I really enjoyed this book!! I don’t normally prefer this type of book (bully romance) and I was a little bit iffy about seeing previous reviews comparing it to Zodiac Academy because I that series wasn’t for me. I think this is much better than Zodiac Academy- it’s not as drama filled (at least in the sense that it was filler) but it was just as Intense but everything came together extremely well! I enjoyed Alecto’s character a lot and you can see her transformation and well as Blaze. Without the dual POV the story wouldn't have been as clear for me in the sense of romance and Blazes actions. I really liked the idea of the different houses because it’s not exactly like a sorting hat type of thing or even by “species” but more so what type of magic you want to do/drawn to. Wilde did an awesome job as the first book in this series and I’ll 100% be continuing.

the book itself was well written. i def recommend for most to check TWs for this book. it has a great element of danger and supernatural effects to it. there was a lot of blood, some good scenes with spice in it and magic. i have always enjoyed bully romances and this one is not exception. i got to read it as an ARC and will say it def helped to get me out of a reading slump i was in.

Unfortunately this was immediately difficult to read due to the font. It also was very immature for my taste. I dnf’d it almost immediately. But I’m not the ideal reader for this book. Arc’s should use normal find though for readability.

I was promised Harry Potter meets Gossip Girl in this dark fantasy romance. But I agree more with one of the reviews I have read about this book that the better comparison of this book would be The Magician meets Fifty Shades of Gray. Or to those in the fandoms: imagine a modern academy filled with people like Manon Blackbeak, Kaz Brekker, Mia Corvere, and Wednesday Addams trying to win a game with magic, violence, and sex.

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for gifting me an eARC for me to read and review.

Alecto Black was not your ordinary college student. She was a half-witch in the best witching academy, Venefica, in the cruel and unforgiving magical world called Inathis. As a half-witch, she was often bullied and underestimated for her mortal half. To fit in the most dangerous house in the academy, House of Snakes, she had to learn to be vicious and ruthless, especially when the Game was involved. However, Blaze Leveau, who never hid his hatred towards Alecto since she arrived, made it his mission to turn Alecto's world into a living hell. Just when Alecto had had enough and fought back, a forbidden attraction sparked between them and threw both of their lives into a spiral of lust, chaos, and heartbreak.

The book started strong. I really enjoyed the writing style, with the wonderful proses but also the curses to show the characters' personalities. The pacing was really good, not too fast or too slow, and I found myself wanting to always flip to the next page. I liked the premise and the modern / fantasy setting in this book, though I wish there were more elaborations on the magic system or the hierarchy of the magic types.

Alecto was an interesting character and I relate to her feeling of not fitting in and of wanting to prove herself. I just didn't feel like she grew as a character in this first book. It felt to me that she was still the same person as when I started the story. Blaze, on the other hand, had the most development as a character. But as much as I wanted to love their relationship, I couldn't. I have always loved hate-to-love tropes but bullies give me an ick.

There was a sentence in the book saying "Blaze had seen her at her worst... No, he himself was responsible for bringing out the worst in her." And this screamed RED FLAG to me, not to mention that he tried to get her killed and not because of his belief/ideology/duty –as most hate-to-love usually started with, instead he almost killed her with no absolutely fucking real reason. I loved the notion of loving someone at her worst, but it is different from when someone brings the worst out of a person because it is my belief that the former would lead to a healthy relationship where both accepted each flaw while the latter would be the tale of a toxic relationship.

Luckily, Blaze fucked up and Alecto knew it. I just hope that in the second book Alecto would stick to her conviction and move on with a better man who would love her at her worst and yet can bring out the best version of herself without changing herself. I actually shipped her with the demon and wished they had more quality time; I guess I have to read the second book to see if this would be possible.

I would not recommend this book to those who don't enjoy dark or adult themes. This book has explicit smut scenes and violence is a theme characteristic of the witches as it was described to be their nature. There is a warning on the front page of the book which I appreciate. However, if you love reading books like Nevernight Chronicles and The Discovery of Witches, or if you like watching The Magician, Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, and Wednesday but wouldn't mind the explicit and adult version of them, this book is your cup of tea!

This book is like Harry Potter meets Gossip Girl meet the new Wednesday series. I had a lot of fun with this one. There were moments that felt a little slow, but then it would pick right back up again. I’m excited to read the second one and continue with these characters!

Thanks to NetGalley for a copy of this book. I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Plot? Check. Smut? Check. Toxic characters you can’t get enough of? Check.

Is it similar to The Zodiac Academy? Yes, however, throw in a ton more trigger warnings. Could some of the plot easily have been left out and the book still been fantastic, also, yes, but that didn’t take away from the story for me like it actually does with ZA.

I cannot get enough of Alecto and Blaze. I thought I was intrigued enough by them individually but when you throw them together I can’t get enough. I definitely can’t wait to see where the rest of the series takes us (and them).

Thank you NetGalley and Karolina Wilde for the book! Here I leave my honest review.

Gothic Harry Potter, that's what draw me in, but I couldn't feel the magic system like in Harry Potter. Yes they are witch, even half witch but I think I missed the world building in this book. Suddenly there's a game and they want to win it. I even missed the explanation about the House (is there or not?). I really wished that the author could explain us about the world, what kind of school they're now, what is the concept and purpose of the Game? Cause I think it's too heavy and I can't find the enjoy of this Game.

Okay, this is a bully romance. I think the author didn't disappointed in this aspect. She wrote it nicely and it makes this book centered on this two characters, Blaze and Alecto. Not bad but that's not what I hoped when I read this book.

I think this is an okay book. I still curious what will happen on the next book.

House of Pain is a dark academia fantasy romance novel with Zodiac Academy, Harry Potter, and Atlas Six vibes. It’s a dual perspective, steamy enemies to lovers bully romance with both the main characters (Alecto and Blaze) being morally grey.

Alecto Black is just trying survive her time through college. As a “half breed”, most of the witches in Venefica Academy think she is weak and underneath them. Which can’t be further from the truth, but no body pushes her buttons quite like fellow House of Snakes mate, Blaze. Rich, full of himself, and sexy as sin, Blaze is happiest when he is making Alecto suffer. Unfortunately, because of The Games, the two must work together to beat the other Houses.

While I loved the LGBTQ+ diversity is this book, there was a lack of world building and plot development that left me slightly confused, but since this is book one it is setting everything up. With that said, I still had a good time reading this one. I was laughing at how hard both Alecto and Blaze were fighting their attraction to each other. I enjoyed this spicy dark fantasy and look forward to reading book 2!

Thank you Netgalley and Karolina Wilde for giving me an early copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

You know, I had high hopes for this book. Paranormal, urban fantasy romance novels are literally one of my favorite guilty pleasure reads. Listen I read Zodiac Academy and I was hoping to get the same vibes with this one. It just fell short. I had no idea what was happening half the time. Val was a complete bitch (granted that was her character). Some of the dialogue made me want to cringe inwardly and the smut was not aiding the progression of the book.

Personally this book just wasn't for me and it's not actually that bad. I could see someone enjoying this but coming from Zodiac Academy I just could not get into it. :(

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing this ARC. House of Pain is the story of a group of witches at a boarding school and training academy of magic. Blood ties, family legacy and wealth permeate the story as the inner circle of the House of Snakes navigates this year's Game - a challenge between the houses to steal each others book of spells. Advertised as a mix between Harry Potter and Gossip Girl, this book takes classic young adult tropes and makes them darker - much much darker. Personally, I don't think this was the book for me. It felt dark and graphic sometimes just for the sake of a shock value. Overall, the plot itself was interesting with tons of morally grey characters just treating each other horribly.

House of Pain is a dark academia/fantasy set in a prestigious witchcraft university. Alecto, the morally grey heroine, is a half-blood witch in a place full of pure-bloods and feels like she constantly needs to prove herself to the others. The school is divided into different Houses who all compete against each other to be the top of the school.

I love that it was told in dual POV from Alecto and her enemy/love interest Blaze. Blaze has had it out for Alecto since she first arrived in House of Snakes at Venefica Academy and he has made his dislike well know. In return, Alecto can't stand the rich, arrogant asshole and gives as good as she gets. Somewhere along the way hate turns to lust and all of the steaminess kicks up a notch.

Overall, this was an enjoyable read and I loved the premise of the story with it's dark academia feel but unfortunately it failed to fully capture my attention and I often found my mind wandering from the story. I would still recommend checking out if dark new adult witch/fantasy stories with an enemies-to-lovers steamy aspect appeal to you.

This book is steamy and told in alternating POV between our two main love interests. Alecto Black has spent her whole life in Inathis, yet she never quite fit in being the half-witch amongst the purebloods. When she finally enrolled in the most prestigious witchcraft university, The Venefica Academy, last year and joined the House of Snakes as a rightful legacy member, she thought she had finally found her place.
But every year, The Venefica Academy students that belong to 12 Houses all participate in the deadly Game that many witches don't survive. And when the second year at Venefica starts, Alecto finds herself a target of one of the rival Houses while also having to face the enemy from the inside — fellow Snake, Blaze Leveau. As secrets start unraveling, hate turns into something more dangerous and deadly.
This book was entertaining with decent characters but the plot felt underdeveloped and more focused on just the romance and kink. The world building could have been more thought out as well.

eARC provided by the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.


This book has a lot of potential and definitely would be a hit for the lovers of Zodiac Academy. I think I struggled to understand where this book was going for the majority of it, and thats why the rating is low. I could not get over how forced the writing felt and it would leave me with a headache after.

After about 100 pages of these bratty teenagers talking about cocks, fucking their professors for a good grade and the endless talk of drugs & sex, I threw in the towel. I just can't. What is the point of this book? I thought it was about magic and dark arts? Where's the magic? Why is it all cock? I would absolutely NOT compare this book to Harry Potter or Gossip Girl. It's neither of those. I don't think I can even think of any book or show that comes remotely close to this.

If you're a reader that appreciates content & trigger warnings, the author does have a good number of warnings at the beginning of the book. Unless it's animal cruelty & death, I don't really need to know about content & trigger warnings but I know some people do need it before deciding on reading a book. This author definitely did a good job with adding them. That's about the only positive thing I can say about this book.

This one definitely had an interesting premise, with an unusual magic system.

The numerous morally grey characters definitely threw an ax in the works - it has you questioning what they were going to do next. It was more character than plot focused as well, definitely focusing on the relationship between characters and found family more so than actual action.

I really enjoyed the main character. She was definitely an interesting and not a typical MC. Her actions are definitely more in retaliation to others, rather than of her own choice. The enemies to lovers plot is definitely something that I enjoyed. I do feel like the characters should have been aged up a bit to make the plot and their interactions more believable.

Thank you to Kaolina Wilde and NetGalley for this e-arc in exchange for an honest review!

The writing is amateur, the world-building thin, and the pacing inconsistent. The whole affair is undeniably strongly reminiscent of fanfiction. This together would put me in mind to recommend this to younger crowds only, however, the explicit and mature themes, language, and actions make it extremely inappropriate to do so.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this book, but it just was not for me. I could not get into it and ended up DNFing around 30%

I thought the cover for this book was really aesthetic, and that the concept was really interesting however I sometimes got the feeling that there was just too much going on for the books good and it over-complicated itself in areas. That being said I enjoyed it, and the characters too.

Are you a fan of Ninth House or any of the Zodiac Academy books? Then this is the book for you! It gives very much ninth house vibes with spells and houses, along with ghosts and a school for the magical. Though this book is set in a magical realm, and the societies/houses are all like sororities? This book is also a bully romance which reminded me of zodiac. Another reason it reminded me of the other series was all the superiority of some people versus others.

This is a story following Alecto and Blaze as they navigate being in magic school. They’re trying to figure out who they are along with pleasing their family and compete in the yearly “game”. There quite a bit of back and forth with bullying and just straight attempted murder. I liked how Alecto grew in her witchy-ness and think this will be a fan favorite. I do wish we got a little more world building throughout as I felt I’m still missing some vital information, but am going to home that will be part of book 2.

Thank you netgalley for the chance to read and review this.

I’ll admit I started this once before and it didn’t drag me in so I put it to the side. I’m glad I gave it another go.

-the font for the ARC really messed with my head and make it a little harder to follow in my opinion, but I’m assuming it won’t always be like that.

-it through you into the book quite abruptly and made it a little confusing to find my bearing on where I was.

-once I finally figured out what was going on I became quite intrigued with it all!

Alecto is badass. That’s all there is to it. Despite being a ‘half-breed’ she shows she’s more tenacious, more willing, and more of a fighter than any of the other witches at the school. It’s definitely a dirtier more gritty type of Harry Potter but with different twists to it. I’m not a fan of all of the house names. House of Pigs and House of Rats wasn’t what I expected for some of them. Blaze is an asshole, but an extremely hot one. He’s really messed up in the head with family trauma and has incredibly bad coping mechanisms because of it. But honestly, isn’t that what draws us to the bad boys? Val is a malicious piece of work who came from nothing and thinks that tearing people down will make her look and feel better. She has no guilt, no cares, except to win and stay on top. The whole spiel of the book is The Game. To see who can steal the other houses book first. But the house books are always heavily guarded, and there’s no lines you don’t cross to steal it or keep yours safe. Death will find some. It’s a pretty fast paced book with lots of ups and downs and a few moments where I was like WTF!! I’d definitely suggest it to my friends.

This is definitely a darker book, where all the characters are at least morally grey, if not tipping the scale a little farther into the outright evil category, and the nicer you are the more you get walked all over, and the worse you are treated... I really liked Alecto and her main friends Johanna and Andro, Val I was kind of hoping would get murdered at some point (fingers crossed it happens in the future) and Blaze... well he is like the ultimate A-hole, the stereotypical bully, he is a jerk for absolutely no reason to everyone but especially Alecto, like it is angry at her just because she exists... Honestly, I was rooting for the demon to be the love interest. and every time Alecto one-upped him... during their weird I want to kill you, flirty, stay the heck away from me, sexual encounters, I was like YES!! you show that .. Mumble's something rhyming with pucker that you aren't to be messed with! I did like him more by the end of the book though...

While the first twoish parts of the book are a bit on the slower side (It's broken up into 4 or 5 parts) I really started to get sucked in after a certain encounter with Blaze and Alecto in the cursed woods, everything really took off from there for me, and it was non-stop until the end, I can't wait to see what's in store for Alecto and the other snakes in the next book of the trilogy!