Thank you to NetGalley and Xpresso Book Tours for the ARC!

House of Pain is an adult fantasy novel about Alecto Black, a half-witch attending her second year at Venefica Academy in the world of In this. During this school year, Alecto and the other members of her academy house have to partake in the deadly witch games.

"There was not a single day in her life when she didn’t have to fight to prove her own worth. To belong in a world that didn’t want her."

This book felt like the love child of The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina and Euphoria. While I thought the idea and premise of the book were great, it fell a little flat for me, which is a bummer because it had a lot of potential, but I found myself reading to finish rather than to progress the plot.

One of the areas where I feel this book could be more substantial is the world-building. There were so many things about the characters and the academy that I wanted to learn more about. Like what is the significance of each house of students being a different animal? Or the background on why witches hate the mortals and the purpose of the witch games at the academy. The book read more like the second book in a series where the reader is expected to know what all these things mean rather than a first book that is supposed to lay down the foundation of the world we're in.

When I first started reading, I had imagined the witch games to be similar to the Hunger Games or like Harry Potter and the goblet of fire. Instead, the game felt like a slow burn, with each house going about it in its own way. I had a hard time following along with it because I wasn't entirely sure what the end goal of these games was. It was another area where I would have loved to have more context and detail.

The central trope used in this book was an enemies-to-lovers romance between the female and male main character. While I'm a sucker for this trope, I feel it didn't stick with me. The book starts with them being enemies, and I had a hard time understanding why they were enemies until around 50% of the book. And even then, the reason behind them being enemies didn't feel strong enough for the significant actions between the two of them.

A couple of things that I did love, however, were the length of the chapters. Each chapter was around 8-12 minutes long, which made it perfect for reading in small bursts throughout the weeks. I also really loved the illustrations in the book! I loved seeing the artwork of Alecto and Blaze, especially in the way the author pictured them. It added a nice touch to the book!

Overall, the book has an exciting plot and a lot of potential but unfortunately missed the mark with world-building and context.

Every since I first heard about this book, I’ve been interested in reading it. I like the idea of a bully romance set in an academic setting with a lot of magic and competition. I was put off a little bit by the summary mentioning Dramione (bc of the crap JKR has done). Setting that aside, I kept reading and this book had me hooked. It read like a fanfic that you would find on AO3, which I mean in the best way possible, but it held its own. This was a really good quick, spicy, spooky book that was littered with politics and dark academic tropes. This book compares itself to The Atlas Six and Ninth House, and although I’ve not yet read Ninth House, I can say that this book was more of what I was expecting when reading The Atlas Six.

I wanted to enjoy this but just didn't. I've seen this compared to Zodiac Academy, but I hated that series... So if you liked that, you might like this one.

Dark and addictive, Hogworts wouldn't stand a chance against this crew of witches. No one can be trusted and friends are just as bad as enemies, if not worse, yet they somehow manage to keep each other alive. Secrets and suspense to the max, be prepared.

“Karma is a bitch, I suppose.”
Witches didn’t believe in karma. It was a moral thing.
If they did, they would never get a decent night’s sleep.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Karolina Wilde for the opportunity to consume this ARC!

House of Pain is a *DARK* fantasy, appropriately coined “Harry Potter meets Gossip Girl.” Throughout our time at Venefica we follow the half-witch, half-mortal, Alecto Black. There are what seem to be a myriad of houses (I counted seven) in which the college-age students are divided into. There is a huge competition between houses that is the main focus of the plot - there’s betrayal, sex, drugs, and magick…sometimes all at the same time. This book is definitely not for a prude reader: this book is HOT off the presses.

I was captivated by this story - I’ll admit that at first I was a bit overwhelmed by all the specific details and the academic world building along with sex magick from the getgo…but the first 5% of the book definitely sets the tone and the pace for the rest of the book. You will not be bored!! This book is full of twists.

Blaze’s dad and Alecto’s mom were romantic with one another once upon a time and *spoiler alert* that’s definitely a big part of this story - the toxic romance between these two. There is a demon that was summoned early on named “Rogue” who I was really rooting for as the love interest, so I guess I was a bit disappointed when she ends up pining for this extremely horny witch boy haha. I wasn’t really fond of the way Blaze was written, he was a bit cringey to me. I loved when Alecto gave him the business and put him in his place:

“I’m not here to be your play thing when Val or the others aren’t enough to satiate your fucking needs!”

I loved the art work that was sprinkled between the sections. The scene in the bath tub was my favorite.

I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who is into dark acadamia looking for something FUN, fast paced and a little spicy!

I’m not gonna lie, this book had me hooked. It’s described as gothic Harry Potter meets Gossip Girl and I suppose that’s accurate enough with the school of magic, House competitions, rich kids, teenage drama, and romance. It follows Alecto, a half-witch half-mortal at a school of witches who see her as lesser. She’s part of the House of Snakes and is participating in a deadly game against the other Houses while also dealing with her nemesis Blaze Leveau.

What I liked:
- Blaze Leveau. I’d let him ruin my life too.
- The dynamic between Blaze and Alecto. Very angsty/passionate/will they or won’t they with a bit of bullying
- Alecto’s determination and willingness to be ruthless in order to survive
- The dark academia setting
- The spice 🔥
- The dual POV
- The illustrations

What could have been better:
- The writing - some cringey dialogue, modern slang, and excessive swearing for the sake of being edgy/shocking
- The reveal at the end could have been better
- Blaze and Alecto’s back and forth got to be a little too much for me by the end
- I still don’t really know much about the other Houses or the people in them
- The demon Rogue had a lot more potential

Overall the negatives didn’t bother me too much and the story kept me wanting more. I will definitely read the next book! Thank you to Karolina Wilde and NetGalley for the ARC!

This gave me Hunger Games meets Zodiac Academy meets The Craft. The storyline had me hooked the whole time. Lots of action and plot twists!

The enemies-to-lovers-to-enemies scenario between Alecto and Blaze was pretty intense. When they finally came together its was so satisfying. But then they'd fall apart again... it was a vicious cycle but it was so delicious to read.

I really enjoyed the writing style and finished it in about a day. It really kept you wanting more.
I'm really looking forward to seeing what happens next at Venefica Academy!

Make sure that you read and head the trigger warnings!!!! This book was darkly magical and the characters where sexy, I did enjoy this book but needed to step back at times. You must head how you feel when it comes to darker subject matter and even though I was having fun I took breaks to make sure I finished this story.

The spice starts in the very beginning and never lets up 😍

I enjoyed this book a lot more than I thought I was going to. It was pretty well written. The author did a great job of making me love and hate Blaze at the same time. I enjoyed seeing the story from Blaze and Alecto’s POV to really get a look at what was going on in the story.

I wish we could have seen more of Rouge throughout the book. He was pretty absent, only appearing here and there.

The beginning of the book and world building is done very well and feels authentic. There’s not huge info dump that you can get in some fantasy books.

Overall, I would absolutely recommend if you like fantasy and enemies to lovers books.

I wasn’t sure about this book to begin with, but in the end, I really enjoyed it.

House of pain is certainly a very sexy read. I did appreciate the trigger warnings, thankfully I personally never felt it went too far. The colloquial language was sometimes a little much. My main request would be for more background (especially to the setting, but also the characters).

Overall though, I think this book has got that special something. House of pain is definitely one of those fantasy books that you lose yourself in. It kept me interested, I read through it quickly and found it very exciting.

Extreme bully romance
All of the warnings at the beginning are very real. If you have no triggers and like smut this might be a read for you.

I think I’ve never DNFed a book this fast but I just can’t do it. The writing is really not for me, the promise sounded really interesting but the writing just isn’t doing it for me. It’s very vulgar, they only think about drug and sex. Good for them but I can’t read about characters whose only personality trait is thinking about how some dicks felt.
I should have known that it wasn’t going to be for me when Ninth House was renamed The Ninth House in the blurb.

I think the synopsis threw me off, but if you liked zodiac academy I think you’ll like this. The world building was lacking quite a bit, but I’m more of a character girl and I enjoyed the characters and their relationships. I love morally grey characters and boy did this deliver. This was also surprisingly spicy??

First off, thank you so much to #Netgalley, the publisher and especially the author for this ARC!

The base story is compelling but there are a few factors that kept me from rating it higher. The world building needed some work; a lot of things didn't get explained enough and I was left confused or feeling like some detail was just randomly thrown in for the sake of furthering the plot. The parts where there was action or confrontations felt lacking in the buildup and the resolutions would feel rushed. I also feel like some characters were under-utilized and I would have liked to see more of them and learned more about them. Lastly, some of the phrasing didn't seem natural and would cause me to re-read it multiple times.
However, I thought the relationships between the characters were interesting and unique and I found myself liking them despite them having very morally grey personalities. I also like the story itself, it's like a dark academia, anti-hero Harry potter and I find myself wanting to read the next book to see where the story goes. I got the vibe that there might be more layers to the story than we get to see in the first book and I look forward to seeing if that's the case.

A lot could be said about House of Pain, but at the foremost the writing is underdeveloped and comes across as very very immature. Would not recommend for lovers of YA.

3.5⭐️ Rounded up
3🌶
If you’re a fan of Zodiac Academy, you’ll probably like this book. Alecto Black is half-witch half-mortal attending the most prestigious and ruthless school for witches. She’s a legacy in The House of Snakes, which earns her a spot in the inner circle, but doesn’t stop her from needing to prove herself. I wouldn’t say this is quite fully a bully romance, but it’s close. I really enjoyed the magic and witchy aspects of this book, and the spice was pretty good too. However, it could use a lot of editing!! I think it also missed the mark by not exploring more of the characters in the other houses, and hope that it does more of that in book 2. It has so much potential to be great, it just needs a little help to get there.

DNFed at 10%. I tried reading it, but the first four chapters made me so uncomfortable that I had to stop reading it. Everything about it was cringe and I couldn't get through the first four chapters without stopping to take a break, or before I went to bed. It has a good premise, but I just cannot finish reading it.

House of Pain is the perfect blend of Harry Potter, House of Night and a dash of Gossip Girl? I know, weird combo, but hear me out.

Privileged young adults going to a prestigious university to learn more about their magic and to become upstanding members of the magic community when they graduate. The competitive Houses battle it out in "The Game" every year to determine the top House. The premise of the book starts with the determination to win this game and the lengths the young witches are willing to go to get there.

Please check your trigger warnings when reading this book (they are included which is something I always appreciate). There is graphic violence, suggestions of sexual assault, parental abuse (in multiple forms) and bullying. Just to name a few.

There is a lot of sex in this book. But it didn't really ever feel gratuitous. It all played into the plot and made us understand some of the bonds between characters a bit more. The author is self-proclaimed as sex positive, so it's not surprising it's written into the book. Given the fact the sexual fluidity and openness of witches is discussed in multiple points in this book (including the fact one House primarily practices sex magic), it is expected the book would contain a fair amount of sexual acts.

House of Pain has great representation when it comes to gender, sexuality and race. There are both gay and lesbian main characters as well as plenty of indications that some of our characters are bi-sexual. There is non-binary rep as well in one of the characters, with no need for explanation to their preferred pronouns; they/them is just automatically used.

The characters in this book are cruel and vicious but they do have soft sides. Well, most of them. There are buried secrets that they all hide, despite being part of a tight-knit group. Alecto Black (FMC), for example, is a half-witch, half-mortal who has her own secrets that she keeps even from those she is closest to. The romance aspect of this book was great. This was my first experience with a "bully romance" so I'm not sure how they are usually done but I thought it was very well written. The relationship is toxic as hell but yet the gravitational pull the characters have towards each other is undeniable. It was extremely pleasurable to read.

House of Pain was written extremely well overall. It's almost 950 pages and I finished the book in a day. The prose is smooth and easy to read, the dialogue is snappy and holds your interest and the banter between characters is fabulous. The settings are well described without being overly wordy and I was able to easily picture the scenes in my head with no re-reading of passages.

An excellent start to this 3 book trilogy and I'm looking forward to see what the rest of the books bring to the table!

Little bit of Zodiac Academy meets Harry Potter. My only bad comment I will state is, WHY WASN'T THERE MORE ROGUE!!!!

I wanted to enjoy this but felt that what the synopsis was did not fit what I was expecting the book to be.