ARC read - 3.5/5⭐️ overall, I had fun reading this book. I loved the FMC, Alma, her growth throughout the book was so great to be a part of. I loved the writing style and Michelle Wong created some pretty amazing world building; and this was her debut novel! I really loved the addition of Michelle’s graphics throughout the chapters; it was really nice to experience both of her passions combined.

I wish I could rate this higher than I did, but the first 30% of the book was pretty slow for me. Though the second half of the book did make up for the slow start; which is why I rounded my rating up to 4⭐️. Some of the finer details just fell flat for me and could have been altered or cut out for a more cohesive storyline.

Highly recommend checking this out on August 5, 2025! Thank you to Michelle Wong and HarperVoyager for allowing me to receive an advanced reader copy!

FANTASTIC
BEAUTIFUL
WONDERFUL
AMAZING

What a strong and unique take on what see in Fantasy Romance lately.

***I'm a harpercollins employee***I loved House of the Beast and fear I will never be the same after reading it.

This was an interesting book that kept my attention from start to finish. I really enjoyed how the author kept my attention with the wonderful story telling. I couldn't put the book down until I finished it. A great read.

utterly delightful. i'm so hit and miss with a lot of romantic fantasy, especially those with this kind of love interest, but this was done really well. i adored the illustrations as well.

I picked this up because it had a cool premise, and I was really into the atmosphere and illustrations. The writing itself was solid with nice prose and a unique vibe, but the pacing? Brutal. It took forever for anything to actually happen, and even when it did, I still wasn’t all that invested.

The relationship dynamics had potential, especially the friendship between Alma and the other girl, but most of them didn’t go as deep as I wanted. There were some interesting themes—power imbalances, manipulation, ambition, but they didn’t go as deep and weren’t explored as well as it could have been.

The last two parts felt rushed, and the world-building left me more confused than anything. The ending kind of made sense, but it didn’t hit the way I wanted it to. Overall, not a bad book—just way too slow and not engaging enough for me to care. Cool concept, great visuals, but pretty forgettable.

This was such an interesting story and to me each relationship was an example of either a healthy dynamic between the characters or a deeply toxic one. I noticed power imbalances, manipulation and codependency through their interactions. It explored how a person’s greatest fears or ambitions can be twisted and manipulated by those closest to them.

The last two parts seemed a bit rushed at times and I was a little confused about the backstory of the world building. The ending felt natural and obvious but didn’t leave me feeling satisfied.

The characters were interesting and complex. Plus the illustrations included throughout the book were so cool! It was a well written and entertaining dark fantasy overall.

Finally, a book that captured my heart like Fourth Wing! It's stunning and unique. You fall in and out of love with Alma and Aster.

When I say this book kept me up at night consuming my every thought, I meant it. This is the holy grail of villain romance books to which there has been no equal for me. This book is for those who the felt the main character from One Dark Window ended up with the wrong guy. This book is my personal bible.

As a note before we get started, the author is actually a graphic novel, artist- and art of the characters and settings are littered into the book. Its amazing seeing a powerful scene you just read get brought to life on the next page!

Alma lives a poor but happy life with her mother, until she gets sick and Alma reaches out to her long lost father to save her. The trade off is simple- come with him and officially join his wealthy family and her mother will be saved.

Years later, Alma's mother is dead, her father sliced off her arm and fed it to the god his family worships, and Alma's childhood imaginary friend is fueling a revenge filled crusade to destroy her father's life by becoming the First Hand of the Beast, the most loved by their house's god. This is House of the Beast, a supremely gothic and bloody New Adult stand alone about worship, obsession, codependency, and self hatred.

The first sign to me that this book was something special is how daring it is in every single thing it does. The book does not give Alma a safer love interest to contradict the fact that the person she's in love with is an elder god that has invaded her mind telling her to indiscriminately murder people. It does not shy away from buckets of blood and gore, with scenes ranging from people pulling their own limbs off, lobotomies, and slaughtering horrors beyond human comprehension. While House of the Beast feels like its designed for a "romantasy" style audience, Michelle Wong took a lot of risks in this story, effectively taking a gas can and lighting the formula on fire. Wong is uncompromising in her storytelling style and dark tendencies, making the book feel more like a Kaori Yuki manga than a book aimed at romance readers.

The world of House of the Beast is incredibly lush and addictive. Wong uses her wordcount to drop a ton of lore on the reader without a single infodump, carefully crafting Alma's horrific and extremely strange home with details on the entire world around her. Culture, religion, community, and the inner lives of the aristocracy litter every page, emotionally investing you in Wong's universe. I would read 10 more books set in this world.

Each wealthy family worships a different elder god, somewhat influencing their powers and interests without feeling terribly like a 'Harry Potter' house. as aristocrats are introduced though the story, you get a stronger picture of how the gods have influenced human hubris; the wealthy and the chosen are seemingly unendingly strange and cruel, while being fully fleshed out human beings with powerful desires and believable motivations.

Every character in this book is morally grey or straight up evil, but any named character has a significant amount of detail put into their character, and this completely shocked me. There are characters introduced in the last 20 percent of a book that feel like real living breathing human beings that I became invested in.

The closer characters to Alma include

Alma's Father- A dark, brooding presence who seems to show different sides to everyone he meets. For Alma, that's mostly contempt.

Kaim- Alma's cousin. Snobby, immature, and powerful, he is motivated by his desire for purpose to become the First Hand to the Beast

Fion- A special young man with unknown abilities who is Kaim's dedicated and sworn companion

Sevelie- Kaim's fiance, fiercely dedicated to Alma's father and challenging to get a read on

But theres a number of other fascinating characters in the book- in fact, one might argue that theres about a whole family tree's worth of additional characters. While some of them are quite minor, I found myself falling for all of them. I would (again) read a book about ANY of these characters individually, as they are all wildly complex. Despite this being a single POV book, l every single side character has their own motivations that make them interesting, they are not just used to color Alma's world.

Alma herself is a complex character caught between ambition and her own inherit goodness. While at times that goodness can feel a little put on, I do appreciate that she truly is conflicted and not simply a heroic main character. Her desire to see her father destroyed leads to a lot of dark choices on her part, but her upbringing was decidedly different, and there is a light in her that refuses to go out.

Then of course, there is Aster, Alma's imaginary monster, the god that favors her. This relationship, other than the one between Alma and her father, is what this story is all about. Aster is sort of a dark vision of Peter Pan- young, beautiful, and wholly uninterested in who he hurts. He can only be seen by Alma and pretty much enthusiastically pushes her to murder people as much as possible. Aster's foundation is built on the dreams that Alma has for a partner, but the reality she is faced with again and again is that he is in fact, a monster. As Aster's chosen, Alma is granted dark powers, and significant shielding from the horrors of her world; including other humans.

This is not a cute nor healthy relationship, but if you like twisted "us against the world" deeply, deranged codependent romances that burn slower than the death of a star, this will be satisfying for you.

I would not recommend House of the Beast for folks looking for cozy romances, or half baked "Edgy" romances. If your idea of a cool dark romance is a little bit of misunderstandings or two people in a warring kingdom, look elsewhere. House of the beast is a book that refuses to compromise itself for trends. It chooses not to fit in, categorically rejecting the clean lines that romantasy is often drawn with. This one is for the all of the readers that want a touch of darkness in their lives. Michelle Wong is an insta buy.

Thank you to NetGalley and Avon and Harper Voyager for the free eARC!

Wow. I loved this world and story so much! It was easy to read. The descriptions of the world and the things in it were top notch! I need more from this world! For a debut novel, it doesn’t get much better. If you like fantasy of any kind, read this. It’s top tier fantasy!

This book was amazing. Wonderfully written and had so many twists. I loved Alma’s struggle with being good when she was thrusted upon so much evil. Aster’s identity was so important and the history that was there made me gasp. I did not expect the ending and I’m not going to lie, I cried. Cried so hard for these characters. it is not a happy ever after, well it is, but it also isn’t. There are so many viewpoints on if it is or isn’t, I think it is for the ones who needed it and isn’t for the ones who happiness was taken away. Loved this book 5/5 would recommend to anyone who loves an extreme fantasy experience with slight romance.

Really cool world-building details and several intriguing characters (possibly Alma's personality could have been stronger in comparison). This was creative and exciting the whole way through, and while I'd like to experience more of the world, I'm glad this had a satisfying ending.

5 stars!!

I think at first, some people might find this a bit slow, but I truly hope that those people stick with it because this is so well written. It simply doesn't depend on constant action to engage the reader like a lot of content saturating the fantasy genre does.

This was very character driven, with so many motives to uncover and understand, and the world-building creates such an eerie, gothic wonderland. The companionship of Alma and Aster alone is so intriguing and sets the tone of the novel. Reading this was like knowing my heart was going to be broken but having no clue when or how it was going to happen.

The novel's broken into four parts, each essentially following a different stage of the main character Alma's life, and you get to grow up with her and discover the truths of herself and those around her across these parts. It's like an immersive twisted fairy tale. Michelle Wong's inclusion of her illustrations only adds to this and helps you visualize the world and characters.

The only slight issue I had was that I was a bit confused by the world-building at times, but it didn't take long for me to get the answers I needed. That was also easily forgiven because this was so beautifully tragic and it made me cry and feel all the things.

Thank you so much to netgalley for the arc! & congrats to Michelle Wong on her debut novel!!

I loved this book, and you will too. Hear me out on this:

Alma has spent her life in isolation, shaped by her father’s ruthless ambition. Taken as a child to House Avera, she learns she belongs to one of the four noble houses, each serving a different god. House Avera is the most powerful because it is bound to the Beast, and its chosen vessels wield immense influence. Her father is determined to become the next leader, grooming Alma to help him achieve that goal. But his cruelty hardens her resolve. Instead of standing beside him, she plans to take his place by entering the trial herself.

If that didn’t sell you COMPLETELY, I haven’t even gotten to the most compelling part of the book: Aster. He’s completely loyal to Alma in a way that borders on obsessive, and I like my MMCs a little toxic so it really works. The twists and turns completely shook me. The ending completely blew me away.

I also loved watching Alma’s relationships with the other characters and how it informed her growth as she stepped into her own power. It was so satisfyingly paced, and felt realistic even in. The trappings of this fantasy world. The final chapters wrecked me and I need new installments asap.

Perfectly executed story of a girl seeking revenge and an eldritch being manipulating her while falling in love with her--what more do you need? House of the Beast reads like the best animes, its vivid worldbuilding stands out and the characters drive the story forward relentlessly.

Michelle Wong does a fantastic job in writing this as a debut, it had that element that I was looking for. It had that Gothic element that I was wanting and had that fairy tale element that I was hoping for. The characters had that elmeent that I was hoping for and enjoyed getting to read their story. I'm excited to read more in this world and from Michelle Wong.

House of the Beast is a twisted and dark coming of age tale for a young girl named Alma. Alma lives with her mother in near poverty until she is swept up into her rich and stately father’s house, the House of the Beast. She quickly finds out that their worship of the Dread Beast, one of the four gods in existence, is based in blood, rage, and death. Alma finds comfort in a mysterious friend who shows up in her moment of need. Calling him Aster, they form a contract with each other that will ensure Alma’s safety, her need for revenge, and what other people see as her descent into madness.

I really enjoyed this book. Michelle Wong has proven herself to be a great storyteller and world builder. When reading this, however, do understand that you only get a peek at what the entirety of the world is like. This story focuses on Alma and the small part of the world she inhabits. There are some clues as to what the rest of the world might be like, which made me very curious, but we never truly get to see it. I also love the religious factor to this book. The 4 God pantheon of the people adds a unique element to this story. I wish there had been more lore for the gods, but that’s just my personal preference because I enjoy that subject. The main characters in the story are well fleshed out. Alma and Aster bounce off of each other in this strange dance of attraction and restraint, love and ire, making their relationship a very complicated one. I loved it. I thought it was almost realistic in terms of what an actual relationship with god or god-like character would be. It also lead to a great sense of emotion toward the end of the story when the twist hits. My absolute favorite part of this was the travel through the Umbral Plain. It was genuinely scary and disturbing, and I love horror, so this was an unexpected treat in this fantasy tale!

Overall, this book and story are refreshing and original. I fell in love with Alma and Aster’s intimacy with one another. I’m giving it 4 stars instead of 5 only because my selfish heart wants more religious lore and more Umbral Plain. I am going to buy this book for my niece when it officially comes out. It’s stories like these that opened my imagination when I was young and helped nurture my love of reading and writing. Well done, Ms. Wong. Well done.

This book was so unique. lt was filled with complex characters who are neither good nor bad (except for Six who’s perfect). I thoroughly enjoyed this story and could not put it down. Also the illustrations added such a cool element to this book..

4.25 /5 Stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

First let me start by saying thank you to NetGalley, author Michelle Wong and Avon and Harper Voyager publishing for this E-ARC of The House of the Beast.

For a debut fantasy novel Michelle really did such a fantastic job and I loved this world she created.
The House of the Beast is a fantasy, leaning on the darker side that follows our female main character Alma. In a world of gods and monsters, both mythical and human, Alma experiences the loss of her mother and is set on a path of revenge. Her father serves the House of the Beast and with her mother’s death Alma is forced to be a pawn in her cruel father’s games in this house as well. What no one else knows is that Alma has a unique and powerful connection to the God in this house and is told she is meant for so much more.

There are plenty of twists and turns throughout this story as Alma is finding herself and her way through the world. I really did love this story and couldn’t wait to see where Alma’s journey took her. There’s action, death and relationships (new and old) that tore at my heart.
In any fantasy world there is going to be a learning curve, however I did feel like I struggled a little more than usual trying to keep names and places in order until basically the end of the book. I think especially trying to do a standalone fantasy is just so hard and it felt like there was too much crammed into the ending to complete the world/story.
All of this led to a 4.25/5 star review for me, I originally gave it a 4 but the more I sat and thought, the more I realized I couldn’t just give it 4 stars. And giving us artwork throughout the book is such an incredible bonus that helped amplify this story💜

Go save on good reads and pre-order this book if you’re looking for a new fantasy adventure!

The description of this hooked me instantly and I couldn't wait to see what this was about. I loved the illustrations and mood to this. Overall this was incredibly unique and this stands out amongst very heavy romantasy/romance/fantasy genres.