Week 21 Review: House of Night

From Goodreads:

Only she knows the secret of what happened that night…

Trapped in an upside-down castle, Georgia is met at every turn by a creature as cruel and vicious as his vampire kin. Valen, the cursed lord of the manor, is the monstrous minotaur lurking at the center of Georgia's maze. He stalks her steps, his gaze forever on her as she desperately searches for escape. He wants her memories, memories that are just as lost to her as she is to the outside world.

Valen has no intention of ever letting her go, not when she is the key to his ascendency to the vampire throne. He desires nothing more than her secrets. Not her entrancing eyes, her soft skin, her coursing blood. Once he breaks her apart and extracts her memories, he'll be done with the mortal who haunts his days and nights, who dances just outside his grasp, who defies him at every turn.

But fate looks different in the light of day, and night can't obscure the truth forever…

House of Night is a full-length dark gothic romance and is the first of the House of Night trilogy. This series is for listeners who enjoy dark, atmospheric elements, horrormance, and an engrossing plot that drags you in and refuses to let you claw your way out.

My Review:
I had such a great time reading this book! It sounded so interesting, and it had me hooked immediately-I had to keep reading! This world of vampires, alongside a plague that have really devastated humanity, sounded like an interesting world, and I had to know more! I have since learned after reading it that there's been heavy comparisons to Manacled/Alchemised by SenLinYu.

Georgia is missing memories. Some pretty important ones, of when she was researching a cure for the plague. So when she's brought up to be a prize for the vampires, and ends up in Valen's clutches, she wants to a) escape and b) recover her memories. That we got little snippets from her journal in the period of time that she's missing was really interesting! 

Valen is pretty scary. He's the bastard son of the King, and his full blooded and special heir brother has just been killed. Side note, her missing memories, could she have something to do with his death? And maybe the guy wanted it to happen? 

That ending though? I don't know where it's going to go from here, because yeah, there were some really big reveals, and I need to know what's going to come of them, how these characters are going to react. I'm so excited to find out in the sequels! 

Loved reading this book and I can't wait to continue the series! 

Author: Celia Aaron
Series: Fall of Dawn #1
Read: May 19th, 2025
Source: NetGalley 
Reason Why: Sounded really good, and it's a Prequel & Sequel Challenge 2025 Book! 
Publisher: Dreamscape Media
Published: April 29th 2025

5/5 Hearts

5/5 Books

5/5 Stars