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House of Hearts
Solving her best friend's murder means infiltrating a secret society, resisting a forbidden love, and running from a vengeful ghost in this sophomore novel by the author of Together We Rot.
Violet Harper knows her best friend was murdered. Even if everyone else has labeled her death a “freak accident,” Vi is sure she’d been trying to tell her something right before she died. Cryptic messages about her friend’s elite boarding school, her whirlwind romance, and the mysterious secret society she was entangled in all point to a more sinister fate.
So, Violet does what no one else seems willing to do: She transfers to the same fancy school to dig into the society’s murky history and find out what really happened to her friend. She knows the truth might not be pretty, but what she doesn’t bargain for is the handsome boy at the center of it all—Calvin Lockwell, the brother of her prime suspect and descendant of the school’s founder. He’s obnoxious and privileged, and Violet can’t deny their haunting attraction. It soon becomes clear his family is hiding a dark secret that may not be of this world, and suddenly Violet’s following her friend’s doomed footsteps down the rabbit hole. Even as details emerge of a deadly curse plaguing the school, she can’t escape her true feelings for Calvin. But loving him may be the last thing she ever does.
Violet Harper knows her best friend was murdered. Even if everyone else has labeled her death a “freak accident,” Vi is sure she’d been trying to tell her something right before she died. Cryptic messages about her friend’s elite boarding school, her whirlwind romance, and the mysterious secret society she was entangled in all point to a more sinister fate.
So, Violet does what no one else seems willing to do: She transfers to the same fancy school to dig into the society’s murky history and find out what really happened to her friend. She knows the truth might not be pretty, but what she doesn’t bargain for is the handsome boy at the center of it all—Calvin Lockwell, the brother of her prime suspect and descendant of the school’s founder. He’s obnoxious and privileged, and Violet can’t deny their haunting attraction. It soon becomes clear his family is hiding a dark secret that may not be of this world, and suddenly Violet’s following her friend’s doomed footsteps down the rabbit hole. Even as details emerge of a deadly curse plaguing the school, she can’t escape her true feelings for Calvin. But loving him may be the last thing she ever does.
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First published September 2, 2025
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About the author
Skyla Arndt
3 books571 followersSkyla Arndt has always loved the creepy, crawly side of life. When she was younger, she thought that love might translate to hunting Bigfoot, but luckily for him, writing proved easier.
You can connect with her on Instagram or Twitter at @arndtskyla. (Howling at the moon works, too.)
You can connect with her on Instagram or Twitter at @arndtskyla. (Howling at the moon works, too.)
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August 6, 2025
・:〃➜ 𝑺𝒑𝒐𝒊𝒍𝒆𝒓 𝑭𝒓𝒆𝒆 𝑹𝒆𝒗𝒊𝒆𝒘 🩸୧ ‧₊˚
🌀𓂃 ࣪˖ 𝘚𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘕𝘦𝘵𝘨𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘈𝘙𝘊 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘪𝘯 𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘯 𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸! ₊˚⊹ ᰔ
๋࣭◞ ‧₊˚.🍷⊹ ࣪ ˖ 𝐇𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐎𝐟 𝐇𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐬 ︶˚ ₊💙‧₊˚. 𝜗𝜚 ◟
₊˚ʚ 🦢ꕀ 𝙧𝙤𝙢𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚: 14+ (𝙠𝙞𝙨𝙨𝙞𝙣𝙜, 𝙞𝙣𝙣𝙪𝙚𝙣𝙙𝙤, 𝙘𝙧𝙪𝙨𝙝𝙚𝙨, 𝙣𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙧𝙡𝙡𝙮 𝙥𝙖𝙨𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩.), 𝙫𝙞𝙤𝙡𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙚: 14+ (𝙗𝙡𝙤𝙤𝙙, 𝙨𝙪𝙞𝙘𝙞𝙙𝙚, 𝙨𝙡𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙜𝙤𝙧𝙚, 𝙨𝙘𝙖𝙧𝙮 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙢𝙚𝙨, 𝙜𝙝𝙤𝙨𝙩𝙨, 𝙥𝙖𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙤𝙧𝙢𝙖𝙡, 𝙢𝙖𝙜𝙞𝙘.), 𝙘𝙪𝙧𝙨𝙞𝙣𝙜: 14+ (𝙛*𝙘𝙠, 𝙨𝙝*𝙩, 𝙖*𝙨, 𝙣𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙤𝙤 𝙚𝙭𝙥𝙡𝙞𝙘𝙞𝙩.) ͡ 💋.ᐟ⋆˚࿔
﹒˚ ₊ ︵﹒⊹ ๑ ︵︵ ๑ ⊹﹒˚ ₊ ︵﹒⊹ ๑ ︵︵ ๑ ⊹﹒︵
now playing: 𝙃𝙤𝙪𝙨𝙚 𝙊𝙛 𝙈𝙚𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙨 🦋 ♬⋆.˚
🤍.°• 𝙋𝙖𝙣𝙞𝙘! 𝘼𝙩 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝘿𝙞𝙨𝙘𝙤
⌞0:51 ——◦———— 3:28⌝
↠ⁿᵉˣᵗ ˢᵒⁿᵍ ↺ ʳᵉᵖᵉᵃᵗ ⊜ ᵖᵃᵘˢᵉ 〜🍒.ᐟ
・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・
꒰💤◞ ₊˚ "𝘽𝙖𝙗𝙮, 𝙬𝙚 𝙗𝙪𝙞𝙡𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙨𝙚 𝙤𝙣 𝙢𝙚𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙨"
♥️‧₊˚ ⋮ WHEN I SAW THIS BOOK THE FIRST THOUGHT THAT CAME TO ME WAS "GASP! This looks like such a intriguing romantasy book!!" and I added this fellow to my ongoing tbr of well over 100 books. WELL JOKES ON ME BECAUSE AFTER READING THIS I REALISED IT IS NOT ROMANTASY!!! This is actually what we would call YA HORROR!!! And you know what? I ACTUALLY ATE THIS UP. I'm usually someone who reads romances, fantasies, princesses, mysteries, but I have never actually read a horror book so this did in fact come as a GUILTY PLEASURE to me. (I mean mystery and horror are basically the same in ways right?! RIGHT?!) I am someone who has always watched those haunted videos on Youtube about ghost encounters and what not, SO THAT JUST MADE THIS EVEN BETTER BECAUSE THIS HAD THOSE THEMES!! I swear the entire time I was reading this I could not help but think that if you watched Sam and Colby you would actually DEVOUR the writing in this. (I do watch them which is PROBABLY WHY I actually felt so intrigued and fascinated by everything going on in this book) AND IF YOU COMBINE THAT WITH A LIL INHERTIANCE GAMES AND A FAMILY ISSUE MMC AND YOU GET A JUICY PLOT AND DRAMA. But alas, not all art is perfection. (Yes I do have issues with this book because I have issues with everything BAHAHHA).
꒰💤◞ ₊˚ "𝙏𝙖𝙠𝙚 𝙢𝙮 𝙥𝙞𝙘𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙚 𝙣𝙤𝙬, 𝙨𝙝𝙖𝙠𝙚 𝙞𝙩 '𝙩𝙞𝙡 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙨𝙚𝙚 𝙞𝙩"
♥️‧₊˚ ⋮ Starting off strong with the plot of the book, we follow our main girl Violet as she gets into the same school her best friend was allegedly killed at in order to get revenge on her killer. (This girl can't let it goooooo!! LET IT GOOOOO CANT HOLD IT BACK ANYMO-) But yeah she is coming here to basically become a killer herself. But that is justified because it is revenge, AND REVENGE ISN'T ILLEGAL GUYS! And of course she suspects the killer is her best friend's boyfriend because its always the man, ALWAYS. So she makes it her life mission to now find him at this school and basically get her revenge on him. (But of course that never happens because otherwise this would be a 100 page book.) BUT CAN WE TALK ABOUT THE AMOUNT OF PLOT TWISTS IN THIS??? Like hellooooo I was gawking at my phone in the car just reading sentences from this book. BUT THAT BRINGS ME TO ONE OF MY ISSUES!!
I hate to be the person to say it but the plot twists felt like they were thrown in along the way while the writer was writing. AND I AM NOT BEING SARCASTIC WHEN I SAY THIS BECAUSE THE SHEER AMOUNT OF CONFUSION I FELT WHILE READING THIS BOOK WAS JUST THE SAME AS I WAS GASPING!!! The writing is very whimsy in a way that sucks you in which is ENTIRELY a good thing. But the problem here is that it became too much for a book so short and when the author was trying to jampack as much plot twists and information in the book as possible, It gets very hard to understand and keep up with at times. AND THE PLOT TWISTS SOMETIMES DIDN'T FEEL RELATED TO THE STORY AT ALL! I feel like if the author had made the book longer and took her time with it a bit, the story could have become more developed and not so chaotic. But I will admit while it didn't completely make the reading experience the best, it was not the worst either at all.
꒰💤◞ ₊˚ "𝘼𝙣𝙙 𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙛𝙖𝙣𝙩𝙖𝙨𝙞𝙚𝙨 𝙗𝙚𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙡𝙚𝙜𝙖𝙘𝙮"
♥️‧₊˚ ⋮ NOW MOVING ON TO THE ROMANCEEEEE!!! This part I loved and hated just like the plot twists. On the positive note, I WAS KICKING MY FEET AND SCREAMING BECAUSE HELLLOOOOO???? Calvin is THE book boyfriend. I literally was cackling myself up at how good his lines were and then feeling so bad for him and his family issues. AT ONE POINT I EVEN HATED HIM BUT WE DO NOT TALK ABOUT THATTTTTT. But I will have to be honest and say that even though the trope in this book was enemies to lovers, IT FELT SO RUSHEEDDDDDD. I was so frustrated that they were already in love by page 120 and I actually wanted more tension and banter. IT KINDA FELT IN A WAY INSTA LOVE BUT NOT REALLY INSTA LOVE. The little bit of banter we got and chemistry was just *chefs kiss* but like I said, THIS BOOK SHOULD HAVE BEEN LONGERRRR.
𓏲 ࣪˖🕯️𓂃 ⌇ 𝑪𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒔 ᰔ 🕸️₊˚⊹
₊˚ ∿🌹𝐕𝐢𝐨𝐥𝐞𝐭: SHE WAS NOT A BAD FMC AT ALL! I felt like once she had her mind set on something she was willing to accomplish it no matter what. And I feel like a lot of people who have experienced grief will be able to relate to her in a lot of ways. There were moments at times where she would be a bit reckless and annoying but overall she wasn't that bad.
₊˚ ∿🌹𝐂𝐚𝐥𝐯𝐢𝐧: UGHHH I LITERALLY LOVED HIM!! He felt like an alternative version of Grayson Hawthorne and I legit ATE IT UP. He had a personality of a "playboy" but I think he would just use that to cover up his actual feelings. AND CAN WE TALK ABOUT HIS FAMILY ISSUES?? Because there is ALOT to unpack there.
₊˚ ∿🌹𝐒𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐞: She lowkey gave off bratty rich counselor vibes I am not gonna lie- I DO NOT THINK SHE WAS A BAD CHARACTER THOOOO!! I do think she would be the type to have a Stanley cup and listen to Madison Beer unironically.
₊˚ ∿🌹𝐁𝐢𝐫𝐝𝐢𝐞: HONESTLY AN ICONNNNN!!! I loved her silly personality so so much. AND HER BEING SINGLE AT THE START IS SO ME COREEEE.
₊˚ ∿🌹𝐀𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫: She was legit the mom of the friend group and I loved her for itttt.
₊˚ ∿🌹𝐓𝐫𝐢𝐩𝐩: LMFAOOOO I LOVED THIS DUDE SO MUCH IT ISN'T EVEN FUNNYYYY!! I think he would be my favorite character of this entire book if I had to pick one because he was literally such a mood.
⊹ ࣪ ˖🌊 AND OF COURSE THERE ARE MORE CHARACTERS IN THIS BOOK!!! (But that is for you to find out babes I am not spoiling them all.)
꒰💤◞ ₊˚ "𝙋𝙧𝙤𝙢𝙞𝙨𝙚 𝙢𝙚 𝙖 𝙥𝙡𝙖𝙘𝙚 𝙞𝙣 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙨𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙢𝙚𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙨"
♥️‧₊˚ ⋮ 𝑶𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒍𝒍:
This book was actually such a fun lil read!! I would say I enjoyed it pretty well and despite the fast pacing issues this book DEVORED! I was definitely left gawking and kicking my feet in the air and if a short fun horror read is what you are looking for THEN THIS WOULD BE A HIT FOR YOU!!
﹒˚ ₊ ︵﹒⊹ ๑ ︵︵ ๑ ⊹﹒˚ ₊ ︵﹒⊹ ๑ ︵︵ ๑ ⊹﹒︵
🩸🌹𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝: AHHHH I GOT THE ARC FOR THISSS!! (Well technically the ARC has been sitting in my approved for over a month now but we don’t talk about that 😣😭) HOPING THIS ONE EATSSS!! The cover is very interesting 😟
🌀𓂃 ࣪˖ 𝘚𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘕𝘦𝘵𝘨𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘈𝘙𝘊 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘪𝘯 𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘯 𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸! ₊˚⊹ ᰔ
๋࣭◞ ‧₊˚.🍷⊹ ࣪ ˖ 𝐇𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐎𝐟 𝐇𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐬 ︶˚ ₊💙‧₊˚. 𝜗𝜚 ◟
₊˚ʚ 🦢ꕀ 𝙧𝙤𝙢𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚: 14+ (𝙠𝙞𝙨𝙨𝙞𝙣𝙜, 𝙞𝙣𝙣𝙪𝙚𝙣𝙙𝙤, 𝙘𝙧𝙪𝙨𝙝𝙚𝙨, 𝙣𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙧𝙡𝙡𝙮 𝙥𝙖𝙨𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩.), 𝙫𝙞𝙤𝙡𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙚: 14+ (𝙗𝙡𝙤𝙤𝙙, 𝙨𝙪𝙞𝙘𝙞𝙙𝙚, 𝙨𝙡𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙜𝙤𝙧𝙚, 𝙨𝙘𝙖𝙧𝙮 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙢𝙚𝙨, 𝙜𝙝𝙤𝙨𝙩𝙨, 𝙥𝙖𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙤𝙧𝙢𝙖𝙡, 𝙢𝙖𝙜𝙞𝙘.), 𝙘𝙪𝙧𝙨𝙞𝙣𝙜: 14+ (𝙛*𝙘𝙠, 𝙨𝙝*𝙩, 𝙖*𝙨, 𝙣𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙤𝙤 𝙚𝙭𝙥𝙡𝙞𝙘𝙞𝙩.) ͡ 💋.ᐟ⋆˚࿔
﹒˚ ₊ ︵﹒⊹ ๑ ︵︵ ๑ ⊹﹒˚ ₊ ︵﹒⊹ ๑ ︵︵ ๑ ⊹﹒︵
now playing: 𝙃𝙤𝙪𝙨𝙚 𝙊𝙛 𝙈𝙚𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙨 🦋 ♬⋆.˚
🤍.°• 𝙋𝙖𝙣𝙞𝙘! 𝘼𝙩 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝘿𝙞𝙨𝙘𝙤
⌞0:51 ——◦———— 3:28⌝
↠ⁿᵉˣᵗ ˢᵒⁿᵍ ↺ ʳᵉᵖᵉᵃᵗ ⊜ ᵖᵃᵘˢᵉ 〜🍒.ᐟ
・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・
꒰💤◞ ₊˚ "𝘽𝙖𝙗𝙮, 𝙬𝙚 𝙗𝙪𝙞𝙡𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙨𝙚 𝙤𝙣 𝙢𝙚𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙨"
♥️‧₊˚ ⋮ WHEN I SAW THIS BOOK THE FIRST THOUGHT THAT CAME TO ME WAS "GASP! This looks like such a intriguing romantasy book!!" and I added this fellow to my ongoing tbr of well over 100 books. WELL JOKES ON ME BECAUSE AFTER READING THIS I REALISED IT IS NOT ROMANTASY!!! This is actually what we would call YA HORROR!!! And you know what? I ACTUALLY ATE THIS UP. I'm usually someone who reads romances, fantasies, princesses, mysteries, but I have never actually read a horror book so this did in fact come as a GUILTY PLEASURE to me. (I mean mystery and horror are basically the same in ways right?! RIGHT?!) I am someone who has always watched those haunted videos on Youtube about ghost encounters and what not, SO THAT JUST MADE THIS EVEN BETTER BECAUSE THIS HAD THOSE THEMES!! I swear the entire time I was reading this I could not help but think that if you watched Sam and Colby you would actually DEVOUR the writing in this. (I do watch them which is PROBABLY WHY I actually felt so intrigued and fascinated by everything going on in this book) AND IF YOU COMBINE THAT WITH A LIL INHERTIANCE GAMES AND A FAMILY ISSUE MMC AND YOU GET A JUICY PLOT AND DRAMA. But alas, not all art is perfection. (Yes I do have issues with this book because I have issues with everything BAHAHHA).
꒰💤◞ ₊˚ "𝙏𝙖𝙠𝙚 𝙢𝙮 𝙥𝙞𝙘𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙚 𝙣𝙤𝙬, 𝙨𝙝𝙖𝙠𝙚 𝙞𝙩 '𝙩𝙞𝙡 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙨𝙚𝙚 𝙞𝙩"
♥️‧₊˚ ⋮ Starting off strong with the plot of the book, we follow our main girl Violet as she gets into the same school her best friend was allegedly killed at in order to get revenge on her killer. (This girl can't let it goooooo!! LET IT GOOOOO CANT HOLD IT BACK ANYMO-) But yeah she is coming here to basically become a killer herself. But that is justified because it is revenge, AND REVENGE ISN'T ILLEGAL GUYS! And of course she suspects the killer is her best friend's boyfriend because its always the man, ALWAYS. So she makes it her life mission to now find him at this school and basically get her revenge on him. (But of course that never happens because otherwise this would be a 100 page book.) BUT CAN WE TALK ABOUT THE AMOUNT OF PLOT TWISTS IN THIS??? Like hellooooo I was gawking at my phone in the car just reading sentences from this book. BUT THAT BRINGS ME TO ONE OF MY ISSUES!!
I hate to be the person to say it but the plot twists felt like they were thrown in along the way while the writer was writing. AND I AM NOT BEING SARCASTIC WHEN I SAY THIS BECAUSE THE SHEER AMOUNT OF CONFUSION I FELT WHILE READING THIS BOOK WAS JUST THE SAME AS I WAS GASPING!!! The writing is very whimsy in a way that sucks you in which is ENTIRELY a good thing. But the problem here is that it became too much for a book so short and when the author was trying to jampack as much plot twists and information in the book as possible, It gets very hard to understand and keep up with at times. AND THE PLOT TWISTS SOMETIMES DIDN'T FEEL RELATED TO THE STORY AT ALL! I feel like if the author had made the book longer and took her time with it a bit, the story could have become more developed and not so chaotic. But I will admit while it didn't completely make the reading experience the best, it was not the worst either at all.
꒰💤◞ ₊˚ "𝘼𝙣𝙙 𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙛𝙖𝙣𝙩𝙖𝙨𝙞𝙚𝙨 𝙗𝙚𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙡𝙚𝙜𝙖𝙘𝙮"
♥️‧₊˚ ⋮ NOW MOVING ON TO THE ROMANCEEEEE!!! This part I loved and hated just like the plot twists. On the positive note, I WAS KICKING MY FEET AND SCREAMING BECAUSE HELLLOOOOO???? Calvin is THE book boyfriend. I literally was cackling myself up at how good his lines were and then feeling so bad for him and his family issues. AT ONE POINT I EVEN HATED HIM BUT WE DO NOT TALK ABOUT THATTTTTT. But I will have to be honest and say that even though the trope in this book was enemies to lovers, IT FELT SO RUSHEEDDDDDD. I was so frustrated that they were already in love by page 120 and I actually wanted more tension and banter. IT KINDA FELT IN A WAY INSTA LOVE BUT NOT REALLY INSTA LOVE. The little bit of banter we got and chemistry was just *chefs kiss* but like I said, THIS BOOK SHOULD HAVE BEEN LONGERRRR.
𓏲 ࣪˖🕯️𓂃 ⌇ 𝑪𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒔 ᰔ 🕸️₊˚⊹
₊˚ ∿🌹𝐕𝐢𝐨𝐥𝐞𝐭: SHE WAS NOT A BAD FMC AT ALL! I felt like once she had her mind set on something she was willing to accomplish it no matter what. And I feel like a lot of people who have experienced grief will be able to relate to her in a lot of ways. There were moments at times where she would be a bit reckless and annoying but overall she wasn't that bad.
₊˚ ∿🌹𝐂𝐚𝐥𝐯𝐢𝐧: UGHHH I LITERALLY LOVED HIM!! He felt like an alternative version of Grayson Hawthorne and I legit ATE IT UP. He had a personality of a "playboy" but I think he would just use that to cover up his actual feelings. AND CAN WE TALK ABOUT HIS FAMILY ISSUES?? Because there is ALOT to unpack there.
₊˚ ∿🌹𝐒𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐞: She lowkey gave off bratty rich counselor vibes I am not gonna lie- I DO NOT THINK SHE WAS A BAD CHARACTER THOOOO!! I do think she would be the type to have a Stanley cup and listen to Madison Beer unironically.
₊˚ ∿🌹𝐁𝐢𝐫𝐝𝐢𝐞: HONESTLY AN ICONNNNN!!! I loved her silly personality so so much. AND HER BEING SINGLE AT THE START IS SO ME COREEEE.
₊˚ ∿🌹𝐀𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫: She was legit the mom of the friend group and I loved her for itttt.
₊˚ ∿🌹𝐓𝐫𝐢𝐩𝐩: LMFAOOOO I LOVED THIS DUDE SO MUCH IT ISN'T EVEN FUNNYYYY!! I think he would be my favorite character of this entire book if I had to pick one because he was literally such a mood.
⊹ ࣪ ˖🌊 AND OF COURSE THERE ARE MORE CHARACTERS IN THIS BOOK!!! (But that is for you to find out babes I am not spoiling them all.)
꒰💤◞ ₊˚ "𝙋𝙧𝙤𝙢𝙞𝙨𝙚 𝙢𝙚 𝙖 𝙥𝙡𝙖𝙘𝙚 𝙞𝙣 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙨𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙢𝙚𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙨"
♥️‧₊˚ ⋮ 𝑶𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒍𝒍:
This book was actually such a fun lil read!! I would say I enjoyed it pretty well and despite the fast pacing issues this book DEVORED! I was definitely left gawking and kicking my feet in the air and if a short fun horror read is what you are looking for THEN THIS WOULD BE A HIT FOR YOU!!
﹒˚ ₊ ︵﹒⊹ ๑ ︵︵ ๑ ⊹﹒˚ ₊ ︵﹒⊹ ๑ ︵︵ ๑ ⊹﹒︵
🩸🌹𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝: AHHHH I GOT THE ARC FOR THISSS!! (Well technically the ARC has been sitting in my approved for over a month now but we don’t talk about that 😣😭) HOPING THIS ONE EATSSS!! The cover is very interesting 😟
November 25, 2025
This book is magically amazing 🥹♥️
It’s such a fast-paced, enchanting read. From the very beginning until the very end, it kept me completely hooked. It felt so refreshing that when I finished it, I was grinning widely, feeling so happy, so full, and so refreshed 🥹🫶
If you’re a fan of YA romance, dark academia, and Wednesday Addams vibes, you definitely need to read this 🙂↕️♥️
At first, it gave me Nightshade vibes, but then it shifted into full-on Wednesday Addams energy 🤭 And honestly??? It’s sooo good. The concept, the storyline, the plot—everything was really well done and kept me completely interested.
And the romance… omg. SOOO lovely and good 🥹🥹 I’m still blushing and giggling. I need a guy like Calvin 😔
Calvin is literally the best character. He’s now on my “favorite fictional men” unlimited list 🤭 His comments had me giggling and blushing nonstop. He’s perfect for Violet 🥹 Their moments together?? Amazing. It’s the kind of challenging romance that makes you root for them so hard 🫂 And I loved how Miss Author started and ended their interaction in the same place 🥹🤭 Even the dialogues… OMG THE BEST PART 🥹🫶
Violet is such a savage, funny, deeply emotional character 🥹🫂 My girl deserves all the happiness, and she finally gets it in the form of Calvin 🥹♥️🫶 Everything she did for her best friend Em really tore me up, especially the last part 🥹🫶 All the challenges she faced for her were so impressive 🙂↕️ And the way she solved the mystery?? Obsessed. I love her so much.
Even the side characters were sooo good. I enjoyed every part of this book. I lowk wanna read about the side characters too 🥹 Their bonds were so complex yet perfect 🫂
Eeeep!!! I’m so happy for everyone. This book was truly amazing, and I loved how Miss Author portrayed everything ♥️
Yep, that’s it guys. Love y’all 🫶♥️
————————————————
˗ˏˋ ♡ ˎˊ˗ pre-read ˗ˏˋ ♡ ˎˊ˗
I’m so excited to buddy read this with my cutie Anna Jane 🤭♥️ Also… hello??? That cover??? It’s insanely good omg 👀 And you’re telling me it’s YA, Dark Academia, Gothic, Romance, Mystery, Fantasy, AND Horror??? Yes, I’m absolutely sold 🙂↕️
P.S. MY EXAMS ARE OFFICIALLY OVER 🥳🥳🤭
It’s such a fast-paced, enchanting read. From the very beginning until the very end, it kept me completely hooked. It felt so refreshing that when I finished it, I was grinning widely, feeling so happy, so full, and so refreshed 🥹🫶
If you’re a fan of YA romance, dark academia, and Wednesday Addams vibes, you definitely need to read this 🙂↕️♥️
At first, it gave me Nightshade vibes, but then it shifted into full-on Wednesday Addams energy 🤭 And honestly??? It’s sooo good. The concept, the storyline, the plot—everything was really well done and kept me completely interested.
And the romance… omg. SOOO lovely and good 🥹🥹 I’m still blushing and giggling. I need a guy like Calvin 😔
Calvin is literally the best character. He’s now on my “favorite fictional men” unlimited list 🤭 His comments had me giggling and blushing nonstop. He’s perfect for Violet 🥹 Their moments together?? Amazing. It’s the kind of challenging romance that makes you root for them so hard 🫂 And I loved how Miss Author started and ended their interaction in the same place 🥹🤭 Even the dialogues… OMG THE BEST PART 🥹🫶
Violet is such a savage, funny, deeply emotional character 🥹🫂 My girl deserves all the happiness, and she finally gets it in the form of Calvin 🥹♥️🫶 Everything she did for her best friend Em really tore me up, especially the last part 🥹🫶 All the challenges she faced for her were so impressive 🙂↕️ And the way she solved the mystery?? Obsessed. I love her so much.
Even the side characters were sooo good. I enjoyed every part of this book. I lowk wanna read about the side characters too 🥹 Their bonds were so complex yet perfect 🫂
Eeeep!!! I’m so happy for everyone. This book was truly amazing, and I loved how Miss Author portrayed everything ♥️
Yep, that’s it guys. Love y’all 🫶♥️
————————————————
˗ˏˋ ♡ ˎˊ˗ pre-read ˗ˏˋ ♡ ˎˊ˗
I’m so excited to buddy read this with my cutie Anna Jane 🤭♥️ Also… hello??? That cover??? It’s insanely good omg 👀 And you’re telling me it’s YA, Dark Academia, Gothic, Romance, Mystery, Fantasy, AND Horror??? Yes, I’m absolutely sold 🙂↕️
P.S. MY EXAMS ARE OFFICIALLY OVER 🥳🥳🤭
September 2, 2025
✨ HAPPY PUBLISHING DAY!!!! ✨
April 20, 2025 Review:
This book was great! I loved every minute of reading it! The cover is beautiful as well. This is in the young adult fictional genre, but can be read by adults as well. This is a dark gothic romance novel that captivated my attention in the very first chapter. It also comes with horror and mystery! I was fully immersed while reading this story because of how adventurous and captivating it was! It had vivid descriptions, a clear thesis and included diverse characters.
“House of Hearts” is about a girl named Violet who is out to revenge for her friend’s murder! It is set in an elite boarding school, where her friend was murdered. Violet transferred to this school her senior year. She is on a mission to discover what really happened to her friend. During her mission, she ends up meeting someone special during her stay at this elite school. His name is Calvin, who is the brother’s suspect in the murder! This dark academia book does not disappoint and I can see this becoming a movie! Be sure to read the content warnings. Overall, I give this a solid 5 out of 5 stars!
Thank you to NetGalley, author Skyla Arndt and
PENGUIN GROUP Penguin Young Readers Group | Viking Books for Young Readers for this digital advanced reader’s copy of this book in exchange for my honest review! All thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.
This is expected to be published on September 2, 2025!
April 20, 2025 Review:
This book was great! I loved every minute of reading it! The cover is beautiful as well. This is in the young adult fictional genre, but can be read by adults as well. This is a dark gothic romance novel that captivated my attention in the very first chapter. It also comes with horror and mystery! I was fully immersed while reading this story because of how adventurous and captivating it was! It had vivid descriptions, a clear thesis and included diverse characters.
“House of Hearts” is about a girl named Violet who is out to revenge for her friend’s murder! It is set in an elite boarding school, where her friend was murdered. Violet transferred to this school her senior year. She is on a mission to discover what really happened to her friend. During her mission, she ends up meeting someone special during her stay at this elite school. His name is Calvin, who is the brother’s suspect in the murder! This dark academia book does not disappoint and I can see this becoming a movie! Be sure to read the content warnings. Overall, I give this a solid 5 out of 5 stars!
Thank you to NetGalley, author Skyla Arndt and
PENGUIN GROUP Penguin Young Readers Group | Viking Books for Young Readers for this digital advanced reader’s copy of this book in exchange for my honest review! All thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.
This is expected to be published on September 2, 2025!
August 6, 2025
Oh boy! Can we all agree that this book’s cover deserves to be framed and hung on our walls? It's absolutely stunning—so mesmerizing that you’ll want to pause your screen time just to stare at it. Gorgeous doesn’t even begin to cover it!
Now let’s talk about what’s inside—and wow, what a deliciously dark, twisty ride! With its captivating blend of dark academia, murder mystery, ghostly hauntings, ancient curses, forbidden love, and paranormal romance, this book is the ultimate recipe for a thrilling, gothic page-turner that grabs you from the very first line.
We follow Violet Harper, a scholarship student who’s just landed a spot at an elite academy typically reserved for the ultra-wealthy. But Violet isn’t just here for education—she has a hidden mission: uncover the truth behind the mysterious death of Emoree, a fellow student who allegedly jumped from the clock tower. Violet doesn’t buy the suicide story, especially when Perceval, the headmistress’s son and Emoree’s boyfriend, suspiciously disappears from campus.
As Violet digs deeper, she finds herself pulled into the orbit of Calvin Lockwell, the enigmatic and brooding younger brother of Perceval. Her investigation leads her straight into a secret society at the academy, made up of its most powerful students, and soon Violet discovers that the school is hiding much more than just a cover-up. There’s a chilling family curse tied to the Lockwell bloodline, and to solve it, Violet must team up with Calvin—whether she trusts him or not.
Oh, and did I mention there’s an actual ghost? Yes! The vengeful spirit of Anastasia Hart, a once-betrayed soul with a bleeding heart (literally and metaphorically), roams the academy grounds, adding a delicious layer of gothic horror to the already tangled web of lies and secrets.
While the pacing dips a little in the middle, the unraveling of mysteries—from Violet’s personal losses to Emoree’s demise and the truth behind the Lockwell curse—builds into an emotionally satisfying and action-packed climax. And let’s not forget the slow-burn romance! The chemistry between Violet and Calvin crackles with intensity, complicated by the very curse they’re trying to break.
Overall: this is a fast-paced, atmospheric, emotionally rich read that combines romance, danger, secrets, and supernatural thrills in one addictive package. If you love your mysteries with a side of ghosts and forbidden attraction, don’t miss this one!
A very big thanks to NetGalley and PENGUIN GROUP Penguin Young Readers Group / Viking Books for Young Readers for sharing this alluring digital ARC with me in exchange for my honest thoughts. I can’t wait to see what this author writes next!
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Now let’s talk about what’s inside—and wow, what a deliciously dark, twisty ride! With its captivating blend of dark academia, murder mystery, ghostly hauntings, ancient curses, forbidden love, and paranormal romance, this book is the ultimate recipe for a thrilling, gothic page-turner that grabs you from the very first line.
We follow Violet Harper, a scholarship student who’s just landed a spot at an elite academy typically reserved for the ultra-wealthy. But Violet isn’t just here for education—she has a hidden mission: uncover the truth behind the mysterious death of Emoree, a fellow student who allegedly jumped from the clock tower. Violet doesn’t buy the suicide story, especially when Perceval, the headmistress’s son and Emoree’s boyfriend, suspiciously disappears from campus.
As Violet digs deeper, she finds herself pulled into the orbit of Calvin Lockwell, the enigmatic and brooding younger brother of Perceval. Her investigation leads her straight into a secret society at the academy, made up of its most powerful students, and soon Violet discovers that the school is hiding much more than just a cover-up. There’s a chilling family curse tied to the Lockwell bloodline, and to solve it, Violet must team up with Calvin—whether she trusts him or not.
Oh, and did I mention there’s an actual ghost? Yes! The vengeful spirit of Anastasia Hart, a once-betrayed soul with a bleeding heart (literally and metaphorically), roams the academy grounds, adding a delicious layer of gothic horror to the already tangled web of lies and secrets.
While the pacing dips a little in the middle, the unraveling of mysteries—from Violet’s personal losses to Emoree’s demise and the truth behind the Lockwell curse—builds into an emotionally satisfying and action-packed climax. And let’s not forget the slow-burn romance! The chemistry between Violet and Calvin crackles with intensity, complicated by the very curse they’re trying to break.
Overall: this is a fast-paced, atmospheric, emotionally rich read that combines romance, danger, secrets, and supernatural thrills in one addictive package. If you love your mysteries with a side of ghosts and forbidden attraction, don’t miss this one!
A very big thanks to NetGalley and PENGUIN GROUP Penguin Young Readers Group / Viking Books for Young Readers for sharing this alluring digital ARC with me in exchange for my honest thoughts. I can’t wait to see what this author writes next!
medium.com
November 21, 2025
*Many thanks to NetGalley for providing me an E-Arc in exchange for an honest review!*
Another one of my big anticipated reads this year. I’m so glad to say it delivered exactly the dark, enchanting vibes I was hoping for. Skyla Arndt creates such a haunting atmosphere that you feel pulled straight into the heart of the story — eerie, emotional, and beautifully immersive.
The world-building is rich without ever feeling heavy, and the characters are wonderfully complex, each carrying secrets that make the unraveling feel deliciously tense. I loved how the mystery and emotion intertwined, keeping me hooked from start to finish.
Overall, House of Hearts lived up to the hype for me — atmospheric, gripping, and full of heart (in every sense). A standout read that absolutely earned its spot on my anticipated list.
_________________
Set in elite boarding school? YA romantic horror? Dark academia? Ninth House meets A Study in Drowning?
________________
AAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!! I have the arc!!!!!!!
_______________
I already know what my most anticipated of 2025 read is!!!
Update: I only got a couple of days left till i have access to to my arc. I really really hope I’ll be able to finish it by then, despite being v sick. 😖
Another one of my big anticipated reads this year. I’m so glad to say it delivered exactly the dark, enchanting vibes I was hoping for. Skyla Arndt creates such a haunting atmosphere that you feel pulled straight into the heart of the story — eerie, emotional, and beautifully immersive.
The world-building is rich without ever feeling heavy, and the characters are wonderfully complex, each carrying secrets that make the unraveling feel deliciously tense. I loved how the mystery and emotion intertwined, keeping me hooked from start to finish.
Overall, House of Hearts lived up to the hype for me — atmospheric, gripping, and full of heart (in every sense). A standout read that absolutely earned its spot on my anticipated list.
_________________
Set in elite boarding school? YA romantic horror? Dark academia? Ninth House meets A Study in Drowning?
________________
AAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!! I have the arc!!!!!!!
_______________
I already know what my most anticipated of 2025 read is!!!
Update: I only got a couple of days left till i have access to to my arc. I really really hope I’ll be able to finish it by then, despite being v sick. 😖
December 21, 2025
Thank you Netgalley and PENGUIN GROUP Penguin Young Readers Group/ Viking Books for Young Readers for an ARC of this book!!
🌟3.5🌟
I have a really weird habit of critiquing a book more when I actually really love it.
And I do usually always state this is the case beforehand so there's no confusion.
This is going to be one of those books.
I absolutely LOVED this book and it's an absolutely PERFECT spooky season read for those who love a Dark Academia, a good ole fashioned ghost story, love triangles, Friendship strong enough to carry through to the afterlife, and curses that expand generations. This scratches all those itches.
The atmosphere is gothic, lush, and absolutely beautiful.
Now her comes my whining 🤸🏼♀️🤸🏼♀️🤸🏼♀️. I just wanted MORE in certain places.. like picture Augustus Gloop in the chocolate river, THAT level of "more"....To put it simply as much as I love a good YA book I wish this wasn't one. 🫣 I would have LOVED more pining, yearning, chasing,and depth between the MMC & FMC. Because I really felt like they were a good match for one another. So personally I would have loved to see what that great connection looked like on deeper levels.
I also really loved the curse aspect. It fit really well to the story and the setting. I maybe wish there was more of a conspiracy to it tho or it took them longer to piece everything together. maybe with some red herrings, but again, only because I loved it so much.
I also wish it took longer to convince out FMC that ghost could be playing a role. Why again? You guessed it, because I loved those parts so much. It just seemed like one minute she didn't believe and then bippity boppity boo she just did. And those scenes were written SO well! Very creepy, very descriptive, definitely a big part of what made this book great. So, yes, obviously my glutinous self wanted moreeeeeeee
And again I really think it's worth noting just how beautiful a lot of the scenes are in this book! The ball room scene!? 😮🫢 I'm OBSESSED! absolutely GORGEOUS! 😭
This is definitely a book I loved, definitely one I would recommend, and one I will be buying.... I just wish it was like.. 800 pages lol 🫣😅🫠🫶🏼
Until next time,
Hades
🩵
🌟3.5🌟
I have a really weird habit of critiquing a book more when I actually really love it.
And I do usually always state this is the case beforehand so there's no confusion.
This is going to be one of those books.
I absolutely LOVED this book and it's an absolutely PERFECT spooky season read for those who love a Dark Academia, a good ole fashioned ghost story, love triangles, Friendship strong enough to carry through to the afterlife, and curses that expand generations. This scratches all those itches.
The atmosphere is gothic, lush, and absolutely beautiful.
Now her comes my whining 🤸🏼♀️🤸🏼♀️🤸🏼♀️. I just wanted MORE in certain places.. like picture Augustus Gloop in the chocolate river, THAT level of "more"....To put it simply as much as I love a good YA book I wish this wasn't one. 🫣 I would have LOVED more pining, yearning, chasing,and depth between the MMC & FMC. Because I really felt like they were a good match for one another. So personally I would have loved to see what that great connection looked like on deeper levels.
I also really loved the curse aspect. It fit really well to the story and the setting. I maybe wish there was more of a conspiracy to it tho or it took them longer to piece everything together. maybe with some red herrings, but again, only because I loved it so much.
I also wish it took longer to convince out FMC that ghost could be playing a role. Why again? You guessed it, because I loved those parts so much. It just seemed like one minute she didn't believe and then bippity boppity boo she just did. And those scenes were written SO well! Very creepy, very descriptive, definitely a big part of what made this book great. So, yes, obviously my glutinous self wanted moreeeeeeee
And again I really think it's worth noting just how beautiful a lot of the scenes are in this book! The ball room scene!? 😮🫢 I'm OBSESSED! absolutely GORGEOUS! 😭
This is definitely a book I loved, definitely one I would recommend, and one I will be buying.... I just wish it was like.. 800 pages lol 🫣😅🫠🫶🏼
Until next time,
Hades
🩵
November 25, 2025
❥ 3,75✯
"𝐸𝑚 𝑠𝑎𝑖𝑑 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑦 𝑏𝑎𝑑 ℎ𝑎𝑑 𝑡𝑜 ℎ𝑎𝑝𝑝𝑒𝑛 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑔ℎ𝑜𝑠𝑡𝑠 𝑡𝑜 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑏𝑎𝑐𝑘, 𝑏𝑢𝑡 𝑛𝑜𝑤 𝐼 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑙𝑖𝑧𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑎𝑏𝑠𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑚 𝑖𝑠𝑛’𝑡 𝑎 𝑑𝑒𝑛𝑖𝑎𝑙 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑟 𝑒𝑥𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑒. 𝐼𝑡’𝑠 𝑎 𝑠𝑦𝑚𝑏𝑜𝑙 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑟 𝑝𝑒𝑎𝑐𝑒."
Honestly, this was good. The story starts off simple and easy to follow, but it carries this dark, mysterious atmosphere from the very beginning. It’s also fast-paced and short — which, sadly, made it lack depth in the romance between Violet and Calvin. Everything moved too quickly for me to fully connect with their relationship. 🗿
I really loved Violet and her fierce loyalty to her best friend. Her determination to uncover the truth no matter what kept the story on track. She’s strong, brave, and genuinely smart — never boring or flat in any way. ❤️
Calvin, on the other hand, is a “playboy” only because he was terrified of showing his real feelings. And honestly, that’s a lot to handle, especially with the curse haunting his family. But when it comes to soulmates… there’s really no other fate. Ooh, and his aggressive flirting?? Definitely genetic 😅
Now, the paranormal element was actually fun rather than scary — mostly because I kept imagining it in a funny way in my head. But what truly stood out to me, the part I was most invested in, was the story of Anastasia, Helen, and Oleander. I kept feeling like there had to be a hidden truth, and there was no way Anastasia cursed the whole family out of pure evil. I felt so bad for her, and I was genuinely happy when those beliefs about her were finally corrected. They treated her like she is a monster to scare children, and that hit harder than I expected. (I won’t say more to avoid spoilers, but this part is the emotional punch you won’t see coming — and it will definitely hurt ) 🥺
𝑂𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑙𝑙, a dark, fast, emotional little story that surprised me more than I thought it would. 🃏🩸
╰┈➤ˎˊ˗ 𝐏𝐫𝐞-𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝🩸
My mood right now? Dark academia + family issues + revenge. And this book checks all the boxes. Also that cover?? I’m already obsessed 🤍🃏
"𝐸𝑚 𝑠𝑎𝑖𝑑 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑦 𝑏𝑎𝑑 ℎ𝑎𝑑 𝑡𝑜 ℎ𝑎𝑝𝑝𝑒𝑛 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑔ℎ𝑜𝑠𝑡𝑠 𝑡𝑜 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑏𝑎𝑐𝑘, 𝑏𝑢𝑡 𝑛𝑜𝑤 𝐼 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑙𝑖𝑧𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑎𝑏𝑠𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑚 𝑖𝑠𝑛’𝑡 𝑎 𝑑𝑒𝑛𝑖𝑎𝑙 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑟 𝑒𝑥𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑒. 𝐼𝑡’𝑠 𝑎 𝑠𝑦𝑚𝑏𝑜𝑙 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑟 𝑝𝑒𝑎𝑐𝑒."
Honestly, this was good. The story starts off simple and easy to follow, but it carries this dark, mysterious atmosphere from the very beginning. It’s also fast-paced and short — which, sadly, made it lack depth in the romance between Violet and Calvin. Everything moved too quickly for me to fully connect with their relationship. 🗿
I really loved Violet and her fierce loyalty to her best friend. Her determination to uncover the truth no matter what kept the story on track. She’s strong, brave, and genuinely smart — never boring or flat in any way. ❤️
Calvin, on the other hand, is a “playboy” only because he was terrified of showing his real feelings. And honestly, that’s a lot to handle, especially with the curse haunting his family. But when it comes to soulmates… there’s really no other fate. Ooh, and his aggressive flirting?? Definitely genetic 😅
Now, the paranormal element was actually fun rather than scary — mostly because I kept imagining it in a funny way in my head. But what truly stood out to me, the part I was most invested in, was the story of Anastasia, Helen, and Oleander. I kept feeling like there had to be a hidden truth, and there was no way Anastasia cursed the whole family out of pure evil. I felt so bad for her, and I was genuinely happy when those beliefs about her were finally corrected. They treated her like she is a monster to scare children, and that hit harder than I expected. (I won’t say more to avoid spoilers, but this part is the emotional punch you won’t see coming — and it will definitely hurt ) 🥺
𝑂𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑙𝑙, a dark, fast, emotional little story that surprised me more than I thought it would. 🃏🩸
╰┈➤ˎˊ˗ 𝐏𝐫𝐞-𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝🩸
My mood right now? Dark academia + family issues + revenge. And this book checks all the boxes. Also that cover?? I’m already obsessed 🤍🃏
August 13, 2025
I've read from this author before and I enjoyed her debut, but unfortunately I liked the rotting-forest-rotting-people vibes of her first book way better than the family-curse-gothic-romance vibes that I got here. I was intrigued by the premise and by the swoon-worthy cover, but overall I don't really know what to make of this story. The book follows Violet Harper as she joins the fancy Hart Academy with the goal of avenging the death of her best friend. Violet knows that her death was neither an accident nor a suicide, and she is convinced that the son of the headmistress murdered her. She plans to find out what actually happened and to get close to the people who might have been involved, and so Violet joins a secret society – let's be real, it's an after-school club - on campus. I was ready for a revenge story, but it just never turned into one. Violet gains new information pretty early on and from that point forward the book is about breaking a lethal family curse and freeing the ghosts that come along with it. Because of that the school setting didn't really make sense to me, but I guess it was chosen to bring in a whole bunch of teen characters. Which brings me to arguably the biggest problem I had with this book: the characters. Violet was fine, but everyone else was unbearable. We have Calvin, her love interest, first introduced as a player with an enormous ego, but Violet can see his true self after a week or so and then they are *soulmates*. I know that it's part of the whole family curse situation, but there is something so silly about these teenagers being soulmates, I could not take it seriously. In addition to that there were many other unserious characters. Violet's roommate Birdie for instance. Her main character trait is quirkiness and I think the author was going for a Wednesday/Enid constellation, but it was honestly so cringe. In general all the characters act way to close for only knowing each other for a week or so. Like, Birdie is really upset that Violet didn't tell her about her dead best friend after they've met seven whole days ago. Come on.
I'm sounding like the biggest hater in the world so far, but there are also some things that I liked about this book. There was a strong gothic atmosphere and great fall vibes and the supernatural side of the plot was good too. It's a fast-moving story, although a bit anticlimactic in the end. I just really couldn't deal with the majority of the characters and with the romance, which is kind of necessary to enjoy this story in my opinion. I can see other readers liking it, though. Regarding the pitch: it's more on the A Study in Drowning side with the romance while the Ninth House comparison was made up for dramatic effect, I guess. 2.5 stars.
(And unrelated to anything, but there was exactly one character birthday date mentioned in this book and it also happens to be my birthday and that was very weird. What are the chances? Is it a message from these ghosts?)
Huge thanks to NetGalley and Viking Books for Young Readers for providing a digital arc in exchange for an honest review.
I'm sounding like the biggest hater in the world so far, but there are also some things that I liked about this book. There was a strong gothic atmosphere and great fall vibes and the supernatural side of the plot was good too. It's a fast-moving story, although a bit anticlimactic in the end. I just really couldn't deal with the majority of the characters and with the romance, which is kind of necessary to enjoy this story in my opinion. I can see other readers liking it, though. Regarding the pitch: it's more on the A Study in Drowning side with the romance while the Ninth House comparison was made up for dramatic effect, I guess. 2.5 stars.
(And unrelated to anything, but there was exactly one character birthday date mentioned in this book and it also happens to be my birthday and that was very weird. What are the chances? Is it a message from these ghosts?)
Huge thanks to NetGalley and Viking Books for Young Readers for providing a digital arc in exchange for an honest review.
April 21, 2025
Violet’s best friend dies, but she’s convinced it was murder. So she transfers to the elite boarding school her friend attended to uncover the truth and make the guilty pay. But her attention quickly shifts to the handsome brother of the prime suspect—who also happens to be the headmistress’s son.
Let’s start with the good stuff. I really enjoyed the first part of the book: the eerie, mysterious, gothic vibe was excellent. Calvin is a broody, grumpy hero with a reputation as a seducer. The heroine is smart and confident, unafraid to take risks. There were genuinely chilling moments that gave me goosebumps. The secret society, the playing cards, the family curse—it was all so intriguing. It also had some Alice in Wonderland vibes. And that cover? Absolutely stunning!
However, the story moved a bit too fast, and I felt it lacked detail—I had to fill in some gaps myself. I also wanted more chemistry between the main characters. Even after finishing, I still had a few unanswered questions. The book felt a bit too short, and the ending didn’t quite live up to my expectations.
Despite all its flaws, I believe it's a good representative of the genre.
𝐓𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐬:
✓dark academia
✓hate to love
✓Alice in Wonderland vibes
✓secret society
✓forbidden love
✓soulmate curses
Thank you to NetGalley and PENGUIN GROUP Penguin Young Readers Group (Viking Books for Young Readers) for the ARC in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.
Let’s start with the good stuff. I really enjoyed the first part of the book: the eerie, mysterious, gothic vibe was excellent. Calvin is a broody, grumpy hero with a reputation as a seducer. The heroine is smart and confident, unafraid to take risks. There were genuinely chilling moments that gave me goosebumps. The secret society, the playing cards, the family curse—it was all so intriguing. It also had some Alice in Wonderland vibes. And that cover? Absolutely stunning!
However, the story moved a bit too fast, and I felt it lacked detail—I had to fill in some gaps myself. I also wanted more chemistry between the main characters. Even after finishing, I still had a few unanswered questions. The book felt a bit too short, and the ending didn’t quite live up to my expectations.
Despite all its flaws, I believe it's a good representative of the genre.
𝐓𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐬:
✓dark academia
✓hate to love
✓Alice in Wonderland vibes
✓secret society
✓forbidden love
✓soulmate curses
Thank you to NetGalley and PENGUIN GROUP Penguin Young Readers Group (Viking Books for Young Readers) for the ARC in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.
Read
April 21, 20253.5 stars rounded up
pub date: september 2, 2025
features-
♠ YA
♛ thriller
♠ paranormal (ghosts, etc.)
♛ familial curse
♠ dark academia
♛ fantasy
♠ overview ♠
house of hearts is a young adult romantasy book about curses and revenge. after violet’s best friend’s dies in what is labeled as “suicide”, violet decides to take matters into her own hands. she knows that her friend would never kill herself, and she knows that her death most likely has to the mysterious boarding school that her friend had been attending. naturally, she transfers to the school her senior to find out the truth and, more importantly, to get revenge. a simple quest for vengeance spirals, revealing dark secrets and a budding romance.
♠ my thoughts ♠
i wasn’t quite sure what to expect going into this book, but i ended up enjoying it a lot more than i thought i would! i feel like i’m always craving good dark academia books, and this delivered. there were a couple parts, especially near the end, where i felt like there was a lot of information shoved into a very short amount of pages. it led to a bit of confusion, but i was eventually able to figure it out. the paranormal aspect of this book was the perfect amount of creepy that brought this book to the next level.
also, let’s appreciate that cover for a second! it’s absolutely gorgeous!
-----------
my my my what is this 👀
>> thank you to netgalley and the publisher for an arc - all thoughts are my own <3
pub date: september 2, 2025
features-
♠ YA
♛ thriller
♠ paranormal (ghosts, etc.)
♛ familial curse
♠ dark academia
♛ fantasy
♠ overview ♠
house of hearts is a young adult romantasy book about curses and revenge. after violet’s best friend’s dies in what is labeled as “suicide”, violet decides to take matters into her own hands. she knows that her friend would never kill herself, and she knows that her death most likely has to the mysterious boarding school that her friend had been attending. naturally, she transfers to the school her senior to find out the truth and, more importantly, to get revenge. a simple quest for vengeance spirals, revealing dark secrets and a budding romance.
♠ my thoughts ♠
i wasn’t quite sure what to expect going into this book, but i ended up enjoying it a lot more than i thought i would! i feel like i’m always craving good dark academia books, and this delivered. there were a couple parts, especially near the end, where i felt like there was a lot of information shoved into a very short amount of pages. it led to a bit of confusion, but i was eventually able to figure it out. the paranormal aspect of this book was the perfect amount of creepy that brought this book to the next level.
also, let’s appreciate that cover for a second! it’s absolutely gorgeous!
-----------
my my my what is this 👀
>> thank you to netgalley and the publisher for an arc - all thoughts are my own <3
October 19, 2025
This was the perfect level of spooky with some romance thrown in.
The storyline in this was very engaging and for the first 60% or so the pace was really good. But after that the pace went right out the window. It went from 0 to 100 almost immediately in several different ways, and this book isn't too long so there wasn't a lot of time to squeeze everything in.
If this book had been longer and the relationship and the story was really developed, this would have been really close to if not a 5-star read.
Would recommend for a YA romance with some spooky vibes 💀
Thank you NetGalley and Penguin for this arc in exchange for an honest review!
The storyline in this was very engaging and for the first 60% or so the pace was really good. But after that the pace went right out the window. It went from 0 to 100 almost immediately in several different ways, and this book isn't too long so there wasn't a lot of time to squeeze everything in.
If this book had been longer and the relationship and the story was really developed, this would have been really close to if not a 5-star read.
Would recommend for a YA romance with some spooky vibes 💀
Thank you NetGalley and Penguin for this arc in exchange for an honest review!
November 5, 2025
The vibes in this book are immaculate, the mystery is compelling and unputdownable, and the romance is tension-filled and utterly delicious. In short this book was spectacular and perfect for your Fall TBR.
I actually almost skipped this book, as I have a tumultuous relationship with YA in a contemporary setting. I am so very glad I didn’t! This book is good for a number of reasons but something I really enjoyed is that is seemed to transcend a specific time period. Sure there were cell phones, cars, and social media but somehow it was also easy to forget that we were in a modern day setting. Which, imho, made the gothic, spooky vibes even better! Honestly, I’m still not sure if this book takes place in 2010 or 2025 - and I LOVE that.
This book also handles the exploration of grief so well and asks one of my favorite questions, what does it mean to be a monster?
What’s to love…
- dark academia
- gothic vibes
- atmospheric without being overly descriptive
- the TENSION
- the romance is top-notch
- the mystery will have you staying up late to finish!
- less than 300 pages
- themes of grief, and what it means to be a monster
- perfectly creepy and suspenseful
- a sprinkle of light horror elements (but just a dash)
What’s not to love?
- I loved everything about this book! I wouldn’t have been mad a just a hair more romance, although I think thats a personal preference rather than an actual book issue!
5⭐️| IG | TikTok |
Thank you Penguin Teen for the gifted book. All opinions are my own.
I actually almost skipped this book, as I have a tumultuous relationship with YA in a contemporary setting. I am so very glad I didn’t! This book is good for a number of reasons but something I really enjoyed is that is seemed to transcend a specific time period. Sure there were cell phones, cars, and social media but somehow it was also easy to forget that we were in a modern day setting. Which, imho, made the gothic, spooky vibes even better! Honestly, I’m still not sure if this book takes place in 2010 or 2025 - and I LOVE that.
This book also handles the exploration of grief so well and asks one of my favorite questions, what does it mean to be a monster?
What’s to love…
- dark academia
- gothic vibes
- atmospheric without being overly descriptive
- the TENSION
- the romance is top-notch
- the mystery will have you staying up late to finish!
- less than 300 pages
- themes of grief, and what it means to be a monster
- perfectly creepy and suspenseful
- a sprinkle of light horror elements (but just a dash)
What’s not to love?
- I loved everything about this book! I wouldn’t have been mad a just a hair more romance, although I think thats a personal preference rather than an actual book issue!
5⭐️| IG | TikTok |
Thank you Penguin Teen for the gifted book. All opinions are my own.
September 2, 2025
If you are a romance reader but you love your reads spooky, with an angsty MMC who also happens to have a serious magical curse on his hands, then this book is for you.
The horror elements of this story were just chef’s kiss. There were so many incredible horror scenes, but the book still had such great romantic tension between the two leads. I loved the subtle nods to Alice in Wonderland, which added such a whimsical element to an otherwise atmospheric/gothic read. This book also had so many creeptastic horror moments that kept me on the edge of my seat and literally made me jump. I really loved that aspect of this story so much.
I enjoyed the romance between Violet and Calvin, but I just wish the story had a bit more time to develop their relationship. It seemed a bit abrupt and felt rushed compared to other plot points. I loved both characters, but I just wanted more scenes with them together.
This was a solid four-star read. You should check this book out if you love:
♥️ Dark Academia Settings
🐇Horror/Romance
♥️Alice in Wonderland Vibes
🐇Secret Societies
♥️Soulmate Curse
Thank you so much Penguin Teen for this gifted copy.
The horror elements of this story were just chef’s kiss. There were so many incredible horror scenes, but the book still had such great romantic tension between the two leads. I loved the subtle nods to Alice in Wonderland, which added such a whimsical element to an otherwise atmospheric/gothic read. This book also had so many creeptastic horror moments that kept me on the edge of my seat and literally made me jump. I really loved that aspect of this story so much.
I enjoyed the romance between Violet and Calvin, but I just wish the story had a bit more time to develop their relationship. It seemed a bit abrupt and felt rushed compared to other plot points. I loved both characters, but I just wanted more scenes with them together.
This was a solid four-star read. You should check this book out if you love:
♥️ Dark Academia Settings
🐇Horror/Romance
♥️Alice in Wonderland Vibes
🐇Secret Societies
♥️Soulmate Curse
Thank you so much Penguin Teen for this gifted copy.
December 2, 2025
𝕊𝕡𝕠𝕚𝕝𝕖𝕣𝕤 𝕨𝕚𝕝𝕝 𝕓𝕖 𝕞𝕒𝕣𝕜𝕖𝕕
꒷꒦✧˖°🫀⋆｡𖦹꒷꒦
✶⋆.˚"𝐇𝐞𝐲 𝐒𝐢𝐫𝐢, 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐲 𝐌𝐲 𝐇𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐈𝐬 𝐖𝐚𝐫𝐦 𝐛𝐲 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐛𝐫"˚.⋆✶
. ݁₊ 🩸⊹ . ݁💉˖ . ݁
"𝐼 𝓌𝒶𝓃𝓃𝒶 𝒸𝒶𝓁𝓁 𝓎𝑜𝓊𝓇 𝓅𝒽𝑜𝓃𝑒 𝓌𝒾𝓉𝒽 𝓃𝑜𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝒾𝓃 𝓂𝒾𝓃𝒹, 𝒿𝓊𝓈𝓉 𝓉𝑜 𝒽𝑒𝒶𝓇 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝒷𝓇𝑒𝒶𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝑜𝓃 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝑜𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓇 𝓁𝒾𝓃𝑒"
̊ ̟ ꒷꒦ 14+
ᝰ.ᐟ Romance 3/10 {kissing, innuendo, dramatic gestures lol}
ᝰ.ᐟ Cussing 4/10 {f*ck, sh*t, d*mn, a*s, b*tch, h*ll, used once or twice but not frequently}
ᝰ.ᐟ Violence 6/10 {blood, death, gore, suicide, possesion, ghosts, curses}
ᝰ.ᐟ Tw’s {absent parent, suicide, death of loved one}
꒷꒦︶꒷꒦︶ ๋ ࣭ ⭑꒷꒦
"𝐼 𝓉𝓇𝓎 𝓉𝑜 𝓇𝑒𝒶𝒸𝒽 𝒻𝑜𝓇 𝓎𝑜𝓊, 𝒷𝓊𝓉 𝓎𝑜𝓊𝓇 𝓈𝓀𝒾𝓃'𝓈 𝒻𝓊𝓁𝓁 𝑜𝒻 𝓉𝒽𝑜𝓇𝓃𝓈 𝑜𝒽, 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓈 𝓉𝑜𝓌𝓃 𝒾𝓈 𝒸𝑜𝓁𝒹, 𝒷𝓊𝓉 𝓂𝓎 𝒽𝑜𝓊𝓈𝑒 𝒾𝓈 𝓌𝒶𝓇𝓂"
‧˚꒰🍷꒱༘‧— 𝓞𝓿𝓮𝓻𝓿𝓲𝓮𝔀
Oh. My. Word. That ending was so bittersweet holy crap. I was really excited to start this because it was going to be my first horror book! I expected this book to be scarier than it was but nearing the end my heart was thumping so loud. 🥲 I was in a hotel room reading this and my grandma was trying to sleep and she said I was breathing too loud 💀🙏 apparently when I’m scared I breathe too loudly (sorry grandma).
Anyways although it lacked horror in the beginning the characters and plot made up for it! I had a really good connection to the characters at the end and that made things even scarier 🥺 Calvin is the best book bf to exist 🙂↕️ you literally CANNOT find men like him nowadays. I really enjoyed this book and I wish it was longer ngl. I ordered this book and I have no idea why I thought it was going to be 600 pages but I was like “YES A LONG DARK ACADEMIA READ! GOTTA MAKE ROOM ON MY SHELF!” and It arrived and I needed a sliver of what I made room for 💀🙏 its alright though. It was a great 272 pages 🙂↕️
꒷꒦︶꒷꒦︶ ๋ ࣭ ⭑꒷꒦
"𝐻𝑜𝓌 𝒹𝒾𝒹 𝒾𝓉 𝑒𝓃𝒹 𝓁𝒾𝓀𝑒 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓈? 𝐼 𝓌𝒶𝓃𝓃𝒶 𝓉𝒶𝓁𝓀 𝓉𝑜 𝓎𝑜𝓊, 𝓉𝒶𝓁𝓀 𝓉𝑜 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝒶𝑔𝒶𝒾𝓃"
‧˚꒰🍷꒱༘‧— 𝓟𝓵𝓸𝓽
This plot was really well thought out and I thought the dynamic of it was really interesting! I was, however, expecting a huge plot twist about Emoree… I was so ready for there to be some crazy thing that happens but it never FULLY tells us what happened. It's ok though there were other plot twists to come! I was really loving all the vibes and the way that everything played out as well! BUT I didn't like how it felt like it was the 1800’s or smth but then it mentions Lucky Charms 💀 there were just little things that made me do a double take and be like “wait… It's like 2024?” I definitely think she should've gone all out on one or the other. Like choose please 1800’s or 2000’s. It was very few and far between that we got a modern reference though. I loved the House of Hearts concept! I thought it was so cool that they had to get into it by doing trails and stuff!
✃𓄧𝓢𝓹𝓸𝓲𝓵𝓮𝓻꒷꒦
I do wish though, that the House of Hearts was not just a committee to help with the curse. They should have like been a club who hunts vampires or smth idk 💀 I feel like we needed more than just a ghost hunters club. We have ghostbusters for that 🙂↕️🙏
✃𓄧𝓔𝓷𝓭 𝓼𝓹𝓸𝓲𝓵𝓮𝓻꒷꒦
This plot was really amazing but any plot has its holes and flaws! So if you can look past some minor issues it really is amazing!
꒷꒦︶꒷꒦︶ ๋ ࣭ ⭑꒷꒦
"𝐻𝑜𝓌 𝒹𝒾𝒹 𝓌𝑒 𝑔𝑒𝓉 𝒽𝑒𝓇𝑒 𝓈𝑜 𝓆𝓊𝒾𝒸𝓀? 𝐼 𝓌𝒶𝓉𝒸𝒽 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝓌𝒶𝓁𝓀 𝓇𝒾𝑔𝒽𝓉 𝓅𝒶𝓈𝓉 𝓂𝑒 𝓁𝒾𝓀𝑒 𝓌𝑒 𝓃𝑒𝓋𝑒𝓇 𝒹𝒾𝒹 𝓌𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝓌𝑒 𝒹𝒾𝒹"
‧˚꒰🍷꒱༘‧— 𝓒𝓱𝓪𝓻𝓪𝓬𝓽𝓮𝓻𝓼
I absolutely loved all the characters in this book! They were all so well written and I felt a strong connection to all of them! I hated all the ones that needed hating and I loved all the mc’s and the side characters!
⋆˚꩜｡ 𝓥𝓲𝓸𝓵𝓮𝓽
She was so amazing omg. She felt very shy but in a powerful way! She was very determined to get revenge and we love when our girls are out for blood. She was very sassy but also not…? She was a very different fmc than a lot I have read about. A lot of authors try to make their girls perfect and powerful but I think that a real fmc is what makes a book great. Violet gave us a vulnerable side but she was also ready to take action and fight for what she cared about! I absolutely loved her relationship with Calvin too omg 🤭 they were perfect when they were together! I didn’t really feel a strong connection between her and any of the other characters besides Calvin but yk it's ok.
⋆˚꩜｡ 𝓒𝓪𝓵𝓿𝓲𝓷
Hehehehe he was literally AMAZING! He reminded me a lot of Jacks and it made me so happy. He was very broody and cocky but at the same time he was willing to DIE for the people that he loved like awwwwwwww. 🥹
✃𓄧𝓢𝓹𝓸𝓲𝓵𝓮𝓻꒷꒦
When he stabbed himself in the leg for Violet to escape him I literally wanted to cry. He STABBED HIMSELF for her 🥺 I need someone who would do that for me omg.
✃𓄧𝓔𝓷𝓭 𝓼𝓹𝓸𝓲𝓵𝓮𝓻꒷꒦
He was a very swoonworthy dude. And omg HE PLAYS PIANO?! We are soulmates I tell you. He had the BEST quotes out of anyone in this book and he had the BIGGEST heart. He was literally like a Golden Retriever half the time!
✃𓄧𝓠𝓾𝓸𝓽𝓮𝓼 {𝓽𝓱𝓮𝔂 𝓶𝓪𝔂 𝓱𝓪𝓿𝓮 𝓼𝓹𝓸𝓲𝓵𝓮𝓻𝓼}꒷꒦
"𝘠𝘦𝘢𝘩, 𝘐 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘨𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘵𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘐'𝘥 𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘣𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘭𝘦𝘧𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘭"
"𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘭𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘺𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨. 𝘗𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺, 𝘐 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘦𝘳 𝘮𝘺 𝘱𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘤 𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢 𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸."
"𝘐𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘴𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘳𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘮, 𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝘮𝘦." This is so real help 🥲
"𝘐 𝘴𝘢𝘸 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘶𝘥𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘹𝘪𝘴𝘵."
"𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘱𝘺 𝘪𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢 𝘱𝘪𝘢𝘯𝘰. 𝘐 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸."
✃𓄧𝓔𝓷𝓭 𝓺𝓾𝓸𝓽𝓮𝓼꒷꒦
He was literally just so real and he talked about anxiety and panic attacks and ahhhh he was just so sweet and caring about EVERYTHING. He always put others before himself.
⋆˚꩜｡ 𝓑𝓲𝓻𝓭𝓲𝓮
She was so sweet 🥺 she was so inviting and honestly I’m kind of mad about how things went with her and Violet. Birdie deserved better thats fs. But in the end I think it all worked out ok for her but she was just so sweet and caring and I loved the way it described her fashion 🤭
⋆˚꩜｡𝓐𝓷𝓪𝓼𝓽𝓪𝓼𝓲𝓪
✃𓄧𝓢𝓹𝓸𝓲𝓵𝓮𝓻𝓼꒷꒦
Ok so can she please not be so self absorbed? Like we get it your older sister stole your man but OMG don’t you think you were a LITTLE dramatic?! She pretty much cursed her whole freaking family because of it. The guy was awful anyways and apparently he was worth cutting out her heart? 😑🤚 girl get your life together. Idk she wasn’t all bad ig…? WAIT NO. I just remembered that she possessed Calvin and tried to kill Violet. Nope I hate her.
✃𓄧𝓔𝓷𝓭 𝓼𝓹𝓸𝓲𝓵𝓮𝓻𝓼꒷꒦
⋆˚꩜｡𝓐𝓼𝓱
Omg he was prolly the least acknowledged of all the friends in this book but omg he was HILARIOUS. He reminded me of Kenji and omg we need a Kenji in every book. But literally he is pretty irrelevant to the story but I just thought I’d point out that he says some iconic things 🙂↕️
⋆˚꩜｡ 𝓔𝓿𝓮𝓻𝔂𝓸𝓷𝓮 𝓔𝓵𝓼𝓮
I loved the good guys and I hated the bad guys.
꒷꒦︶꒷꒦︶ ๋ ࣭ ⭑��꒦
"𝐼 𝒸𝒶𝓃'𝓉 𝓇𝒾𝑔𝒽𝓉 𝓂𝓎 𝓌𝓇𝑜𝓃𝑔𝓈, 𝒷𝓊𝓉 𝐼 𝒸𝒶𝓃 𝓌𝓇𝒾𝓉𝑒 𝒶𝓃𝑜𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓇 𝓈𝑜𝓃𝑔, 𝐼 𝒸𝒶𝓃'𝓉 𝓉𝒶𝓀𝑒 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝑜𝓊𝓉, 𝒷𝓊𝓉 𝓌𝑒 𝒸𝒶𝓃 𝑔𝑒𝓉 𝒶𝓁𝑜𝓃𝑔"
‧˚꒰🍷꒱༘‧— 𝓦𝓻𝓲𝓽𝓲𝓷𝓰
The writing was REALLY good and it all flowed really well! Other than the random modern day references I loved all the context and how it was portrayed! No writing is without its flaws so I was able to look past most of it.
꒷꒦︶꒷꒦︶ ๋ ࣭ ⭑꒷꒦
"𝐼𝒻 𝐼 𝓌𝑒𝓃𝓉 𝒶𝓌𝒶𝓎, 𝓌𝑜𝓊𝓁𝒹 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝒸𝒽𝒶𝓈𝑒 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓉𝓇𝒶𝒾𝓃? 𝒪𝒽, 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓈 𝓉𝑜𝓌𝓃 𝒾𝓈 𝒹𝒶𝓇𝓀, 𝒷𝓊𝓉 𝓂𝓎 𝒽𝑜𝓊𝓈𝑒 𝒾𝓈 𝓌𝒶𝓇𝓂"
‧˚꒰🍷꒱༘‧— 𝓞𝓿𝓮𝓻𝓪𝓵𝓵
I really enjoyed the book and the character development was amazing for as short as it was! It was really amazing and thrilling! nearing the end I was sobbing. I think this will definitely be the main topic at my therapy sesh yall. Ima be ranting about our boy Calvin 🥺🙏
꒷꒦✧˖°🫀⋆｡𖦹꒷꒦
3.75★
🥀🖤 pre read
AHHHHH I CANNOT WAIT TO DEVOUR THIS 🤭🤭🤭 I just wanna say thanks to Uswah and Jen for writing beautiful reviews on this book that convinced me to get it <3 BUTTTT AHHH IM DYING THE COVER 🥺🥺🥺
꒷꒦✧˖°🫀⋆｡𖦹꒷꒦
✶⋆.˚"𝐇𝐞𝐲 𝐒𝐢𝐫𝐢, 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐲 𝐌𝐲 𝐇𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐈𝐬 𝐖𝐚𝐫𝐦 𝐛𝐲 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐛𝐫"˚.⋆✶
. ݁₊ 🩸⊹ . ݁💉˖ . ݁
"𝐼 𝓌𝒶𝓃𝓃𝒶 𝒸𝒶𝓁𝓁 𝓎𝑜𝓊𝓇 𝓅𝒽𝑜𝓃𝑒 𝓌𝒾𝓉𝒽 𝓃𝑜𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝒾𝓃 𝓂𝒾𝓃𝒹, 𝒿𝓊𝓈𝓉 𝓉𝑜 𝒽𝑒𝒶𝓇 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝒷𝓇𝑒𝒶𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝑜𝓃 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝑜𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓇 𝓁𝒾𝓃𝑒"
̊ ̟ ꒷꒦ 14+
ᝰ.ᐟ Romance 3/10 {kissing, innuendo, dramatic gestures lol}
ᝰ.ᐟ Cussing 4/10 {f*ck, sh*t, d*mn, a*s, b*tch, h*ll, used once or twice but not frequently}
ᝰ.ᐟ Violence 6/10 {blood, death, gore, suicide, possesion, ghosts, curses}
ᝰ.ᐟ Tw’s {absent parent, suicide, death of loved one}
꒷꒦︶꒷꒦︶ ๋ ࣭ ⭑꒷꒦
"𝐼 𝓉𝓇𝓎 𝓉𝑜 𝓇𝑒𝒶𝒸𝒽 𝒻𝑜𝓇 𝓎𝑜𝓊, 𝒷𝓊𝓉 𝓎𝑜𝓊𝓇 𝓈𝓀𝒾𝓃'𝓈 𝒻𝓊𝓁𝓁 𝑜𝒻 𝓉𝒽𝑜𝓇𝓃𝓈 𝑜𝒽, 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓈 𝓉𝑜𝓌𝓃 𝒾𝓈 𝒸𝑜𝓁𝒹, 𝒷𝓊𝓉 𝓂𝓎 𝒽𝑜𝓊𝓈𝑒 𝒾𝓈 𝓌𝒶𝓇𝓂"
‧˚꒰🍷꒱༘‧— 𝓞𝓿𝓮𝓻𝓿𝓲𝓮𝔀
Oh. My. Word. That ending was so bittersweet holy crap. I was really excited to start this because it was going to be my first horror book! I expected this book to be scarier than it was but nearing the end my heart was thumping so loud. 🥲 I was in a hotel room reading this and my grandma was trying to sleep and she said I was breathing too loud 💀🙏 apparently when I’m scared I breathe too loudly (sorry grandma).
Anyways although it lacked horror in the beginning the characters and plot made up for it! I had a really good connection to the characters at the end and that made things even scarier 🥺 Calvin is the best book bf to exist 🙂↕️ you literally CANNOT find men like him nowadays. I really enjoyed this book and I wish it was longer ngl. I ordered this book and I have no idea why I thought it was going to be 600 pages but I was like “YES A LONG DARK ACADEMIA READ! GOTTA MAKE ROOM ON MY SHELF!” and It arrived and I needed a sliver of what I made room for 💀🙏 its alright though. It was a great 272 pages 🙂↕️
꒷꒦︶꒷꒦︶ ๋ ࣭ ⭑꒷꒦
"𝐻𝑜𝓌 𝒹𝒾𝒹 𝒾𝓉 𝑒𝓃𝒹 𝓁𝒾𝓀𝑒 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓈? 𝐼 𝓌𝒶𝓃𝓃𝒶 𝓉𝒶𝓁𝓀 𝓉𝑜 𝓎𝑜𝓊, 𝓉𝒶𝓁𝓀 𝓉𝑜 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝒶𝑔𝒶𝒾𝓃"
‧˚꒰🍷꒱༘‧— 𝓟𝓵𝓸𝓽
This plot was really well thought out and I thought the dynamic of it was really interesting! I was, however, expecting a huge plot twist about Emoree… I was so ready for there to be some crazy thing that happens but it never FULLY tells us what happened. It's ok though there were other plot twists to come! I was really loving all the vibes and the way that everything played out as well! BUT I didn't like how it felt like it was the 1800’s or smth but then it mentions Lucky Charms 💀 there were just little things that made me do a double take and be like “wait… It's like 2024?” I definitely think she should've gone all out on one or the other. Like choose please 1800’s or 2000’s. It was very few and far between that we got a modern reference though. I loved the House of Hearts concept! I thought it was so cool that they had to get into it by doing trails and stuff!
✃𓄧𝓢𝓹𝓸𝓲𝓵𝓮𝓻꒷꒦
I do wish though, that the House of Hearts was not just a committee to help with the curse. They should have like been a club who hunts vampires or smth idk 💀 I feel like we needed more than just a ghost hunters club. We have ghostbusters for that 🙂↕️🙏
✃𓄧𝓔𝓷𝓭 𝓼𝓹𝓸𝓲𝓵𝓮𝓻꒷꒦
This plot was really amazing but any plot has its holes and flaws! So if you can look past some minor issues it really is amazing!
꒷꒦︶꒷꒦︶ ๋ ࣭ ⭑꒷꒦
"𝐻𝑜𝓌 𝒹𝒾𝒹 𝓌𝑒 𝑔𝑒𝓉 𝒽𝑒𝓇𝑒 𝓈𝑜 𝓆𝓊𝒾𝒸𝓀? 𝐼 𝓌𝒶𝓉𝒸𝒽 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝓌𝒶𝓁𝓀 𝓇𝒾𝑔𝒽𝓉 𝓅𝒶𝓈𝓉 𝓂𝑒 𝓁𝒾𝓀𝑒 𝓌𝑒 𝓃𝑒𝓋𝑒𝓇 𝒹𝒾𝒹 𝓌𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝓌𝑒 𝒹𝒾𝒹"
‧˚꒰🍷꒱༘‧— 𝓒𝓱𝓪𝓻𝓪𝓬𝓽𝓮𝓻𝓼
I absolutely loved all the characters in this book! They were all so well written and I felt a strong connection to all of them! I hated all the ones that needed hating and I loved all the mc’s and the side characters!
⋆˚꩜｡ 𝓥𝓲𝓸𝓵𝓮𝓽
She was so amazing omg. She felt very shy but in a powerful way! She was very determined to get revenge and we love when our girls are out for blood. She was very sassy but also not…? She was a very different fmc than a lot I have read about. A lot of authors try to make their girls perfect and powerful but I think that a real fmc is what makes a book great. Violet gave us a vulnerable side but she was also ready to take action and fight for what she cared about! I absolutely loved her relationship with Calvin too omg 🤭 they were perfect when they were together! I didn’t really feel a strong connection between her and any of the other characters besides Calvin but yk it's ok.
⋆˚꩜｡ 𝓒𝓪𝓵𝓿𝓲𝓷
Hehehehe he was literally AMAZING! He reminded me a lot of Jacks and it made me so happy. He was very broody and cocky but at the same time he was willing to DIE for the people that he loved like awwwwwwww. 🥹
✃𓄧𝓢𝓹𝓸𝓲𝓵𝓮𝓻꒷꒦
When he stabbed himself in the leg for Violet to escape him I literally wanted to cry. He STABBED HIMSELF for her 🥺 I need someone who would do that for me omg.
✃𓄧𝓔𝓷𝓭 𝓼𝓹𝓸𝓲𝓵𝓮𝓻꒷꒦
He was a very swoonworthy dude. And omg HE PLAYS PIANO?! We are soulmates I tell you. He had the BEST quotes out of anyone in this book and he had the BIGGEST heart. He was literally like a Golden Retriever half the time!
✃𓄧𝓠𝓾𝓸𝓽𝓮𝓼 {𝓽𝓱𝓮𝔂 𝓶𝓪𝔂 𝓱𝓪𝓿𝓮 𝓼𝓹𝓸𝓲𝓵𝓮𝓻𝓼}꒷꒦
"𝘠𝘦𝘢𝘩, 𝘐 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘨𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘵𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘐'𝘥 𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘣𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘭𝘦𝘧𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘭"
"𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘭𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘺𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨. 𝘗𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺, 𝘐 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘦𝘳 𝘮𝘺 𝘱𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘤 𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢 𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸."
"𝘐𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘴𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘳𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘮, 𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝘮𝘦." This is so real help 🥲
"𝘐 𝘴𝘢𝘸 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘶𝘥𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘹𝘪𝘴𝘵."
"𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘱𝘺 𝘪𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢 𝘱𝘪𝘢𝘯𝘰. 𝘐 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸."
✃𓄧𝓔𝓷𝓭 𝓺𝓾𝓸𝓽𝓮𝓼꒷꒦
He was literally just so real and he talked about anxiety and panic attacks and ahhhh he was just so sweet and caring about EVERYTHING. He always put others before himself.
⋆˚꩜｡ 𝓑𝓲𝓻𝓭𝓲𝓮
She was so sweet 🥺 she was so inviting and honestly I’m kind of mad about how things went with her and Violet. Birdie deserved better thats fs. But in the end I think it all worked out ok for her but she was just so sweet and caring and I loved the way it described her fashion 🤭
⋆˚꩜｡𝓐𝓷𝓪𝓼𝓽𝓪𝓼𝓲𝓪
✃𓄧𝓢𝓹𝓸𝓲𝓵𝓮𝓻𝓼꒷꒦
Ok so can she please not be so self absorbed? Like we get it your older sister stole your man but OMG don’t you think you were a LITTLE dramatic?! She pretty much cursed her whole freaking family because of it. The guy was awful anyways and apparently he was worth cutting out her heart? 😑🤚 girl get your life together. Idk she wasn’t all bad ig…? WAIT NO. I just remembered that she possessed Calvin and tried to kill Violet. Nope I hate her.
✃𓄧𝓔𝓷𝓭 𝓼𝓹𝓸𝓲𝓵𝓮𝓻𝓼꒷꒦
⋆˚꩜｡𝓐𝓼𝓱
Omg he was prolly the least acknowledged of all the friends in this book but omg he was HILARIOUS. He reminded me of Kenji and omg we need a Kenji in every book. But literally he is pretty irrelevant to the story but I just thought I’d point out that he says some iconic things 🙂↕️
⋆˚꩜｡ 𝓔𝓿𝓮𝓻𝔂𝓸𝓷𝓮 𝓔𝓵𝓼𝓮
I loved the good guys and I hated the bad guys.
꒷꒦︶꒷꒦︶ ๋ ࣭ ⭑��꒦
"𝐼 𝒸𝒶𝓃'𝓉 𝓇𝒾𝑔𝒽𝓉 𝓂𝓎 𝓌𝓇𝑜𝓃𝑔𝓈, 𝒷𝓊𝓉 𝐼 𝒸𝒶𝓃 𝓌𝓇𝒾𝓉𝑒 𝒶𝓃𝑜𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓇 𝓈𝑜𝓃𝑔, 𝐼 𝒸𝒶𝓃'𝓉 𝓉𝒶𝓀𝑒 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝑜𝓊𝓉, 𝒷𝓊𝓉 𝓌𝑒 𝒸𝒶𝓃 𝑔𝑒𝓉 𝒶𝓁𝑜𝓃𝑔"
‧˚꒰🍷꒱༘‧— 𝓦𝓻𝓲𝓽𝓲𝓷𝓰
The writing was REALLY good and it all flowed really well! Other than the random modern day references I loved all the context and how it was portrayed! No writing is without its flaws so I was able to look past most of it.
꒷꒦︶꒷꒦︶ ๋ ࣭ ⭑꒷꒦
"𝐼𝒻 𝐼 𝓌𝑒𝓃𝓉 𝒶𝓌𝒶𝓎, 𝓌𝑜𝓊𝓁𝒹 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝒸𝒽𝒶𝓈𝑒 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓉𝓇𝒶𝒾𝓃? 𝒪𝒽, 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓈 𝓉𝑜𝓌𝓃 𝒾𝓈 𝒹𝒶𝓇𝓀, 𝒷𝓊𝓉 𝓂𝓎 𝒽𝑜𝓊𝓈𝑒 𝒾𝓈 𝓌𝒶𝓇𝓂"
‧˚꒰🍷꒱༘‧— 𝓞𝓿𝓮𝓻𝓪𝓵𝓵
I really enjoyed the book and the character development was amazing for as short as it was! It was really amazing and thrilling! nearing the end I was sobbing. I think this will definitely be the main topic at my therapy sesh yall. Ima be ranting about our boy Calvin 🥺🙏
꒷꒦✧˖°🫀⋆｡𖦹꒷꒦
3.75★
🥀🖤 pre read
AHHHHH I CANNOT WAIT TO DEVOUR THIS 🤭🤭🤭 I just wanna say thanks to Uswah and Jen for writing beautiful reviews on this book that convinced me to get it <3 BUTTTT AHHH IM DYING THE COVER 🥺🥺🥺
December 3, 2025
3⭐️
The plot was great,I liked it a lot and perhaps it would’ve been better if the book was longer.The characters also were great but they lacked depth(but still enjoyable) and don’t get me started on ranting about the romance because I hated it.
I.HATED.IT.
Out of nowhere they fell in love,out of nowhere they had feelings for each other etc.The romance was trash, and it’s disappointing because for a plot that was really great and mysterious and entertaining, a good romance would’ve slayed.If the romance was good then the book would’ve been a 5⭐️. IT’S SO FRUSTRATING!!😭😭
Sadly that didn’t happen but I liked the writing so I will check out more of the author’s books, and hopefully the romance is done right this time🤞
ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ Pre read
The premise had me hooked and I already read the first chapter.It’s giving Wednesday from Netflix and I like the vibe😌
The plot was great,I liked it a lot and perhaps it would’ve been better if the book was longer.The characters also were great but they lacked depth(but still enjoyable) and don’t get me started on ranting about the romance because I hated it.
I.HATED.IT.
Out of nowhere they fell in love,out of nowhere they had feelings for each other etc.The romance was trash, and it’s disappointing because for a plot that was really great and mysterious and entertaining, a good romance would’ve slayed.If the romance was good then the book would’ve been a 5⭐️. IT’S SO FRUSTRATING!!😭😭
Sadly that didn’t happen but I liked the writing so I will check out more of the author’s books, and hopefully the romance is done right this time🤞
ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ Pre read
The premise had me hooked and I already read the first chapter.It’s giving Wednesday from Netflix and I like the vibe😌
September 22, 2025
3.5 rounded up cause her last book was a 3 and I want to let everyone know there's a difference when it comes to how much I enjoyed each, lol
![Profile Image for vanessa ⋆.☕︎ [semiᝰia].](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fi.gr-assets.com%2Fimages%2FS%2Fcompressed.photo.goodreads.com%2Fusers%2F1769249405i%2F166547387._UX200_CR0%2C24%2C200%2C200_.jpg&w=128&q=75)
Want to read
December 6, 2025ִֶָ𓂃 ࣪˖ ִִֶֶָ🥀་༘࿐ This book gives off pure dark-academia mystery energy, and I’m so here for it. Violet refusing to accept her best friend’s “accident” and transferring to that creepy elite boarding school? Iconic behavior.
Secret societies, cursed histories, hidden motives, this place is basically a red flag with tuition fees. And then there’s Calvin Lockwell: irritating, privileged, dangerously attractive, and way too connected to everything Violet is trying to uncover.
It’s giving secrets, tension, and “I know you’re bad for me but I can’t stay away.” I just know this one is about to be messy in the best, most addictive way.<𝟑 .ᐟ
Secret societies, cursed histories, hidden motives, this place is basically a red flag with tuition fees. And then there’s Calvin Lockwell: irritating, privileged, dangerously attractive, and way too connected to everything Violet is trying to uncover.
It’s giving secrets, tension, and “I know you’re bad for me but I can’t stay away.” I just know this one is about to be messy in the best, most addictive way.<𝟑 .ᐟ
October 8, 2025
⋆⁺₊⋆ ━━━━⊱༒︎ welcome to the house of jo's reviews ༒︎⊰━━━━ ⋆⁺₊⋆
3.5 (rounded up)
you know what. i'm not even sure how and what to rate this novel. it wasn't bad. but it wasn't...amazing? i know it's not one that i'll be picking up at the bookstore because it just wasn't my vibe. and yes sure i might have known that going into this arc but i wanted to jump into the horror esque genre for that dark academia gothic horror spooky season vibes!
ִֶָ. ..𓂃 ࣪ ִֶָ🦇་༘࿐ it's been a bit since i've read this so i actually forgot everything about it but after scrolling through my notes app and glancing at the reviews that others have left, all the thoughts (trust me there's a lot of them) have rolled back into existence. so lets deep dive into a full review.
🗝 ༝ plot; 3.5
🗝 ༝ characters; 3.75
🗝 ༝ vibes; 4
🗝 ༝ horror aspect; 2 (just lowk icky but im not a horror girly)
🗝 ༝ mystery vibes; 2
overall: 3.5
⛧𝕿𝖍𝖊 𝕸𝖔𝖔𝖓'𝖘 𝖇𝖊𝖆𝖚𝖙𝖎𝖋𝖚𝖑 𝖎𝖘 𝖎𝖙 𝖓𝖔𝖙?⛧
anyways, if ur down for a little autumn spooky season read esp in october this might be the book for you. pick up house of hearts if you want gothic horror with romance all tied up in a bow (sorta) at the end! and if you stay for the vibes and romance and that's all you get then this is the book for you!
happy reading besties!!! xx
jo
your honor what was that? full review to come after...i recover
huge thanks to netgalley and the publisher for the arc in exchange for an honest review
3.5 (rounded up)
𝘣𝘪𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘯𝘦𝘵𝘨𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘥𝘷𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘱𝘺 𝘪𝘯 𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘯 𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸
you know what. i'm not even sure how and what to rate this novel. it wasn't bad. but it wasn't...amazing? i know it's not one that i'll be picking up at the bookstore because it just wasn't my vibe. and yes sure i might have known that going into this arc but i wanted to jump into the horror esque genre for that dark academia gothic horror spooky season vibes!
ִֶָ. ..𓂃 ࣪ ִֶָ🦇་༘࿐ it's been a bit since i've read this so i actually forgot everything about it but after scrolling through my notes app and glancing at the reviews that others have left, all the thoughts (trust me there's a lot of them) have rolled back into existence. so lets deep dive into a full review.
🗝 ༝ plot; 3.5
the plot of this book was super strong in the beginning! it had potential, it had the vibes. the besties revenge was revenging ??? is that a word?? it is not. the plot twists were plot twisting to a point where...they weren't. like i was reading it and then all of a sudden i was like oh?im so confused babes. like i could read this book twelve times and STILL BE CONFUSED and it's not like a good confused. it's a confused where im sitting there staring at my phone like im an insane person and no one knows why shes going like OOH!? at a phone scrren. like okay issues so yes. plot was there but also not. take with that what you will.
🗝 ༝ characters; 3.75
i mean, the characters weren't bad. i loved violet as an fmc and she had her goal in the story and was going to do everything in her way to revenge her best friend. so yes a pretty solid fmc.
i loved calvin i mean who wouldn't love a flirty playboy who actually is a big ole softy who just flirts to cover up his real feelings on life and---have we heard this story before? he's giving grayson hawthorne if grayson knew how to flirt with girls. and respfectully his family issues were wtf level. like babes needs therapy stat
sadie was..lowk just pissing me off im negl. and she never not pissed me off
birdie, amber, tripp the icons of the group. no words, just icons.
🗝 ༝ vibes; 4
basically the romance is the vibes. oh and the academia gothic aspect. so first off THE ROMANCEEEEE WAS SO FRICKING CUTE BUT BABES IT WAS NOT ENEMIES TO LVOERS BECAUSE THEY WERE BASICALLY IN LOVE WHEN THEY WERE LOWK FLIRTING IN THE TOWER OKAY SO THAT IS NOT ENEMIES anyways. it was cute but in an instar love argue way which..yeah ig works.
the banter and chemistry was slaying though!
🗝 ༝ horror aspect; 2 (just lowk icky but im not a horror girly)
🗝 ༝ mystery vibes; 2
overall: 3.5
⛧𝕿𝖍𝖊 𝕸𝖔𝖔𝖓'𝖘 𝖇𝖊𝖆𝖚𝖙𝖎𝖋𝖚𝖑 𝖎𝖘 𝖎𝖙 𝖓𝖔𝖙?⛧
anyways, if ur down for a little autumn spooky season read esp in october this might be the book for you. pick up house of hearts if you want gothic horror with romance all tied up in a bow (sorta) at the end! and if you stay for the vibes and romance and that's all you get then this is the book for you!
happy reading besties!!! xx
jo
your honor what was that? full review to come after...i recover
huge thanks to netgalley and the publisher for the arc in exchange for an honest review
October 29, 2025
1⭐️
ARC Review
Not even the final plot twist (very shocking I might add) could save me from my disappointment towards this book…
I am feeling both lost and numb right now. Lost because I am wondering how a book with a beautiful book cover could turn out to be: (a) disappointing, (b) boring, and quite (c) juvenile. Numb because I feel absolutely nothing towards the story itself, which is a first for me.
House of Hearts (HOH as it is coined in the book) has a very misleading premise. This book promises: (a) a dark academia atmosphere, (b) a murder mystery, (c) revenge, and (d) a romance that is going to have the reader squealing to the very end. And while there is a dark academia vibe and a murder mystery, HOH is nothing but a ghost story. No. Seriously. I lost track of how many times the words Cursed and Ghost were mentioned. Oooh. And let’s not forget the word. Prattle and all its forms (it appears that Skyla Arndt loves that word).
I requested this book thinking that I was going to read a story about girl who applies to her BFF’s very rich school, under false pretenses, only to seek revenge towards the individuals she thought were responsible for her BFF’s death. Instead, I read a story about girl (FMC Violet Harper) and her roommate (Birdie Kennedy, who was also her dead BFF’s old roommate) who join a “secret” campus society in hopes to…I HONESTLY don’t know the purpose of this “secret” campus society. Before a reader is even introduced to this “secret” campus society and its “lovely” members, one is constantly told how important this society is to the school and how cool it is to join. But, what no one really finds out, until after the “hazing” rituals is that this “secret” campus society contains nothing but a bunch of bullies (Sadie Lockwell; Calvin Lockwell; Theodore “Tripp” Griswold; Mallory Hunt; Ash Rajput, and Olivier Walton). And these are the students that the other students are supposed to envy. In all honesty, NO ONE SHOULD ENVY THESE PEOPLE!!! They were awful to say the very least and really got on my nerves. Every single one of them lacked a personality and the ability to speak to others without catching an unnecessary attitude. What made matters worse was when the truth came out about the FMC, Violet Harper, the entire group claimed to have cared so deeply about her BFF, Emoree Hale, and the reason why they behaved they way did was because they are all “grieving”. Listen, as someone who has lost both her Grandads within a month of each other this year, I know grief to its fullest but, I am not walking around town or my own home being mean to everyone within my path. The fact that Skyla Arndt used “grief” as a way to explain away these club members’ awful behavior towards others has increased my disappointment of this book.
Oooh. And let’s not forget the Headmistress (Meredith Lockwell) of the school. She is going through her own “grief” and “trauma,” which is supposed to explain why she is awful, lacks a personality, and feels like the people who her children are dating are so beneath them. Can YA Authors please stop making every adult in these books awful, unlikable, or plain dumb?!?!
Then we have the romance. No one in this book had chemistry, especially the FMC, Violet Harper, and MMC, Calvin Lockwell (and they were supposed to as it was written in the synopsis). In fact, they were supposed to have undeniable chemistry, very adorable banter, and the reader was supposed to be swooning all over these two. However, Violet and Calvin spend the whole book as on-again, off-again friends to only share ONE kiss during Chapter 17 and then are suddenly a couple in the Epilogue. Honestly, their banter wasn’t even spicy or funny like most YA authors are capable of creating.
The more I think about this book the more I feel lied to. This book appears to be the prefect book for Spooky Season but, it will only work for those who enjoy ghost stories, an easy to read YA novel, a palette cleanser, and a semi-to-nonexistent romance plot. As for me, I probably should’ve DNf’d this after Chapter 3. I am kind of perplexed by the fact that HOH is Skyla Arndt’s second novel because this reads more like a debut novel. You know: A story that claims to be one thing but midway through the author loses focus on the plot goal(s) only to do and say whatever to try and keep the reader interested. Unfortunately, I was far from interested when the first unnecessary bully scene took place.
I truly want to wish Skyla Arndt well on her future endeavors, especially her writing career. I know this book will be a huge hit for some people. I am just not one of them. I also can’t see myself picking up another book by this author. Sorry!!!!
Thank you NetGalley and Viking Books for Young Readers for granting me an Advance Reader’s Copy of this book in exchange for my honest and personal opinion!!!
ARC Review
Not even the final plot twist (very shocking I might add) could save me from my disappointment towards this book…
I am feeling both lost and numb right now. Lost because I am wondering how a book with a beautiful book cover could turn out to be: (a) disappointing, (b) boring, and quite (c) juvenile. Numb because I feel absolutely nothing towards the story itself, which is a first for me.
House of Hearts (HOH as it is coined in the book) has a very misleading premise. This book promises: (a) a dark academia atmosphere, (b) a murder mystery, (c) revenge, and (d) a romance that is going to have the reader squealing to the very end. And while there is a dark academia vibe and a murder mystery, HOH is nothing but a ghost story. No. Seriously. I lost track of how many times the words Cursed and Ghost were mentioned. Oooh. And let’s not forget the word. Prattle and all its forms (it appears that Skyla Arndt loves that word).
I requested this book thinking that I was going to read a story about girl who applies to her BFF’s very rich school, under false pretenses, only to seek revenge towards the individuals she thought were responsible for her BFF’s death. Instead, I read a story about girl (FMC Violet Harper) and her roommate (Birdie Kennedy, who was also her dead BFF’s old roommate) who join a “secret” campus society in hopes to…I HONESTLY don’t know the purpose of this “secret” campus society. Before a reader is even introduced to this “secret” campus society and its “lovely” members, one is constantly told how important this society is to the school and how cool it is to join. But, what no one really finds out, until after the “hazing” rituals is that this “secret” campus society contains nothing but a bunch of bullies (Sadie Lockwell; Calvin Lockwell; Theodore “Tripp” Griswold; Mallory Hunt; Ash Rajput, and Olivier Walton). And these are the students that the other students are supposed to envy. In all honesty, NO ONE SHOULD ENVY THESE PEOPLE!!! They were awful to say the very least and really got on my nerves. Every single one of them lacked a personality and the ability to speak to others without catching an unnecessary attitude. What made matters worse was when the truth came out about the FMC, Violet Harper, the entire group claimed to have cared so deeply about her BFF, Emoree Hale, and the reason why they behaved they way did was because they are all “grieving”. Listen, as someone who has lost both her Grandads within a month of each other this year, I know grief to its fullest but, I am not walking around town or my own home being mean to everyone within my path. The fact that Skyla Arndt used “grief” as a way to explain away these club members’ awful behavior towards others has increased my disappointment of this book.
Oooh. And let’s not forget the Headmistress (Meredith Lockwell) of the school. She is going through her own “grief” and “trauma,” which is supposed to explain why she is awful, lacks a personality, and feels like the people who her children are dating are so beneath them. Can YA Authors please stop making every adult in these books awful, unlikable, or plain dumb?!?!
Then we have the romance. No one in this book had chemistry, especially the FMC, Violet Harper, and MMC, Calvin Lockwell (and they were supposed to as it was written in the synopsis). In fact, they were supposed to have undeniable chemistry, very adorable banter, and the reader was supposed to be swooning all over these two. However, Violet and Calvin spend the whole book as on-again, off-again friends to only share ONE kiss during Chapter 17 and then are suddenly a couple in the Epilogue. Honestly, their banter wasn’t even spicy or funny like most YA authors are capable of creating.
The more I think about this book the more I feel lied to. This book appears to be the prefect book for Spooky Season but, it will only work for those who enjoy ghost stories, an easy to read YA novel, a palette cleanser, and a semi-to-nonexistent romance plot. As for me, I probably should’ve DNf’d this after Chapter 3. I am kind of perplexed by the fact that HOH is Skyla Arndt’s second novel because this reads more like a debut novel. You know: A story that claims to be one thing but midway through the author loses focus on the plot goal(s) only to do and say whatever to try and keep the reader interested. Unfortunately, I was far from interested when the first unnecessary bully scene took place.
I truly want to wish Skyla Arndt well on her future endeavors, especially her writing career. I know this book will be a huge hit for some people. I am just not one of them. I also can’t see myself picking up another book by this author. Sorry!!!!
Thank you NetGalley and Viking Books for Young Readers for granting me an Advance Reader’s Copy of this book in exchange for my honest and personal opinion!!!
April 18, 2025
find more reviews on my blog
House of Hearts snatched me up and tossed me into a gothic wonderland I didn’t want to leave. This dark academia gem, dripping with Alice in Wonderland whimsy and a haunted boarding school vibe, deserves a solid 4 stars for making my heart race and my suspicions spiral.
Let’s start with the good stuff. Violet Harper, our tough-as-nails heroine, is out to solve her best friend’s murder, and she’s not here for anyone’s nonsense. She stormed into Hart Academy, ready to infiltrate a secret society like she’s auditioning for a Nancy Drew reboot.
The setting? Love. Picture gothic towers, a haunted hedge maze, and a masquerade ball with a ghostly visitor. Arndt’s prose is lush, painting every creepy corridor and forbidden glance so vividly I felt like I was sneaking through the school myself. The mystery kept me guessing.
Now, the romance. Oh, Calvin Lockwell, you brooding, handsome descendant of the school’s founder, why must you be so dreamy? The dislike-to-lovers tension with Violet is delicious, with banter that had me smiling. Their chemistry crackles in moments. But here’s my beef: the soulmate angle. Meh. It felt like a shortcut, as if Arndt didn’t trust her own (very capable!) hands to build that slow-burn spark naturally. I’m not here for fated love when I could’ve had 100-200 more pages of Violet and Calvin snarking and circling each other until they combust. Gimme that organic chemistry, not a magical shortcut that’s been done to death.
The pacing is brisk, which I loved, but it also left me wanting. The book’s under 300 pages, and while it’s packed with twists, I craved more room to linger in the eerie world and let the characters breathe. Violet’s grief over her friend could’ve hit harder with a few extra scenes, and the secret society’s history deserved a deeper dive. It’s like getting a killer dessert but only a tiny slice—girl, I wanted the whole cake!
Still, I dug this book’s vibe. It’s creepy, romantic, and just the right amount of unhinged.
House of Hearts snatched me up and tossed me into a gothic wonderland I didn’t want to leave. This dark academia gem, dripping with Alice in Wonderland whimsy and a haunted boarding school vibe, deserves a solid 4 stars for making my heart race and my suspicions spiral.
Let’s start with the good stuff. Violet Harper, our tough-as-nails heroine, is out to solve her best friend’s murder, and she’s not here for anyone’s nonsense. She stormed into Hart Academy, ready to infiltrate a secret society like she’s auditioning for a Nancy Drew reboot.
The setting? Love. Picture gothic towers, a haunted hedge maze, and a masquerade ball with a ghostly visitor. Arndt’s prose is lush, painting every creepy corridor and forbidden glance so vividly I felt like I was sneaking through the school myself. The mystery kept me guessing.
Now, the romance. Oh, Calvin Lockwell, you brooding, handsome descendant of the school’s founder, why must you be so dreamy? The dislike-to-lovers tension with Violet is delicious, with banter that had me smiling. Their chemistry crackles in moments. But here’s my beef: the soulmate angle. Meh. It felt like a shortcut, as if Arndt didn’t trust her own (very capable!) hands to build that slow-burn spark naturally. I’m not here for fated love when I could’ve had 100-200 more pages of Violet and Calvin snarking and circling each other until they combust. Gimme that organic chemistry, not a magical shortcut that’s been done to death.
The pacing is brisk, which I loved, but it also left me wanting. The book’s under 300 pages, and while it’s packed with twists, I craved more room to linger in the eerie world and let the characters breathe. Violet’s grief over her friend could’ve hit harder with a few extra scenes, and the secret society’s history deserved a deeper dive. It’s like getting a killer dessert but only a tiny slice—girl, I wanted the whole cake!
Still, I dug this book’s vibe. It’s creepy, romantic, and just the right amount of unhinged.
February 11, 2024
I can’t speak too much on this quite yet, but pals, this book is FANTASTIC! If you’re into dark academia settings, whimsy Alice in Wonderland vibes, lots of banter, enemies to lovers, a haunted hedge maze, and equal parts chilling horror and romance that will leave you breathless, this is for you!
September 13, 2025
➺ 4 ★
One of the best experiences of my life was buddy reading this book with Sumi. 🫂🩷
One of the best experiences of my life was buddy reading this book with Sumi. 🫂🩷
August 23, 2025
This book was such a dark and haunting ride, and I loved how much it pulled me in. Violet was such a strong, determined character with a sharp, often humorous voice that made her stand out immediately. She never backed down, whether it was dealing with the elite kids at school or digging into the truth behind her best friend’s death, and I admired how fiercely loyal she was.
The setting and concept were fascinating. This eerie boarding school, a secret society dripping with danger, and the looming bloody curse that felt like its own character. Honestly, the House itself felt alive, full of shadows and memories, and I loved that original touch. It gave the story a dreamlike, unsettling quality that stayed with me even after I finished.
I also really enjoyed the dynamic between Violet and Calvin. Their banter was witty and their chemistry undeniable, though I do wish there had been a little more time spent developing their moments together. The side characters were all layered too, whether they were allies, rivals, or cursed heirs, and the way all their connections tied into the mystery made the story feel rich and multi-dimensional.
For me, this was the perfect blend of dark academia, mystery, and romance with just enough horror to keep me on edge. It wasn’t flawless, mainly I wanted more from the romance, but overall, it was a beautifully written, eerie, and captivating story that I’m glad I picked up.
If you like secret societies, gothic curses, and bold heroines who don’t scare easily, this one’s worth reading!
My copy of this book was provided by NetGalley and Viking Books for review purposes. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
The setting and concept were fascinating. This eerie boarding school, a secret society dripping with danger, and the looming bloody curse that felt like its own character. Honestly, the House itself felt alive, full of shadows and memories, and I loved that original touch. It gave the story a dreamlike, unsettling quality that stayed with me even after I finished.
I also really enjoyed the dynamic between Violet and Calvin. Their banter was witty and their chemistry undeniable, though I do wish there had been a little more time spent developing their moments together. The side characters were all layered too, whether they were allies, rivals, or cursed heirs, and the way all their connections tied into the mystery made the story feel rich and multi-dimensional.
For me, this was the perfect blend of dark academia, mystery, and romance with just enough horror to keep me on edge. It wasn’t flawless, mainly I wanted more from the romance, but overall, it was a beautifully written, eerie, and captivating story that I’m glad I picked up.
If you like secret societies, gothic curses, and bold heroines who don’t scare easily, this one’s worth reading!
My copy of this book was provided by NetGalley and Viking Books for review purposes. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
January 9, 2026
4,25⭐️
“There once was a girl
whose heart was much too big,
much too broken,
so she dug within the garden of her ribs
and ripped it right out,
but in those heartless moments
strangely
she missed the pain,
missed the splinters of a broken heart
in the empty chasm of her chest;
she learned that she’d rather feel
something than
nothing at all.”
“There once was a girl
whose heart was much too big,
much too broken,
so she dug within the garden of her ribs
and ripped it right out,
but in those heartless moments
strangely
she missed the pain,
missed the splinters of a broken heart
in the empty chasm of her chest;
she learned that she’d rather feel
something than
nothing at all.”
September 12, 2025
2025 reads: 248/300
i received a digital review copy from the publisher via netgalley. i am leaving this review voluntarily.
violet harper knows her best friend was murdered, even if everyone else has been calling her death a freak accident. there’s only so much violet can do with the cryptic messages about the boarding school, her whirlwind romance, and a mysterious secret society, so vi decides to go to the school herself to investigate. what she’s not expecting is to be drawn to calvin lockwell, brother of the prime suspect and descendant of the school’s founder.
i really enjoyed skyla arndt’s debut, together we rot, so i was really excited to read this one! there’s just something about boarding schools that make them one of the most perfect horror settings. maybe it’s the long and hidden history, maybe it’s the fact that if you put that many teenagers in that close of proximity for such a long time they start to lose their minds, maybe a good mix of both. this story was also balanced with diary entries from a character who lived in the past, and it was really interesting seeing how this connected with the plot in the present. the romance was also pretty nice, and played into the overall mystery/horror plot very well. i can’t wait for more from skyla arndt!
i received a digital review copy from the publisher via netgalley. i am leaving this review voluntarily.
violet harper knows her best friend was murdered, even if everyone else has been calling her death a freak accident. there’s only so much violet can do with the cryptic messages about the boarding school, her whirlwind romance, and a mysterious secret society, so vi decides to go to the school herself to investigate. what she’s not expecting is to be drawn to calvin lockwell, brother of the prime suspect and descendant of the school’s founder.
i really enjoyed skyla arndt’s debut, together we rot, so i was really excited to read this one! there’s just something about boarding schools that make them one of the most perfect horror settings. maybe it’s the long and hidden history, maybe it’s the fact that if you put that many teenagers in that close of proximity for such a long time they start to lose their minds, maybe a good mix of both. this story was also balanced with diary entries from a character who lived in the past, and it was really interesting seeing how this connected with the plot in the present. the romance was also pretty nice, and played into the overall mystery/horror plot very well. i can’t wait for more from skyla arndt!
did-not-finish
January 1, 2026DNF @50%
One of those books where everything picks up around the 80%. Except I skimmed to 80% and still nothing notable happens. No aesthetic, little to no exploration of the mystery and weak fantastical energy. Entirely forgettable.
One of those books where everything picks up around the 80%. Except I skimmed to 80% and still nothing notable happens. No aesthetic, little to no exploration of the mystery and weak fantastical energy. Entirely forgettable.
March 27, 2025
“𝘉𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘣𝘦 𝘢 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘺𝘦𝘳, 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘢 𝘱𝘢𝘸𝘯.”
At Hart Academy, it’s important to guard your heart… in more ways than one.
House of Hearts by Skyla Arndt is a romantic gothic murder mystery, with elements of ghostly horror, wrapped in the vibes of a dark academia Alice in Wonderland.
Fall down the rabbit hole with Violet Harper as she attempts to solve the murder for her best friend- without losing her head (or her heart) in the process.
With a compelling mystery, witty banter, and a captivating romantic curse, House of Hearts has already cemented itself as one of my favourite reads of the year!
“𝘞𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯’𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵.”
“𝘞𝘩𝘺?” 𝘏𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘰𝘳 𝘣𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴, 𝘧𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘮𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘦𝘦𝘱.
“𝘉𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘐’𝘭𝘭 𝘬𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘺𝘰𝘶.”
♥️ Secret Society
♣️ Masquerade (with a Ghostly Visitor)
♦️ Alice in Wonderland x Sleeping Beauty Vibes
♠️ Haunted Elite Boarding School for Rich Kids
♥️ Forbidden Romance
♣️ Soulmate Curse
♦️ Haunted Labyrinth
♠️ Gothic Architecture & A Spooky Tower
♥️ Dark Academia Murder Mystery
♣️ Tough & Stubborn FMC
“𝘚𝘩𝘦’𝘴 𝘺𝘦𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘨𝘪𝘳𝘭 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘳𝘺. 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦.”
*Thank you to Skyla for the advance copy and for having me as a member of The Cards street team 🖤
At Hart Academy, it’s important to guard your heart… in more ways than one.
House of Hearts by Skyla Arndt is a romantic gothic murder mystery, with elements of ghostly horror, wrapped in the vibes of a dark academia Alice in Wonderland.
Fall down the rabbit hole with Violet Harper as she attempts to solve the murder for her best friend- without losing her head (or her heart) in the process.
With a compelling mystery, witty banter, and a captivating romantic curse, House of Hearts has already cemented itself as one of my favourite reads of the year!
“𝘞𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯’𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵.”
“𝘞𝘩𝘺?” 𝘏𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘰𝘳 𝘣𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴, 𝘧𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘮𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘦𝘦𝘱.
“𝘉𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘐’𝘭𝘭 𝘬𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘺𝘰𝘶.”
♥️ Secret Society
♣️ Masquerade (with a Ghostly Visitor)
♦️ Alice in Wonderland x Sleeping Beauty Vibes
♠️ Haunted Elite Boarding School for Rich Kids
♥️ Forbidden Romance
♣️ Soulmate Curse
♦️ Haunted Labyrinth
♠️ Gothic Architecture & A Spooky Tower
♥️ Dark Academia Murder Mystery
♣️ Tough & Stubborn FMC
“𝘚𝘩𝘦’𝘴 𝘺𝘦𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘨𝘪𝘳𝘭 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘳𝘺. 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦.”
*Thank you to Skyla for the advance copy and for having me as a member of The Cards street team 🖤
September 4, 2025
Młodzieżówka aż do bólu - napisana w bardzo prosty sposób i być może by mi się podobała gdybym znowu miała 13/14 lat? może.
Klimacik to chyba najlepsze co tu jest - mroczny, lekko gotycki - idealny na deszczowe popołudnie pod kocykiem ALE na tym kończą się plusy. (książka dużo by zyskała gdyby poszła bardziej w horror a nie w rzeczy paranormalne)
Romans? meh (meh bo miłość jest jak za pstryknięciem palcami - insta love itp), tempo akcji? leci na łeb na szyje przez to świat i bohaterowie są mega płascy, nie da się do nich przywiązać czy też przejmować ich losem.
Było nudno i wszystko mi było obojętne.
*spoilerowo*
Główna bohaterka trafia do ekskluzywnej szkoły by rozwiązać zagadkę morderstwa przyjaciółki - choć jest w tym bardzo zielona i słabo jej idzie ,kłamie matce że wszystko jest okej kiedy prawie umarła XD a po matce to spływa jak po kaczce i wisienka na torcie - zakochuje się w niezrozumianym bad boyu który skrywa jakieś tajemnice :) mega sztampowo jakby napisane pod motywy (tropes) z tiktoka i byleby się sprzedała xd
Klimacik to chyba najlepsze co tu jest - mroczny, lekko gotycki - idealny na deszczowe popołudnie pod kocykiem ALE na tym kończą się plusy. (książka dużo by zyskała gdyby poszła bardziej w horror a nie w rzeczy paranormalne)
Romans? meh (meh bo miłość jest jak za pstryknięciem palcami - insta love itp), tempo akcji? leci na łeb na szyje przez to świat i bohaterowie są mega płascy, nie da się do nich przywiązać czy też przejmować ich losem.
Było nudno i wszystko mi było obojętne.
*spoilerowo*
Główna bohaterka trafia do ekskluzywnej szkoły by rozwiązać zagadkę morderstwa przyjaciółki - choć jest w tym bardzo zielona i słabo jej idzie ,kłamie matce że wszystko jest okej kiedy prawie umarła XD a po matce to spływa jak po kaczce i wisienka na torcie - zakochuje się w niezrozumianym bad boyu który skrywa jakieś tajemnice :) mega sztampowo jakby napisane pod motywy (tropes) z tiktoka i byleby się sprzedała xd
Want to read
August 11, 2024they say don’t judge a book by the cover but this cover is actually so cool looking so…
also am i the only one who thinks this dude looks like jacks from ouabh? (no that’s not ENTIRELY why i pressed add to tbr)
also am i the only one who thinks this dude looks like jacks from ouabh? (no that’s not ENTIRELY why i pressed add to tbr)
August 26, 2025
The cover for this book grabbed my attention right away, but sadly the story ended up being just ok for me. The set up had a lot of potential and the gothic/dark academia vibes were spot on, but I struggled with the characters and the pacing. The story went from infiltrate the exclusive secret society to the Scooby-Doo gang trying to break a curse. It was strange that after everything that happened, everyone just went on with their lives and didn’t think about it anymore!? I’m sure many will enjoy this one, but I think perhaps my YA reading days are numbered.
The audiobook narration by Amanda Dolan was great and she voiced all the different characters well. She added just the right amount of creepy when needed and I’m not sure I would have finished this one without the audio.
Audiobook Review
Overall 3 stars
Performance 5 stars
Story 2.5 stars
*I voluntarily read and listened to a review copy of this book*
The audiobook narration by Amanda Dolan was great and she voiced all the different characters well. She added just the right amount of creepy when needed and I’m not sure I would have finished this one without the audio.
Audiobook Review
Overall 3 stars
Performance 5 stars
Story 2.5 stars
*I voluntarily read and listened to a review copy of this book*
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