to all of these characters in someway. That was probably my favorite part of this entire novel, was that the characters were so real and three-dimensional. Their feelings and experiences were so varied and all tied around the instrumental, mountable theme of dealing with grief. I feel like we got a wide range of examples of what grief can do to a person and I did sob at the end of this book.

The overall part of the book was interesting and absolutely kept me reading. I found it to be very unique and cozy and I definitely wanted to know what happened at the end. I did not see the twist at the end coming. It was completely a surprise to me so I did not find this book to be predictable in my opinion.

As far as the audiobook, I felt the narrator did a fantastic job. I felt like I got a lot of emotion in context through the voice of the narrator, and the speech was well done and very clear and concise. Even turning the speed up to 2.5 times which is what I read, I still understood the narrator perfectly.

I can't wait to see what else this author puts forth. This was an absolute stunning debut, and I definitely need more in this cozy theme.

3.5 STARS

This is a hard review to write, because I am of two minds toward this book: on the one hand, I am happy to have read it, because it is original, poignant, and it does its work extremely well (more on this in a moment), on the other hand, I think that another round of editing would have been good for it. It is a bit rough around the edges, and there are some things that didn’t work so well for me. But I’ll try and go with order.

This book is about pain and heartbreak—pain so huge and devastating that it’s all-consuming. The depiction of this pain, of Saika’s heartbreak, is magnificent. And I think it talks to everyone, at least up to a point.
This book is about the mourning process, and it offers some space for it. When grieving this space is sorely needed, and this book sort of provides it. And Saika is not the only one suffering, so the author shows us that the grieving process is not a block, something unique that has to happen in the same way for everyone.
And the depiction of this is real, it is rough, and it makes you feel seen. It is also devastating and all-encompassing.
But… it’s not the only kind of pain, because death is not the only thing that can make you suffer. It is also about losing yourself, partly to the pain, partly to the choices we make when we are desperate, but also partly to time. Everyone in this book is dealing with mourning, but Frank is also slowly losing himself. He becomes forgetful, he becomes confused, in short, he is alike a person who suffers from dementia. His ailment is of a more magical origin but still, the symptoms are the same, and even this is masterfully portrayed.

The House of Frank (I mean the place in the book, not the book as a whole) is a place where mourning has a new meaning to it because you go there to plant the ashes of the departed and they will grow into something magical and alive. It is a way of creating life again, and the trees that grow from the ashes are magical and beautiful. And this is a great idea, and a nice touch, too. And the people who work here, well, they understand pain and loss. This place is not only their workplace, but it has become their home and their sanctuary, and we get to know some really interesting characters (and this found family is really nice and diverse).

The central points of this book are the vibes and the feelings. And on this side, the author did an amazing job, I will repeat it, because it is true, and she really did an astounding work with it, but the more practical side of things is not so well developed or so well thought through.
The plot is quite bland, and I know that this is a somehow cozy book, because it has some cozy vibes and some of the features you’ll find in that genre, and even if the themes aren’t cozy per se, the vibes kind of are, and I know that the plot is not the major point but still… things happen and you just go with them but really, it all feels kind of meh.

And then we have Saika’s attachment to Frank. And this was a thing that for me didn’t work so well.
It is true that Frank offers space and empathy to Saika, he makes her feel seen and accepted, not judged. I get that this is somehow a novelty for Saika, and I get that he is offering her the help she desperately needs, but… while all the other characters were there for longer, and so their attachment to Frank and to the house makes sense, Saika doesn’t have the time to develop a proper bond with him before things start going south. The house is plagued by tempests that are trying (and quite managing) to tear it apart, while Frank is slowly losing himself. It is sad and tragic, and you feel all of these, but Saika’s loyalty to him, her strong-minded need to help and to sacrifice herself and everything she has and she is to him, well… that seems a tad sudden.
Mind me, I am not saying that she should have just shrugged it off and continued with her life, it makes sense that she wants to help, because she has found a new family between the people who live there, a more accepting and welcoming one at that, and that’s everything that kept her afloat, but what you see is not her dedication to the new family or her new love, no, you see her loyalty to Frank. And to me, this didn’t make a lot of sense.

Another small thing that could have been better developed is the magical system. I get that it is not central, but still, it irked me that you know there is a problem with Saika’s magic, because she constantly refers to it, but you don’t know why or how or what, because you don’t have an understatement of how things should work. You’ll get it, but later on. And it was maddening, seeing the problem, knowing it was a problem but not understanding why it was a problem.

I get that this is more about feelings and vibes than story and details, but still… this buggered me while I was reading. And now I will also add a couple of things that are mean, but I think they still should be said. The central point of the book is the grieving process and the fact that everyone is different in their pain and in the way they deal with it. And maybe what we see in this book is about an ideal, of a world where you can grieve with your time and as you need, but… Saika’s way of dealing with everything is not so sane (mind me, I am not qualified to talk about what is sane and what is not, so I am expressing an opinion, I am not stating some facts). She is dealing with her sister’s death, and I get that we are in the presence of a pain that is all-consuming, world-breaking, and devasting, but she can’t move past it for years. She can’t let her sister go, and she flew her previous life to go and live the life her sister should be living.
And she abandons the daughters her sister had, because of this. So sure, I am glad that Sakia can finally find the help she so desperately needs, and I am glad that she managed, at last, to come to terms with her pain. And I am awed by the work the author did, and I am glad that she talks about these themes, that are not really talked about enough, but I also think that this had to be said, too.

That said, this is a unique book, and I am grateful because I had the opportunity to read it. It is unique, and it talks about some really important topics, that aren’t so often found in books.

This debut novel is about grief, about acceptance and the challenges they pose. Saika embarks to fulfill her sister’s dying wish to have her ashes planted at this enchanted arboretum. There she meets Frank and the inhabitants of his home. Each character has layers steeped in pain.

Overall I thought this one was good but I left wanting a bit more in the plot. Sometimes the chapters felt repetitive. I’d give it 3.5/5 stars.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an arc.

I really thought I'd love this one, but it's too much like a Hallmark Channel movie with magical creatures, and a couple of witches. It's also VERY slow moving; the 39% of the book that I finished could easily have been written as two well-edited paragraphs. I have no doubt that many will love this book, and I wish the author the best of luck, but I'm happy as an enchanted clam that I don't have to read it anymore.

House of Frank follows Saika, a witch who is still grieving the loss of her sister but wants to follow through on the last promise she made to her and bury her ashes at the magical Ash Gardens arboretum. When Saika hesitates to bury her sister and ends up stuck at the sanctuary during a storm, the estate’s caretaker Frank invites her to stay on and work to care for the arboretum alongside a misfit group of other magical beings. As a witch, Saika knows Frank wants her to use her powers to help fix the estate. The problem is that Saika is actually powerless, a fact she’s hiding from Frank and everyone else at Ash Gardens—both because it would potentially risk her position there, but also because it would mean opening more old wounds she’s trying to keep buried. However, not everything is as perfect as it initially seems at Ash Gardens, and it becomes clear to Saika that the sanctuary is in trouble. Figuring out how to help could save Ash Gardens, but it will also require her to learn to open herself up to others again.

While I usually have a clear sense of where I stand with a book by the end, I am oddly unsure how to feel about this book! I was really hopeful that this would be a slam dunk for me, but I personally struggled to love this one like some other reviewers have.
❤️ What I loved: I thought the way that this book depicted and spoke about grief was honest in the variety of experiences and emotions displayed through the cast of characters. The book was touching, the setting was unique, and I was really compelled to find out what happened next!
💔 What I didn’t love: Most of my qualms about this book are a matter of personal preference. I did not personally love the writing style of the book, where the main character was speaking to the reader/her dead sister. It added an odd shift in the perspective of the storytelling that didn’t feel necessary. I also struggled with the characters, which is usually a make-or-break for me. While I was rooting for all of them to heal, I didn’t personally feel the relationships they were supposed to have with each other—there was more telling than seeing in this way. I see a lot of read-alikes for Under the Whispering Door by TJ Klune, but I unfortunately didn’t feel the same kind of connection to the characters here.
Despite this book not quite hitting the mark for me, I do think a lot of people will find a lot to love in House of Frank. I recommend fans of fantastical settings and emotional stories give this book a try.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐/5 (3-3.5)

Acknowledgments & Disclaimers ✨ Thank you to NetGalley, Kay Synclaire, and Bindery Books/Ezeekat Press, for providing an ARC and the opportunity to share an honest review of this book. ✨ All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are my own. ✨ My reviews and ratings strive to evaluate books within their own age-demographic and genre.

Really enjoyed this cozy fantasy exploration of grief, found family, and decision making. I can always go without a romantic subplot and I feel like it wouldn't have done much to lose that in this book, as well. I kind of wish it was longer, because I wanted more of the market time and more time in the arboretum, but I have no doubt that the author will continue to publish and maybe we'll be able to see some more of those cozy and low stakes places.

This was such a sweet and moving story about life and death and the grief that comes from both losing someone and subsequently living without them. The story of how we wish we could bring someone back, no matter the cost to us while also knowing it’s likely not what they would choose is so real. The cast of characters were easy to like and relate to and each had their own distinct personality. I love the found family aspect of the story and the message that even if our birth family rejects us, we can choose our own family to surround ourselves with. And while I know the memory loss pictured in this story isn’t Alzheimer’s, that’s how I thought of it since I lost my grandmother to that and it definitely shares similarities to it. Overall, I thought the story was a beautiful tribute to the love of family, both through blood and those we choose for ourselves.

House of Frank is a cozy fantasy that hits all the right spots. It’s heartbreaking and full of hope.

This book explores life, with a particular eye on death and grief. The overall tone is slow and melancholic. But the worldbuilding is intimate, with lush and vivid details. Even the characters feel fully fleshed-out and real with very human emotions.

I will say that the start of the book felt a bit abrupt. The worldbuilding unveils itself slowly, leaving readers to try and piece together what is going on at the outset. But other than the somewhat rocky start, this debut novel really was a beautiful and unique story that culminates in a celebration of life.

I got about 15% of the way into this and it feels a bit amateur - struggling to connect to the story and the characters, and I'm not invested enough to keep going.

Soft and heartachey and real. I stayed up reading this and found that despite the magical world of it, it has powerful realworld truthes.

I wasn't quite ready for this. This is a read for when you're really wanting to get in your feels. Charming awhile also so sad. I grieved with Saika and mourned for Fiona. Putting someone to rest is never easy, but watching them bloom is an entirely new idea. I loved that the magical aspect brought her sister back in a symbolic way.
I'd much prefer if the POV was kept either second or first person, but overall a beautifully written debut novel!

Special thanks to Bindery for providing a digital ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. 2.5 stars

TL;DR: House of Frank is a title I've been looking forward to reading since I stumbled across it on NetGalley many months ago. Judging from the synopsis and the cover, I was 93% sure that it would be a 5-star read and so it is with the greatest disappointment that I say that this book was not for me. The main problem is that I felt no connection to the characters and for a book where the "found family" element is a big part of the story, I thought they were all rather uncaring and unforgiving towards each other. This is a house where, instead of dealing with grief healthily and healing from past trauma, its residents sweep it all under the rug so they can live in denial and pain with unhealthy coping mechanisms. I know some readers have loved this book and I'm sad not to be one of them but I am glad that I gave it a try!

I love cosy fantasy. I can be happy with a slice-of-life type of story so long as the characters are compelling and the story exudes a comforting quality that feels like a warm hug. I don't want to be irritated reading a cosy fantasy and if there's a found family element, I want to fall head over feet for these characters and I want to deeply believe in their connection. I want to root for them and scoop them all up into my pocket so I can carry the good feeling they give me everywhere I go. I thought House of Frank would be a cosy fantasy I'd fall in love with but unfortunately, it was far from it. The world-building was minimal but descriptive enough that I could easily picture the surroundings of Ash Gardens. I loved the magic in the arboretum and the house was interesting. I think this fantasy world had a more historical setting but it was never 100% clear to me. The magic system was also a bit vague but I was intrigued by what I saw. This world is populated by all sorts of magical and fantastic creatures such as wolf-men, half-gargoyles, witches of all kinds, elves, fairies, cherubs, dragons, and ghosts—and the ones we meet all have unique personalities. There is a loose plot as Saika comes to Ash Gardens to put her sister to rest after years of avoidance just as the weather worsens and the house begins to fall apart alongside Frank's, the owner's, rapidly deteriorating health. There was a mild mystery element that moved along at a plodding pace and it was fine for the most part.

I was most excited about meeting the characters and this is really where my main issue was. I stand by the fact that characters don't need to necessarily be likeable to be good, but I did not find that to be the case here. Aside from frustration and disbelief, I struggled to feel any other type of emotion toward these characters and that disconnect greatly contributed to the lowered rating for me. From the beginning, I found myself frustrated by Saika's character. She is entitled, selfish, ill-mannered and extremely judgemental and at first I thought that maybe it's because she's still stuck in her grief, but even as she "heals" as the story progresses, I found there was little change in her attitude. I thought this would at least be balanced out by kind, loving, and compassionate side characters who form the "found family" aspect but I was wrong. Don't get me wrong, the side characters weren't awful all the time—some of their banter was corny but funny—though neither did I find them particularly compelling as they weren't very kind to each other. Their barbs were bitter and hurtful and they often deliberately said things to hurt each other. While I did feel for some of them after learning their stories, it wasn't enough to create a warm fuzziness in my chest whenever I thought of their 'happy family'. I didn't feel as if they would drop everything to help each other and that was proven to me when everyone got stroppy with Frank when he forgot about a client or conversation or he forgot to do 'his job'. This brings me to the character who I felt was done so dirty and it's a shame considering the book's title has his name in it. Despite being called "House of Frank", Frank's character felt very much like an afterthought. He very quickly took a backseat as Saika settled into the house and everything started to fall apart. For all the "worrying" that everyone in the house did over Frank's deteriorating condition, no one *actually* took the time to speak to him or figure out what was wrong. Saika in particular was such an enabler but she also made dumbfounding decisions on his behalf thinking it was her right to help him sort out his grief when it's clear she hardly knew him. There was also the romantic element which, unsurprisingly, I was not sold on. I'm sorry but cheekily snide remarks, reluctant kindness, flirting after a fashion, and lopsided smirks do not chemistry make! The love interest confused me and was not a character I gravitated to at all.

I'm getting worked up now just thinking about the things Saika did and how disappointed I was by the characters, so I'm just going to wrap it up here and say that despite being the right target audience for this book, it just didn't work for me. As I mentioned earlier, some readers have loved it and I'm glad that it's finding the right audience to appreciate the story and again, I'm bummed that does not include me!

Thanks so much to NetGalley and Bindery (Ezeekat Press) for providing this eARC in exchange for an honest review!

From the very first pages, this book had my heart!!

I have never read such a tender exploration of grief, and love, the ending had me tearing up!!

Please do yourself a favour and check it out!

I've read more than 200 books this year, and this is the best thing I've read in 2024. As a person navigating my own form of grief and loss and a total sucker for a found family of "misfits" this was literally meant for me.

Our main character makes her dying sister a promise, to have her ashes planted at the House of Frank Arboretum. When she gets there, she discovers that the household may need her, and she may need them.

This is a beautiful and tragic story of loss, grief, chosen family, trust, and sacrifice. It was absolutely stunning. I am so grateful to have been approved to read an eARC of House of Frank!

"Young. Old. We all experience life whether we've had lots of it or very little."

I knew from the first chapter that this book would emotionally devastate me and I ended the book in tears. The way Kay Synclaire handled grief was beautiful. The characters were amazing and the story of House of Frank was phenomenal.

This story felt like a giant hug to my soul, and I loved every moment.

Thank you, Bindery and NetGalley, for providing me with this ARC.