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House of Pain is the first book in the Precious Villains trilogy by Karolina Wilde. It's also the author's self-published debut novel which came out on the 6th of December. This 476-page book is billed as a Gothic Harry Potter meets Gossip Girl, and I AM HERE FOR IT!
The book was sexy; it was fun, and it was fast-paced. I loved the competition that was taking place, and I loved how the house you're in had a genuine impact on how you survived at school and after it. In short, I loved the world Wilde set up here. I was a huge fan of Val and how ruthless she is. I legit don't think she had enough page time! The side characters like Jolene were also cute, and I wish we'd seen more of her and Alecto interact.
There are things that I feel could have been edited out. Some of the names, like Rogue, were just too cheesy. Some things, like what happened to that girl by the lake, were not elaborated on, and I wish we could've found out more. While I liked Alecto and Blaze, things were too heavy-handed. Some subtlety in terms of violence can also be effective. The whole demon they summoned at the start and the spell which was super focused on how hot he was supposed to be felt a bit odd; like the book was smut with some plot and not vice versa. It also didn't really feel very relevant. I also didn't get how Alecto was part of the inner circle when people seem to hate her so much for being a half breed.
That being said, I feel like these are teething problems or even things that can be cleared up in the next book. I have already pre-ordered the next book…