Review Detail

HOUSE OF MARIONNE by J Elle is a YA Fantasy novel about Quell, a 17-year-old girl who has spent her childhood on the run. Draguns hunt and kill those with Quell’s forbidden magic, and when they get too close to catching her, she flees to the only remaining safe place: her grandmother’s. Quell’s grandma doesn’t know she possesses toushana, as they call it, and happens to run a magical school that helps people emerge in their powers. When Quell finds out that the final step of initiating is picking one type of magic that will drown out the rest, Quell believes she may be able to get rid of her toushana for good. The only problem is her mentor, Jordan, is a Dragun, so keeping her secret is both nearly impossible and the only path to staying alive.

I absolutely love the world J Elle created. It draws a bit on Harry Potter with the different houses and other dark academia elements, but it’s still unique in its own right. Bringing in the “coming-out-in-society” part as well allows for a lighter, fun tone to contrast everything else Quell is going through. Jordan also adds to Quell’s problems in both good and bad ways. How Elle sets up their polarity is so smart and gives them huge hurdles to get over. I’m really excited to see how their story plays out in subsequent books.

What would have made this book five stars is better pacing. It drags in places, and part of that has to do with the Jordan storyline, as he’s back and forth a lot. The story would have been better served if he had a clearer throughline. In fact, the book could’ve lost 50 – 100 pages, which would have helped the story to really shine. That being said, I do like the twists at the end of the book but wanted a little more closure to propel us into what will hopefully be a second book.

Overall, HOUSE OF MARIONNE is the kind of read you’ll want to get lost in until you finish it! It has an engaging setting, enticing characters, and a premise baked with conflict. Anyone who likes books with magic and forbidden romance should add this to their TBR!