Emily: It’s been a long time coming, but we’re finally here with another installment of QUEER GIRL BOOK CLUB! And this month, we’re chatting about House of Hunger by Alexis Henderson. I picked this one out because I read and enjoyed Henderson’s last book The Year of the Witching. At first, I thought this book was going to be a sequel to that book, but then I heard that the sequel (entitled The Dawn of the Coven) had been pushed back, and that House of Hunger was going to be its own standalone novel. And that it was going to be super queer. So of course I thought… hey, this sounds like the perfect book for our lil club. Despite this cover. Which I’d love to hear Kelli talk about.

Kelli: Yeah… As a cover designer, I want to be clear that I don’t blame the art department or the designer here. I know how many different people tend to get involved when it comes to the decision-making process for a cover design. That being said, this cover is so wrong for this book. It looks like a YA dark fantasy novel from the early aughts. I think it’s fairly standard practice to never use a full photo of a person staring face-forward at the camera on a cover unless you’re working in, like, genre romance, and even YA these days has pivoted almost exclusively to illustration. I’m all for bucking trends and convention, but this cover makes me think that maybe rules exist for a reason. I’m so sorry, but it’s giving self-published, and I never in a million years would have picked up this book or even read a summary of it online because yeah, I do judge books by their covers, and that is my God-given right.

Emily: Yeah, and I do too, and I think that’s fair. Like you said, there are certain genre conventions for covers. And this makes sense. It’s like shorthand for readers who can get a little overwhelmed browsing the shelves. Certain covers have certain associations when we see them. Like, ok, this is romance or this is YA or this is self-published. It’s honestly very helpful. So when a book like this not only bucks the cover rules we have all agreed upon but also uses a very dated cover design… it’s just unfortunate. Alexis Henderson’s last book had a similar cover, but this one takes it one step further in the wrong direction, unfortunately.

Kelli: This book has some interesting world building. It introduces us to a world which is divided into the North and the South — the North being wealthy, the South poor. Nobles in the North drink the blood of servants called “bloodmaids,” young women typically from the lower classes who are used for the vitality of their blood and promised a pension and luxurious retirement when their tenure has ended. What did you think of this concept?

Emily: I thought it was a simple but smart play on class issues. And I mean, like, honestly, in this day and age, would I agree to let someone drink my blood in exchange for a nice cushy retirement? I’m probably going to be working until I keel over and die, so probably. The more capitalism starts to crumble all around us, the more plausible these scenarios seem. In other words, I was into the concept. What about you?

Kelli: I agree. I also thought it was smart the way the so-called cushy retirement didn’t actually exist. It works as commentary on the way capitalism promises great things in return for your hard work and then pulls the ground out from under you — or works you to death before you get the chance to enjoy the spoils of your labor. It’s a system that’s tempting in theory, so it makes sense why Marion and the others give themselves to it, but ultimately it’s a lie that only serves those at the top of the hierarchy.

Emily: Yep. This book is too real. I also loved how queer this book was. When I first chose this book, I was a little worried that this book would just be a little bit gay. Like maybe we’d just get a tiny nod to lesbianism but nothing overt or obvious. I was pleasantly surprised to be proven wrong. I think my favorite thing about this book is how fucking gay it is.

Kelli: For sure. And it was sexy, too. At least it was before things got really fucked up, lol. The queerness in this book is very matter-of-fact. Our main character, Marion, is openly queer, as is Lisavet, the countess of the House of Hunger who Marion serves. Lisavet has five bloodmaids, and she is sexually involved with all of them. But instead of a love story, this really becomes a narrative about abuse. The relationship between Marion and Lisavet is extremely toxic, and I was a little worried at the beginning that it was going to be a romance, that we’d be encouraged to forgive Lisavet her transgressions, that Marion would “fix” her. I was so glad that didn’t happen. How did you feel about how things played out between them?

Emily: Yeah, like you said, this isn’t a romance. And (spoiler) Lisavet does not get anything like a redemption arc, which I really appreciated. I think you were right to worry about this turning into a romance. It does set up a lot of things in a romantic way. But if this was a romance, it would have ended up being one of those books that excused a lot of abuse and exploitation and manipulations and skewed power dynamics. Which a lot of romance novels (sadly) do! But yeah, while this relationship is fucked up and abusive, I never felt like I was supposed to be okay with that. So it didn’t bother me the way, say, something like It Ends With Us did. 

Kelli: So, is this… vampires?

Emily: LOL! I love this question. Yes and no? I think our assumption when we read about people drinking each other’s blood is “oh, it’s vampires.” Especially when the blood drinking is super sexy. These people are never called vampires, but there is definitely something supernatural going on. When Lisavet drinks blood, she sucks the life out of the other person, making her younger and the victim visibly aged. She doesn’t seem to be undead though, and it doesn’t seem like she is immortal. So if she is a vampire, she isn’t one in the traditional sense. I thought it was cool though.

Kelli: Yeah, I did too. I also liked how the supernatural element unfolded slowly, and we weren’t totally sure what Lisavet’s whole deal was until the end. Honestly, the stuff with her family and the other noble families and how the practice of bloodletting came to be is a little fuzzy for me, especially so far out from reading the book, but I know it had an almost mythological vibe to it which worked for me in the moment. 

Emily: I think the other thing I loved about this book was how violent it was right from the jump. Like… Before Marion even leaves home and before any bloodletting even happens, she accidentally murders her brother (oops). The violence and the sex aren’t gratuitous, but it’s always there. How did you feel about the way violence and sex are handled in this book?

Kelli: It made for a fun read because it kept me on edge. I never knew how far it was going to go. One of the particularly frightening scenes was when they were playing what was essentially a deeply fucked up game of hide-and-seek, with Marion hiding and the nobility chasing her around. It reminded me of certain scenes in The Favourite or The Great, these chaotic parties of bored, drunk rich people being horrible for fun. I’m honestly surprised as many people made it out of this book alive as they did.

Emily: Yeah, you just never know what’s going to happen to you when you’re fucking with rich people because they have so little regard for you and your humanity. I think that’s a common thread we see through a lot of literature about the wealthy, because like… damn, it’s so true. Just look at… everything.

Kelli: Was there anything about the book you didn’t like?

Emily: Hmm… nothing that I didn’t like, but I will say the writing was a little flat for me. This wasn’t a poorly written book, but it wasn’t well-written either? Like, even though I was invested in the story, the characters always felt a little vague and undefined to me. I was invested in Marion’s story, but I’m not sure I really understand anything particular about who Marion is? Again, it didn’t bother me to the point where I didn’t enjoy the book. But this just felt like a fun, easy read. I didn’t feel like I was reading anything meaningful or anything that was going to stick with me. What did you think?

Kelli: I would agree with that. Which is evidenced by the fact that it took us so long to write this post because we were both like “it's been so long since I read it and now I can't remember what happened,” lol. But also I would've read a sequel to this if there had been one, which is something I rarely say. 

What did you rate it?

Emily: I had to double check because I forgot! I rated it four stars, probably because, like I said, I enjoyed this a lot! I would recommend it to others! But has it left my brain already? Clearly! What about you?

Kelli: Exact same.

Emily: What’s neeeeeeext?

Kelli: Next up, we’re reading Your Driver is Waiting by Priya Guns! I can’t wait to talk about this one.