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Slaying the Naga King
A desperate caretaker. A devastated king.
A bond that transcends worlds and time.
The only human in her adopted family, Rhea struggles to care for them as a crushing psychic plague threatens to destroy her family and over half the worlds' population. In a desperate attempt to identify a cure, she participates in an arcane ritual that connects her to an intoxicating man who may be in a situation worse than hers. If he exists at all and isn't just some illusion of her own. Or perhaps something far worse.
This handsome king's people are beset by their own nightmares and what seems to be an attack by monstrous magical nagas. He fights to keep his people sane and prevent "the worst" from happening, seeming to fear that even these dream conversations may be used against him.
Realizing no help is coming, Rhea the compassionate artist decides to slay this naga king in a world far from hers before everyone she loves perishes. What will she do when she learns the truth about the monster's identity and the reality behind this curse? Will love triumph over fear, or will all crumble in nightmares and terror?
Beauty and the Beast with scales and twists, this monstrous but sweet love story is the perfect for fans of Radiance and A Court of Thorns and Roses.
A bond that transcends worlds and time.
The only human in her adopted family, Rhea struggles to care for them as a crushing psychic plague threatens to destroy her family and over half the worlds' population. In a desperate attempt to identify a cure, she participates in an arcane ritual that connects her to an intoxicating man who may be in a situation worse than hers. If he exists at all and isn't just some illusion of her own. Or perhaps something far worse.
This handsome king's people are beset by their own nightmares and what seems to be an attack by monstrous magical nagas. He fights to keep his people sane and prevent "the worst" from happening, seeming to fear that even these dream conversations may be used against him.
Realizing no help is coming, Rhea the compassionate artist decides to slay this naga king in a world far from hers before everyone she loves perishes. What will she do when she learns the truth about the monster's identity and the reality behind this curse? Will love triumph over fear, or will all crumble in nightmares and terror?
Beauty and the Beast with scales and twists, this monstrous but sweet love story is the perfect for fans of Radiance and A Court of Thorns and Roses.
464 pages, Kindle Edition
Published June 29, 2023
267 people are currently reading
2456 people want to read
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March 21, 2024DNF 11%
The following are quotes from the first 2% of the book:
I found the glossary but I already was confused and it felt like opening a university textbook in a different language and I was writing the exam the next day.
I do not have the mental energy to deal with this right now...
The following are quotes from the first 2% of the book:
1. "A fall from this height wouldn't kill anyone though. Not unless they landed on a knife. Or a besred."Do they make sense to you? BECAUSE THEY SERIOUSLY DO NOT MAKE SENSE TO ME...
2. "At least we don't live on Ecekom where even the rocks want to eat you."
3. I promise. We’re going to find a solution for this. The Paras and the council and everyone will figure out something.
4. "They probably won't call you that when you join your new sodiwa."
5. "Dream walking and thought-projection form the foundation for so much of the Neyeb and Tiablo traditions"
I found the glossary but I already was confused and it felt like opening a university textbook in a different language and I was writing the exam the next day.
I do not have the mental energy to deal with this right now...
July 2, 2023
DNF @ 43% everything is bad and I don't like it
June 30, 2023
(3.5 stars.)
This book was a journey. A journey I was not expecting. A journey I finished anyways, and now? I don't even know anymore.
Slaying the Naga King is like nothing I've read before. The world feels like a cross between full-on classic fantasy and videogame fantasy, with crazy creatures as protagonists, a world almost completely unrecognizable from our own, and almost a fairytale vibe? Basically, in this world of magic and creatures, we meet Rhea, the only human in her adopted family. Yet, there's this weird purple mist stuff that keeps coming and basically trapping certain beings in intense nightmares night after night until they fall into a coma. Fun and weird, right? So, seeing her siblings deteriorating before her eyes, Rhea tries to find the source of the purple gassy misty stuff. In doing so, she starts to build a mental connection with a man... or so she thinks... and then she makes it into his world. Enter chaos.
Okay, so, like, I really don't know what to say about this read, and I say that lovingly... I think. Let me try to break it down.
In the first 14 chapters, I was a little unenthused. The book seemed to be operating on a dramatic irony field where we all knew who this mysterious man Rhea was mentally falling for was. Like, immediately. Just read the title. You'll get there. I was prepared for a weak attempt at a plot twist by the end that was just confirming everything I already knew, and while there was a twist by chapter 15, it was not what I was expecting. Instead, it was a twist that gave StNK a whole new realm of possibilities, and I was officially intrigued. Especially when our second perspective came in.
Overall, I don't really know how to talk about this book without giving spoilers or sounding completely nonsensical. I think there was definitely quite a bit of humor and banter in these pages, a pretty cute romance, and some solid worldbuilding going on. Yet, I'm still kinda scratching my head at the ending? I'm also not one to traverse into the more, eh hem, monster side of romance, so that was also knew for me. The author is definitely skilled, though. Everything was set up correctly, I had no moments of things feeling convenient or completely outlandish. I just don't know what to say.
This book was a journey. A journey I was not expecting. A journey I finished anyways, and now? I don't even know anymore.
Slaying the Naga King is like nothing I've read before. The world feels like a cross between full-on classic fantasy and videogame fantasy, with crazy creatures as protagonists, a world almost completely unrecognizable from our own, and almost a fairytale vibe? Basically, in this world of magic and creatures, we meet Rhea, the only human in her adopted family. Yet, there's this weird purple mist stuff that keeps coming and basically trapping certain beings in intense nightmares night after night until they fall into a coma. Fun and weird, right? So, seeing her siblings deteriorating before her eyes, Rhea tries to find the source of the purple gassy misty stuff. In doing so, she starts to build a mental connection with a man... or so she thinks... and then she makes it into his world. Enter chaos.
Okay, so, like, I really don't know what to say about this read, and I say that lovingly... I think. Let me try to break it down.
In the first 14 chapters, I was a little unenthused. The book seemed to be operating on a dramatic irony field where we all knew who this mysterious man Rhea was mentally falling for was. Like, immediately. Just read the title. You'll get there. I was prepared for a weak attempt at a plot twist by the end that was just confirming everything I already knew, and while there was a twist by chapter 15, it was not what I was expecting. Instead, it was a twist that gave StNK a whole new realm of possibilities, and I was officially intrigued. Especially when our second perspective came in.
Overall, I don't really know how to talk about this book without giving spoilers or sounding completely nonsensical. I think there was definitely quite a bit of humor and banter in these pages, a pretty cute romance, and some solid worldbuilding going on. Yet, I'm still kinda scratching my head at the ending? I'm also not one to traverse into the more, eh hem, monster side of romance, so that was also knew for me. The author is definitely skilled, though. Everything was set up correctly, I had no moments of things feeling convenient or completely outlandish. I just don't know what to say.
July 8, 2023
Sad to say I did not enjoy this - the writing was very poor. I had no idea what was going on with the world-building and definitely felt like I was missing out on some important knowledge, which impacted my enjoyment of the book. I can't really say this was enemies to lovers with how fast and pathetically she fell in love with Chicory lol The smut wasn't even good to top it off 🥲
June 28, 2023
In Slaying the Naga King, author Jessica M. Butler takes us to the TueRahVerse, where we are introduced to Rhea and Tengrii.
Rhea's family and friends are tormented by a mysterious plague pouring out through the worlds. To save her loved ones from this unknown evil, Rhea agrees to participate in the magic of dream walking—hoping that it will help her find the source of their problems and possibly a solution. As Rhea succumbs to the darkness of this magic, she has a vision of a fearsome naga king, then thrust into a dream connection with Tengrii. By visiting each other in their dreams, Rhea and Tengrii become close.
Rhea believes she can stop the suffering by killing the naga she saw in her vision, but she doesn't realize that Tengrii is the terrifying naga king.
Slaying the Naga King delivers a unique and complex story with exceptional characters fighting for their family and future. It has everything from drama and danger to mystery and magic and a slow-burn romance that culminates in an epic battle.
While the story was slow to develop, I enjoyed immersing myself in this new world and recommend this story to readers who appreciate an enemies-to-lovers turned friends-to-lovers fantasy romance with a stabby heroine and a scaly cinnamon roll hero burdened by his responsibilities who find love in an impossible situation.
Dual POV
This is a standalone book in the Mortal Enemies to Monster Lovers series, which showcases the works of various authors.
Safe -
I would like to express my gratitude to Jessica M. Butler, the author of this book, for sharing an advance copy. The thoughts and opinions expressed are solely my own.
Rhea's family and friends are tormented by a mysterious plague pouring out through the worlds. To save her loved ones from this unknown evil, Rhea agrees to participate in the magic of dream walking—hoping that it will help her find the source of their problems and possibly a solution. As Rhea succumbs to the darkness of this magic, she has a vision of a fearsome naga king, then thrust into a dream connection with Tengrii. By visiting each other in their dreams, Rhea and Tengrii become close.
Rhea believes she can stop the suffering by killing the naga she saw in her vision, but she doesn't realize that Tengrii is the terrifying naga king.
Slaying the Naga King delivers a unique and complex story with exceptional characters fighting for their family and future. It has everything from drama and danger to mystery and magic and a slow-burn romance that culminates in an epic battle.
While the story was slow to develop, I enjoyed immersing myself in this new world and recommend this story to readers who appreciate an enemies-to-lovers turned friends-to-lovers fantasy romance with a stabby heroine and a scaly cinnamon roll hero burdened by his responsibilities who find love in an impossible situation.
Dual POV
This is a standalone book in the Mortal Enemies to Monster Lovers series, which showcases the works of various authors.
Safe -
I would like to express my gratitude to Jessica M. Butler, the author of this book, for sharing an advance copy. The thoughts and opinions expressed are solely my own.
August 22, 2023
Ugh, well.
First of all, I must say I love this Mortal Enemies to Monsters Lovers series very much and I enjoyed the first three books a lot!
However, “Slaying the Naga King” was a massive disappointment and an epic fail!😫
This book is a weird mess. It throws you into the story without a basic explanation about the worlds, the races and, generally, what the hell is going on there. I take it those readers who are familiar with other books by this author probably felt more comfortable reading this book, but I was, at least, very confused.
Rhea, the main character, is a human who lives in adopted family. (I have no clue why). She is a drawing artist, an illustrator, who suddenly has an ability to cross the Rift and enter to another world. In addition to this, her world suffers from a weird physic plague which makes species to fall in coma and have endless dream. Rhea is desperate for cure, so she decides to travel to another dimension and seek the answers how this disease can be stopped.
Girl, I want to know how this disease is started. Why this disease is started. What world Rhea lives in? It is all a mystery for me, because I could not find even a poor description of it.
Tengrii kept me to push myself through this book and reading further. He is an interesting character, let alone, a snake. He could be even a better guy if the author would give a damn and wrote about him properly.
And, having a snake boyfriend? Hmm, no. I pass, thanks. Oh, and by the way, the lovemaking scene was a cringe thing, ugh. And, calling your love interest Salt Sweet? So cringe again.🥴
I am so angry, because I expected a much better story. Mortal Enemies to Monster Lovers series is such a great idea, but this book was so poorly executed. Definitely the worst of them.
So, I gave one star for the attempt and another for a pretty purple cover. I decided I like it more than the illustration version!😄
First of all, I must say I love this Mortal Enemies to Monsters Lovers series very much and I enjoyed the first three books a lot!
However, “Slaying the Naga King” was a massive disappointment and an epic fail!😫
This book is a weird mess. It throws you into the story without a basic explanation about the worlds, the races and, generally, what the hell is going on there. I take it those readers who are familiar with other books by this author probably felt more comfortable reading this book, but I was, at least, very confused.
Rhea, the main character, is a human who lives in adopted family. (I have no clue why). She is a drawing artist, an illustrator, who suddenly has an ability to cross the Rift and enter to another world. In addition to this, her world suffers from a weird physic plague which makes species to fall in coma and have endless dream. Rhea is desperate for cure, so she decides to travel to another dimension and seek the answers how this disease can be stopped.
Girl, I want to know how this disease is started. Why this disease is started. What world Rhea lives in? It is all a mystery for me, because I could not find even a poor description of it.
Tengrii kept me to push myself through this book and reading further. He is an interesting character, let alone, a snake. He could be even a better guy if the author would give a damn and wrote about him properly.
And, having a snake boyfriend? Hmm, no. I pass, thanks. Oh, and by the way, the lovemaking scene was a cringe thing, ugh. And, calling your love interest Salt Sweet? So cringe again.🥴
I am so angry, because I expected a much better story. Mortal Enemies to Monster Lovers series is such a great idea, but this book was so poorly executed. Definitely the worst of them.
So, I gave one star for the attempt and another for a pretty purple cover. I decided I like it more than the illustration version!😄
January 9, 2025
I am not joking when I say this is one of the worst fantasy romances I've ever read if not one of the worst books I've ever read.
This book immediately drops you into action and conflict with ZERO world building, ZERO explanations on anything. Using all this fantasy world's jargon without any exposition even. Where is the storytelling here? I have never felt the need to consult a glossary in a FICTION book before until I read this. It was ridiculous.
And the fact it's marketed as enemies to lovers is hilarious. It's over 400 pages long and she's already smitten 50 pages in. The conflict lasts a grand total of 3 chapters and is just one big miscommunication. Get a bloody grip
This book immediately drops you into action and conflict with ZERO world building, ZERO explanations on anything. Using all this fantasy world's jargon without any exposition even. Where is the storytelling here? I have never felt the need to consult a glossary in a FICTION book before until I read this. It was ridiculous.
And the fact it's marketed as enemies to lovers is hilarious. It's over 400 pages long and she's already smitten 50 pages in. The conflict lasts a grand total of 3 chapters and is just one big miscommunication. Get a bloody grip
May 21, 2025
Where to start? The books ends with a major plot hole. I don't know if this is on purpose and is explored in the other books, but since this is a major driver of the story I think it should be addressed in this book. The author doesn't know how the story progression works. 40% of the book is world building, the a very short enemies to lovers, some short story progression and then the end. I can fully understand why people didn't finish this book.
June 20, 2023
Amazing fantasy romance! Intense, darkish, and magical.. Excellent storyline and characters..
June 27, 2023
It was really enjoyable the world building was done really good and overall the story was attention holding
Read
September 28, 2023dnf 8%
tem duas coisas que eu odeio em começo de livro de fantasia: livro que começa praticamente com uma wiki do mundo e livro que começa sem te dar absolutamente nada sobre o mundo.
esse aqui tá na segunda categoria. dá pra ver que o mundo é grande e tem toda uma dinâmica de ~coisas~ acontecendo, mas isso não é explicado hora nenhuma. não é dado meio contexto ou explicação. eu só sei que a protagonista é humana por causa da ilustração da capa, mas não faço ideia do que são os outros personagens que apareceram nesse comecinho e muito menos do que está acontecendo.
que nem algumas resenhas que eu vi falaram: pra alguém que já está familiarizado com o mundo, provavelmente vai ser uma boa leitura. pra mim, foi só frustração e confusão e eu não vou insistir.
tem duas coisas que eu odeio em começo de livro de fantasia: livro que começa praticamente com uma wiki do mundo e livro que começa sem te dar absolutamente nada sobre o mundo.
esse aqui tá na segunda categoria. dá pra ver que o mundo é grande e tem toda uma dinâmica de ~coisas~ acontecendo, mas isso não é explicado hora nenhuma. não é dado meio contexto ou explicação. eu só sei que a protagonista é humana por causa da ilustração da capa, mas não faço ideia do que são os outros personagens que apareceram nesse comecinho e muito menos do que está acontecendo.
que nem algumas resenhas que eu vi falaram: pra alguém que já está familiarizado com o mundo, provavelmente vai ser uma boa leitura. pra mim, foi só frustração e confusão e eu não vou insistir.
August 14, 2023
DNF; I don’t feel like working through the extremely confusing lore of this world for what seems like very little payoff (based on reviews). Maybe I’ll return to it but I have more exciting things on my TBR to get to.
July 18, 2023
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
4/5 STARS
This is a standalone fantasy romance novel in a series written by all different authors. The theme of the series is mortal enemies to monster lovers. In this case the monster is the naga. I had never read a fantasy romance with a naga involved so I enjoyed learning about the character. The concept of being plagued by a fog that causes you to get stuck in a dream was unique. There is a lot of reference to the world this author has in another series and I will definitely read them, but it is not explained in this book. It didn’t bother me, but I can see why some people would feel lost. I didn’t care for the nicknames for some reason and the description of a romance with a naga was a little cringe, but that is probably just me.
Overall, I really enjoyed this series. I have read other books by Jessica and really like her writing style.
Thank you for the gifted copy! 🐍🖤
4/5 STARS
This is a standalone fantasy romance novel in a series written by all different authors. The theme of the series is mortal enemies to monster lovers. In this case the monster is the naga. I had never read a fantasy romance with a naga involved so I enjoyed learning about the character. The concept of being plagued by a fog that causes you to get stuck in a dream was unique. There is a lot of reference to the world this author has in another series and I will definitely read them, but it is not explained in this book. It didn’t bother me, but I can see why some people would feel lost. I didn’t care for the nicknames for some reason and the description of a romance with a naga was a little cringe, but that is probably just me.
Overall, I really enjoyed this series. I have read other books by Jessica and really like her writing style.
Thank you for the gifted copy! 🐍🖤
July 1, 2023
skip
I love this series but this one was just lackluster. Maybe it gets better in the next half of the book but I just can’t. Skipping on to the next one in the series. The first 3 I literally could not put down so I had high hopes for this one. But the characters are lackluster and a bit cringe. It is also not really clear world building there seems to be allot that is not clear.
I love this series but this one was just lackluster. Maybe it gets better in the next half of the book but I just can’t. Skipping on to the next one in the series. The first 3 I literally could not put down so I had high hopes for this one. But the characters are lackluster and a bit cringe. It is also not really clear world building there seems to be allot that is not clear.
July 4, 2023
This story was really tough to get into because there was very limited world building. It came across as though I was supposed to have all of this knowledge and didn't. Probably would have been easier for me to read if I was familiar with any of the other works in this universe. Overall the story was really enjoyable but I ended up having so many questions. I wish that the glossary at the end of what certain terms meant was in the beginning of the book because that would have been so much easier and would have made this book more enjoyable for me. I also feel like this book needs a pronunciation guide because there are so many words that phonetically made no sense to me.
August 15, 2023
Scrolling on TikTok and see this author’s post about this book and I definitely reached out and SO HAPPY I DID. The author’s world-building? Phenomenal. The relationship/story between Tengrii and Rhea was so easy to follow and I enjoyed each second of it! Plus it had that little extra romance and intensity!
July 7, 2023
It really took a long time for this story to get going, and I feel like the introduction to the world was not well written - it felt very unnecessarily disorienting for the first half or so of the book.
Beyond that, I feel like the characters were not particularly well developed, and in books like this, I feel like the characters are usually the main selling point.
Beyond that, I feel like the characters were not particularly well developed, and in books like this, I feel like the characters are usually the main selling point.
June 28, 2023
✨ARC Review✨
Hooked by the third chapter! Keeps you asking well what happens next? I’m enjoying the story but I feel like it’s a little drawn out. The ending is very cute!! I was happy to see she got to stay with him and connected to her siblings.
Hooked by the third chapter! Keeps you asking well what happens next? I’m enjoying the story but I feel like it’s a little drawn out. The ending is very cute!! I was happy to see she got to stay with him and connected to her siblings.
September 3, 2023
Dnf@28% after skimming hard about half of that looking for the start of the trope. This is supposed to be an installment of a series featuring the enemies to lovers trope, and at 28% they haven't even met. Topic missed! The story might have been better if the expectations had been set differently, especially since the first two books in the series set the bar quite high, in terms of the worldbuilding, the plot, the story telling and the built-up between the main characters.
The background story may be more understandable if one knows the other books by this author that are apparently set in this world. I would not recommend this as a standalone.
And quite apart from nothing really happening in the first quarter of the book, the nicknames just made me CRINGE!! I can't decide if they are a step up or even worse than the constant pr$&@k and b&$#@d name calling in the third installment of the series, but no - they are actually wayyyyyyy worse
The background story may be more understandable if one knows the other books by this author that are apparently set in this world. I would not recommend this as a standalone.
And quite apart from nothing really happening in the first quarter of the book, the nicknames just made me CRINGE!! I can't decide if they are a step up or even worse than the constant pr$&@k and b&$#@d name calling in the third installment of the series, but no - they are actually wayyyyyyy worse
December 24, 2023
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
I just finished "Slaying the Naga King" by Jessica and absolutely loved it.
Fantasy monster romance with a cinnamon roll monstrous hero and artist heroine (with her art being part of the solution!)
I loved the characters and especially loved the underlying sense of unconditional love you leave the story with. Knowing love is from the heart and not superficial.
❤️🔥❤️🔥❤️🔥/5 spice (on page but more about the emotional connection)
Things I loved:
#monsterromance as a monster
#cinnamonrollhero
#curses #forbiddenromances #artistcharacter
Perfect for anyone who wants to give monster romance a try without all the heavy kink and dark themes. Great for lovers of fantasy romance.
I just finished "Slaying the Naga King" by Jessica and absolutely loved it.
Fantasy monster romance with a cinnamon roll monstrous hero and artist heroine (with her art being part of the solution!)
I loved the characters and especially loved the underlying sense of unconditional love you leave the story with. Knowing love is from the heart and not superficial.
❤️🔥❤️🔥❤️🔥/5 spice (on page but more about the emotional connection)
Things I loved:
#monsterromance as a monster
#cinnamonrollhero
#curses #forbiddenromances #artistcharacter
Perfect for anyone who wants to give monster romance a try without all the heavy kink and dark themes. Great for lovers of fantasy romance.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 11, 2024
2.75⭐️
Salanca basically ruined the whole ending for me. the beginning was so jumbled i could barely understand what was going on. and waaaaaay too insta-lovey
Salanca basically ruined the whole ending for me. the beginning was so jumbled i could barely understand what was going on. and waaaaaay too insta-lovey
July 8, 2025
by this point I’m being abused, I tried the frost king one, hated it and thought SURELY this one can’t be that bad. I was wrong.
May 29, 2024
This was tough. The beginning was extremely hard to get into. This is a short book (like 270 pages?) and it took me a month to read. I read 60% of it in one day. The author had created this whole world, with a lot of words, terms, and concepts that need further explanation. It was incredibly confusing to start this book.
However, I’m not a quitter and had to finish. The end sucked me in and I was interested in finishing and I have found the Tue Rah Verse that I added to my TBR. I am genuinely interested in reading this series, but hope that JM Butler has better built the word and added more explanations.
However, I’m not a quitter and had to finish. The end sucked me in and I was interested in finishing and I have found the Tue Rah Verse that I added to my TBR. I am genuinely interested in reading this series, but hope that JM Butler has better built the word and added more explanations.
August 30, 2023
I haven’t even finished it and I know it’s not going any higher this. The nicknames are enough to make me not want to finish it, it’s just cringy but not in an endearing way.
July 25, 2023
I’m not sure how I feel about this one…
This is a standalone story that belongs to a larger *mortal enemies to monster lovers* anthology. Personally I don’t feel that this one was enemies to lovers at all, more like insta love, but the monster lovers was definitely there and I love the relationship that developed between the two main characters. They were both extremely pacifistic, sweetie pies and their romance/connection made a lot of sense to me.
One thing I struggled with is that this story is clearly belongs to a world that I’m assuming the author has already explored in a few books (much like Slaying the Vampire Conquer). As a concept, I don’t mind this and I feel like it’s a good way to enhance a series with multiple offshoots and can also add to the richness of a standalone like it did in SVC. However, we never got any background on this world and it’s multiple races and we are basically left to read between the lines. Having to puzzle everything out with 0 background really detracted from my enjoyment of the story. Did I figure it out? For the most part, yes, I think so, but that doesn’t mean a larger audience could.
I thought the plot was interesting and engaging. The cursed magic fog wasn’t anything I had ever seen before however, I felt the resolution landed kind of flat and ruined some of the magic.
Also, the entire conflict with Rhea and her sister at the end ruined the book for me. I’m not sure what about it was so unenjoyable, but I hated every moment of it. Without this last chunk of the book with the sudden resolution and the weird back and forth with the sister, I probably would have given 4 stars despite the pitfalls I mentioned previously.
Lastly, the nicknames. Salt-Sweet was so clunky and uncomfortable as a nickname, they should have stuck with Bunny.
This is a standalone story that belongs to a larger *mortal enemies to monster lovers* anthology. Personally I don’t feel that this one was enemies to lovers at all, more like insta love, but the monster lovers was definitely there and I love the relationship that developed between the two main characters. They were both extremely pacifistic, sweetie pies and their romance/connection made a lot of sense to me.
One thing I struggled with is that this story is clearly belongs to a world that I’m assuming the author has already explored in a few books (much like Slaying the Vampire Conquer). As a concept, I don’t mind this and I feel like it’s a good way to enhance a series with multiple offshoots and can also add to the richness of a standalone like it did in SVC. However, we never got any background on this world and it’s multiple races and we are basically left to read between the lines. Having to puzzle everything out with 0 background really detracted from my enjoyment of the story. Did I figure it out? For the most part, yes, I think so, but that doesn’t mean a larger audience could.
I thought the plot was interesting and engaging. The cursed magic fog wasn’t anything I had ever seen before however, I felt the resolution landed kind of flat and ruined some of the magic.
Also, the entire conflict with Rhea and her sister at the end ruined the book for me. I’m not sure what about it was so unenjoyable, but I hated every moment of it. Without this last chunk of the book with the sudden resolution and the weird back and forth with the sister, I probably would have given 4 stars despite the pitfalls I mentioned previously.
Lastly, the nicknames. Salt-Sweet was so clunky and uncomfortable as a nickname, they should have stuck with Bunny.
August 7, 2023
Had to stop this as I had no idea what was happening. I read later that this takes place in an already well-established universe so if you're familiar with Butler's previous works than you probably wont face the problems I did. But honestly I might have made it slightly farther, although I wasn't feeling it until the MMC was described as snake-like and that was it for me. The cover was definitely suggesting it, but I wanted to read the whole Slaying series but nope, just couldn't do it.
Read
August 10, 2023DNF at 25%. This book was soooo long and I could not get into it.
August 2, 2023
Gorgeous cover.
Interesting idea.
But that’s where the positives end for me.
Lately it’s felt like all these new fantasy books hurtling into the world are just not…good. Not all of them, mind you, but most of them. Writing has been juvenile awful YA style where it’s more word vomit and poor building/dialogue/bratty unlikeable characters. Zero depth. Zero growth, just whiplash sudden change. It’s like we’re rushing to get the book out and that’s where the effort lies, not the actual story itself.
The concepts were there on this one. It had the potential to be good. Yet we were thrust into what felt like the middle of a story and the rest was poorly explained and nothing really works.
I’m almost to the point of begging authors to slow down and really think about what they’re writing. Iron out the details. Grow their voice. Make it solid, even if it means adding another 200 pages. I honestly would rather read a 600 page book that’s rounded than a 300 page poorly sorted wtf fest.
Style wise, if you loved the bonds that tie series, you’ll probably love this based off the writing style.
For those you (like me) who did not, skip it.
Interesting idea.
But that’s where the positives end for me.
Lately it’s felt like all these new fantasy books hurtling into the world are just not…good. Not all of them, mind you, but most of them. Writing has been juvenile awful YA style where it’s more word vomit and poor building/dialogue/bratty unlikeable characters. Zero depth. Zero growth, just whiplash sudden change. It’s like we’re rushing to get the book out and that’s where the effort lies, not the actual story itself.
The concepts were there on this one. It had the potential to be good. Yet we were thrust into what felt like the middle of a story and the rest was poorly explained and nothing really works.
I’m almost to the point of begging authors to slow down and really think about what they’re writing. Iron out the details. Grow their voice. Make it solid, even if it means adding another 200 pages. I honestly would rather read a 600 page book that’s rounded than a 300 page poorly sorted wtf fest.
Style wise, if you loved the bonds that tie series, you’ll probably love this based off the writing style.
For those you (like me) who did not, skip it.
July 1, 2023
I recieved this as an ARC, I am reviewing voluntarily and honestly.
From the beginning I felt like there was some information missing, like this was clearly a part of an already built world and there should have been an introduction or something to get the reader up to speed on the world. Several species are mentioned very early on, but without a clear 'image' of what they are. It turns out there is a glossary at the end which gives some details, but it was a little late by that point.
I did stuggle with the story some in that Rhea (the FMC) goes to save 'Chicory' with no plan whatsoever and barely any idea about where/what she is walking into - but doesn't even try to assess the situation properly. In no way was she ever going to save the guy when her plan was solely to kill the person who most likely was the only one to know where they were.
When it came to 'Chicory' Rhea used no logic and came up with ridiculous ideas (maybe he changed his name - and what? Within less than a day made sure everyone knew his new name? Really?). But when it came to Tengrii telling her of how his people came to be on the Separated World she could use logic just fine to see it made no sense that people randomly came to a new world to celebrate, got stuck, and had everything they would need to survive.
When you ignore that the characters are idiots who only apply logic when it suits them, the story itself isn't too bad. Although at the beginning the plot seems to be 'Find the cure to this thing' and the ending seems to be 'Connect this separated world to the Tue Rah (whatever that is), a cure was found when you were getting loved up'.
The only 1 bed trope wasn't really only 1 bed. There was 1 bed (his), but she had a 'nest' on the floor - which is what they ended up using anyway. The only 1 bed trope is meant to be them having to share a bed when they are not at that point of a relationship and they had the choice of 2 beds and were at the point it wasnt so weird to share.
From the beginning I felt like there was some information missing, like this was clearly a part of an already built world and there should have been an introduction or something to get the reader up to speed on the world. Several species are mentioned very early on, but without a clear 'image' of what they are. It turns out there is a glossary at the end which gives some details, but it was a little late by that point.
I did stuggle with the story some in that Rhea (the FMC) goes to save 'Chicory' with no plan whatsoever and barely any idea about where/what she is walking into - but doesn't even try to assess the situation properly. In no way was she ever going to save the guy when her plan was solely to kill the person who most likely was the only one to know where they were.
When it came to 'Chicory' Rhea used no logic and came up with ridiculous ideas (maybe he changed his name - and what? Within less than a day made sure everyone knew his new name? Really?). But when it came to Tengrii telling her of how his people came to be on the Separated World she could use logic just fine to see it made no sense that people randomly came to a new world to celebrate, got stuck, and had everything they would need to survive.
When you ignore that the characters are idiots who only apply logic when it suits them, the story itself isn't too bad. Although at the beginning the plot seems to be 'Find the cure to this thing' and the ending seems to be 'Connect this separated world to the Tue Rah (whatever that is), a cure was found when you were getting loved up'.
The only 1 bed trope wasn't really only 1 bed. There was 1 bed (his), but she had a 'nest' on the floor - which is what they ended up using anyway. The only 1 bed trope is meant to be them having to share a bed when they are not at that point of a relationship and they had the choice of 2 beds and were at the point it wasnt so weird to share.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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