Bookish Mumma

Okay so now that I’ve done a little check in, how are we all feeling? I’ve had some really great responses to the questions asked over on Instagram (@the_bookish_mumma). This has given me some insight into what some people want to see from me going forward and how to best interact with you. If there is anything more that you want to add, you are always more than welcome! The replies section at the bottom of every post is there for that purpose and my comments on Instagram are always wanting to hear from you. If you’re not wanting something public, you can also send me a DM on Instagram too.

Now, without further ado, we have a new ARC – House of Night by Celia Aaron! I did miss the release day on this one, but that was due to the health issues that I have had as of late. Thankfully, I am now a few days ahead in posts because of the check in. Daily posting shouldn’t be a problem for a while.

If you would like to support a small author or follow along, you can get the book here.

To read any of my previous posts for any previous books, you can find those here.

I also want to add that this ARC is a fair bit darker than anything else that I have read and put here before. As it is described as a horror romance, so keep that in mind and there are the following trigger warnings – Blood, torture, suicide, dub con (dubious content, generally in regards to power imbalance or unclear consent), murder and threatened SA.

If this isn’t content that you feel comfortable or able to engage with, it is okay and valid to not read this particular book’s commentary. I won’t include anything particularly graphic in my posts, so it is somewhat scrubbed, BUT there are still horror themes. I can’t make you do anything that you don’t want to do, nor would I want to either.

“Me.” A weak voice carries from the back of the cage. “Take me.”
Her head snaps toward the sound, and she moves quickly to it. A spider picking it’s way across it’s web.

This imagery is brilliant, I can see this woman’s affect clearly, moving elegantly, but somewhat eerily. I am arachnophobic, so this would scare the hell out of me if she actually was part spider. As a metaphor and a way to draw character, this is very effective.

There wasn’t much here besides imagery of a gruesome cage.

That’s one of our many mistakes. Humanity’s, I mean. We had no grasp on the eternal, didn’t know that endless life was the catalyst for unimaginable cruelty. The sort of malice that, to the vampires, is commonplace.

Once you live forever, mortality loses it’s value and so does pain, I would imagine. Being surprised at the cruelty of those who have millennia to imagine different ways to hurt people, is ignorance in the extreme.

Gregor drums his long fingernails on the arm of his throne. “They’ll run now. Little pigs running and squealing. Filthy beasts. Hunt them down. Drag them from whatever stinking hole they crawl into. Kill them as they killed my son. Kill them all. Spare no one.”

The blind anger at the loss of his son makes sense. The desire to hunt down every human and destroy them, does not. He’s a vampire, he survives off of blood. Although animal blood is an option, something tells me that this high lord wouldn’t stoop to doing that. So hunting down every human to destroy them means that he loses the only food source that he will entertain. I’m not sure of the implications of that yet, but this stands out.

Valen, the monster, turns to me, his form blotting out everything else.
Blue eyes. A glassy, stormy lake, gray clouds overhead. I remember him. We were supposed to work together to find a cure. A sharp stabbing pain lances through my head when I think about it. About my work. I see faces – blue eyes, shaggy hair, a friendly smile, more – but they’re blurry. I know them.

This brings an interesting twist to House of Night that I’m keen to explore. There is mention of a disease of some description. Is that a vampirism disease or something other? Valen is a minotaur, so does the disease turn people into monsters? Or was he a minotaur before, posing the possibility of monsters living alongside humans prior to the vampire take over?

This chapter is a flashback which I strike as being strange; having a chapter to itself when it is a page and a half long. This could have been the beginning of a chapter rather than a whole one. I understand needing to highlight the flashback, but this feels out of place.

“The plague can’t kill every single person on the planet. Nothing can. It would take-“
“The vampires can.” The skin beside his eyes crinkles. He’s smiling. “They can ensure humanity dies.”

Again, if they do that, they lose their best food source. Evolution does happen, sure, but it often takes a very long time to accomplish, even selectively. They may live forever, but what kind of a power vacuum would they create if their strongest members are starving? What kind of power would they have at all?

I have no idea if it’s day or night. It’s discomforting

The best way to make people lose track of time is to take away any method to track it. That’s what casinos do apparently. I’ve been to a casino, but not in about a decade, so I can’t recall. That would definitely be discomforting if you’re in a foreign place where your life is under threat and you have no perception of time.

“You shouldn’t be here.” Valen’s voice, cold and curt.
I look up at him. “No shit.” The words pop out. No filter. No thought. I don’t even have the energy to be startled. If he’s come to kill me, maybe it’s a relief. Maybe… maybe I’m done.

This, as morbid and dire as it may be, is a change from the usual FMC in a dark setting. Usually they are either terrified and try to flee or they fight back. Which seems unrealistic and uncharacteristic of the circumstances in which they are in. Georgia is tired, she’s hurt and she know that there’s nothing she could do if she wanted to. The little resistance she has is in her words and even that isn’t particularly standing out as resistance or biting back.

conclusion

As I said before, House of Night is much darker than I would usually read. There is a lot of gore that I did not and will not include. If those parts are what you would like to read to make the rest of the story make a bit more sense, you are more than welcome to get the book for yourself. As for the content, Celia is very gifted at her imagery. Similar to that of Victoria Aveyard and it was engaging, though confronting. For someone who hasn’t read much horror, this is a big change of page for me and reconciling what I am reading with a real person who imagined and wrote it, is difficult.

I’d also like to know if the horror genre is something that would would like to see more of or if you would just like a review of them instead of the full commentary due to the content. I’m unsure of how much I will be able to include from House of Night to follow previous pattern just due to story content.

As always, if you would like to support a small author or follow along, you can get the book here.

To read any of my previous posts for any previous books, you can find those here.