Hello lovelies! Welcome back to Adele Is Reading.
Today on the blog I have my book review of:

House of Daemon is the first book in the The Harem Project series.

Trigger Warning: Sex scenes, Multiple Partner Sex Scenes, Fighting, Torture mention, Kidnapping, Drugging, Stabbing mention, Murder, Beheading.

Please note that there are probably more triggers that I didn’t take note of.

My name is Ady. I’ve been running, hiding in the open, for as long as I can remember. My goal has always been to appear normal, mundane, so I was left alone.

I had accomplished that for more than a decade but life was calling now. I was finishing my degree and facing what every person faces: life. Consequences. Responsibility.

University had given me a taste of things I’d never had before. Stability. Friends to miss me if I stop showing up. The promise of a future I wasn’t sure I’d ever see.

But it had also shown me what I didn’t have and likely wouldn’t ever get. Anonymity to live this life that I was preparing for. To have a job and an apartment. To keep my friends. To find someone to love me – to build a life with me.

The week before graduation, I was handed a brochure at the career fair advertising something called ‘The Harem Project’ in which you can opt to tie into a family. A group of men. A group of women. A mix. Whatever you’re interested in. Through a series of tests and questions, I was given a tablet with a list of the harems that I would fit in with, based on our compatibility.

That’s where I met the five gloriously gorgeous men of the House of Daemon.

And my life has never been the same. Most days, I’m sure it’s for the better. I thought I might actually get everything I never dreamed of wanting.

But other days I was sure my death was going to be much quicker. Because the men – they’re not normal. And what’s been hunting me has now teamed up with what’s hunting them.

They’re not human.

But then, neither am I.

**This is a story in which the female main character does not have to choose between love interests. Story contains violence, dark pasts, briefs glimpses of torture, and explicit sex scenes. Intended for mature audiences.

From GoodReads [x]:

“REVERSE HAREM” IS, LITERALLY, THE OPPOSITE OF “HAREM”, WITH A GROUP OF MALES CENTERING ROUND A SINGULAR FEMALE, USUALLY WITH THREE OR MORE MALES. QUITE OFTEN FOUND UNDER THE ROMANCE GENRE.

I would say that for the first 1/4, maybe 1/3 of the wondering just how deep the fantastical elements would go in the book. For the first however long it was, there was little-to-no mentions of any sort of supernatural society, nor true mentions of whatever supernatural being Ady is. There were snippets here and there, but, and the same time it’s like Ady was scared of even thinking about her powers of fear of being found.

I love that I understood what Ady was the moment she uses her powers. She doesn’t outright say it — she’s too terrified to do so, but… I love that I was able to figure out what supernatural creature Ady is.

Looking back on it, I’m not entirely sure if all of the characters get their own POV. I’m pretty sure that at least 4 characters have their own chapters.

Something that I absolutely loved about the story is that there’s a harem service. Like, not a cringy one at all. Its actually genuinely wholesome and not a creepy service at all. If there’s a service like this one IRL, I want to be notified. Immediately. Thank you! LOL.

Generally House of Daemon is a fast paced story, and so much happens. For one, the tables seem to turn because Ady is scared—-terrified, really—-of this group called “Agents of Silence” or something. They play a pretty vital part of the story — though we don’t really see anything to do with them — physically, at least, until the end of the novel.

However from the start of House of Daemon we see the affects of the Agents of Silence had/have on Ady throughout the book.

Something that I liked about the progress of the relationships Ady has with her harem is that she becomes more settled. Found genuine love, and wasn’t terrified all the time.

I loved reading how resilient Ady is. Being on her own for as long as she was…. I have no words, really.

I loved reading from the guys’ POV. I 100% loved reading from Juniper and Ryker’s POVs. Juniper, in general, is one of the characters who, had they been a real person in our world, I would absolutely want to be friends with (if not more, hahaha).

No matter what, I think I’d want to be friends with the entire harem, Ady included, just because the guys (Ady included) are great. I’d definitely want to have them on my team in a fight, that’s for sure. Damn.

I ended up reading House of Daemon in one sitting — I should have done it in two. I read so late into the night, a whole hour or so past my usual bedtime. Which at the time I read HoD was around 2-4AM.

I will say though, that the sex scenes in this book are no joke. There were a few sex scenes that I just lightly skimmed. Like I was thinking ‘oh they’re still having sex, ok,’ and continued skimming until they weren’t having sex. Legit some scenes were not my taste at all–which is ok! It’s a me thing.

Quickly going back to the harem service, it seemed like a joke in the book, which apparently lots of characters had initially taken for a joke as we.. I’m so freaking glad that it wasn’t a joke and is a real thing in the story. I also love that the Harem Service is a reoccurring mention within the book. I wish I could properly articulate how much I love–and wish–the HS service in House of Daemon.

House of Daemon took me by surprise. I loved the book so much that I immediately went online and sought out the author to see of there was a second book to Ady & Co’s story. Finding that there wasn’t was a huge bummer, but there the rest of the series is actually a companion series. So I guess whenever I get around to reading more of The Harem Project there’s a chance that I’ll see Ady & Co again, but not from their point of view.

I ended up giving House of Daemon 5 stars.

Have you ever read a Reverse Harem novel before?

I got into the Reverse Harem trope/sub genre like, maybe 1.5/2 years ago, and I’m still obsessed. Love triangle who? No, it’s #whychoose now babyyyy.

Thank you for stopping by.

See you soon, and happy reading.
Adele