House of the Beast

by Michelle Wong, Jeanne Syquia (Narrator)

Step into the House of the Beast in this stunning dark fantasy debut from The Legend of Korra graphic novel illustrator Michelle Wong, about a young woman who strikes a deal with a mysterious and alluring god to seek revenge on her aristocratic family—featuring gorgeous black-and-white illustrations throughout by the author.

Born out of wedlock and shunned by society, Alma learned to make her peace with solitude, so long as she had her mother by her side. When her mother becomes gravely ill, Alma discovers a clue about her estranged father and writes a message begging for help. Little does she know that she is a bastard of House Avera, one of the four noble families that serve the gods and are imbued with their powers—and her father is a vessel of the Dread Beast, the most frightening god of all, a harbinger of death.

In a desperate exchange for her mother’s medicine, Alma agrees to sacrifice her left arm to the Beast in a ceremony that will bind her forever to the House and its deity. Regardless, her mother soon passes, leaving Alma trapped inside the Avera’s grand estate, despised by her relatives and nothing but a pawn in her father’s schemes.

Now vengeance is the only thing that keeps Alma going. That, and the strange connection she has with her god—a monster who is constantly by her side, an eldritch being taking the form of a beautiful prince with starlit hair that only she can see. He tells Alma that she has been chosen to bring change upon their world, and with his help, Alma plots a perilous journey to destroy the House that stole everything from her.

A gripping fantasy novel marked by divine rituals, intense combat, and twisted romance, House of the Beast is a tale of revenge, resilience, and the power of love to see us through the darkness.

Genres: Fantasy, Romance, Horror, Gothic, Romantasy, Fiction, Adult

17 pages, Audible Audio

First published July 17, 2025

About the author

Michelle Wong is an artist and writer from Hong Kong who worked on the Legend of Korra graphic novels. She loves video games and aesthetically pleasing horror, and currently lives in Vancouver.

Reviews

[Ricarda · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm sorry, but you can't have an old god character named the Dread Beast and then mostly make him a mediocre white boy who's obsessed with the main character for no reason – that's a fraud. Maybe I had all the wrong expectations for this book, but almost everything let me down here. I was intrigued by the beginning. The book starts with a prelude that shows how the main character Alma was forced to join the house of her estranged father after her mother fell sick. Alma is 11 years old when she is ripped from her home, placed in a hateful surrounding and relieved of one arm as a sacrifice to the brutal god of the house. She is accepted as a vessel of the Dread Beast, but everyone in the house hates her anyway. Her father only sees her as means to an end, her stepmother despises her for being the bastard child of her husband, and her cousin thinks her a threat to his position as heir to the house. Alma's only friend is Aster – a boy she made up in her mind but who reveals himself as the Beast that's now favoring her. After her mother dies because her father did nothing to save her, Alma swears revenge and eight years pass in a time skip. And what can I say, that's when it started to go downhill for me. Everything now leads up to this huge religious event called the Pilgrimage where a new god has to be slain and the most powerful position of the House of the Beast will be decided. It's what everybody is talking about now, and what many characters want for themselves, but it takes so long to actually happen. The Pilgrimage doesn't take place until the 70% mark, making the majority of the book about preparation rituals and political maneuverings inside the House of the Beast. I did like the mythology but overall the fantasy parts came way too short. It's more about interpersonal relationships (everyone hates each other), but truly interesting or well-developed characters are missing. Everyone felt so flat, and Alma most of all. She now joins the Pilgrimage as part of her revenge plan, but her feelings never come across, really. Why can't she be a truly spiteful bitch, driven by hate? Although she is a badass fighter (an ability she acquired during the time jump, so we never actually see her work for it), she is kinda soft and even forgiving towards some of the people who wronged her. I mean, she supposedly has this special connection to a bloodthirsty god, does that not influence her? The relationship between Alma and Aster was underwhelming too. He doesn't behave like an elder god at all and is mostly just a guy. He is flirty with Alma, and wants her to lead his house, but I think it's pretty clear that he's manipulative. And no, this is not a romance. I saw it in reviews and it's also mentioned in the summary, but I have no idea what romance people are talking about. I did like the Pilgrimage when it finally happened – that whole part was cool and twisty. The fights were intense and bloody, and also the only thing that remotely justified this book not being YA. I still think that a good 100 pages could have been cut out of the middle part, and it wouldn't change the story much. One thing that kept me going were the awesome illustrations by the author and I really liked how they accompanied the story. So yes, not an awful book, but I disliked more things about it than I liked. I guess my actual rating is 2.5 stars, but the 3 star looks good to me on Goodreads.

Huge thanks to NetGalley and HarperVoyager for providing a digital arc in exchange for an honest review.

[Alexia · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was merely alright. It lacked any truly remarkable elements, yet it also avoided being outright bad. If the book had been poorly written or completely unengaging, I would have felt some emotion, but instead, I was simply bored throughout.

The plot premise sounded quite intriguing at first. However, its execution fell flat, failing to bring the story to life. This is more tell than show. We spent an excessive amount of time with side characters who lacked development, and Alma had to navigate political machinations before any real action occurred. Although I enjoy political intrigue, it needs to be engaging first, which this was not.

The worldbuilding was underdeveloped. Many aspects of the setting remained unexamined, leaving numerous questions unanswered.

The characters were so flat and uninteresting that I found it impossible to connect or care about any of them.

Alma was an especially dull protagonist. The author tried portraying her as a morally complex, manipulative figure, but she lacked the necessary depth. She was kind-hearted, overwhelmed by guilt, and very naive. Aster, who was supposed to be a powerful, ancient god, instead behaved like a mischievous teenager with too much free time. His demeanor didn’t evoke the aura of a deity. His personality resembled that of a child rather than a divine being. The chemistry in the romance was nonexistent.

I must admit that the beginning of the book initially captivated me and drew me in. However, after that promising start, the story rapidly declined into a nosedive, leaving me disengaged.

[Lexi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Overview

👹 Monsterfucking (sans sex)

😈 Villain romance

☠️ Death trial games

🧿 Weird evil parallel universes

🏰 Court politics

🏳️‍🌈 Secondary MC queer rep

🥀 Extremely goth families that hate each other

⭐⭐ Read more of my reviews and get tips on the best Enemies to Lovers books by checking out my Blog, Enemies to Lovers Source ⭐⭐

🖤🖤 Follow me On Bluesky for more book ranting 🖤🖤

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The closer characters to Alma include

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

[Jaime Fok · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

First, I want to give a shoutout to the GORGEOUS illustrations in this book! Would love to see more books with this format, Michelle Wong is definitely so so talented with her craft.

This story I think had a lot of promise. I loved the prologue, and part 1 of this book. However, I think once we jumped forward in time, this lost me. It seemed a bit like the book didn’t know what it wanted to be? Started out as a gothic horror fantasy with an incredible atmosphere and dark fairytale-style writing. But once we time-jumped, the writing seemed to change completely and felt more like a regular trials-based fantasy… losing the gothic fairytale feel. I was also a bit confused at the time period? Seemed to start with an older feeling period, but then televisions were mentioned, and then we started getting modern-feeling dialogue.

I would have loved to spend more time with Alma in her younger years, seeing her develop as a character more and also build this intensely negative relationship with her father. This section seemed too quick for me.

All in all, gorgeous idea. Didn’t fully hit for me this time, but excited to see what Michelle Wong does next!

[a foray in fantasy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is my TOP book of the year 🙇‍♀️🙇‍♀️🙇‍♀️ and you can get it now!! (bowing down to the incredible writing and illustrations in this book).


Pitching this to people who play the Dark Urge in Baldur’s Gate 3. 👹👹👹

It's an incredible debut with so much depth to the characters, world, and plot. The illustrations were absolutely gorgeous and totally tied in to the book itself.

Alma is a flawed protagonist, one whose motivations are unknown fully-- including, it seems, to herself. Her relationships with others and her ambition kept me excited to read more.

I received this ARC from Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.

[Melanie (meltotheany) · Rating 4 out of 5]

ARC provided by the publisher via Netgalley

“It hurt so much, and I wanted the pain to end. But more than that, I wanted someone else to pay for it.”

this book opens up with alma being only 11 year old, living in immense poverty, trying to help take care of her sick mother, and she only has her imaginary prince friend to keep her company. but her father is a powerful aristocrat, who had alma out of wedlock, and agrees to help her and her mother, as long as she comes and lives with him. in this part of the world, there are four houses, with four gods, that people worship and give their prayers to. and alma is whisked away by her father, and brought into this world and his house of the beast, where she is offered up to his god at a sacred temple. and that is the start of alma’s eight year journey of revenge against her father and this family, and alongside her is the imaginary prince, who maybe isn’t as imaginary as alma originally believed.

i don’t want to say anything else, and maybe even that opener is a little more than you needed, but i really enjoyed this debut with my whole heart. i loved the discussions of power, and the cost of power, and how some people are really willing to pay anything. i really respected the themes of abuse and revenge and how those two things can shape us, in so many different ways - especially with the depictions of different types of manipulation throughout this story. and i was really moved by the reminder that we will always be so much more than a vessel for someone else.

also, the author is an illustrator, and oh my gosh the illustrations throughout this are just perfection and add so much to this dark powerful tale.

trigger + content warnings: sick mother, loss of mother, grief, abuse, gore, blood, forced amputation, violence, drugging, child sacrifice, abandonment, killing of animal (bird) in past, manipulation, grooming, power imbalances, spiders, attempted forced surgery, battle, vomit, death, murder

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[Maeghan 🦋 · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.25✨
« But I couldn’t help a quiet longing for those silly ideals. Maybe if we all believed in them, things would not be so complicated. »

House of the beast was not the kind of book I thought I would like, if I’m being quite honest. I hesitated upon purchasing this one, and only ended up doing so because the end papers are truly beautiful. (I’m very happy I ended up doing so, because I absolutely loved this one).

The FMC - Alma - is a soft type of character that I just wanted to hug tight all throughout this journey. When her age was revealed in part 1, my jaw was on the floor. She just needed to be held 😭

The writing flew so easily, I didn’t want to put this down. Some twists were predictable; while some were not. The author has a very haunting and emotional writing.

Six is my absolute favourite 😭 I’m writing this with tears in my eyes but seriously, these characters just went through so much. I just wanted to hug them all.

The impacts dysfunctional families or toxic relationship have on a person were incredibly well portrayed and the characters were multi layered.

I loved the ending and I will read everything else the author writes. The story had very unique components.

—-•pre read
Trying to tackle my Fall TBR like 🤺 only 5 left!

[Mai ༊*·˚ · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 ★— She’s grown up with an invisible, power-boosting entity in her mind. One only she can see and speak to. Their bond is close, intimate, and deeply unhealthy… and somehow, deeply lackluster?

While the setup for this book is intriguing, and for the first half of the story I was spellbound, eager to see how it would all unfold and how the relationship between the FMC, Alma, and her “beast,” Aster, would develop, I was ultimately left unsatisfied.

Their relationship builds the central part of this story, and it should be intriguing, because, hello, hot, dangerous entity only she can interact with, that helps her achieve more with her powers, but also pushes her into increasingly disturbing territory?

This is a treasure trove of so many things that be could explored: manipulation, trauma, loneliness, want and desire, the taboo of him being a non-human entity and their thus impossible desire for each other? The desperation, fear, and the grappling with the darker themes that Alma encounters as she matures?
Alllll this potential… and it ends up feeling surprisingly bland und underdeveloped. All these complex aspects you could use to flesh out their twisted connection, and it feels mostly bare, hollow, and cliché.

The MMC, while powerful and clearly manipulative in some ways, just never clicked for me. Despite the premise, their interactions lacked tension and emotional weight.
It’s strange… This book doesn’t shy away from brutal undertones or graphic violence, yet the central relationship felt oddly sterile and lacking in spark. That contrast stood out in a way that pulled me out of the story.

Weirdly enough, I don’t have many other complaints. The FMC’s strained relationship with her father was well-developed and led to one of the more powerful moments later on in the book. The worldbuilding and lore were solid. I also liked the secondary characters and enjoyed seeing their connections to Alma grow over time. The fight scenes were dynamic, and I loved some of the more brutal moments.

But because the main relationship — the absolute backbone of the plot — felt so underwhelming, it left the whole reading experience a bit empty. I just couldn’t connect the way I wanted to, and that impacted my overall impression of the book.


🎧Audiobook/Narration:
The narrator did a lovely job! I listened to parts of this as an audiobook and really appreciated how well she distinguished the different characters with subtle affectations. Her tone was smooth and pleasant to listen to.

_____________________

Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins for the ARC, and to HarperAudio Adult for the ALC, both in exchange for an honest review.

[Erin Craig · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely marvelous

[Paige · Rating 4 out of 5]

just a bunch of disappointing men

[Zoë · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think it’s a mark of a great book when I can reread and agree with all my original emotions while still getting worked up the second time through

[Samantha (ladybug.books) · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

I wanted to love this book so badly. Unfortunately, I was pretty underwhelmed by House of the Beast. I would almost give this four stars because I do like a lot of the pieces of this, and I really loved the ending. But I can just feel myself forgetting this story.

House of the Beast follows Alma, the bastard child of an aristocratic house, who strikes a deal with her estranged father in order to save her dying mother. Joining her father’s family means serving the Dread Beast, one of the four gods of this realm. When her mother dies anyway, Alma, in her grief, makes a deal with a mysterious god and seeks revenge against her father and the cruel members of his house.

The writing was really engaging. I enjoyed the reading experience, and I would read more from this author. The illustrations were stunning, and I loved what they added to the reading experience. I really looked forward to coming across them as I read the story. The world-building was also interesting. There are a lot of unique ideas that make for a haunting, atmospheric world.

House of the Beast is almost entirely motivated by this one central relationship between Alma and her mysterious god, Aster. I love the idea of their relationship dynamic; it was the main reason that I picked up the book. But what didn’t really work for me is the fact that, for the vast majority of the story, we follow these two characters at the peak of their relationship, peak closeness. In order to feel the relationship, for it to have enough weight to motivate the entire story, I feel like I needed to see more of the early stages of their relationship. Especially because it is such a complicated and emotionally fraught dynamic. I wanted that history and background to support the character’s decisions and what was happening in the story. As it was, it felt a little bit hollow.

Outside of this relationship dynamic, I found the pacing of the story to be quite odd. The entire book is working up to this pilgrimage to hunt a falling star—an event that is very important to everyone in the story. And yet, it takes a really long time for that to actually come into play. In the middle, we have politicking and interpersonal relationships with some of the side characters trying to fill the space and not really succeeding. Neither of these elements was really fleshed out. The side characters were quite flat, and I feel like a lot of their character development was rather abrupt and convenient. Arguably, the same can be said for Alma towards the end.

I love the idea of this book, and I would still recommend it to readers who are newer to the fantasy genre. But I found myself wanting so much more from House of the Beast. If you liked this and want something with similar vibes, or if you were disappointed and want something that I found to be a stronger dark fantasy, I HIGHLY recommend Asunder.

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[Lia Carstairs · Rating 3 out of 5]

"We always knew that this path would be paved in blood, and we set out on it anyway."

That ending was definitely something!! I half-expected it but also didn't. Also, though this is a standalone, it does feel like there's an opportunity for more books set in this world?

I was hoping this would be a 5 star, and in the beginning I was extremely invested, but then around the halfway mark, I did feel some parts dragged and I was getting a bit bored? The worldbuilding was very interesting though, I applaud the author for the unique magic concept and the way this society worshipped their eldritch gods!

Alma was fine I guess? I feel like I was expecting more from her character and found myself disappointed in some aspects. Same with Aster. It just feels like there was so much potential to make their characters extremely complex and twisted and it kind of fell short. I do appreciate what the author was going for with Alma's character in forgiveness and it might just be me but considering how awfully everyone treated Alma, I would've gone for the revenge! Like sorry they don't deserve any sympathy! (I am always a supporter of FMCs getting revenge against people who wronged them) I guess Alma is just kinder than me.😭 Either way, I didn't really feel attached to either of them.

The side characters were also just... there. Except Sevelie was so sweet and I did not expect to like her, especially after that first interaction. Kaim is an actual jerk and you will not convince me otherwise. Fion was fine but again, he was really just there, I don't care much for him. Even the villain, I was very meh on. The stakes personally didn't feel high enough for me!

Overall, despite my complaints this was a pretty good debut!! Some things didn't work out for me, but this was still well-written. And bonus points for the artwork throughout the book by the author, like how cool!!!


Many thanks to HarperCollins for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

_______________

"House of the Beast centres on a young woman, named Alma, who strikes a deal with a mysterious and seductive god to seek revenge on her aristocratic family."

oh?? sign me up👀 (also black and white illustrations by the author??? omg)

[Bethany (Beautifully Bookish Bethany) · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars rounded up

I really enjoyed this! House of the Beast is a fantasy novel with some cosmic horror/light sci-fi elements. It follows a girl with an imaginary friend who is taken at 10 from her dying mother to her father's home where she is the disliked bastard child. Yet he needs an heir. The family worships The Beast by offering one of their arms in exchange for great power. Alma takes to this power far more quickly than she should, and it seems that her imaginary friend is much more than he seems...

We get a big time jump to Alma as an adult where there are trials to become the next sort of ruler. I won't spoil what happens but it's dark, twisty, and quite a satisfying story. I'm left wanting to know more about the world and what exactly is going on, but in a good way. I would recommend giving this a try! It has almost an anime vibe to it, especially with the illustrations that the author includes. The audio narration is good and felt immersive. I received a copy of this book for review from the publisher, all opinions are my own.

[Hades ( Disney's version ) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you to Netgalley and HarperAudio Adult/ Harper Voyager for an ARC of this book!


Oooooh my goodie gumdrops!! This is a good one!!

This was just such a good story! Another one where I knew VERY early on, I was going to love it here! Imagine you're a lonely child, so you create an imaginary best friend.. later in life your friend comes back & you learn the whole time, your friend was actually a God!? And that's such a hairline fracture of the story we have here! A must read for any fantasy lover!! I absolutely LOVED it!

And I will definitely be purchasing my hardcopy book trophy!!

[Zana · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted to DNF a few times, but I stayed because I'm a sucker (derogatory) for selfish and emotionally distant fathers who are the embodiment of toxic masculinity (definitely derogatory).

Jk.

This has everything I love when it comes to dark fantasy: vengeful FMC, Dr. Frankenstein-esque mad scientists and their creations, creepy monsters, cool fight scenes, toxic family dynamics.

The vibes were all there, but unfortunately, it didn't work out for me. The story really dragged because a lot of it was Alma dealing with noble family politics while also dealing with the childish whims of her invisible and sexy god monster. I wasn't invested enough in either one to actually care about what was going to happen to Alma or what she'll do next.

Aster was... not it. I thought this was going to be a toxic romance (or something along those lines), but he was just there? There was a lot of flirting, but it all felt very bland. It definitely could've gone a lot further, dark romance-wise.

Unexpectedly, the one thing I really liked was Alma's relationship with Sevelie. Her attitude towards her distant cousin really turned a 180 as the story progressed. What could've easily been written as a petty, one-dimensional, mean girl type of relationship actually blossomed into a full-fledged friendship with mutual respect and understanding. Such a breath of fresh air.

Also, the worldbuilding was cool. It really made me wish that the author went all out and made this into a graphic novel instead of a prose novel. That would've really locked me in.

It is what it is.

Thank you to Harper Voyager and NetGalley for this arc.

[Mag Piper · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you to Netgalley and Harper Voyager for the ARC! I appreciate the opportunity to read and give my honest review.

This is really 2.5 stars rounded up to 3, and that’s being generous because this is a debut.

First up: marketing this as dark adult fantasy was a mistake, imo. This is YA in tone, style, and content; edit out a few curse words and bloody details and this is upper YA all the way through (though I think I’ve read bloodier YA tbh). Adding the sort of self-discovery and coming-of-age growth we usually see in YA would have really helped this novel. As is, the characters just sort of fall flat. I also intensely disliked the default use of “man” in this, even when the MC is referring to herself, for example in idiomatic expressions.

What I DID like:
• While the worldbuilding was highly derivative, I enjoyed the concept of two of the divines, the Odious Tinkerer and the Dread Beast. Cool names, right? Those were fun.
• Sevelie, who was the only developed character with an arc that made sense.
• The arm sacrifice and follow-up moments of how it impacts Alma.

Beyond that, this was, unfortunately, poorly written and unoriginal. Alma is not memorable. She often thinks about how selfish and terrible she is, but then feels guilty and tries to be kind to everyone — even though she was “chosen” because of her darkness and longing for revenge. The “revenge for dead mother” as a catalyst has been done to death and wasn’t even convincing here. The Umbral Plane and its monsters are just a spirit portal and dark spirits (Legend of Korra, anyone?), plus for some reason a Weeping Angel is in there (call it what you want and make excuses for its nature, but that’s a statue that can’t move when you’re looking at it and then attacks when you blink? That’s a Weeping Angel.) The prose is equally uninteresting, with cliche expressions and unnecessary fillers.

The plot itself was muddled and repetitive. Alma wants revenge on her father because he sent for the wrong kind of healer and her mother dies (which might have happened anyway). After she’s spent 8 years plotting revenge and feeling sorry for herself, she finds out more bad stuff about her father to justify taking him down, and then yet more bad stuff. Supporting characters are wishy-washy and change not just their minds but their entire personalities in order to dish out exposition and move the plot along, and still quite a few of them make decisions and alliances with no convincing motivation.

I really, really wanted to like Aster, her “monster,” but he turned out to just be a bland, watered-down version of your typical kind of annoying, kind of control-freak fantasy love interest. Also, this is not a romance in any contemporary sense of the word (sorry, monster-f**kers; like I said, this all reads very YA. It’s your first toxic teenage relationship with some pining and “it’ll never work” and that’s it).

The ending was pretty easy to guess, which made it unsatisfying, because I kept hoping there was going to be a twist or something unexpected, but I don’t think at any point I was truly excited by what was going on or felt any kind of anticipation for what would happen next.

That said, if you like formulaic fantasy and your stereotypical inhuman love interest, you might still enjoy this. For me, it wasn’t hugely problematic or infuriating — just boring. There’s nothing in here you haven’t read or seen before.

[Krystal · Rating 4 out of 5]

PSA: This is NOT Romantasy

Which was absolutely FABULOUS.

I went into this with very low expectations and ended up enjoying it IMMENSELY!

The plot revolves around friendless Alma, who goes to live with her father when he mother becomes ill. He's obsessed with becoming First Hand of the Beast - the god his house worships. Alma has to rely on her invisible friend - who might not be a figment of her imagination after all - to help her survive his cruelty and take something for herself.

I'll be honest: I expected this to be all about the romance, like so many other new fantasy books are right now. I was expecting mooning and sighs and long looks and soft caresses and all those other things that really turn me off a book. I was expecting brooding Kaim to serve as a point of the love triangle and I was expecting very little plot.

Consider me well and truly shook.

This book defied all my expectations and ended up being ridiculously fun. It made me expect tropes then completely turned the corner to give me something wildly different. I thought it would be soft and weak but it was strong and BRUTAL.

There's an important relationship between Alma and Aster, but there's so much more to it that had me absolutely loving the growth and the dynamic between the two. I also loved the roles the supporting characters played, and how gruesome things got towards the end.

This book is a world of contradictions.

I did want a little more world-building; while this world is fleshed out, it was still a little confusing to me and I didn't fully comprehend the god situation, which is why some things didn't quite impact the way I think they should have. This is a self-contained story, but with room to expand on the world should the author choose to write a sequel. I think I'd be up for that because I'm so curious about the rest of the world that was only really hinted at here.

The other thing that gave me mixed feelings was the illustrations. They are gorgeous and I found them fascinating, but their style brought the tone down for me and made it feel less serious somehow. They are done in the style of manga, so I found myself expecting a level of immaturity based on the pictures. (Don't AT me, I know manga can be mature, it's not what I mean.) Like they are soft and cutesy and this story is neither of those things. I also found they spoiled things here and there, even if it was only a page or a paragraph in advance. I detest any kind of spoiler.

That said, this was a much darker story than I expected and it made it hit so much harder. I genuinely was not expecting to enjoy this as much as I did - it became an addictive read and I had no idea what was coming. There were moments where I couldn't stop because I HAD TO KNOW what came next. It was refreshingly good.

If you're here for the romance, you'll likely be disappointed, but if you're here for a dark tale of revenge then this delivers in spades. This will probably be one that sticks with me for a while just because of how little I expected it to hit this hard.

Absolutely, HIGHLY recommend for fantasy fans, especially those like me who are over the flood of Romantasy taking up valuable fantasy real estate on the shelves right now.

With thanks to Harper Collins for an ARC

[Billie's Not So Secret Diary · Rating 3 out of 5]

House of the Beast
by Michelle Wong
Fantasy New Adult
NetGalley eARC
Pub Date: Aug 5, 2025
Avon/Harper Voyager
Ages: 16+

When Alma's mother becomes ill, Alma contacts her father. Even though she is his bastard child, shunned by society, he agrees to help her mother only if she comes to live with him.

Agreeing, she leaves her mother and goes with her father to his home, finding out that he is from House Avera, one of the four noble families that serve the gods, and her father is a vessel of the Dread Beast, the most frightening god. Being his child, Alma must sacrifice her left arm to the Beast, binding her to the house and to the Beast.

But still a bastard child, she is despised, and she finds that she is a pawn in her father's goals.

Her only friend is her imaginary friend from childhood, who may be more than just imaginary.


A lot of readers who were considered outcasts because of their looks, disabilities, being poor, or other things that made them different from everyone else could relate to Alma. I know I did.

She was a nice kid until she got fed up with being used and 'abused', and decided to get revenge. Her father was the one who hurt her most. I completely understood her. (I'm not agreeing that violence is acceptable, and just because she wanted revenge, doesn't mean she went out and hurt anyone and everyone).

I disliked her father right away. And Alma's imaginary friend... spoilers..., but I did like his character. Very creative.

The plot was unique, and the ending reminded me a little of the 'Hunger Games', but sadly, there needed to be more to that 'world' and to the 'Gods'. While they and the history were highlighted, I felt a lot was missing from them. The Beast was highlighted because it was a main focus, but his history still felt vague. The other three Gods, I can't tell you much about them because not much was said to make an impact. I don't know the importance of the female God at the end. She seemed important, but why, I don't know.

Those missing elements are why this book didn't reach the next star.

There is a lot of violence, but I think mature readers sixteen and older would enjoy this story.

3 Stars

[Liana Gold · Rating 4 out of 5]

⭐️ 4 ⭐️ FULL REVIEW TO FOLLOW!
From Gods & monsters, divine rivals, immaculate illustrations on pages (within the text) and twisted romance— this dark fantasy had a really good revenge driven plot and female rage.
- she was the worst of the worst but he loved her anyways!

I can’t say this was a happy story, but it’s as Gothic and dark as it can get! If you love to live in the villain era, this my book-friends is a must read!

Thanks to NetGalley & Avon and Harper Voyager for this gorgeous ARC. This deluxe edition is gorgeous!
Publication date: August 5, 2025

[Lauren Lanz · Rating 3 out of 5]

“My monster, my friend, my prince from the stars.”

House of the Beast began as something atmospheric and quietly intriguing, pulling me in with the premise of a bastard daughter that gets whisked away to join her estranged father’s house, where their lineage serves as ‘vessels’ to an elder god called the Dread Beast.

Alma interested me from the beginning; the progression of her initial resentment towards her father slowly transforming into a burning need for revenge felt natural. Her determination and pointed rage, paired with her godly yet mundane-acting companion, Aster, made for a playful dynamic that I was initially really excited to see play out. I was convinced the author was setting up an unbreakable friendship or even a sibling-like bond between two of them, considering Aster grew with Alma’s imagination since childhood. I was so disappointed to see that dynamic fall into a cliche romance

Then we started to get into cliche territory, and things started to go downhill for me around the halfway mark. It was nothing to do with the writing, since I do think Wong’s prose is solid. My interest started to dwindle when it became clear that the plot threads which initially drew me in weren’t going to lead anywhere new or interesting. None of the battle scenes or third act plot twists were particularly inventive, and I became even more underwhelmed the further along I read without getting the character depth I wanted from the few promising side characters that were being established. I don’t think Sevelie, Kaim and Fion were utilized to even a fraction of their full potential as individual characters, nor in their respective relationships with Alma.

It all just boils down to this being a story that could have done so much more with what was initially being built up. It slowly fell into tropes and succumbed to mediocrity because of that. I would have liked to know more about the other houses of the elder gods, and to learn more about the side characters used to prop up Alma’s emotional journey.

[Hannah · Rating 5 out of 5]

my kinda book(messy, anime vibes, somewhat toxic codependency—borderline obsession, an incredible FMC that simply was THAT cool, a MMC that I kept picturing as Satoru Gojo the whole time I was reading, a lil heart-wrenching…but somehow IT JUST WORKED)

the first time in a long time that I have felt genuine excitement to pick a book back up and read (or put my audiobook back on lol)

[Jen · Rating 1 out of 5]

ARC provided by NetGalley/Harper Voyager.

This book is, quite frankly, a snooze fest.

At the beginning of the book, we learn that Alma’s father and a slew of other people will pass through what is called the “umbral gate” into what is essentially a parallel plan of existence where monsters and, more importantly, wannabe gods reside. Humans pass through this gate to slay the wannabe gods so they don’t become powerful enough to threaten the actual gods the humans worship.

The plot of this book is Alma wanting to go through the gate, defeat the current wannabe god instead of her father, and become the second most powerful person of her House, aka her family.

The issue, however, is that the majority of this book is spent simply talking about Alma needing to go through the gate and defeat her father and not much else.

This book is extremely lacking in tension and forward momentum. There is no sense of urgency and the pace is much too slow in the beginning with little detail given about the world, the magic, or the politics (which you would think would mean something when Alma seeks a political position). The first 70 pages alone act as more of an extended prologue of Alma’s childhood than the story proper.

Alma herself (as well as other characters, honestly) is barely fleshed out. The entire premise of this book is that Alma wants revenge and we keep getting told that over and over again, but we don’t learn anything about Alma beyond that. She wants to be the First Hand so her father can’t be. She wants to take that position simply because he wants it and she and Aster claim that he is “too ambitious” and won’t use the position for good–unlike Alma who somehow isn’t ambitious and will only do Good Things as First Hand. However, we never learn what being the First Hand entails, not really. Not only that, we never learn what Alma would do differently as First Hand. Would she help the general populace? How? What kind of political power does the First Hand of one of the noble houses have? Who’s even ruling this country???

It isn’t until the 70% mark that the characters finally go through the umbral gate, ready to move the plot forward. From there, the action picks up and it’s non-stop until the end of the book. In my opinion, more work needed to be done to make the beginning tighter and shorter as well as spreading out the action so it isn’t solely contained in the final third of the book. The insistence on continuing the “defeat the shitty dad” plot without any deviation or change of goals for Alma, while not engaging with it until the end of the book, is to the entire story’s detriment.

I also don’t feel enough was done to show how manipulative Aster was and how dependent on him Alma was. There’s some there, yes, but it feels very surface level and it gets muddled when, for the majority of the book, Aster is depicted as just a silly goofy guy doing silly goofy guy things.

The art throughout was well done, and while most of it didn’t add anything to the story (let’s be real, did we need to see a random drawing of a tray of medical instruments after we were told Alma looked at the tray of medical instruments? Or the cups? Or any of the insignificant things that were included simply because Alma looked for them for two seconds?), the ones that did (Alma meeting Aster for the “first” time, the creatures in the umbral plane) were a good inclusion. I do wish that more significant things were depicted, even it meant there were less illustrations overall. Because honestly, what do you mean things like random cups were included, but we don’t have any depictions of the gods? Or of the Things (creatures made from corpses and clockwork) Alma had to fight?

Overall, the book is rather dry without much substance. Characters were flat without any real motivation. The pace is too slow with no tension to ease it, and the overall plot lacked depth. In the end, the lack of skill in the execution and the one-track mind of it all took what could have been an interesting story and turned it into something so boring I could barely find the motivation to finish it.

[Iqra]

OHMYGOD THE PROOF COPY JUST CAME IN THE MAIL I AM LITCH ON THE VERGE OF TEARS 😭😭 soso grateful that this book is physically in my hands rn

Guys write those emails to publishers. You never know what might surprise u on ur doorstep!!!

[TheConnieFox · Rating 4 out of 5]

This gothic fictional novel captured my attention from the very beginning! This is a must read for all fantasy readers! It has beautiful illustrations on the inside, a gorgeous cover and a wonderful story! It is a medium paced read with strong complex characters! This book is dark, mysterious, emotional and full of adventure! I loved how I was unable to predict what was going to happen next, while reading it! Some of the themes in this book include a forbidden romance, morality, discrimination, combat and divine rituals! It consists of morally grey characters, an age gap romance, gods and vengeance! The book to me on an unforgettable wild ride! Overall, I rate this 4 out of 5 stars!

Content warnings include violence, murder, death and grief.

Thank you to NetGalley, author Michelle Wong and Avon and Harper Voyager | Harper Voyager for this digital advanced reader’s copy of this book in exchange for my honest review!

This book is expected to be published on August 5, 2025!

[Jenni ♡ · Rating 5 out of 5]

( 4.75 ⭐️)

When Alma’s mother falls gravely ill, she turns to her estranged father, desperate to secure medical aid. In return for his help, she must leave her old life behind and become his disciple. The price of this pact is steep, Alma must offer her left arm to a mysterious Beast, binding her to the House and its deity. Now connected to her God/Beast (WHO IS HAS WHITE HAIR AND STARRY EYES🫦) He reveals a daunting truth: she is the chosen one, destined to reshape their world…

Oh, this book. It’s like stepping into a dark dream. It’s dark, lush, and dripping with gothic whimsy. The atmosphere wrapped around me from the first page, I was pulled in by the whimsical vibes and then it slowly got darker and darker as you kept reading, almost fever-drenched world. But I’ll admit, there were moments where modern slang snuck in and yanked me out of the story. I kept trying to pin down the setting was it ancient? Timeless? A blend? I never quite landed on an answer, but still had a good time with the story and the vibes nonetheless.

Michelle did ALLL the illustration in her book and did an amazing job having it fit in with the narrative of the story. Some of these pictures I want displayed up on my walls. The last picture at the end? GUTTED ME!!

And the themes of abandonment, trauma bonding, toxic love, really hit hard. The kind of stuff that claws under your skin and stays there. That ending??? I was shooketh. Absolutely wrecked me. (I mf love a tragic ending okay) I was a mess by the end of the book. Reading through my tears. But (and this is a BIG but) I needed more. Just 10 or 20 more pages to really sink into the protagonist’s longing and grieving. Give me the heart ache, the desperation. I wanted to feel it in my bones.

One thing that threw me was the shift in tone. The first half was steeped in these gorgeous Asian-inspired details, and then suddenly, it tilted toward something more Western. It wasn’t bad, just… unexpected? Like switching gears mid-journey. Maybe that was the point? To mixing things up, defying expectations. And you know what? If so, that’s amazing and something that I should be open minded about.

“𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒔𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕’𝒔 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒎𝒆”

Overall, This book gripped me, shook me, and left me thinking. With a little more polish and expansion, it could’ve been a straight-up masterpiece. But even as it is? Haunting, unforgettable, and gut wrenching. I’ll be turning it over in my head for a while.

[DianaRose · Rating 4 out of 5]

firstly, thank you to the publisher for an arc and an alc!!

a note about the arc — it was poorly formatted on a kindle but i was still able to enjoy it due to my audiobook experience!

this is for fans of full metal alchemist and naomi novik’s scholomance trilogy, and i don’t say that lightly as those are two of my favorite series!

i absolutely loved the illustrations that accompanied the story, but i’m not shocked that i loved them considering wong worked on the legend of korra, another one of my favorite series.

as for the audio, the narrator did a fabulous job!

[bee ⭑.ᐟ · Rating 3 out of 5]

hmm idk why i got eternal city from elden ring vibes towards the end. other than that this was okay, i didn’t hate it but didn’t love it.

[Gigi · Rating 4 out of 5]

THIS BOOK. WOW. Just wow.

I went in already excited (vengeful gods, power-hungry noble houses, messy family drama?? sign me up), but I did not expect to be this obsessed. The emotional rollercoaster had me in a chokehold. Alma sacrificing herself for her mom, making impossible choices, carrying so much on her shoulders… I was stressed, heartbroken, and obsessed all at once. The way her story unfolds? I ate it all up.

Not gonna lie, the beginning felt a little slow, but once it picked up, I could NOT put it down. The atmosphere was dark, moody, and dripping with tension. This book did not allow me a single moment of peace.

And let’s talk about the illustrations because HELLO?! They weren’t just pretty... they made the story feel even richer, and honestly made the whole reading experience even better.

Pro tip: don’t rush this one. It may look like a simple revenge story, but the gods, the magic, the worldbuilding.. it’s layered, complex, and deserves to be savored. I can’t stop thinking about the ending, and I highly, highly recommend picking this one up.

[Esmay Rosalyne · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars

To me, House of the Beast feels like if you took the best elements of One Dark Window and Nevernight, blended them together, and then sprinkled some Ghibli-esque dark whimsy over it. I mean, we've got a revenge-driven and stab-happy FMC, lots of eldritch horrors, strange divine/mirror realm shenanigans, all the complicated family dynamics, and a deliciously twisted and toxic bond with a snarky imaginary guy who may or may not be an elder Dread God. Hellooo, talk about one hell of a strong and ambitious debut!

Now, I really loved how Wong laid such a strong foundation for this story by starting off all the way back in time with 11-year-old Alma to experience first-hand what kicked off her furious revenge quest and to see how exactly she ended up bonded to the 'monster' in her mind. The stakes are instantly sky-high, the intrigue immediately drips off the page, and Alma’s strong motivations are nice and clear from the very beginning.

However, once we got to the 8-year timeskip, I personally felt like the tone and characters didn't 'age up', which made for a bit of a jarring reading experience. On the one hand, Wong really doesn't pull any punches and goes hard on some of the horror aesthetics, gore, violence and morally questionable decisions (which I LOVED), yet on the other hand, the characters and their interactions felt quite juvenile to me. Maybe I would have interpreted the voices of the characters and the tone of the story differently myself if I had done an eyeball read instead of listening to the audiobook, but alas, I didn't, so here we are.

Most importantly of all though, I just never really connected with Alma and couldn’t fully get on-board with the dynamic between her and Aster, which is clearly the beating heart of this story. Yes, I found Alma’s internal struggle with trying to avenge her mother while also remaining the ‘good girl’ that her mother raised her to be very well written. Yes, the complicated family dynamics and strained father/daughter relationship (like, this man is really winning worst dad of the century award) were powerful and heartbreaking in all the best ways. And yes, I also really appreciated how Wong explored some dark and difficult themes of toxic love, manipulation, codependency, faith, morality and corruption through Alma's unconventional bond with Aster, but ultimately I just couldn’t help but feel like her/their whole journey was just a bit lacklustre and almost predictable?

All that said, those quibbles somehow didn't end up hindering my enjoyment and level of immersion all that much, not least because Wong is just a very talented storyteller with an incredible imagination. The world building is so imaginative, vivid and surprisingly complex, and I loved how the divine realm and human realm were so intricately intertwined in this world as we have different noble houses who are imbued with the power of the gods they serve. Moreover, the strong second half of the story definitely had me more invested and made up for the somewhat jarring beginning, and I especially loved all the diabolical twists and turns once the legendary Pilgrimage started.

Ultimately, I was expecting and hoping to love House of the Beast more than I did, but I also can’t deny that it is a very strong, ambitious and refreshing debut. If you like a good revenge quest fantasy full of eldritch horrors and complicated characters who you can love to hate and hate to love, then this is definitely the book for you. Just do yourself a favour and pick up the physical book, especially so you don’t miss out on all of Wong’s breathtaking interior illustrations.