Review | House of Hunger – Alexis Henderson

WANTED—Bloodmaid of exceptional taste. Must have a keen proclivity for life’s finer pleasures. Girls of weak will need not apply.

4.5 out of 5 stars – This Review Will Contain Spoilers

First published on September 27^th 2022, “House of Hunger” is the second solo novel published by American author Alexis Henderson. Continuing with Henderson’s Gothic Horror theme of storytelling, “House of Hunger” follows protagonist Marion Shaw as she is hired to be the newest bloodmaid in the titular court, leaving behind her life of deprivation to work for the wealthy nobles of the north.

Henderson has an uncanny ability to create a sweeping yet detailed world without ever making things feel clunky.

My initial reaction to finishing this novel was “sapphic, gothic, and vampiric”.

Henderson’s first novel, “The Year of the Witching”, had a similar vibe to this one and it’s very clear how much improvement she’s had in her writing style from one book to the next. Not that “TYOFTW” was bad, far from it. I thoroughly enjoyed the journey her debut novel took me on, and because of that expecting some amazing things from her next book. I was fully expecting it to be the sequel to “TYOTW” and was surprised to see this novel doing the rounds instead, but despite it not being the book I was expecting, “HOH” had something extra special about it.

To go from a book about witches and, essentially, the Salem Witch Trials, to a Gothic Horror Fantasy about vampires isn’t too big of a stretch, but it was different enough to grab my attention. I’m going to sound basic for a moment here and fully admit that I am a sucker for a good vampire story, so with the pre-existing knowledge of Henderson’s prior work, I was in no doubt that she would be able to deliver a spectacular spooky story.

As stated at the beginning, the main protagonist for this novel is a young woman named Marion Shaw. Marion lives in the slums and spent the majority of her childhood pickpocketing to help aid the survival of herself and her older brother. But she’s always longed for a better life, so when she spots an advertisement in the local newspaper asking for a new bloodmaid, Marion goes along for an interview.

Now, I’ll be honest and say that the way in which Marion is hired for this position kind of had me rolling my eyes a little. Not the interview or anything like that, it was when she got to the Countess, Lisavet. The Tester that interviews her tastes her blood and says that it’s like nothing he’s ever tasted before, that she was sure to be taken on by the Countess because of how unique it is, and low and behold when the Countess does take a taste of her, she goes absolutely giddy.

The whole Chosen One thing is a story element that has been done over and over again, and quite frankly I am very much aware that it’s never going to go away any time soon. Hell, even in my own writing I’ve got a little team of Chosen Ones.

It took me a moment to get my head around her having the most unique blood in the world. That was a new one for me. And I lived through Edward Cullen’s personal brand of heroin line multiple times. It’s weird.

But, once the story moved past that point and got into the nitty gritty of introducing the other bloodmaids, the secrecy of the Countess and her court, and the mystery of what happened to the previous bloodmaids, the story really fell into rhythm with itself.

Before I go further, I have to talk about the diversity in this book. It’s effortless. Nothing is ever happening because of what these girls look like or who they chose to love. The girls having a sapphic relationship with the Countess is just part of the narrative, the main character being a Black girl is just who that girl is. It was refreshing to read a story that had such a diverse cast of characters, each with their own flaws and worries and hopes and dreams, and for them to just exist.

Don’t get me wrong, the stories that are out there to exist as statements do so fabulously (for the most part). This wasn’t one of those stories, and never did it try to be. The characters of this world just were.

And these characters were incredible to read about. Obviously, as the protagonist, Marion is the person we spend the most with, and not once did I wish the perspective would change to someone else. Marion was bold and inquisitive. She had questions that she wasn’t afraid to ask, but was clever enough to pick up when she should keep her mouth shut. She was human, not a figurine that Henderson was moving around and placing from scene to scene. There was a weight to all of her actions, and while she was very much likeable, she was definitely morally grey. She acted on instinct, and whilst her actions towards the end of the novel were heroic, to get her where she need to be for the story to actually start, she had to do some awful things.

The other girls in the story, too, each had a uniqueness to them that made them each stand out. Not one of them blended in to one another or reached a point where I couldn’t tell which character was doing what thing. They were individuals, even the twins who could have quite easily fallen prey to a lack of characterisation.

And as for the Countess herself, Lisavet was stunning. There was a mystical air about her throughout the first half of the novel. You saw her from the fresh perspective of Marion: a walking contradiction. Lisavet was strong and yet incredibly vulnerable due to her “illness”. She was withdrawn and secretive, but desperate to connect with Marion and the other girls. She was good and protective, and then she was cunning, devious and evil. To have that many layers in one character and never know whether you’re going to get the good Countess or the devious one at any given point really kept me on the edge of my seat throughout the entire novel, and when the shift happened and the mask came off to reveal Lisavet for who she really was, it was foreshadowed but still an exceptional reveal.

I love stories where female friendships really shine through, and girls can see that after rivalry, teamwork is ultimately how girls survive and thrive, and that was something that this book did incredibly well. There was a connection between all of the girls that was really put to the test at the midway point of the book, and there was a period of time where I was scared this book was going to turn into yet another bitching competition where needless jealousy causes an irreparable rift. But I forgot who was writing this book for a moment. These girls fought back, they fought together, and it was glorious.

Ultimately, this was an incredible novel. Overall, I had a blast getting through it. I highly recommend it to anyone looking for a new take on the old vampire mythos, or a Gothic lesbian tale.

Btw, I 100% pictures Lisavet portrayed by Gwendolyn Christie and have zero regrets about it.