House of Marionne: Bridgerton meets Fourth Wing in this Sunday Times and New York Times bestseller

Product Information

I think I will probably try and read this again another time because I did want to like it but on first read it overall was not for me. I do think it was marketed weirdly as I was not expecting this book to be quite so young though that isn't usually a problem for me as I do enjoy YA. Twist ending. While I suspected for mere moments the ending, it still got me!! I literally was in the car and said, "*gasp*...waaaaaait..." I enjoyed that I didn't know what would happen. Could you speculate? Sure, I did...but it wasn't obvious, so that was nice. Obvisouly, Quell meets this hottie named Jordan and they have this whole thing that I'm not even going to expain. It's supposed to be enemies to lovers except sike it's actually not. All you need to know is that Jordan is basically just like any other shadow-summoning beast of a love-interest we meet in every single YA fantasy (Xaden, Rhysand, Darkling) but he actually has NO PERSONALITY. Like, AT ALL. however, giving credit where credit is due, the writing itself works well (if perhaps more geared towards middle grade than ya). what i could comprehend of the magic system was enticing and inspired and the ending itself was surprisingly very enjoyable. whilst i was indifferent to most of the characters, yagrin distinguished himself in my eyes. his moral ambiguity in particular - delineated within the chapters told from his vantage - consistently enthralled me. despite his lesser literal presence in view of, say, quell’s or jordan’s, he felt far more flesh and bone than they ever did.

House of Marionne is one of the most original fantasies I've ever read . J. Elle has created a lush and beautifully romantic world that is as magical as it is dangerous . ― Nicola Yoon, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Sun is Also a Star

Customer reviews

I went into this book expecting a sophisticated story of intrigue during a season of society events. The cover and descriptions lead me to make those expectations. What I found was a boarding school like setting with a poorly described magic system and simple writing that made me think this is more middle grade than YA. I’m going to be honest: I really want to give this book less than 3 stars because my reading experience with this book was rough, to say the least. However, I don’t feel like it’s entirely fair of me to give less than 3 stars because a big part of my issue with this book was just how confused and lost I was the whole time I was reading it. But the thing is, I don’t know if that’s entirely on me or not. I saw that many other reviewers were also confused by this book like I was, so I think I’m right in thinking that there are some issues with the writing, but I can’t pinpoint in what way. Really, I just didn’t understand or have a grasp on the world, the magic system, the stakes, or even most of the character’s motivations (this last one could more so be purposeful on the author’s part, but it didn’t help to keep my attention either). Usually, when I struggle with a book being convoluted, I find that it’s because the author employs a lot of info dumping, but I didn’t actually feel like that was too much of a problem in this book. With that in mind, that’s why I can’t really explain why everything was so confusing and overwhelming, but it just was. If I could sum up my thoughts on House of Marionne, it’s this: ✨confusion✨. This book, mining from enduring YA tropes and conventions, had so much potential that could have been focused into some thoughtful genre innovation, but alas, it just felt confused about what it should be. A Bridgerton-esque romantic social drama? A Game of Thrones-style political fight? A classic girl-has-magic-must-save-the-world YA fantasy in the vein of Shadow and Bone? An atmospheric fantasy reminiscent of Stephanie Garber’s books? With the sheer amount of marketing, hype, and comps thrown out there about this book, I expected it to deliver on at least one aspect, and somehow it fell flat with all of them. Actually experiencing the school aspect of what classes the main character was attending and looking more into the magic that exists in this world.

Our protagonist, Quell, is a seasoned runaway, having moved between 14 schools in 12 years, always on the move and shielded by her mother. She possesses a deadly magic known as toushana, coursing through her veins, threatening to unleash its destructive force at any moment. Moreover, she is pursued by contracted killers who are after teenagers like her, who possess the same dark magic in their blood. House of Marionne is one of the most original fantasies I’ve ever read. J. Elle has created a lush and beautifully romantic world that is as magical as it is dangerous.” —Nicola Yoon, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Sun is Also a Star Soon Quell realises that hiding who you are is even harder, especially when she meets the handsome, brooding Jordon. Inventive, evocative, and epic . House of Marionne is a dazzling magical thrill ride . ― Karen M. McManus, #1 New York Times bestselling author of One of Us Is Lying Inventive, evocative, and epic. House of Marionne is a dazzling magical thrill ride." —Karen M. McManus, #1 New York Times bestselling author of One of Us Is LyingAnd it isn't long before she's forced to choose between her true nature and everyone she's grown to love. Full of magic and intrigue, House of Marionne is perfect escape for fans of fantasies that straddle the edge of our world and transport readers to dazzling, deceptive, and unexpected places. Stephanie Garber, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Ballad of Never After Full of magic and intrigue, House of Marionne is perfect escape for fans of fantasies that straddle the edge of our world and transport readers to dazzling, deceptive, and unexpected places." —Stephanie Garber, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Ballad of Never After Overall, I think the author maybe just had way too many ideas that they were trying to work with and it got messy trying to combine all of these ideas into a seamless story, leading to a very clunky book. I am not a Bridgerton fan and I honestly know nothing about it, but what I do know is that it's set in the Regency era. Because of that, I thought this book would be set in the past, but it is not. I think this book could have benefitted if it were set in the past, rather than the present, as it would make more sense. I've also seen the author compare this to Game of Thrones, which I just have to laugh about.

The relationship that was set up as the love connection felt extremely forced, and really didn't have any depth to it either. I felt like a lot of the characters were just created to fill roles that are common and expected in YA fantasy. I think it's supposed to enemies to lovers, or some sort of tension along those lines, but I never bought into it, and I never experienced that tension. Basically it was just Quell being afraid of Jordan because of his role in the society as one who goes after toushana users. Then we have Quell's grandmother, the Headmistress. I imagine her as the evil fairy godmother from Shrek 2 and who I assume has some likewise shady intentions. However, nothing has been confirmed. Those are simply the vibes I'm getting from her. House of Marionne is one of the most original fantasies I've ever read. J. Elle has created a lush and beautifully romantic world that is as magical as it is dangerous. Nicola Yoon, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Sun is Also a Star The forbidden love story of my wildest dreams!”– Ali Hazelwood, New York Times bestselling author of The Love HypothesisAfter a heated five-house auction, Razorbill, an imprint of Penguin Young Readers, has acquired House of Marionne, a new YA trilogy by J. Elle, author of the bestselling YA fantasy Wings of Ebony. Billed by the publisher as a “modern-day, magic-filled Bridgerton with clashing class dynamics and dark academia flair,” the first book in the trilogy is slated for fall 2023. Jodi Reamer at Writers House sold world English rights to Ruta Rimas, executive editor at Razorbill. I enjoyed the setting of the school surrounded by a forest filled with danger and secrets - it was very atmospheric and I could vividly picture the winding corridors and secret passages. I also loved Quell and Abby’s friendship and thought they complemented each other well, bringing much needed warmth to the story. Another big problem I had with this book was the pacing. The book slogged way too often, especially in the middle, and I truly had no sense for the passage of time. Really, I think that the book was just way too freaking long. A small thing that could’ve fixed this was taking out Yagrin’s POV. I see why the author felt the need to include his POV, but, as the reader, I was more confused by his few and far between chapters than anything, and I found myself zoning out while reading them. Actually, at first, I had a hard time even grasping that he was the Dragun The House of Marionne is a magic boarding-school, dark academia-esque fantasy set in the modern day. In this world, the magic users assimilated to the rest of the world through using cotillions and debuts as the way to create a separate, exclusive world that they can call their own among the upper eschelon of society. There are four Houses in the US that take in those found to have magic within their territories, and prepares them for their eventual debut.