Review: House of Lies and Sorrow by Emily Blackwood

Man…this one had such potential.  It had hints of SJM, Victoria Aveyar and JLA, but those hints weren’t enough to make this a story I want to continue reading.

One of the things I enjoy most about fantasy series is world-building.  These things aren’t real so we need the author to help us, the reader, envision where we are and who these characters are.  So when Malachai shows Jade his true self (get rid of that glamour) I needed more description of this fae male than he was tall with black wings (I’m being a bit facetious, but not).  Describe the world, because it can’t possibly be the same as what Jade was used to on the human side.  What does the compound (would they really call it that?) look like?  What did this flimsy clothing look like that she had on?   Just put the image of what we’re supposed to see on the page.

The storyline was OK, but this too fell a bit flat for me.  I spent most of the book understanding someone was trying to kill Malachi’s human bride, but not why or even an assumption of why.  That would help.

Character development was another area where things fell short for me.  This goes hand-in-hand with world-building.  We really needed to understand these characters.  Why did Jade’s father barter her away?  What did he get from it?  Why did no one from their village offer her help?  Did they not care?  Then there are all the fae.  I didn’t know who was friend or foe, which is probably deliberate, but I didn’t even trust Malachai.  It would have helped to understand these players more and start showing us where they fit in before the last freaking page.

Solid effort, but definitely not a series that I will continue.