Okay so. Disclaimers first. I read a lot, and particularly within the genre of fantasy, romantasy, etc. So, given that, I saw every twist and plot point coming from lightyears away. While some of the worldbuilding and magic system were unique (I love when magic has a cost), I found the story to have a very predictable plot. That being said, it was still entertaining, with great gothic atmospheric writing, and was overall a fun read. My greatest gripe is likely that the tone of the book (especially the audiobook narrator) felt extremely YA, and while I liked Edira as a FMC, she did feel a bit whiny at times. Overall, though, while it wasn’t my favorite, especially given my loathing of a love triangle I clocked from page three, this was entertaining enough that I will consider the sequel, though I will do so entirely for Rorik and his piercings (cause duh). 3.5 rounded up to 4⭐

*Thank you again to NetGalley and the publishers for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.*

** 4.5 Stars **

I've been struggling with a reading slump and I found this super compelling! Very much enjoyed the read, and found myself looking forward to and looking for time to read (which I've been struggling with recently so you know this is good!) It's a little slow to start, but once it gets good it gets good. I did see the twist at the end coming, but my ears perked up at something a certain character said early on so I was watching for more hints of that twist like a hawk. If you don't know it's there I don't think it'll be nearly as obvious, but even though I saw it coming there was another one that completely caught me off guard!

Beautifully written, and I think the magic system (at least Edira's powers) is unique. It's always refreshing when an author comes up with their own magic system, and can flesh it out. Also the magic of the heartbonds... 👀 IYKYK

Martineau's storytelling is immaculate, and the setting really stands out as a Gothic Fantasy. Once Edira is conscripted to threadmend for the Ferngloves, we are transported to a beautiful manor with pristine gardens and decor... or are we? I love how she incorporates the blight into the setting and characters, and we see it more and more as layers are peeled back throughout the story.

Althought it doesn't end on a cliffhanger, we also don't end with an HEA (yet, hopefully) so it definitely sets us up for book 2. I'm really excited to see where this goes, and I hope to be considered for the sequel(s)!

Thank you to The Nerd Fam, NetGalley, Maxym M. Martineau, & Harper Voyager for the eARC. All opinions are my own.

I loved the unexpected twists in this story. Just when you're pretty sure you've figured everything out it tilts again. Fun to read and follow..

This was a really interesting plot, I always love healer FMCs (in this case a threadmender). We need more of this in fantasy! I'm on a such a kick of stories where the FMC is stuck in a gothic manor and doesn't know who to trust and their thinking gets warped. Edira was easy to love. All the characters were well-developed, the story fast paced and the plot twists hard to guess!

Thank you Nerdfam, Harper Voyager and Netgalley for the eARC.

I thought this was very good and I will have to add this to the shop shelves. Thank you for the chance for us to review.

This book was really good! I'm giving feedback late mostly because I thought I had already given it in here but it doesn't seem so. This was exciting, the magic was intriguing and I couldn't wait to see what happened next. I love it when I get hooked into something mysterious and I have to try and figure it out. This kept me wondering, and needing the next page. Thanks for the opportunity to read and review!

Edira has responsibilities. She must take care of her brothers. Their parents are gone, and they are working themselves to death in the mines to support their family. Life is difficult, but on top of everything, she must also hide who she is.

She is a Threadmender. Threadmenders are healers that literally heal you by looking at the threads of your soul and taking your sickness into themselves. Very handy if selfish people find you. Like the Fae. No Threadmenders ever come back if they go with the Fae, including her own aunt.
When her brothers are hurt, she is given no choice but to try to mend them. Unfortunately, she is seen by the Lord of Fernglove Manor, Orin. He promises to help heal her brothers if she will come live at the manor and help him heal his grandmother.
Fernglove Manor. What she has feared for so long. So many Fae, including Orins brother, Rorik. Can she trust them? Can she trust Orin?

Come find out in this slow burn, gothic romantasy. Maxym M. Martinez has created an all new landscape of breathtaking forests, gardens, and mansions filled with mystery and tension, which gives off Spring Court vibes but with a darker twist which she calls "moody cottagecore".

And did I mention a trade up from Shadow Daddy to Insect Daddy?

Very engrossing dark Gothic romantasy. I really enjoyed this author's writing style and cant wait to read the next book.

⭐️⭐️⭐️

i really wanted to love this one, but it was just okay. there were some similarities to other fantasy books that i really couldn't get past and that made the book a little bit more boring than i anticipated. overall, it's still a fun read, but the plot line is not going to be twisty.

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest review. Edira is a threadmender who has hidden her talents from everyone around her in order to not be recruited by the Evers. As the blight ravages her town, Edira is sniffed out by the Thornegrove Evers and whisked away to Thornegrove manor to work on finding a cure for the blight.

The atmosphere of this book was so enchanting and immediately drew me in. Edira’s connection and love for her younger brothers was so beautiful and family was a huge theme through this book. The world building was done well in my opinion, leaving me with a solid understanding of the magical undercurrents at play.

I do wish that the romance portion of the plot was explored a bit more in depth as it felt like everything was moving too fast for true connection. Rorik’s broody self was by far my favorite character. The ending left me hoping for another book and hopefully we get some more Rorik time in the next installment!

When I start reading something marked as gothic I'm really counting on it being, well, a gothic story. I didn't get those vibes and after not feeling any attachment to the characters and annoyed by the love triangle (why choose has ruined me, perhaps?) I decided it's not going to be the book for me. Obviously not all adult books will turn a triangle in a poly situation, but honestly then just leave out the triangle ... For some reason it just makes the story and writing feels so much younger and I don't enjoy that.

Thank you to Netgalley, the Publisher, and Author for this amazing E-ARC! I loved the concept of this book. One of my favorite reads of the year!

The concept of the blight was so much fun to read about. I loved that healing has consequences and seeing her try to figure out how to heal the blight.

All the twists and turns were also fun to discover.

First, thanks you to Avon and Harper Voyager and NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for my honest review!

House of Blight completely grabbed my attention from the very first page. The author’s writing style is rich, vivid, and well-crafted — every sentence feels intentional, pulling you effortlessly into a world that is both haunting and enchanting. I found her prose very easy to follow, but appreciated her use of vocabulary. The world-building was excellent, layered with immersive detail that made it easy to visualize the setting and feel fully grounded in this story’s atmosphere.

This author has been likened to Sarah J Maas (SJM), etc, but I would liken this author more in the realm of Holly Black, but with a much more readable style and slightly less political-focused. The immersive world-building did feel very SJM though!

The storyline itself is refreshingly unique and creative, standing out in a genre that often leans heavily on overused tropes. While it does contain one open-door scene, it’s brief, easy to skip, and doesn’t impact the plot — which I truly appreciated. It was so refreshing to find a romantasy that keeps its main focus on the actual plot rather than leaning too heavily on the romance. Also, minimal swearing compared to many other fantasy reads, which again, I appreciated!

By the end, I found myself not only eager for the sequel to this duology, but also ready to add all of this author’s other works to my TBR. If you’re looking for a captivating read with an edge-of-your-seat vibe, a well-paced and original storyline, some eerie family drama, and a fantasy world you’ll want to linger in, House of Blight is a must-read!

In 'The House of Blight', we are introduced to a captivating magic system. Threadmenders possess the unique ability to heal others by mending their threads, but this comes at a cost: they endure some of the pain themselves and sacrifice hours, days , years of their own life. However, the extent of healing required for a minor scratch or a broken leg remains unclear (we don't know if she loses only a few days for each or if she loses much more, the bigger the wound is). The author has crafted a fascinating and distinctive aspect of this magic. We initially learn a lot, and even as the protagonist studies, the information becomes sparse. She uncovers a few things here and there, and ultimately learns to use her magic more effectively, but it leaves us questioning what exactly she did differently besides simply breathing correctly. At the very end, we understand, but it left me feeling a bit confused and underwhelmed for a big chunk of the book.

Initially, she appeared to be a strong, capable, and intelligent woman. Although she is portrayed as lonely, she seems content with her life alongside her brothers for the time being. She conceals her true self, fearing that the Ever will take her as they did her aunt. Unfortunately, we only witness this aspect of her character in the first chapter; afterward, she becomes somewhat naive, even foolish, and easily manipulated. Despite being warned not to trust anyone, she naively places her trust in everyone. She falls into traps that, if she truly possessed the intelligence and capability she was initially portrayed with, she would have avoided. I understand that being taken away from your home while being responsible for healing your only family is difficult, but it shouldn't lead to such a drastic change in judgment.

Aside from that, I really enjoyed the concept of the Evers, including the nature of their magic, their lore, and the distinct characteristics of each family. I would have appreciated a more in-depth exploration of their history at the start; while we learn a lot by the end, in the first half,we only know they are called Evers and use glamour to conceal their true selves, but not much else. As a result, it’s somewhat difficult to understand just how powerful they are and why they evoke such fear in others. I understand the decision to keep it as vague as possible, but I personally didn't like the way it was executed.

Regarding the romance, it was enjoyable, though predictable. The author successfully created some tension between the characters, but I wasn't fond of the 'love triangle' since it was clear who the antagonist would be. She receives numerous warnings about trusting no one after her interactions with a certain character, which heavily signals to the reader, 'Yes, he's one of the contenders for her heart, but let me remind you for the hundredth time that she shouldn't trust him, nor should you because she probably won't.' This detracts from the romance and makes it less believable. However, I really liked her other match; he was much more intriguing but also less developed/used. The author crafted him to be a bit more mysterious; we don't fully understand his desires, goals, or even his role in the family until the very end. I truly enjoyed that! I was rooting fro him from the start lol. It was obvious he'd turn out as a softie ♥

Overall, it was an enjoyable read. I appreciated the concept, the magic, and the characters. However, I felt some characters lacked depth, and the character growth for the FMC could have been more "logical". Additionally, the author was somewhat obvious about the identity of the bad guy sooooo it made me less invested in the story.

I would definitely recommend this book if you're looking for a romantasy with an intriguing magic system, a touch of romantic tension, and a FMC who must train and improve to save those she cares about, all while getting caught up in family drama and wars against her wishes.

I really enjoyed this read. The characters were well developed and the world and magic system was amazing. I’m really excited to see where this goes and what’s next.

I initially tried to read this in March and really didn’t enjoy myself for whatever reason, I ended up getting the audiobook from Libro.fm and decided to give it another shot and I’m SO thankful I did!

I found the premise to be extremely intriguing, almost like Fullmetal Alchemist in the sense that there is an equal exchange that must happen with the FMC’s (Edira) healing magic. The only thing she can’t mend is the Blight, which is a super nasty disease that rots a person from the inside out. Her brothers get the disease and she ends up in a pact with an Ever (fae) to research the Blight and hopefully find a cure while her brothers are in a magical stasis.

I enjoyed the gothic world, everything had an eerie and unreal atmosphere about it. Like the Blight, there was rot lurking under the surface of everything. I do think some of the twists were obvious, but I was hit with a couple that did surprise me. This book had me questioning myself often which I really liked.

The pacing could have been better and some of the character work needed to be a bit strengthened but overall I did have a great time and really enjoyed the narration. This almost gave me Crimson Peak vibes, so I really enjoyed that aspect of it. I’m excited for the sequel, whenever that may be and I’m really glad I picked this up again!

I was not expecting this to have so many twists and be so suspenseful! The author did such a good job of keeping me on my toes and hiding the truth from the reader. I love a strong FMC and Edira was that! Absolutely wonderful world building! I can’t wait for more!

What would you do if you could cure diseases, illnesses, and injuries with your magic? But what if that very same life healing magic could only work by taking away a little of your own life to do it? Such is the life for Edira, a threadmender whose rare powers are both a literal blessing and a curse. She lives in fear of the Blight, an incurable disease that threatens those around her every day, and when her two brothers show up on the doorstep with telltale signs of the Blight, Edira is torn between survival and trying everything in her might (and magic) to save them. Everything seems hopeless until the head of the powerful Fernglove family, Orin, arrives and makes a bargain she can't refuse - he'll slow down the effects of the Blight on her brothers if she accompanies him to his family estate to work on researching a cure for the Blight. When things begin to become even more muddled and murky as Edira desperately searches for a cure and finds herself in the midst of a love triangle between Orin and his brother, Rorik, Edira is left to wonder just what the Ferngloves are up to and how she is involved.

I would say this is more of an upper YA dark gothic fantasy as it does have a little bit of spice and mature themes, but it was very quick to read and honestly I enjoyed the love triangle (which I know is not for everyone but it works for me most of the time). There are some parts of the plot that I wish were a bit more developed but I honestly can't wait for the sequel to this duology because I need some closure with Edira after that ending!

Thank you to Netgalley and Avon/Harper Voyager for the eARC for review consideration - all thoughts and opinions are my own!

This was such a wonderful read that I completely lost myself to! It's magical with so many twists! The author did an epic job of keeping you in suspense, not seeing the truth until she wants you to. I loved Edira! She's strong, feisty and so smart. She loves entirely and is so ferociously protective of her loved ones. The world building is magical! It gives you that swept away feeling. I desperately want more!