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Thank you, Turn the Page Tours, for the chance to read and review The House with the Golden Door by Elodie Harper. I also want to thank them for their patience, because I managed to mix up my tour date and I'm very late!
Not gonna lie to you; at one point, I wanted to put the book down just because I was so worried for Amara and didn't know if I could handle it. Elodie Harper doesn't fall into the trap of having a first book that's better than the second.
There are many things Elodie Harper does really well in this book! The PTSD and how Amara is tormented by dreams and past events. The weird dynamic with Felix, whom she hates but also wants to conquer and be respected by. The change in dynamics between her and the other women from the brothel. The way people don't have the privilege of being good all the time; how survival means looking out for yourself more than anything. I was also heartbroken to see what happened between the women, who for so long protected each other!
Some parts of this were odd to me, and I don't know how I feel about them in this book, which is why it's at 4 stars instead of five.
Amara does some idiotic things in this book. She purchases her friend for significantly more than she can afford without telling the man she's very dependent on and her relationship with Philos. Both of these things were stupid and reckless, and I didn't like Philos. I don't like that he just assumed Amara knew everything instead of telling her something about the contract she had with Rufus and her child's status.
I'm looking forward to the third book and how the series ends! I would love to see novellas based on some of the other women to get an even better sense of who they are and how they came to be (just dropping a hint, Elodie!).