House of Hunger by Alexis Henderson is a beautifully spooky novel where vampirism is treated as an illness that nobles from the North inherit along with their ancient wealth, requiring them to have a steady supply of blood that must be filled from multiple sources. That blood is supplied by bloodmaids, young women hired to be companions to these nobles who live in luxury with them, jockeying with each other for the position of reigning favorite. These young women are promised pensions that will leave them wealthy once their contracts with the nobles are complete. At the same time, bloodmaids are considered similar to, if not worse than, prostitutes and the loss of their blood takes a toll on them physically.

Marion begins the story in difficult straights as a house cleaner who is treated terribly by her employer while also having to deal with an abusive brother who tries to squander what little money she earns on drugs. When she finds an ad in the paper for a bloodmaid, she applies for the position and is accepted with suspicious ease. The difficulty of her circumstances and the promise of life-changing wealth lead her to cut ties with her former life very brutally so she can escape to the North. Once there, she meets Countess Lisavet Bathory and is officially hired and brought into a life of opulence and leisure that she has never known before. But even as Marion settles into her new life, she discovers signs of a more dangerous reality hiding beneath all the luxury. 

I loved how Henderson fleshed out the world-building not just with Marion gaining info dumps but also through the epigraphs which were made up of quotes from various bloodmaids and supervisors of the maids from all the different houses. That gave the feeling of depth to the world and views that existed beyond what Marion had access to. It was also interesting that Henderson seemed to base this novel on the legends surrounding the real Countess Elizabeth Báthory, who seems to be the basis for Countess Lisavet Bathory. She was accused of murdering hundreds of women and was rumored to bathe in the blood of virgins to retain her youth. Lisavet similarly relies on the blood of younger women to retain her health.

Lisavet draining other women for her own gain as well as pitting those women against each other so they are competing for her favor highlights a prominent issue that women have to deal with in interacting with each other. Often, women are taught to see each other as enemies on sight regardless of whether the idea is justified. It's based on the belief that there are only so many slots available for women so they must combat each other to gain those slots. Typically, it would be a man in the position that Lizavet is in in this scenario. So it's interesting to see a woman not only exploiting other women, but making them see each other as the enemy instead of her. She's weaponizing a sexist system to her own gain. Had this been played as natural and right, I would cry fowl, But this is absolutely something Henderson was critiquing and unpacking as part of the narrative, which enriched the overall story and was essential in strengthening the plot's resolution.

I couldn't give it five stars because I couldn't connect to the characters. Marion had a lot of potential as a heroine with her rough upbringing and the desperate tragedy that led to her accepting a position as a bloodmaid. But despite that, she didn't feel like she had much personality. She simply flowed along with the plot, tagging along with the reader from plot point to plot point without actually seeming to guide the story herself. Since the story was so strong, the inability to become emotionally invested in the main character wasn't a complete hindrance. 

Overall, this is an excellent book.