Alexis HendersonRecensioni

Immanuelle Moore is an outcast in her home of Bethel because her mother broke the society’s rigid rules and fell in love with an outsider of another race. Because of this, Immanuelle tries to fit in as much as possible and worship the father properly. When she finds herself going into the forbidden Darkwood, she is met with the spirits of four powerful witches who were killed by the very first profit of Bethel. They give Immanuelle her mother’s diary, and she begins to understand some terrifying truths about the world she lives in.

Even though The Year of the Witching is set in a fictional universe, the allusions to our own past and present are very clear. The town of Bethel brings to mind early Puritanical societies where women were seen as inferior, and everything revolves around the church. Even several names were biblical; Immanuelle, Leah, And Ezra, to name a few. Intersectionality also plays a big role. Immanuelle, being a woman, is seen as inferior in Bethel, a place where men have all the power and can have multiple wives who are often much younger than them. She’s also biracial, which adds to her feelings of not belonging anywhere.

The only critique I have is with the witches. I wanted to know more about them, and I was disappointed by how little time was spent with them and the direction their story went. Despite that, I loved this book.

Henderson blends supernatural themes with the fears women and people of color deal with all the time. Her description of the witches is incredible and terrifying, and yet the book gave me the same kind of vibes that the movie The VVitch did. It has a very foreboding feeling to it. The Year of the Witching is an excellent comment on religious hypocrisy, patriarchy, and racism, but it’s also a frightening dark fantasy with witches, blood, and ghosts.

Although I thoroughly enjoyed Henderson's debut novel, "The Year of the Witching", this new book just totally missed the mark for me. Despite an intriguing premise, "House of Hunger" is bogged down by a slow beginning and characters who are simply not given enough time to develop properly or be fleshed out. Even the main characters are barely given more than a couple personality traits to distinguish them, let alone the main relationship between Marion and Lisavet; it goes from 0 - 100% in a mere matter of pages with hardly any real interactions between them. There is absolutely NO buildup in their relationship so everything between them felt unearned and dry. I felt like up until around page 220 (of this 288 page book) I was just rereading the same thing over and over again but with different synonyms thrown in.

4.5 happily rounded up. A wonderfully witchy, feminist, and intriguing read to kick off the fall season. I just loved the emotion and rage throughout the whole story! It was nicely fleshed out and well written, and I look forwards to what Henderson does next.

Holy cow, this book was riveting.
A sapphic retelling of the legend of Elizabeth Bathory with a nod to Dracula and his brides as well.

While some of the concepts like "blood fuel" and "blood wine" confused me in terms of how they would chemically work, I think they were meant to be more of a metaphorical concept of how industry and empire run on the exploitation of life.

The descriptions of the food, architecture, and Dionysian delights were scrumptious and provided an interesting foil to the more ghastly and disturbing details, much like the dank and moldy labyrinth underneath Lisabet's estate. The pacing was good and didn't feel too long or too short. I can't remember the last book that was so effortlessly enjoyable for me to read as this one, I practically devoured it in only a few days! I appreciated the diverse perspectives and think the character development was great as well.

I just wish I knew what happened to the girls at the end of the book after they board that night train. Do they succeed at toppling the horrifying blood maid and blood-based nobility system or at least manage to find some happiness, healing, and safety on their own? Since this book is a horror story, I would like to think the reason it ended so abruptly is that the horrors ended for them after that night.

This was a fun book to read. It also calls out the patriarchy in the most beautiful way. I actually ended up really loving the message, it hit me at a point when I was getting bored and then BAM I was hooked again

Female submission by sadistic, narcissistic males. Doesn’t sound very original? Well think again. This story is that, yes, but it’s also so much more. I’m not sure if it’s considered YA but it seems much too dark for that qualification in my opinion. What I love is that the witches in this book are real! Finally, a story about truly creepy, powerful, shaking in your shoe’s witches! Lately any title with the word “witch” ends up being ok. I did Finish the second book in the A Discovery of Witches series but, that’s more time travel and magical. This is more a chill you to the bones kind of read.
The Year of the Witching is set in a fictional puritanical society similar to that of Salem, where women are persecuted for witchcraft and other crimes that the men of cloth get away with scot-free. Bethel is a society based in hypocrisy and its history is riddled with untruths. I appreciated how Alexis Anderson told a feminist story in which the main character, Immanuelle, is a strong female who is dedicated to changing Bethel for the better by protecting the vulnerable and punishing those who abuse their power behind the Church.

There were some positively spooky scenes set in the Darkwood and the witches were both frightening and captivating. Yet, towards the middle of the book, the story began to slow for me a bit. For one, I wanted more interactions with the witches and more magic. I felt the story stalled a bit until we reached the climax. I also felt the relationship between Ezra and Immanuelle was more of a friendship and I could never buy their romance. Their relationship needed to be more developed and I would have loved to delve more into the relationship between Vera and Immanuelle as well. Overall, this was a good debut, there were just certain elements I wanted more of that I hope to get more of in a second book maybe?

What a bloody good time of a book! This was my first read from Alexis Henderson, and while I did have a few quibbles, overall it didn’t disappoint.

This is the tale of Marion Shaw, a 20-year old girl who was born and raised in the slums with an abusive brother. So we already know she’s tough. Desperate for a better life, she answers an ad for a bloodmaid to one of the rich houses in the North. When there, she’s drawn into the dark world of Countess Lisavet Bathory (based on Elizabeth Bathory), the mysterious noblemen and women who reside there, and her fellow bloodmaids.

I really liked Marion as a character. She is tough yet vulnerable, so very relatable. The atmosphere is wonderful - you could really imagine the setting, the lavish yet mysterious house, and you felt what the girls did. Countess Lisavet is alluring and seductive, and holds a lot of secrets. The nobles are just as sneaky and twisted as you first suspect. And the twists when Marion discovers what’s *really* going on! I found myself really rooting for her at the end.

Writing was beautiful and flowed well.

That being said, I found the pacing to be off. Not a lot happened for a good long while, and then a lot happened in the last 1/3 of the book…like the events leading to the ending happened at warp speed. The romance between Lisavet and Marion was also a bit strange. I couldn’t figure out why Lisavet fell in love with her, out of all the bloodmaids she ever had. I saw the lust, yes, but I didn’t really feel the love between them that they claimed to feel.

This is told in third person from Marion’s POV, and each chapter is headed with a quote from a bloodmaid that hints at what the chapter will be about.

This book is definitely not for the faint of heart, but it’s well-done. I would definitely put this author at the top of my horror authors list!

What a bloody good time of a book! This was my first read from Alexis Henderson, and while I did have a few quibbles, overall it didn’t disappoint.

This is the tale of Marion Shaw, a 20-year old girl who was born and raised in the slums with an abusive brother. So we already know she’s tough. Desperate for a better life, she answers an ad for a bloodmaid to one of the rich houses in the North. When there, she’s drawn into the dark world of Countess Lisavet Bathory (based on Elizabeth Bathory), the mysterious noblemen and women who reside there, and her fellow bloodmaids.

I really liked Marion as a character. She is tough yet vulnerable, so very relatable. The atmosphere is wonderful - you could really imagine the setting, the lavish yet mysterious house, and you felt what the girls did. Countess Lisavet is alluring and seductive, and holds a lot of secrets. The nobles are just as sneaky and twisted as you first suspect. And the twists when Marion discovers what’s *really* going on! I found myself really rooting for her at the end.

Writing was beautiful and flowed well.

That being said, I found the pacing to be off. Not a lot happened for a good long while, and then a lot happened in the last 1/3 of the book…like the events leading to the ending happened at warp speed. The romance between Lisavet and Marion was also a bit strange. I couldn’t figure out why Lisavet fell in love with her, out of all the bloodmaids she ever had. I saw the lust, yes, but I didn’t really feel the love between them that they claimed to feel.

This is told in third person from Marion’s POV, and each chapter is headed with a quote from a bloodmaid that hints at what the chapter will be about.

This book is definitely not for the faint of heart, but it’s well-done. I would definitely put this author at the top of my horror authors list!

Loved the idea on paper, but it's a DNF at 50% for me. No obvious problems with anything so far and there has been the odd moment of fascinating imagery, but I am discovering the more horror I consume, the more I am aware of what I like and don't like.

For me, this was copetant all round, but, beyond the premise, nothing sparked any interest in me. The narrative is slow and ponderous, which I enjoy in a gothic story with rich prose, but the writing and characterisation weren't of a quality to keep me interested. The audiobook performance is fine, but not exciting. It all just comes together to in no way offend or evoke animosity, but I made the call that this just wasn't for me. I really did want to love this.

Giving there stars because there's nothing wrong with this and it absolutely could be a me problem. I you want some witchy goings on and have more patience than me, I would still say it's worth looking into.

This book was hard to put down, it was just so immersive; it had a great creepy atmosphere and I loved learning about the Darkwood. The characters felt real; Immanuelle was an amazing strong female character and I enjoyed seeing her story unfold and where it was going to take her.

I wasn't super big on the ending, I won't delve into it too much because I don't want to spoil it, but it didn't go in the direction I thought it was going to go. But I am excited to read the second book in the series!

I definitely recommend checking this one out, especially if you loved the Witch.

I have to admit, I was pretty excited to read House of Hunger. I had heard a lot of buzz about it, and the cover art was so beautiful. But when I finally got around to reading it, I have to say that I was a little disappointed.

There were definitely things that worked for me. I loved the strong beginning, the beautiful writing, and the captivating worldbuilding.

However, the things I didn't enjoy overshadowed the positives. For one thing, I thought the pacing was pretty uneven. Some parts of the book moved quickly and kept me on the edge of my seat, but then there were other sections where I found myself getting bored and wanting to skip ahead.

The book reads much like a YA novel, with more heat and gore thrown in to bump it to an adult rating. Not being a YA fan, I can't say I enjoyed that aspect.

The bottom line is that I was underwhelmed. House of Hunger is an okay novel with an interesting premise, but it has some pacing and narrative issues that kept it from being a truly engaging book for me.

This has to be one of, if not, my favourite book of the year!

This is a really hard book to review without revealing spoilers and spoiling the unraveling of the story for readers so I will keep this brief. It is a book you need to enjoy all its surprises and twists for yourself. It is a fantastic, empowering read, so immersive that you can hear the whispers calling to you from the heart of the Darkwood!

Set within the fictional town of Bethel, the town and its residents live cut off from the rest of the world, isolated from outsiders, locked in by the Darkwood, a forbidden place haunted by the spirits of the coven of witches killed by the first Prophet and a locked gateway.

Bethel is a strict religious community ruled over by the Prophet and his apostle’s. They pray to ‘The Father’, live abiding by and reading the holly scriptures and attending the Sabbath slaughter, the ritual sacrifice of a lamb.

Some of the community have ‘Gifts”. Only the Prophet has the Gift of Sight, some of the apostle’s have the Gift of Discernment, a Gift that allows them to be able to tell truth from lie and some midwives have the Gift of Naming. But since the Holly War and The Dark Ages these Gifts are becoming scarcer. But rumour has it that Immanuelle has A Gift. But if that is true, is she capable of witchcraft? Does she consort with the coven of witches in the Darkwood as her mother had before her?

Bethel is the epitome of everything you think of when you think about what a cult is!

This is so much more than just a story about witches, set in the era of witch craft, the story takes you on the journey of Immanuelle and her journey to understand her self and the power women can possess.

Grab yourself a copy now, you won’t regret it and let yourself be pulled into the flock of Bethel!

3.5 stars
I liked this book, the writing was great but it felt like we were made to “hurry up and wait” a lot. The action all seemed to be lumped into a page or two at a time with 20 pages of narrative in between.
And the ending didn’t make sense or sit well with me. I mean, it did, but it shouldn’t.

A really interesting read where I kept noticing flaws/weaker aspects but still felt entirely sucked in to the world and the suspense. It feels kind of weird to give it 4 stars but in some ways I do really feel that it earned it. I found my editing/proofreading brain piping up about some repetitive phrasing, especially towards the beginning of the book before the atmosphere really kicked in. I don't know how many different characters' eyes were describe as "watery," and if I had to read the extremely specific flashback phrase of "she thought of Raul's caved in head blah blah blah" I thought I might lose it. The historical aspect of the setting felt just slightly thin (maybe halfway on the thin/robust historical spectrum) but not terribly so. The plotting often felt like "things just happen and then there's an exciting climax." There is a specific point in the middle where a few months pass by in a single paragraph-- I'm not saying that time had to be fleshed out, but maybe we could've highlighted a couple different moments over the course of those months?

See, this sounds like a lot of complaining, but I think Henderson really succeeds in creating atmosphere within the House and I kept finding myself dying to read more. She succeeds in creating a sinister setting in the warren-like house which only gets better over the course of the book. All in all I think the engagement the story created outweighed some of the writing weaknesses.

I finished this compelling novel kicking myself that I hadn't realized earlier that it was a retelling of the Elizabeth Bathory legend. This book has an intriguing start, but it slows down in the middle, before launching into an ending that makes it hard to stop turning the pages. Overall, this novel makes for a quick read, with plenty of blood and violence to propel the story forward.

House of Hunger by Alexis Henderson is a gothic horror story about a society where blood is power. Young Marion was born low class and has lived a hard life in the city when she sees an advert for a bloodmaid. She applies and is quickly whisked away to a manor in the north full of games, sex, and lust. Trigger warning for numerous mentions of blood and multiple instances of violence.

The Lovely: I loved how the author writes in a beautiful, elegant voice. It feels almost ethereal in nature, no matter the environment or mood. Just stunning and I now want to go read the author’s other book.

The Mundane: The plot and tension were ok but enjoyable as it’s a bit predictable but not horribly so.

The Dreadful: I didn’t love the ending really, like I wasn’t convinced that what happened was what would have happened given how the characters had behaved previously.

Rating: 3/5 Stars

Recommendation: If you’re ok with a lot of discussions around blood, and you like a dark, creepy and mysterious story, I think you hold like this book. I listened to the audiobook and liked the narrator. This book would be great for spooky season!

Rating: 3.5/5!

What a book to pick up in such dire circumstances!!! Where people choose to attack and kill rather than to make peace and live in harmony.
Where doctors are being subjected to hurt and hatred but they have to choose to let go and serve.

It shows us how hatred/punishment will never solve anything. Only choosing peace will.

A brilliant book with a brilliant ending!

I picked up The Year of the Witching in October. At the time, I was in the mood for something Halloweeny and haunting. It fit the “haunting” part. And in the end, it reminded me of [b:The Handmaid's Tale|38447|The Handmaid's Tale (The Handmaid's Tale, #1)|Margaret Atwood|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1578028274l/38447._SY75_.jpg|1119185] and [b:The Lottery|6219656|The Lottery|Shirley Jackson|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1348757577l/6219656._SY75_.jpg|15161007]. I sat on this review for a few weeks, because I wasn’t absolutely certain what I thought of the story. With a story like this, I hope for the characters or the feelings to linger a while. Unfortunately, they didn’t. I originally rated it with 4 stars, but I’m lowering to 3.5 and rounding down.



The Goods about the book
>The Year of the Witching did go the extra mile with worldbuilding. The quotes from the holy texts at the beginning of each chapter showed how much effort the author put into the setting and history of the situation in the book.
>It was a quick read
>The concept was high enough for it to remain engaging enough to see it through to the end.

The “eh, maybe could be better”s
>I felt it might have been trying to cram too many messages into one story. And as a result, I wonder if the story was a little lost to the message. Religion, oppression, family dynamics, etc. It felt a little scattered.
>I could see too many other well-known stories baked into this one. I didn’t feel it was original enough.
>The ending hints at the larger world and brought Divergent into my mind.

The Bottom Line
I started at 4 stars and lowered to 3.5 (3 where I can’t give 1/2 stars) for the reasons mentioned above. I will admit that Horror is not my preferred genre, so maybe that’s part of my issue. There are plenty of people who loved this book for the same reasons I didn’t. I also didn’t think as highly of The Handmaid’s Tale as many others. But after finishing The Year of the Witching, I just felt kind of…meh.

In my opinion, if you’re looking for something that speaks eloquently about some of these topics, check out [b:Woman at Point Zero|159604|Woman at Point Zero|Nawal El Saadawi|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1312039540l/159604._SY75_.jpg|2121850]. Check out my review of that here: Book Review: Woman at Point Zero.

For such a beautiful cover, the story was a disappointment. Very confusing and contradictory throughout.

2.5 rounded down
I just did not vibe with this y'all....
The descriptions were lush and beautifully written but it took up a great majority of the book. I can tell you the exact arrangement of Lisavet's room but I couldn't tell you her depth as a character. Also the 'romance' was not it for me because it moved way too fast and Marion switched up so quickly. Also, she was just a really selfish character and the whole 'chosen one' trope was not it for me. I just thought that something was missing (maybe some plot and character development) but I read till the end to see if it got better, but sadly, I was disappointed.

Marion lives in the slums of Prane, working as a maid and having her earned money taken by her drug-addled brother. When she sees an advertisement for a blood maid position in the North, she hesitates for just a moment before taking it. When she arrives at the House of Hunger, she is met with a lavishness heretofore unseen. The Countess immediately takes to Marion, deeming her blood exceptional. Marion is drawn in, beginning tutelage in a debauched lifestyle. But the house holds secrets and Marion is too inquisitive to not seek answers.

A quick and consuming read - I was definitely drawn into the story. But man was it intense. Lots of lustful scenes, lots of gore and lots of betrayal. Awesome world building and some of the descriptions were so well done that I felt as if I were there with the characters. Also, the character development was on point. I think my only negative takeaway was the grotesque of it - which I knew going in, so that was on me more than the author/book.

This book wasn’t meant for me. The writing was good but I couldn’t finish. I already have a hard time with consuming blood but other elements were not to my tastes.

I had such high hopes for House of Hunger by Alexis Henderson. On the surface, it includes all of my favorite things; it includes vampiric tendencies and strong female characters, and it is Gothic. Unfortunately, I was not a fan of how the story played out. Everything happens a little too quickly and a little too conveniently for me. Everything is just a little too much. The evil is too evil, the violence too violent, and the romance too intense. I looked forward to finishing the story because I wanted it to end. It intrigued me enough that I did not want to set it aside, but I was happy to finish it.

random notes to self

poor writing
not quite vampires
unexpected Bathory

Not being much of a horror reader, I mostly bought this because we went to the book launch (Alexis is a local author) and I'm a firm believer in supporting young authors. (Plus, she is a delightful human.) But since its October, I decided to give it a try as a spooky season book -- and it definitely delivered. The book does have some of the more common post-pandemic problems -- clearly a shortage of good proofreaders and copy-editors has resulted in plenty of books that have typos throughout and inconsistent descriptions, which I found several times here -- but the unique reworking of the vampire idea, which turns the novel into a striking and very bloody class commentary, is well worth the read. Not the cleanest prose, but compelling enough that I devoured it in a single evening.½