Thanks to the ARC team for an advance copy!
This story is beautifully written - the beginning sets the scene, where the FMC, Sage, finds herself captured and brought to a holiday underworld of sorts. The descriptions are rich, and I can see each of the monsters the girls encounter as they are brought to this world clearly.
Sage's adventure is almost a combination of a twisted fairy tale and something like The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty - in the world she's taken to, she is given to the Pumpkin King. The descriptions of their interactions and chemistry are as twisted as they are beautiful - I was enchanted, even when I should have been disgusted by the monstrous form of the Pumpkin King and what he demanded of Sage.
I gave this 4 instead of 5 stars because at times it's not clear what's going on. Sometimes this seems intentional - the FMC doesn't know what's happening, so we don't either. But sometimes we seem to jump in time a bit, or something will happen that seems inconsistent with other parts of the story. I think a clearer framework to the storyline might help - I wanted the things the girls had to do for their monsters to be more of a series of rites, laid out clearly as tests they had to pass to keep going.
This is super, super dark, twisted, and has an erotic horror aspect - if you are sensitive, check the triggers before beginning.