What do you think?
Played by the Piper #1
The Sweetest Fiend
From the Sunday Times bestselling author of the Plated Prisoner series comes the first book in an alluring and addictive romantasy duology set in a world of fae and dark magic
--
It’s time to pay the Piper.
Our world cracked open like an egg. Power burst out, and with it, nine monstrous Banes ready to destroy everything. The powerful Core fae finally slayed them all, but each Bane left a Plague to punish us.
But that’s not the only thing they left behind.
I’m half Bane, half fae, and wholly hated. Survival means enduring every vicious glare and cursed outbreak. Until one day, a Plague descends upon my city that means certain death.
Then he comes. The Pied Piper.
He rids my city of the Plague, but it comes at a cost. One hundred and thirty people are taken as payment. Including me.
I don’t know what he’s going to do to us, but I know I have to get home. My family’s lives depend on it. But the Piper won’t let me go, and something wicked stirs between us. The sweet scent in my veins beckons him, while the seductive lure of his magic sinks under my skin.
I have to escape before it’s too late. Because if I don’t, it’s not just my heart at risk. . .
But the entire world.
Pied Piper reimagined. This dark fantasy is full of romance and secrets, with mature themes and explicit scenes only suitable for adults. This is book one of a duology.
--
It’s time to pay the Piper.
Our world cracked open like an egg. Power burst out, and with it, nine monstrous Banes ready to destroy everything. The powerful Core fae finally slayed them all, but each Bane left a Plague to punish us.
But that’s not the only thing they left behind.
I’m half Bane, half fae, and wholly hated. Survival means enduring every vicious glare and cursed outbreak. Until one day, a Plague descends upon my city that means certain death.
Then he comes. The Pied Piper.
He rids my city of the Plague, but it comes at a cost. One hundred and thirty people are taken as payment. Including me.
I don’t know what he’s going to do to us, but I know I have to get home. My family’s lives depend on it. But the Piper won’t let me go, and something wicked stirs between us. The sweet scent in my veins beckons him, while the seductive lure of his magic sinks under my skin.
I have to escape before it’s too late. Because if I don’t, it’s not just my heart at risk. . .
But the entire world.
Pied Piper reimagined. This dark fantasy is full of romance and secrets, with mature themes and explicit scenes only suitable for adults. This is book one of a duology.
464 pages, Kindle Edition
First published September 22, 2026
About the author
Raven Kennedy
48 books23.6k followersRAVEN KENNEDY is an international bestseller, whose love for books pushed her into creating her own worlds. The Plated Prisoner Series, a dark fantasy romance, has sold in over twenty countries. It became a New York Times, USA Today, Sunday Times, and Spiegel bestseller, hit #1 in the Amazon store, and has sold over six million copies worldwide.
Her newest book, The Sweetest Fiend, is the first of a duology and will be released in September 2026. You can connect with Raven on her social media, and visit her website for more info.
Her newest book, The Sweetest Fiend, is the first of a duology and will be released in September 2026. You can connect with Raven on her social media, and visit her website for more info.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,315 reviews
September 25, 2026
"You infuriate me, Piper."
"You enrapture me, blight."
Well, this was for sure looking like a five star read until the third act. Like what was that. I have so many thoughts about how wrong that landed. I see the vision, I didn't see the logic of it👁👄👁
But before that, I do want to say, I had an AMAZING time with it. Imo it has a lot of potential and I think it's the kind of lore, world building that needs more than a duology. With the kind of things I read with the plagues? I would have stretched it to a trilogy at least. 🤷♀️ Because certain scenes are so fucking gory, so entertaining to read? It was fucking cinematic in a way.
Raven Kennedy's writing in the first half in particular is brilliant and cinematic. Every sensation she wrote was felt. The ick of the plagues had me shuddering, recoiling and I loved it. I did want them dragged out a little just cause I was having so much fun lol. The lore and the magic system is unique, and I'm very appreciative of that. It stands out in that sense.
The middle is more slow and I had a blast with the banter. The chemistry between the main characters is amazing. Though keep in mind, we're just reading Esti's pov. There is no dual/multi pov in this book and fair I guess. But this is just my opinion, not a criticism that had there been multi povs? Some scenes would have given me chills. Especially when it came to the Pied Piper.
Coming to the Pied Piper, damnn. What a hottie. He's a smart ass, possessive, a little crazy, completely biased and has a tragic past with scars that run deeper than the physical. A bit cocky but the mouth on that man is absolutely sin. I adored his chemistry with Esti. She is such truly so likable. When the book said 'The Sweetest Fiend,' I didn't actually expect her to be the sweetest fiend. My heart ached for her and the quiet strength in her. I wanted to protect her but mostly I wanted her to have a power so fierce that no one ever makes her feel helpless.
I do think the romance throughout the middle was going at a decent pace. The attraction is instant, the angst should have burned slow. The third act fumbled in that arena. I liked the acts of service the Pied Piper was showing Esti, and in my opinion, it shouldn't have escalated fast in the end. But yeah that's part of the reason why the ending didn't land right. The Latching of magic is fine, it's fascinating. But their relationship needed another 70-100 pages of work.
Which brings me to the ending and cliffhanger. I see how it would work for others. But to me, it just read hypocritical. Without spoiling much, faults were made on BOTH ends. So why we make one character out to be the villain is kinda meh. I see the vision, I see what the author wanted to do. But the relationship had not found a solid ground on either end. And trust is supposed to work on both ends. So why we hold just one person accountable? I have an idea where it will head to, but dual pov at least would have cleared up a lot of air and found a more emotional conflict for the reader. The heart ache didn't come for me, it needed more flair considering their histories.
Anyhoo.. Good time. Not as good as Plated Prisoner series but fun. Worth a shot imo.
~•~•~
Sooo excited to start this. I'm seeing nothing but glowing reviews for this. Fingers crossed 🤭
"You enrapture me, blight."
Well, this was for sure looking like a five star read until the third act. Like what was that. I have so many thoughts about how wrong that landed. I see the vision, I didn't see the logic of it👁👄👁
But before that, I do want to say, I had an AMAZING time with it. Imo it has a lot of potential and I think it's the kind of lore, world building that needs more than a duology. With the kind of things I read with the plagues? I would have stretched it to a trilogy at least. 🤷♀️ Because certain scenes are so fucking gory, so entertaining to read? It was fucking cinematic in a way.
Raven Kennedy's writing in the first half in particular is brilliant and cinematic. Every sensation she wrote was felt. The ick of the plagues had me shuddering, recoiling and I loved it. I did want them dragged out a little just cause I was having so much fun lol. The lore and the magic system is unique, and I'm very appreciative of that. It stands out in that sense.
The middle is more slow and I had a blast with the banter. The chemistry between the main characters is amazing. Though keep in mind, we're just reading Esti's pov. There is no dual/multi pov in this book and fair I guess. But this is just my opinion, not a criticism that had there been multi povs? Some scenes would have given me chills. Especially when it came to the Pied Piper.
Coming to the Pied Piper, damnn. What a hottie. He's a smart ass, possessive, a little crazy, completely biased and has a tragic past with scars that run deeper than the physical. A bit cocky but the mouth on that man is absolutely sin. I adored his chemistry with Esti. She is such truly so likable. When the book said 'The Sweetest Fiend,' I didn't actually expect her to be the sweetest fiend. My heart ached for her and the quiet strength in her. I wanted to protect her but mostly I wanted her to have a power so fierce that no one ever makes her feel helpless.
I do think the romance throughout the middle was going at a decent pace. The attraction is instant, the angst should have burned slow. The third act fumbled in that arena. I liked the acts of service the Pied Piper was showing Esti, and in my opinion, it shouldn't have escalated fast in the end. But yeah that's part of the reason why the ending didn't land right. The Latching of magic is fine, it's fascinating. But their relationship needed another 70-100 pages of work.
Which brings me to the ending and cliffhanger. I see how it would work for others. But to me, it just read hypocritical. Without spoiling much, faults were made on BOTH ends. So why we make one character out to be the villain is kinda meh. I see the vision, I see what the author wanted to do. But the relationship had not found a solid ground on either end. And trust is supposed to work on both ends. So why we hold just one person accountable? I have an idea where it will head to, but dual pov at least would have cleared up a lot of air and found a more emotional conflict for the reader. The heart ache didn't come for me, it needed more flair considering their histories.
Anyhoo.. Good time. Not as good as Plated Prisoner series but fun. Worth a shot imo.
~•~•~
Sooo excited to start this. I'm seeing nothing but glowing reviews for this. Fingers crossed 🤭
September 22, 2026
4.25 ⭐🎧
I fear the morally questionable Pied Piper has dragged me out of my reading slump.
The Sweetest Fiend had me SAT. Forced proximity, aggressive caretaking, a filthy mouth and Varrik going from captor to “Death can’t have you.” Modern medicine could never.
Did the plot occasionally require a welfare check? Yes.
The romance? Alive. Thriving. Paying taxes.
What worked for me
(aka: the Piper provided)
Old fairytale. New trauma
This is exactly what I want from a fairytale reimagining. I could see the Pied Piper bones immediately - Hamelyn, the rats, the pipe, the multicoloured cloak, the desperate city and the terrible price - but Raven Kennedy built an entirely different fantasy world around them.
The Plagues were especially effective. Flies stripping people to bone, poisoned water, rats flooding the streets, a permanently wounded sky - it gave Brekon a genuinely bleak atmosphere without burying me beneath lore. I learned the world mostly by watching Esti survive inside it.
And then came my favourite inversion: fiends are treated as monsters and blamed for the Plagues, only for their blood to potentially be the thing that can stop them.
Nothing like generations of prejudice discovering they've been bullying the emergency medical supplies.
Forced proximity, thank you for your service
The romance was easily my favourite part because the progression actually felt like progression.
Varrik and Esti start with genuine hostility and an enormous power imbalance. He steals her. She fights him. He calls her “blight.” She develops a running list of his offences and eventually takes a needle to his belongings. Romance.
But the forced proximity keeps changing form - one horse, one tent, one bedroll, wound care, his room, the Latch - and every stage pushes their relationship somewhere new. Attraction grows through observation, banter, jealousy, caretaking and vulnerability rather than the magical bond doing all the work.
I loved knowing Varrik wanted her before the Latch chose her. He was already terrorising Conrad over her recovery.
Sir had an Esti problem before magic made it official.
For a man this possessive, Varrik becomes surprisingly serious about choice. He asks. He waits. Esti chooses. By their second kiss, his permission feels like knocking on a door - and she’s the one who opens it.
That distinction mattered when their entire relationship began with him literally taking away her control.
Varrik’s type is Esti....and more Esti
This man noticing everything about her absolutely fed me.
Esti has spent her life hiding the features that mark her as a fiend. Her horns. Her sparkling freckles. Her hair. Even her emotion-changing nails get dismissed as paper dye.
Unfortunately for Esti, Varrik has eyes and misses nothing.
He remembers the colour of her nails. Learns what the colours mean. Notices when her breathing changes. Touches the horns nobody touches. Removes the powder covering her freckles because “I like seeing you.” He has a veillet made that doesn't hide her horns but frames them with silver rings like crowns.
And when she sees those silver-crowned horns in the mirror:
“I’ve never looked so beautiful.”
“I’ve never looked so utterly fiend.”
The world taught Esti to tone herself down. Varrik’s preference is full volume.
He isn't attracted to her despite everything the world has taught her to hide. He's fascinated by it. His attraction feels like ongoing research with increasingly inappropriate fieldwork.
And “Blight” somehow going from hostile nickname to something that felt like a caress? Unfortunately, I am the target audience.
Caretaking with a side of menace
Varrik’s caretaker era starts long before he’s willing to admit he has one.
His denial apparently involves extremely hands-on wound care. One minute Esti is just his irritating little blight; the next he’s furious about her untreated pain, personally tending her injuries and ready to make thirteen lashes everyone’s problem.
Then he growls:
“Death can’t have you.”
Sir. Denial is a river in Egypt. This is devotion.
I loved that Varrik’s protectiveness never comes at the expense of Esti’s competence. She saves herself. She saves him. Eventually, they help save everyone else.
Nobody gets demoted to damsel. We love to see it.
Romantic suffering: Now a Group Activity
Conrad, Frid and the rest of Varrik’s orbit were such a fun addition because they knew this man was down catastrophic before he’d even received the memo.
The teasing, jealousy and general refusal to take his Esti-related suffering seriously were hilarious but I also loved what they revealed about him. Varrik feels different around people who already know and love him - less Piper, more man.
Turns out found family is also excellent for bullying a Govern through his first crush.
Where it lost me
(aka: meanwhile, the plot)
Varrik gave me obsession before he gave me Varrik
I got Varrik’s obsession in HD while the man behind the Piper stayed frustratingly out of focus.
The prologue gave me a broken man. The romance gave me a devoted one. I kept waiting for the bridge between them.
We get glimpses, especially when his Defender side cracks through, but thirty missing years is a LOT of character development to leave off-page. I finished knowing exactly how Varrik loves but not enough about how he became Varrik.
Too much pining. Not enough piping.
The slow opening didn’t bother me. Esti needed a life worth missing before Varrik could rudely Pied Piper her out of it.
My pacing issue arrived later, when these two had reached mutual yearning: painfully obvious edition, and proceeded to marinate in it. Meanwhile, the plot had several unanswered questions and was presumably tapping its watch.
Eventually the romance stopped edging the reader and delivered. Spectacularly. Hydration recommended.
Then I checked the remaining page count.
Oh.
There were still mysteries in this house.
All that growth just to choose violence
The final stretch circles back to everything I had been waiting on: Hamelyn, Esti's mother, the origin of her strange magic and the possibility that the history we've been told about Banes isn't remotely complete.
Then Marryn sprouts antlers.
At 97%.
Ma'am.
And somehow THAT isn't even the cruelest part.
The entire romance is a slow evolution from taking to asking, force to choice, possession to reciprocity.
Then the ending takes every inch of that growth and weaponises it against Esti.
The man who learned to ask takes again. The woman who finally chose him loses her choice again.
That’s the betrayal.
Then Raven resurrects the three words we've been carrying since Esti first read his stars:
Defender. Thief. LIAR.
We’d spent the whole book sanding the warning edges off those words.
Defender became obvious. Thief became almost affectionate - he stole her heart. Liar became something I assumed we'd eventually understand.
Then:
“And stars, unlike him, never lie.”
RUDE.
It’s an effective cliffhanger because I desperately need to know what both Varrik and Esti have been withholding. Unfortunately, several of my answers appear to have been kidnapped along with Esti.
Book Two, please report to the principal’s office.
Final Thoughts
For all my complaints about the plot occasionally standing in the corner while Varrik and Esti stared at each other, I had such a good time with this.
Esti was easy to root for: kind without being spineless, funny without becoming comic relief and stubbornly capable even when the world treated her like something monstrous. Varrik was exactly my preferred flavour of morally grey - possessive, ruthless and deeply questionable but increasingly forced to confront the difference between protecting someone and controlling them.
Most importantly, the romance earned my investment. The magical bond didn't replace relationship development; it complicated it. Attraction wasn't trust. Wanting wasn't permission. And when Esti eventually chose Varrik, I believed her.
Then he shattered that trust and left me staring into the middle distance.
So Book Two is less a choice and more a summons.
And the audio? Sean Masters and Isabelle Turner in duet narration were dangerous. Isabelle gave Esti exactly the right amount of bite, while Sean's Varrik could go from threatening Piper to vulnerable caretaker to saying things that had me lowering the volume like the people around me could somehow hear my thoughts.
“Death can’t have you” was already good.
Sean Masters growling it was a separate rating category.
Final Verdict
4.25 ⭐️ — A genuinely addictive Pied Piper reimagining with excellent forced proximity, earned chemistry and a morally grey romance that occasionally left the plot buffering.
My reading slump died so my trust issues could live.
Tropes and Vibes:
• Pied Piper reimagining
• Enemies-to-lovers energy
• Captor × captive
• Forced proximity SUPREMACY
• One horse / one tent / one bedroll
• Morally grey, possessive MMC
• Caretaking disguised as irritation
• Magical life-force bond
• Touch her and suffer
• Monster girl × man obsessed with everything she hides
• Found family + professional instigators
• Duet narration excellence
• Betrayal cliffhanger / Book Two immediately required
☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆
Pre-read:
The Pied Piper took a half-monster, half-fae woman as payment for saving her city and things are already getting suspiciously ✨wicked✨.
The Brothers Grimm gave us a cautionary tale.
Romantasy said, “Okay, but what if he’s hot?” 👀🎧✨️
I fear the morally questionable Pied Piper has dragged me out of my reading slump.
The Sweetest Fiend had me SAT. Forced proximity, aggressive caretaking, a filthy mouth and Varrik going from captor to “Death can’t have you.” Modern medicine could never.
Did the plot occasionally require a welfare check? Yes.
The romance? Alive. Thriving. Paying taxes.
What worked for me
(aka: the Piper provided)
Old fairytale. New trauma
This is exactly what I want from a fairytale reimagining. I could see the Pied Piper bones immediately - Hamelyn, the rats, the pipe, the multicoloured cloak, the desperate city and the terrible price - but Raven Kennedy built an entirely different fantasy world around them.
The Plagues were especially effective. Flies stripping people to bone, poisoned water, rats flooding the streets, a permanently wounded sky - it gave Brekon a genuinely bleak atmosphere without burying me beneath lore. I learned the world mostly by watching Esti survive inside it.
And then came my favourite inversion: fiends are treated as monsters and blamed for the Plagues, only for their blood to potentially be the thing that can stop them.
Nothing like generations of prejudice discovering they've been bullying the emergency medical supplies.
Forced proximity, thank you for your service
The romance was easily my favourite part because the progression actually felt like progression.
Varrik and Esti start with genuine hostility and an enormous power imbalance. He steals her. She fights him. He calls her “blight.” She develops a running list of his offences and eventually takes a needle to his belongings. Romance.
But the forced proximity keeps changing form - one horse, one tent, one bedroll, wound care, his room, the Latch - and every stage pushes their relationship somewhere new. Attraction grows through observation, banter, jealousy, caretaking and vulnerability rather than the magical bond doing all the work.
I loved knowing Varrik wanted her before the Latch chose her. He was already terrorising Conrad over her recovery.
Sir had an Esti problem before magic made it official.
For a man this possessive, Varrik becomes surprisingly serious about choice. He asks. He waits. Esti chooses. By their second kiss, his permission feels like knocking on a door - and she’s the one who opens it.
That distinction mattered when their entire relationship began with him literally taking away her control.
Varrik’s type is Esti....and more Esti
This man noticing everything about her absolutely fed me.
Esti has spent her life hiding the features that mark her as a fiend. Her horns. Her sparkling freckles. Her hair. Even her emotion-changing nails get dismissed as paper dye.
Unfortunately for Esti, Varrik has eyes and misses nothing.
He remembers the colour of her nails. Learns what the colours mean. Notices when her breathing changes. Touches the horns nobody touches. Removes the powder covering her freckles because “I like seeing you.” He has a veillet made that doesn't hide her horns but frames them with silver rings like crowns.
And when she sees those silver-crowned horns in the mirror:
“I’ve never looked so beautiful.”
“I’ve never looked so utterly fiend.”
The world taught Esti to tone herself down. Varrik’s preference is full volume.
He isn't attracted to her despite everything the world has taught her to hide. He's fascinated by it. His attraction feels like ongoing research with increasingly inappropriate fieldwork.
And “Blight” somehow going from hostile nickname to something that felt like a caress? Unfortunately, I am the target audience.
Caretaking with a side of menace
Varrik’s caretaker era starts long before he’s willing to admit he has one.
His denial apparently involves extremely hands-on wound care. One minute Esti is just his irritating little blight; the next he’s furious about her untreated pain, personally tending her injuries and ready to make thirteen lashes everyone’s problem.
Then he growls:
“Death can’t have you.”
Sir. Denial is a river in Egypt. This is devotion.
I loved that Varrik’s protectiveness never comes at the expense of Esti’s competence. She saves herself. She saves him. Eventually, they help save everyone else.
Nobody gets demoted to damsel. We love to see it.
Romantic suffering: Now a Group Activity
Conrad, Frid and the rest of Varrik’s orbit were such a fun addition because they knew this man was down catastrophic before he’d even received the memo.
The teasing, jealousy and general refusal to take his Esti-related suffering seriously were hilarious but I also loved what they revealed about him. Varrik feels different around people who already know and love him - less Piper, more man.
Turns out found family is also excellent for bullying a Govern through his first crush.
Where it lost me
(aka: meanwhile, the plot)
Varrik gave me obsession before he gave me Varrik
I got Varrik’s obsession in HD while the man behind the Piper stayed frustratingly out of focus.
The prologue gave me a broken man. The romance gave me a devoted one. I kept waiting for the bridge between them.
We get glimpses, especially when his Defender side cracks through, but thirty missing years is a LOT of character development to leave off-page. I finished knowing exactly how Varrik loves but not enough about how he became Varrik.
Too much pining. Not enough piping.
The slow opening didn’t bother me. Esti needed a life worth missing before Varrik could rudely Pied Piper her out of it.
My pacing issue arrived later, when these two had reached mutual yearning: painfully obvious edition, and proceeded to marinate in it. Meanwhile, the plot had several unanswered questions and was presumably tapping its watch.
Eventually the romance stopped edging the reader and delivered. Spectacularly. Hydration recommended.
Then I checked the remaining page count.
Oh.
There were still mysteries in this house.
All that growth just to choose violence
The final stretch circles back to everything I had been waiting on: Hamelyn, Esti's mother, the origin of her strange magic and the possibility that the history we've been told about Banes isn't remotely complete.
Then Marryn sprouts antlers.
At 97%.
Ma'am.
And somehow THAT isn't even the cruelest part.
The entire romance is a slow evolution from taking to asking, force to choice, possession to reciprocity.
Then the ending takes every inch of that growth and weaponises it against Esti.
The man who learned to ask takes again. The woman who finally chose him loses her choice again.
That’s the betrayal.
Then Raven resurrects the three words we've been carrying since Esti first read his stars:
Defender. Thief. LIAR.
We’d spent the whole book sanding the warning edges off those words.
Defender became obvious. Thief became almost affectionate - he stole her heart. Liar became something I assumed we'd eventually understand.
Then:
“And stars, unlike him, never lie.”
RUDE.
It’s an effective cliffhanger because I desperately need to know what both Varrik and Esti have been withholding. Unfortunately, several of my answers appear to have been kidnapped along with Esti.
Book Two, please report to the principal’s office.
Final Thoughts
For all my complaints about the plot occasionally standing in the corner while Varrik and Esti stared at each other, I had such a good time with this.
Esti was easy to root for: kind without being spineless, funny without becoming comic relief and stubbornly capable even when the world treated her like something monstrous. Varrik was exactly my preferred flavour of morally grey - possessive, ruthless and deeply questionable but increasingly forced to confront the difference between protecting someone and controlling them.
Most importantly, the romance earned my investment. The magical bond didn't replace relationship development; it complicated it. Attraction wasn't trust. Wanting wasn't permission. And when Esti eventually chose Varrik, I believed her.
Then he shattered that trust and left me staring into the middle distance.
So Book Two is less a choice and more a summons.
And the audio? Sean Masters and Isabelle Turner in duet narration were dangerous. Isabelle gave Esti exactly the right amount of bite, while Sean's Varrik could go from threatening Piper to vulnerable caretaker to saying things that had me lowering the volume like the people around me could somehow hear my thoughts.
“Death can’t have you” was already good.
Sean Masters growling it was a separate rating category.
Final Verdict
4.25 ⭐️ — A genuinely addictive Pied Piper reimagining with excellent forced proximity, earned chemistry and a morally grey romance that occasionally left the plot buffering.
My reading slump died so my trust issues could live.
Tropes and Vibes:
• Pied Piper reimagining
• Enemies-to-lovers energy
• Captor × captive
• Forced proximity SUPREMACY
• One horse / one tent / one bedroll
• Morally grey, possessive MMC
• Caretaking disguised as irritation
• Magical life-force bond
• Touch her and suffer
• Monster girl × man obsessed with everything she hides
• Found family + professional instigators
• Duet narration excellence
• Betrayal cliffhanger / Book Two immediately required
☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆
Pre-read:
The Pied Piper took a half-monster, half-fae woman as payment for saving her city and things are already getting suspiciously ✨wicked✨.
The Brothers Grimm gave us a cautionary tale.
Romantasy said, “Okay, but what if he’s hot?” 👀🎧✨️
September 24, 2026
2.5 🌟 well, this is not where i was expecting to be 🧍🏼♀️
look, i will say the first 45% of the book was a solid 4 stars for me but unfortunately i felt veryyyyy differently about the rest. the best way to explain it, is that the set up was really good but then the execution, as it went on, did not work well for me at all. i am surprised and sad by this turn of events 😭🥲
as i mentioned, at first i was having so much fun because i eating it up the banter between the fmc, esti, and the piper. it had me giggling and kicking my feet, as well as cackling out loud to myself. however something shifted in their dynamic & i felt like things escalated quite quickly from there, which came off quite lusty to me. it also made their development start to feel forced & underdeveloped. the shift between these two once they were in proximity felt quite jarring to me, making it hard for me to believe their romance development. i genuinely felt so thrown off when she declared that she had ‘deafening, blinding, overwhelming feelings’ for him. i was like oh okay since when cause i thought you hated him? 🫣
i went from hehehaha eating it up, to feeling so completely disconnected from everything. a lot of their development felt very told and not shown as well which didn’t help.
esti is a nice enough fmc and i did really find her characteristics super cool, especially the freckles and stars.
the piper intrigued me a lot at first, but he didn’t really deliver for me in the end.
for example the jealously didn’t really hit for me because it just felt too quick. i also felt like his personality did a 180 at one point.
the plot was super interesting to me at first, and i definitely liked it. however, romance aside, i felt like there was something missing here too from the 50% mark. i am not exactly sure i can pin point it, but i just started to feel a bit disjointed and my interest completely wavered. which is a shame because i had so many questions at the beginning.
ultimately i feel really disappointed because the start of this book was so UPPP for me but the jarring romance & my complete lack of connection as the book progressed, made this just continuously drop lower and lower. the fall from grace was not what i was anticipating 😫
i really don’t wana sound too negative because i don’t think it’s a bad book. it just didn’t land for me. i definitely had a lot of fun with earlier parts of this & i can see if you’re really vibing with the romance this would be a huge hit. but this kinda ended up being my downfall.
i don’t know, i kinda feel like i’m missing something with this one & i wish i wasn’t, especially because the start was so good for me and i never expected to feel this way. it took a real nose dive 🥲🥲
i’m sorry to my pals who loved this!!!! i thought i would, the good start aside, because i absolutely adore raven’s plated prisoner series!
first 45% - 4🌟
the rest - 2ish 🌟
ultimately i went with 2.5 because at 70% i was like damn, i could happily DNF this and that kinda tells you a lot 😫 like the difference of how i felt at the start vs the middle-end is so vastly different.
as for the ending, it didn’t wow me but at that point i unfortunately think nothing would have.
if you saw me having the time of my
life at 45%, well…. maybe i jinxed myself. because yeah, what a switch up.
one point i wana make that’s kinda spoilery but i’m pretty sure its a trope…
their bond? it felt so suddenly and so so forced. i was like wut??? 😭 so suddenly they are latched, aka mates and that’s that i guess. because it was fun banter - then just no development, straight into being latched and wanting to be with each other? kk.
________
if i love this as much as plated prisoner then life is UP & if the piper is anything like slade, well then thanks in advance raven 😏
look, i will say the first 45% of the book was a solid 4 stars for me but unfortunately i felt veryyyyy differently about the rest. the best way to explain it, is that the set up was really good but then the execution, as it went on, did not work well for me at all. i am surprised and sad by this turn of events 😭🥲
as i mentioned, at first i was having so much fun because i eating it up the banter between the fmc, esti, and the piper. it had me giggling and kicking my feet, as well as cackling out loud to myself. however something shifted in their dynamic & i felt like things escalated quite quickly from there, which came off quite lusty to me. it also made their development start to feel forced & underdeveloped. the shift between these two once they were in proximity felt quite jarring to me, making it hard for me to believe their romance development. i genuinely felt so thrown off when she declared that she had ‘deafening, blinding, overwhelming feelings’ for him. i was like oh okay since when cause i thought you hated him? 🫣
i went from hehehaha eating it up, to feeling so completely disconnected from everything. a lot of their development felt very told and not shown as well which didn’t help.
esti is a nice enough fmc and i did really find her characteristics super cool, especially the freckles and stars.
the piper intrigued me a lot at first, but he didn’t really deliver for me in the end.
for example the jealously didn’t really hit for me because it just felt too quick. i also felt like his personality did a 180 at one point.
the plot was super interesting to me at first, and i definitely liked it. however, romance aside, i felt like there was something missing here too from the 50% mark. i am not exactly sure i can pin point it, but i just started to feel a bit disjointed and my interest completely wavered. which is a shame because i had so many questions at the beginning.
ultimately i feel really disappointed because the start of this book was so UPPP for me but the jarring romance & my complete lack of connection as the book progressed, made this just continuously drop lower and lower. the fall from grace was not what i was anticipating 😫
i really don’t wana sound too negative because i don’t think it’s a bad book. it just didn’t land for me. i definitely had a lot of fun with earlier parts of this & i can see if you’re really vibing with the romance this would be a huge hit. but this kinda ended up being my downfall.
i don’t know, i kinda feel like i’m missing something with this one & i wish i wasn’t, especially because the start was so good for me and i never expected to feel this way. it took a real nose dive 🥲🥲
i’m sorry to my pals who loved this!!!! i thought i would, the good start aside, because i absolutely adore raven’s plated prisoner series!
first 45% - 4🌟
the rest - 2ish 🌟
ultimately i went with 2.5 because at 70% i was like damn, i could happily DNF this and that kinda tells you a lot 😫 like the difference of how i felt at the start vs the middle-end is so vastly different.
as for the ending, it didn’t wow me but at that point i unfortunately think nothing would have.
if you saw me having the time of my
life at 45%, well…. maybe i jinxed myself. because yeah, what a switch up.
one point i wana make that’s kinda spoilery but i’m pretty sure its a trope…
their bond? it felt so suddenly and so so forced. i was like wut??? 😭 so suddenly they are latched, aka mates and that’s that i guess. because it was fun banter - then just no development, straight into being latched and wanting to be with each other? kk.
________
if i love this as much as plated prisoner then life is UP & if the piper is anything like slade, well then thanks in advance raven 😏
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
EASIEST 5 STARS EVER!!!!!
I am OBSESSED with this book!! literally hooked from page one and I didn’t want to put it down! the tension, banter, and yearning omgggggg!!! I need the next book right now because that ending was criminal. one of my favorite reads of the year!!
thank you avon, netgalley, and raven kennedy for the arc! <3
I am OBSESSED with this book!! literally hooked from page one and I didn’t want to put it down! the tension, banter, and yearning omgggggg!!! I need the next book right now because that ending was criminal. one of my favorite reads of the year!!
thank you avon, netgalley, and raven kennedy for the arc! <3
September 22, 2026
4! SO ADDICTIVE. Very interesting, great world building and intriguing plot. I had a few qualms with the romance/chemistry but overall.. not bad, not bad at all. This was my intro to Raven Kennedy's writing. So I'm currently running to get the Plated Prisoner series to see what the hype is all about.
Full review to follow!
A catastrophe caused a massive rift in Earth. From that, nine monsters known as Banes came crawling out, which were eventually killed by the Core Fae, leaving a deadly Plague behind. In the world that follows, there is disease and other beings that carry the Bane's legacies.
Esti is a Fiend, a half Fae and half Bane. She's a truth reader, able to read whom ever she meets from the first glance. She's hated and feared for her ability. When the Plague reaches her city, the Pied Piper is the only one who can save them but in return he takes 130 people with him, one of whom is Esti.
The Piper is NOT what he appears to be. Is he actually a villain or a savior? No matter what, Esti does not trust him.
This did NOT disappoint.
Full review to follow!
A catastrophe caused a massive rift in Earth. From that, nine monsters known as Banes came crawling out, which were eventually killed by the Core Fae, leaving a deadly Plague behind. In the world that follows, there is disease and other beings that carry the Bane's legacies.
Esti is a Fiend, a half Fae and half Bane. She's a truth reader, able to read whom ever she meets from the first glance. She's hated and feared for her ability. When the Plague reaches her city, the Pied Piper is the only one who can save them but in return he takes 130 people with him, one of whom is Esti.
The Piper is NOT what he appears to be. Is he actually a villain or a savior? No matter what, Esti does not trust him.
This did NOT disappoint.
October 1, 2026
4.25⭐️ This book will ruin your sleep schedule. Seriously, I could not put it down!
The beginning is VERY action-packed, and I loved the post-apocalyptic setting (you rarely see that in Romantasy!). The middle portion has less plot movement and focuses more on the romance, but the chemistry and banter between Esti and the Piper definitely made up for it🙌
Esti is such a refreshing FMC. I often get tired of reading about the same copy and paste heroines: skilled fighters, lost princesses, etc. Esti is simply a girl trying to survive and protect the people she loves. Despite her softer demeanor, I loved seeing the Piper bring out her snarkier, more stubborn side. Poor girl could NOT catch a break, but through it all, she remained the “sweetest” fiend!😉
To say I’m obsessed with the Piper is a huge understatement. He’s everything I love in an MMC: mysterious, powerful, possessive, and a little unhinged at times. There’s an immediate attraction between him and Esti, but thankfully, there wasn’t as much insta-lust as I expected. The spice felt like a satisfying payoff and didn’t occur too soon in the story.
My main complaint is that I REALLY think this book should have been told from both Esti’s and the Piper’s perspectives. The Piper is emotionally guarded and hides behind a prickly exterior, so it was sometimes difficult to get a clear sense of his feelings for Esti. There were several scenes and interactions I would have loved to read from his perspective. Additionally, the whole “latching” concept (the book’s version of mating bonds) felt very forced, so I didn’t care for that aspect.
As for the ending, I completely agree with fellow reviewers who said it came across as hypocritical. I’m not sure yet whether I think it was a smart move; that will depend on how the second book handles it and where the story goes from here.
Overall, this was such an additive read that you could easily finish in one sitting!
The beginning is VERY action-packed, and I loved the post-apocalyptic setting (you rarely see that in Romantasy!). The middle portion has less plot movement and focuses more on the romance, but the chemistry and banter between Esti and the Piper definitely made up for it🙌
Esti is such a refreshing FMC. I often get tired of reading about the same copy and paste heroines: skilled fighters, lost princesses, etc. Esti is simply a girl trying to survive and protect the people she loves. Despite her softer demeanor, I loved seeing the Piper bring out her snarkier, more stubborn side. Poor girl could NOT catch a break, but through it all, she remained the “sweetest” fiend!😉
To say I’m obsessed with the Piper is a huge understatement. He’s everything I love in an MMC: mysterious, powerful, possessive, and a little unhinged at times. There’s an immediate attraction between him and Esti, but thankfully, there wasn’t as much insta-lust as I expected. The spice felt like a satisfying payoff and didn’t occur too soon in the story.
My main complaint is that I REALLY think this book should have been told from both Esti’s and the Piper’s perspectives. The Piper is emotionally guarded and hides behind a prickly exterior, so it was sometimes difficult to get a clear sense of his feelings for Esti. There were several scenes and interactions I would have loved to read from his perspective. Additionally, the whole “latching” concept (the book’s version of mating bonds) felt very forced, so I didn’t care for that aspect.
As for the ending, I completely agree with fellow reviewers who said it came across as hypocritical. I’m not sure yet whether I think it was a smart move; that will depend on how the second book handles it and where the story goes from here.
Overall, this was such an additive read that you could easily finish in one sitting!
August 17, 2026
Me reading the Sweetest Fiend:
If I could rate this book infinity stars, I would. ✨
Was I worried that Raven Kennedy wouldn’t be able to live up to the perfection that was The Plated Prisoner series, one of my favourite romantasy series? Absolutely. But honestly, within the first few chapters, I knew this was going to be a 5-star read.
This book gave me the exact same feeling I had when I was reading Gleam (book 3 of the PP series). IYKYK. There was just something about the story, the characters… I was HOOKED.
The world-building was phenomenal. It was woven into the story so seamlessly that I never once felt overwhelmed with information.
Now the characters, where do I even begin?
Esti was such a strong FMC to lead this book, and I was rooting for her the entire time.
And… the Pied Piper. *smirks*
That is all.
It is only fair that you meet that man yourself because this was me every single time he spoke:
Honestly, I don’t want to spoil anything because I absolutely loved going into this book with no idea what to expect and I would genuinely recommend doing the same.
The ONLY thing I will add is the banter. 11/10. No notes.
The push and pull between these characters was top-tier Raven Kennedy. The tension, the little moments, I ATE it all up. And even the side characters brought that extra comedic relief you need.
Overall, I loved this book. I need book 2 IMMEDIATELY.
And if you’re a Plated Prisoner fan… just read it. You’re welcome.
If I could rate this book infinity stars, I would. ✨
Was I worried that Raven Kennedy wouldn’t be able to live up to the perfection that was The Plated Prisoner series, one of my favourite romantasy series? Absolutely. But honestly, within the first few chapters, I knew this was going to be a 5-star read.
This book gave me the exact same feeling I had when I was reading Gleam (book 3 of the PP series). IYKYK. There was just something about the story, the characters… I was HOOKED.
The world-building was phenomenal. It was woven into the story so seamlessly that I never once felt overwhelmed with information.
Now the characters, where do I even begin?
Esti was such a strong FMC to lead this book, and I was rooting for her the entire time.
And… the Pied Piper. *smirks*
That is all.
It is only fair that you meet that man yourself because this was me every single time he spoke:
Honestly, I don’t want to spoil anything because I absolutely loved going into this book with no idea what to expect and I would genuinely recommend doing the same.
The ONLY thing I will add is the banter. 11/10. No notes.
The push and pull between these characters was top-tier Raven Kennedy. The tension, the little moments, I ATE it all up. And even the side characters brought that extra comedic relief you need.
Overall, I loved this book. I need book 2 IMMEDIATELY.
And if you’re a Plated Prisoner fan… just read it. You’re welcome.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
”𝒀𝒐𝒖’𝒗𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒘𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒏 𝒊𝒕,” 𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒂𝒚𝒔 𝒒𝒖𝒊𝒆𝒕𝒍𝒚.
𝑴𝒚 𝒃𝒓𝒐𝒘𝒔 𝒅𝒓𝒂𝒘 𝒊𝒏. “𝑹𝒆𝒘𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒏 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕?”
“𝑩𝒆𝒂𝒖𝒕𝒚.”
“𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒅𝒆𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒂𝒍𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒚𝒐𝒖.”
i keep going back & forth on what i wanted to rate this book. the beginning was SO STRONG, i loved how stoic and intimidating Varrik was, i also loved the world building and how unique it all was. the tone was dark, with the different plagues and the struggle to survive.
all my issues started in the second half of the book, where everything went off the rails for the romance. Esti had always been mistrusting of Varrik, which was understandable but there wasn’t a smooth transition from “enemies to lovers” with them. it was a strange mix of lusty infatuation, although you could argue the romance itself was more of a slow burn? idk. it was actually quite jarring, especially since Varrik’s personality switched all over the place a million times.
i was getting 2nd hand embarrassment from how intense he was & all his corny innuendos, i liked him a lot more when he was broody & silent. Esti had been mistreated all her life for what she is, so her impulsivity and anger made sense to me. i just felt that she suddenly became more whiny as the book went on.
the plot had so much potential, but after a while we get random domestic moments with the characters.. instead of the urgency that they started the book with. i hope we get more of Conrad though, his personality was like a shining beacon when things got dull. the cliffhanger did make me curious to read the next one, but even then the decisions felt drastic there too.
➷ many thanks to NetGalley, the author, Avon and Harper Voyager for the arc, all opinions are my own.
𝑴𝒚 𝒃𝒓𝒐𝒘𝒔 𝒅𝒓𝒂𝒘 𝒊𝒏. “𝑹𝒆𝒘𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒏 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕?”
“𝑩𝒆𝒂𝒖𝒕𝒚.”
“𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒅𝒆𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒂𝒍𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒚𝒐𝒖.”
i keep going back & forth on what i wanted to rate this book. the beginning was SO STRONG, i loved how stoic and intimidating Varrik was, i also loved the world building and how unique it all was. the tone was dark, with the different plagues and the struggle to survive.
all my issues started in the second half of the book, where everything went off the rails for the romance. Esti had always been mistrusting of Varrik, which was understandable but there wasn’t a smooth transition from “enemies to lovers” with them. it was a strange mix of lusty infatuation, although you could argue the romance itself was more of a slow burn? idk. it was actually quite jarring, especially since Varrik’s personality switched all over the place a million times.
i was getting 2nd hand embarrassment from how intense he was & all his corny innuendos, i liked him a lot more when he was broody & silent. Esti had been mistreated all her life for what she is, so her impulsivity and anger made sense to me. i just felt that she suddenly became more whiny as the book went on.
the plot had so much potential, but after a while we get random domestic moments with the characters.. instead of the urgency that they started the book with. i hope we get more of Conrad though, his personality was like a shining beacon when things got dull. the cliffhanger did make me curious to read the next one, but even then the decisions felt drastic there too.
➷ many thanks to NetGalley, the author, Avon and Harper Voyager for the arc, all opinions are my own.
Read
September 22, 2026I paid the piper and he stole my heart and stomped on it 💔 RTC
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Pre-read: it’s TIME to pay the piper. Honestly, whenever Raven Kennedy comes out with a new book I will pay whatever she wants. And if the piper is even remotely like Slade, I volunteer as tribute. For the greater good, obviously 😏
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Pre-read: it’s TIME to pay the piper. Honestly, whenever Raven Kennedy comes out with a new book I will pay whatever she wants. And if the piper is even remotely like Slade, I volunteer as tribute. For the greater good, obviously 😏
September 27, 2026
This book had me in a freaking CHOKEHOLD. Utterly obsessed. I couldn't put it down.
The ending was actually so insane and I tried to sit with it all and gather my thoughts but I’m still just… reeling. Like WHAT DO YOU MEAN???
The writing, the story, the characters, everything about this was totally captivating. With addictive storytelling, unrelenting anticipation, nail-biting pacing and delectable chemistry, I was on the edge of my seat.
I fell in love with Esti immediately and oh boy did Sir Pied Piper grow on me. 😏 The suspense and building TENSION, the fiery back and forth between them, ughhh my god, it was delicious. I was kicking my feet, giggling and grinning from ear to ear.
The storyline and world building were endlessly fascinating and there was honestly never a dull moment. I truly just ate this up from start to finish. And there’s so much more I want to share but I don’t want to spoil anything!
I still just can’t get over the ending, it was so unexpected. I had other theories but I really did not see that coming. I’m gagged!! I need the next book STAT. ⏱️
The ending was actually so insane and I tried to sit with it all and gather my thoughts but I’m still just… reeling. Like WHAT DO YOU MEAN???
The writing, the story, the characters, everything about this was totally captivating. With addictive storytelling, unrelenting anticipation, nail-biting pacing and delectable chemistry, I was on the edge of my seat.
I fell in love with Esti immediately and oh boy did Sir Pied Piper grow on me. 😏 The suspense and building TENSION, the fiery back and forth between them, ughhh my god, it was delicious. I was kicking my feet, giggling and grinning from ear to ear.
The storyline and world building were endlessly fascinating and there was honestly never a dull moment. I truly just ate this up from start to finish. And there’s so much more I want to share but I don’t want to spoil anything!
I still just can’t get over the ending, it was so unexpected. I had other theories but I really did not see that coming. I’m gagged!! I need the next book STAT. ⏱️
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
4.25 stars! will be back with a review but ate this UP!
Raven Kennedy... you are so sick for this.
I've said this before, but it's been really special watching her writing evolve from series to series. I've mostly read her longer works, and this genuinely feels like some of her strongest writing yet.
The prologue had me hooked immediately. It delivers so much lore and world-building without ever feeling overwhelming, and somehow it even had me a little emotional? It set the tone perfectly and made me immediately invested. I cared about this world before the story had even really started, which is honestly hard to do.
I also loved how the beginning was paced. It never felt rushed, but there also wasn't a single point where I was waiting for something to happen. Every chapter gave you a little more of the world, a little more of the characters, and just enough answers to keep you turning the page.
And the back and forth??
Esti and the Piper are both so unbelievably stubborn that every interaction feels like neither of them is willing to blink first. The banter was so much fun, the tension kept building, and watching two equally determined people slowly become something more was one of my favorite parts of the book. We love a rat man and a girl who sparkles tbh.
Also... only Raven Kennedy could take The Pied Piper and somehow make me want him?? A man running around playing a recorder, commanding rats, making pipe jokes should not work.
...and yet here we are.
There was one line pretty early on that immediately made me stop and think, "...Raven, don't you dare." If you've read her books before, you know exactly what I mean. She loves planting little breadcrumbs that don't seem important until they emotionally hurt your feelings later.
Turns out my instincts were right.
Now I need book two.
If I had one critique, I do wish the romance had just a little more room to breathe. Since I've mostly read Raven's longer series, I'm used to those relationships taking longer to unfold. But knowing this is a duology—and especially after that ending—it actually makes complete sense why the relationship develops the way it does.
One thing I'll always appreciate about Raven is that no one else is coming up with ideas like this. She doesn't just retell a fairytale—she completely reinvents it. Her writing can be beautiful one page, hilarious the next, and then have you anxious five pages later.
If you want a romantasy with banter, unique world-building, a fresh magic system, a morally questionable rat man you somehow end up rooting for... and an ending that's going to make you immediately ask when book two comes out...
...I'd absolutely recommend this one.
Raven Kennedy... you are so sick for this.
I've said this before, but it's been really special watching her writing evolve from series to series. I've mostly read her longer works, and this genuinely feels like some of her strongest writing yet.
The prologue had me hooked immediately. It delivers so much lore and world-building without ever feeling overwhelming, and somehow it even had me a little emotional? It set the tone perfectly and made me immediately invested. I cared about this world before the story had even really started, which is honestly hard to do.
I also loved how the beginning was paced. It never felt rushed, but there also wasn't a single point where I was waiting for something to happen. Every chapter gave you a little more of the world, a little more of the characters, and just enough answers to keep you turning the page.
And the back and forth??
Esti and the Piper are both so unbelievably stubborn that every interaction feels like neither of them is willing to blink first. The banter was so much fun, the tension kept building, and watching two equally determined people slowly become something more was one of my favorite parts of the book. We love a rat man and a girl who sparkles tbh.
Also... only Raven Kennedy could take The Pied Piper and somehow make me want him?? A man running around playing a recorder, commanding rats, making pipe jokes should not work.
...and yet here we are.
There was one line pretty early on that immediately made me stop and think, "...Raven, don't you dare." If you've read her books before, you know exactly what I mean. She loves planting little breadcrumbs that don't seem important until they emotionally hurt your feelings later.
Turns out my instincts were right.
Now I need book two.
If I had one critique, I do wish the romance had just a little more room to breathe. Since I've mostly read Raven's longer series, I'm used to those relationships taking longer to unfold. But knowing this is a duology—and especially after that ending—it actually makes complete sense why the relationship develops the way it does.
One thing I'll always appreciate about Raven is that no one else is coming up with ideas like this. She doesn't just retell a fairytale—she completely reinvents it. Her writing can be beautiful one page, hilarious the next, and then have you anxious five pages later.
If you want a romantasy with banter, unique world-building, a fresh magic system, a morally questionable rat man you somehow end up rooting for... and an ending that's going to make you immediately ask when book two comes out...
...I'd absolutely recommend this one.
July 31, 2026
4 - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
“You infuriate me, Piper.”
“You enrapture me, blight.”
Once again! Raven Kennedy delivers a unique loose reimagining in The Sweetest Fiend that lures you into its sinful melody and unfolds a decadent slowburn.
Set in a world marked by a devastating tragedy when terror ruptured from the earth and left its blight upon cities and their people, Esti is one of the many victims forced to carry the burden and shame of that terror—as she is a "Fiend", half-Fae and half-Bane, the living reminder that the monstrous Banes have not only left deadly plagues but also a tainted offspring.
Among the many cities tormented by plagues for years, Esti's city is faced with an even greater threat that is poised to bring nothing but further rot and ruin.
That is until a Pied Piper emerges and lulls the devastated city with his piercing music, and he ensnares its people, including Esti, within the eerie notes of his melody.
The question remains: is the Pied Piper meant to be an omen of salvation or damnation?
Reading through the perspective of a heroine forced to navigate a world that views her as an abomination and expects her to endure being treated as lesser, it just fills my heart with so much sorrow for Esti.
But even with fractured trust and living among a community that relentlessly rejects her and other Fiends, she remains remarkably resilient in the face of it all.
Raven excels at crafting unique lore and atmospheric world-building, the rot and ruin felt quite tangible to me. I can feel the dread and despair pound within every page.
As for the romance... it's a decadent yet scalding slowburn with tension stretched so taut it could have snapped and struck me.
Neither Esti nor the reader have any choice but surrender to the Piper's sinful allure and dangerous charm.
This is the first installment in a duology and I will be waiting with bated breath for the second one!
Thank you to HarperCollins/Avon Books for offering me an eARC in exchange for a review. Always grateful for such opportunity!
“You infuriate me, Piper.”
“You enrapture me, blight.”
Once again! Raven Kennedy delivers a unique loose reimagining in The Sweetest Fiend that lures you into its sinful melody and unfolds a decadent slowburn.
Set in a world marked by a devastating tragedy when terror ruptured from the earth and left its blight upon cities and their people, Esti is one of the many victims forced to carry the burden and shame of that terror—as she is a "Fiend", half-Fae and half-Bane, the living reminder that the monstrous Banes have not only left deadly plagues but also a tainted offspring.
Among the many cities tormented by plagues for years, Esti's city is faced with an even greater threat that is poised to bring nothing but further rot and ruin.
That is until a Pied Piper emerges and lulls the devastated city with his piercing music, and he ensnares its people, including Esti, within the eerie notes of his melody.
The question remains: is the Pied Piper meant to be an omen of salvation or damnation?
Reading through the perspective of a heroine forced to navigate a world that views her as an abomination and expects her to endure being treated as lesser, it just fills my heart with so much sorrow for Esti.
But even with fractured trust and living among a community that relentlessly rejects her and other Fiends, she remains remarkably resilient in the face of it all.
Raven excels at crafting unique lore and atmospheric world-building, the rot and ruin felt quite tangible to me. I can feel the dread and despair pound within every page.
As for the romance... it's a decadent yet scalding slowburn with tension stretched so taut it could have snapped and struck me.
Neither Esti nor the reader have any choice but surrender to the Piper's sinful allure and dangerous charm.
This is the first installment in a duology and I will be waiting with bated breath for the second one!
Thank you to HarperCollins/Avon Books for offering me an eARC in exchange for a review. Always grateful for such opportunity!
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
The absolute HIGH I felt finishing this book. ALL THE STARS FOR MY FIRST RAVEN KENNEDY BOOK.
🗓️ ARC Review. Pub Date: September 22, 2026 🗓️
🎁 ARC gifted to me by Avon Books
🖤 Dark fantasy romance
🖤 1st person POV
🖤 Captor x captive
🖤 Dark magic
🖤 Plague-ridden world
🖤 Loosely inspired by the Pied Piper
🖤 ALL THE BANTER & FLIRTING
Spice rating: 🌶️🌶️
This dark fantasy romance was UNPUTDOWNABLE (I binged it in 2 days). Addictive. Absolutely fantastic. I have never read a Raven Kennedy book before this, but I still went in with very high expectations since SO many of my friends love her work. Her writing definitely lived up to the hype! This gave me the same adrenaline and giddiness as reading The Twisted Sisters' series.
I went into this book somewhat blindly, and I'm glad I did because this was just a rollercoaster of a reading experience. Now, do I recommend every reader going in blindly? NO. I beg readers to read the trigger warnings–especially if they don't typically read dark romantasy/romance—because this features a lot of dark themes that will make some readers uncomfortable. ESPECIALLY because the main romance is a captor x captive dynamic. I know this will not be every reader's cup of tea, but it was mine.
This world is dark as hell. Raven Kennedy paints a gruesome and dark stage for this tale, which I was very much in the mood for given that we're about to be in the first week of fall. The grittiness of this world and the setting definitely heightened my emotions going into this story.
I really enjoy the magic system and how the different beings came to be. It felt like a fresh and unique spin on different types of fae.
I LOVE our FMC. She's resilient and has endured so much. I love the bond she shares with her aunt and mother, which I definitely understand being the type of person who is willing to risk everything and anything for their family. I feel like I went to hell and back alongside this character.
Ohhhhhh rat man. The way I was kicking my feet and giggling my butt off because of this man and their banter. It's been a hot second since I've read of an MMC this flirty, and I GOBBLED HIM UP. If someone told me I'd be charmed by a man who hypnotizes rats with a pipe, I'd laugh in your face. And here I am, charmed like one of those rats.
Could I be nit picky about this book? Yes, especially because I felt like the beginning started off slower than I would have liked. BUT the way I inhaled the second half of this book completely made up for any negative feelings I had about the beginning. Ultimately, I feel like I have to rate this 5 stars because I was literally buzzing after finishing this book.
That ending had my jaw on the floor, but I know it's going to divide readers (I tend to be in the camp that likes divisive endings/cliffhangers 😂). Gimme book 2 now, PLEASE.
🗓️ ARC Review. Pub Date: September 22, 2026 🗓️
🎁 ARC gifted to me by Avon Books
🖤 Dark fantasy romance
🖤 1st person POV
🖤 Captor x captive
🖤 Dark magic
🖤 Plague-ridden world
🖤 Loosely inspired by the Pied Piper
🖤 ALL THE BANTER & FLIRTING
Spice rating: 🌶️🌶️
This dark fantasy romance was UNPUTDOWNABLE (I binged it in 2 days). Addictive. Absolutely fantastic. I have never read a Raven Kennedy book before this, but I still went in with very high expectations since SO many of my friends love her work. Her writing definitely lived up to the hype! This gave me the same adrenaline and giddiness as reading The Twisted Sisters' series.
I went into this book somewhat blindly, and I'm glad I did because this was just a rollercoaster of a reading experience. Now, do I recommend every reader going in blindly? NO. I beg readers to read the trigger warnings–especially if they don't typically read dark romantasy/romance—because this features a lot of dark themes that will make some readers uncomfortable. ESPECIALLY because the main romance is a captor x captive dynamic. I know this will not be every reader's cup of tea, but it was mine.
This world is dark as hell. Raven Kennedy paints a gruesome and dark stage for this tale, which I was very much in the mood for given that we're about to be in the first week of fall. The grittiness of this world and the setting definitely heightened my emotions going into this story.
I really enjoy the magic system and how the different beings came to be. It felt like a fresh and unique spin on different types of fae.
I LOVE our FMC. She's resilient and has endured so much. I love the bond she shares with her aunt and mother, which I definitely understand being the type of person who is willing to risk everything and anything for their family. I feel like I went to hell and back alongside this character.
Ohhhhhh rat man. The way I was kicking my feet and giggling my butt off because of this man and their banter. It's been a hot second since I've read of an MMC this flirty, and I GOBBLED HIM UP. If someone told me I'd be charmed by a man who hypnotizes rats with a pipe, I'd laugh in your face. And here I am, charmed like one of those rats.
Could I be nit picky about this book? Yes, especially because I felt like the beginning started off slower than I would have liked. BUT the way I inhaled the second half of this book completely made up for any negative feelings I had about the beginning. Ultimately, I feel like I have to rate this 5 stars because I was literally buzzing after finishing this book.
That ending had my jaw on the floor, but I know it's going to divide readers (I tend to be in the camp that likes divisive endings/cliffhangers 😂). Gimme book 2 now, PLEASE.
September 27, 2026
Sooo when does book 2 come out?? Could not put this down!
August 9, 2026
Thank you to Avon/Harper Collins for the ARC. I’m calling it, everyone is going to eat this up. This was refreshing. The magic system in this book is so unique and actually interesting which (in my opinion) is lacking in newer romantasy books. The world-building is a lot at times, but it’s not too dense and the lore is sprinkled throughout. It’s a lot more romance-forward than I was expecting, but I ended up having a lot of fun with it. I will NEVER see the Pied Piper the same again and I’m not mad about it at all. I enjoyed the ensemble of characters especially Aunt Lenna. I think it was adequately paced even if it is somehow equal parts insta-love and slow burn. The story itself is also great even though it ends on a brutal cliffhanger. The only thing that kept it from being 5 stars is the language used between the two main characters. It felt too modern and out of place which took me out of the story several times. Also, the one-liners were ridiculous. BUT DON’T WORRY, I CAN LOOK PAST IT. CAN’T WAIT FOR BOOK #2.
September 7, 2026
If you are looking for an audiobook rec, this is it. The audiobook is incredible. Especially loved the piper music element to it.
Raven has created such a cool fantasy with a piper and plagues and poison and rats 🐀 GIVE US MORE. This book had me hooked from the get go and the ending has just left me wanting so much more of this series 😍
Raven has created such a cool fantasy with a piper and plagues and poison and rats 🐀 GIVE US MORE. This book had me hooked from the get go and the ending has just left me wanting so much more of this series 😍
September 24, 2026
This book is why people don’t take romantasy seriously.
And before anyone gets mad at me for saying that, I’m on your side. Romantasy girls are constantly on the defense and this is me begging you all to demand better.
Like, I’m sorry, I fear for next year when a Romantasy author “reimagines” Humpty Dumpty and turns him into a 400 year old fae that our 19 year old half fae has to put together to save her starving family.
I fear for the Jack and the beanstalk retelling… I can’t even imagine what’s going to come out of that.
Now, I LOVE the Pied Piper story. I only read this because I, in equal measure, feared and was curious about how someone would turn that particular story into a romantasy.
I should have just stayed curious, honestly.
The actual Pied Piper part of this story is about 2 chapters. Prior to that, it’s honestly more Exodus 10 plagues of Egypt than it is Pied Piper.
And an actual good, talented writer could, in theory, put those two stories together to weave this really parallel story of greed and the innocent victims of it or how pride and the treatment of people you deem inferior to you can wreak more havoc.
The beauty of the Pied Piper is how simple the story is, but how many questions it asks about humanity and greed and innocence and inclusion and judgment.
This fuck ass story did none of that.
Raven Kennedy used the “aesthetic” of the Pied Piper, (I.e. the vaguely 19th century German town, the rats (for all of 3 pages), and a character with a musical pipe) and said here’s my Pied Piper reimagining.
Bitch, where? That’s not a reimagining or a retelling; that’s just taking the base layer of a story and using it to hamfist your romantasy tropes into it. After the 30%, this book is just a fae romantasy. It loses all of its Pied Piper-ness.
Because, sorry, at the end of the day, this was written by an unimaginative author who wants to write fae smut but isn’t creative enough to come up with a foundational plot on her own. She “retells” old legend and folklore, but does nothing to mesh the themes of those stories with contemporary fantasy elements.
I have no qualms with retelling a piece of folklore and turning it into a fantasy romance. I actually, before drafting this, came up with an idea for a fantasy romance for the Pied Piper and I’m locking that shit up in case I eventually write it.
But when you “retell” something without keeping the meat of it, you turn it into candy. That’s actually a great comparison for romantasy stories like this.
The original stories are fruit and these authors take the fiber and vitamins out and you’re left with sugar water.
…and do I even begin to mention the writing. Holy actual fuuuuuck.
We used the word “clout”… in a 19th century fantasy book…
We capitalized common nouns like “flies” and “plagues.” Do these words have exact names? No. But they’re capitalized anyways because who cares.
Phrases like “despair fisted my heart” “anxiety pierced my stomach” “happiness filled my throat” “tears pricked my eyes” “pain lashed my ankles” “boredom sat on my face” were ALL over this book. Rampant. Every page, sometimes three or more times.
This is horrific writing. I mean way beyond bad.
The writing part of this review will take me years to write, so I have to move on. Now to the plot…
You’re explicitly told the entire history and magical lore of the world from a 25 year old girl who has lived her entire life in a smallish German-esque city village. HOW DOES SHE KNOW THAT PLAGUES ARE HAPPENING ALL OVER THE NATION?
She, herself, says that once she broke up with her boyfriend (the classic first love interest in the book only used as a plot device later to make the mmc jealous) that she stopped knowing what was happening in the town.
But before then, we get pages and pages of history and world building that she says she got from “the poets and troubadours”
Who’s writing poetry and traveling in a plague??? A plague, by the main character’s description, that is so horrific, you can’t leave your house without flies devouring both livestock and humans in “minutes—even seconds.” How would she know what is happening or what had happened?
Shit like this annoys me because it’s always done in contemporary romantasy, but it makes no sense. In Lord of the Rings, Frodo has no idea about anything because he’s isolated. He gets his world info (and then as the audience, we do as well) from older characters, ones who have been to war or were alive during the referenced conflict.
Our FMC also acts like a 15 year old when it comes to the aforementioned ex boyfriend. When they get kidnapped together—nay, even before then WHEN THEIR ENTIRE VILLAGE IS STARVING FROM A PLAGUE—the only thing she can think of is how mad she is that he left her for another girl.
They’re kidnapped—KIDNAPPED, and her entire inner monologue is just like “ugh, I bet he wishes his new girlfriend was here instead of me”
This book is not serious in any way. Here’s a quote to illustrate that, if nothing else:
“I will grab your pipe and stab it through your eye.” “You wouldn’t know the first thing about handling my pipe.”
hello darkness, my old friend
Romantasy books like this are what spoil the entire subgenre and give license for people to make fun of it. This book could have been great had the author taken a writing class or workshopped it with an actual, intelligent editor who could have intertwined Exodus with The Pied Piper and created a romantic fantasy filled with nuance and subtext and theme and yearning and actual, logical magical lore.
Instead we got clippings from the titans of Greek Mythology, the plagues of Exodus, the setting of The Pied Piper, and literally everything else from every other Romantasy book on the market.
What a shame.
Anyway, I eagerly await the Romantasy reimagining of Goldilocks and the Three Bears.
And before anyone gets mad at me for saying that, I’m on your side. Romantasy girls are constantly on the defense and this is me begging you all to demand better.
Like, I’m sorry, I fear for next year when a Romantasy author “reimagines” Humpty Dumpty and turns him into a 400 year old fae that our 19 year old half fae has to put together to save her starving family.
I fear for the Jack and the beanstalk retelling… I can’t even imagine what’s going to come out of that.
Now, I LOVE the Pied Piper story. I only read this because I, in equal measure, feared and was curious about how someone would turn that particular story into a romantasy.
I should have just stayed curious, honestly.
The actual Pied Piper part of this story is about 2 chapters. Prior to that, it’s honestly more Exodus 10 plagues of Egypt than it is Pied Piper.
And an actual good, talented writer could, in theory, put those two stories together to weave this really parallel story of greed and the innocent victims of it or how pride and the treatment of people you deem inferior to you can wreak more havoc.
The beauty of the Pied Piper is how simple the story is, but how many questions it asks about humanity and greed and innocence and inclusion and judgment.
This fuck ass story did none of that.
Raven Kennedy used the “aesthetic” of the Pied Piper, (I.e. the vaguely 19th century German town, the rats (for all of 3 pages), and a character with a musical pipe) and said here’s my Pied Piper reimagining.
Bitch, where? That’s not a reimagining or a retelling; that’s just taking the base layer of a story and using it to hamfist your romantasy tropes into it. After the 30%, this book is just a fae romantasy. It loses all of its Pied Piper-ness.
Because, sorry, at the end of the day, this was written by an unimaginative author who wants to write fae smut but isn’t creative enough to come up with a foundational plot on her own. She “retells” old legend and folklore, but does nothing to mesh the themes of those stories with contemporary fantasy elements.
I have no qualms with retelling a piece of folklore and turning it into a fantasy romance. I actually, before drafting this, came up with an idea for a fantasy romance for the Pied Piper and I’m locking that shit up in case I eventually write it.
But when you “retell” something without keeping the meat of it, you turn it into candy. That’s actually a great comparison for romantasy stories like this.
The original stories are fruit and these authors take the fiber and vitamins out and you’re left with sugar water.
…and do I even begin to mention the writing. Holy actual fuuuuuck.
We used the word “clout”… in a 19th century fantasy book…
We capitalized common nouns like “flies” and “plagues.” Do these words have exact names? No. But they’re capitalized anyways because who cares.
Phrases like “despair fisted my heart” “anxiety pierced my stomach” “happiness filled my throat” “tears pricked my eyes” “pain lashed my ankles” “boredom sat on my face” were ALL over this book. Rampant. Every page, sometimes three or more times.
This is horrific writing. I mean way beyond bad.
The writing part of this review will take me years to write, so I have to move on. Now to the plot…
You’re explicitly told the entire history and magical lore of the world from a 25 year old girl who has lived her entire life in a smallish German-esque city village. HOW DOES SHE KNOW THAT PLAGUES ARE HAPPENING ALL OVER THE NATION?
She, herself, says that once she broke up with her boyfriend (the classic first love interest in the book only used as a plot device later to make the mmc jealous) that she stopped knowing what was happening in the town.
But before then, we get pages and pages of history and world building that she says she got from “the poets and troubadours”
Who’s writing poetry and traveling in a plague??? A plague, by the main character’s description, that is so horrific, you can’t leave your house without flies devouring both livestock and humans in “minutes—even seconds.” How would she know what is happening or what had happened?
Shit like this annoys me because it’s always done in contemporary romantasy, but it makes no sense. In Lord of the Rings, Frodo has no idea about anything because he’s isolated. He gets his world info (and then as the audience, we do as well) from older characters, ones who have been to war or were alive during the referenced conflict.
Our FMC also acts like a 15 year old when it comes to the aforementioned ex boyfriend. When they get kidnapped together—nay, even before then WHEN THEIR ENTIRE VILLAGE IS STARVING FROM A PLAGUE—the only thing she can think of is how mad she is that he left her for another girl.
They’re kidnapped—KIDNAPPED, and her entire inner monologue is just like “ugh, I bet he wishes his new girlfriend was here instead of me”
This book is not serious in any way. Here’s a quote to illustrate that, if nothing else:
“I will grab your pipe and stab it through your eye.” “You wouldn’t know the first thing about handling my pipe.”
hello darkness, my old friend
Romantasy books like this are what spoil the entire subgenre and give license for people to make fun of it. This book could have been great had the author taken a writing class or workshopped it with an actual, intelligent editor who could have intertwined Exodus with The Pied Piper and created a romantic fantasy filled with nuance and subtext and theme and yearning and actual, logical magical lore.
Instead we got clippings from the titans of Greek Mythology, the plagues of Exodus, the setting of The Pied Piper, and literally everything else from every other Romantasy book on the market.
What a shame.
Anyway, I eagerly await the Romantasy reimagining of Goldilocks and the Three Bears.
September 1, 2026
queen raven never misses!!! i knew i would love this after devouring the plated prisoner series.
the sweetest fiend was a complete breath of fresh air!!
this book was so fast paced i nearly read the whole thing in one sitting. i was completely immersed from page one and that’s because of how captivating raven’s writing is.
i absolutely loved esti from the beginning and was rooting for her the entire time.
the pied piper? SIR. he is so cheeky and flirty and i was obsessed with the banter between him and esti, he had me laughing so much!
”you’re irritating.”
“i’ll get you a salve.” looooool.
i also love that we got to see a more vulnerable side to him too.
”i’m glad i found you.”
“i’m glad you found me too.” 🥹
the ending had me GAGGED i was not expecting that at all and i am now desperate for book 2.
thank you so much to penguin michael joseph for an early review copy!!
also just to note that i’ve seen a couple of reviews complain that it didn’t feel like enemies to lovers, that’s because raven didn’t market it as that!! enemies to lovers isn’t a trope for this book. not every romantasy has to be enemies to lovers to be done well, pls🙄🙄🙄
the sweetest fiend was a complete breath of fresh air!!
this book was so fast paced i nearly read the whole thing in one sitting. i was completely immersed from page one and that’s because of how captivating raven’s writing is.
i absolutely loved esti from the beginning and was rooting for her the entire time.
the pied piper? SIR. he is so cheeky and flirty and i was obsessed with the banter between him and esti, he had me laughing so much!
”you’re irritating.”
“i’ll get you a salve.” looooool.
i also love that we got to see a more vulnerable side to him too.
”i’m glad i found you.”
“i’m glad you found me too.” 🥹
the ending had me GAGGED i was not expecting that at all and i am now desperate for book 2.
thank you so much to penguin michael joseph for an early review copy!!
also just to note that i’ve seen a couple of reviews complain that it didn’t feel like enemies to lovers, that’s because raven didn’t market it as that!! enemies to lovers isn’t a trope for this book. not every romantasy has to be enemies to lovers to be done well, pls🙄🙄🙄
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Excuse me @ravenkennedybooks the banter! The Banter! I highlighted so many great lines and innuendos.
Our FMC is feisty and is not happy that she’s been “collected” by the Piper. Our MMC is broody and mysterious. There’s unique magic plus all the Romantasy vibes we love.
I don’t want to give away too much but just know that I’m FUMING at the ending. 😤
The special editions are amazing so definitely don’t skip on preorders if one of them catches your eye.
The Sweetest Fiend is out September 22 2026
Thank you to @avonbooks and @netgalley for my advanced reader copy! I devoured it and can’t wait for everyone to get their hands, ears and eyes on this new duology Played by the Piper from the author of The Played Prisoner Series.
Our FMC is feisty and is not happy that she’s been “collected” by the Piper. Our MMC is broody and mysterious. There’s unique magic plus all the Romantasy vibes we love.
I don’t want to give away too much but just know that I’m FUMING at the ending. 😤
The special editions are amazing so definitely don’t skip on preorders if one of them catches your eye.
The Sweetest Fiend is out September 22 2026
Thank you to @avonbooks and @netgalley for my advanced reader copy! I devoured it and can’t wait for everyone to get their hands, ears and eyes on this new duology Played by the Piper from the author of The Played Prisoner Series.
June 23, 2026
"𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒊𝒏𝒇𝒖𝒓𝒊𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝒎𝒆, 𝑷𝒊𝒑𝒆𝒓."
"𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒆𝒏𝒓𝒂𝒑𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒆 𝒎𝒆, 𝒃𝒍𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕."
Have you ever wondered what would happen after a magical apocalyptic event? Well, get your bug zappers ready! And get ready to pay (your next book boyfriend) The Pied Piper!
“𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒘𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅𝒏’𝒕 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒊𝒓𝒔𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒎𝒚 𝒑𝒊𝒑𝒆.” 😁🫣😂
The Sweetest Fiend by Raven Kennedy has been my most anticipated read of 2026 ever since it was first announced. I’m a huge fan of the Plated Prisoner series, and I still can’t believe I was lucky enough to get an eARC. (Thank you so much Raven Kennedy and Avon Books!)
I became engrossed and enamored with this world IMMEDIATELY. I love Raven Kennedy’s world building, and The Sweetest Fiend world is no exception. Without saying too much for spoilers I loved all of the characters, secrets, and plot twists and turns in this book (and that ending! 😮) - I can’t wait to find out what fate awaits Esti and the Piper in the next book.
For now, my biggest problem is which edition of The Sweetest Fiend I’ll choose to buy (or how many haha)!
🗯️So which edition are you buying of The Sweetest Fiend? Asking for a friend. 👀
Hell yeah. Raven Kennedy is back. Full review coming soon, but you’re going to want to add this one to your TBR!
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
This book gave me so many conflicting feelings. Overall, the world building was very incredible, so unique! This aspect was by far my most favorite part.
The romance is where this book was lacking for me. It happened so fast, and it kind of comes out of nowhere. I wish this was not a duology so we could let this story cook longer. The premise is so good, and the Pied Piper story is SO INTRIGUING!!
Most things in this were really cool/so unique but it just felt a tad rushed.
HOWEVER- the premise was still so good, and in true Raven Kennedy fashion, the plot twist at the end was a doozy! I still really enjoyed this, and I cannot wait to get the second half of this story, because there’s a lot to recover from.
4 stars ⭐️
The romance is where this book was lacking for me. It happened so fast, and it kind of comes out of nowhere. I wish this was not a duology so we could let this story cook longer. The premise is so good, and the Pied Piper story is SO INTRIGUING!!
Most things in this were really cool/so unique but it just felt a tad rushed.
HOWEVER- the premise was still so good, and in true Raven Kennedy fashion, the plot twist at the end was a doozy! I still really enjoyed this, and I cannot wait to get the second half of this story, because there’s a lot to recover from.
4 stars ⭐️
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
SO unique! Thinking a 4 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ situation for me! & thank you to Avon for providing me with an ARC!
PLOT
- Esti is a fiend; descended from the Banes who the released plagues that make the world a constant state of danger. She’s treated like garbage by her fellow people (who blame her for said plagues) when one day, the mysterious & terrifying Pied Piper shows up. & he decides he’ll be taking people back with him, including her. & she’s not a huge fan of this.
- romantasy duology book 1
- fae, plagues, & banes
- rich lore
- enemies to lovers with lots of back & forth banter
- Pied Piper retelling
- med spice (not a ton but whoop there it is)
PROS
- This world & lore are SUPER unique. I really like the fantasy elements of this world, it is so interesting. I genuinely think we could have like multiple series out of this world vs. a single duology. It is rich with lore & it genuinely feels full of opportunity for as much or as little as Raven wants.
- The story is also super unique! I don’t feel like I’ve read anything quite like this. I love the twist on the Pied Piper, the plagues, etc. & there is so much story to tell based on where we went.
- Solid side characters so far, Conrad being my fave. We didn’t get a ton of anyone else yet but what we saw I enjoyed.
- Esti’s family dynamic was very sweet & heartwarming.
- The spice we got was in fact, hottie patottie. Raven Kennedy writes some gnarly (compliment) spice & I can count on her to make me sweat a lil.
- Some solid social & societal commentary.
- Pied Piper is VERY interesting. I’m looking forward to more from him. We got the little bit in the prologue that was super enrapturing so I’m excited to dive deeper into him. He’s also got a mouth on him (love).
- After THAT ending I feel like THERE IS A LOT of story for book 2 which is really exciting. I’m really interested in that plot unfolding.
MIDS
- Esti as an FMC was both delightful & frustrating. I enjoy how vulnerably she was written; she’s been ostracized by society her whole life & I appreciate that we see into a girl that’s got a lifetime of both hurt (society) & love (family) & how that balance plays out. My heart really feels for her in many ways. She’s also witty enough for clever banter & made me giggle a few times. But she also made an abundance of alarmingly short-sighted decisions constantly & she didn’t seem naive enough for them. & that is just something I don’t enjoy. So for me, she was a mid.
- Also, the pacing of the romance was kinda wild. The banter was so fun & I absolutely love a rakish, filthy MMC but we sort of nose dived into some stuff kind of outta nowhere. Like it didn’t NOT make sense but it also just seemed abrupt & not quite earned. So again, watching them develop was fun but I also got whiplash a lil bit. So also a mid.
CONS
- The ending itself was not bad & I liked the *thing* BUT I have 2 qualms
— The setup to get to the “how” for me was unbelievable given who we are working with & what we’ve seen of them so far. I was just like “no one is dumb enough to think they can [do this thing] successfully” so it felt a little too easy to get to that.
— I am not really excited to revisit an existing dynamic again.
Excited to see where book 2 goes & thanks again to Raven & the team at Avon for the ARC!
PLOT
- Esti is a fiend; descended from the Banes who the released plagues that make the world a constant state of danger. She’s treated like garbage by her fellow people (who blame her for said plagues) when one day, the mysterious & terrifying Pied Piper shows up. & he decides he’ll be taking people back with him, including her. & she’s not a huge fan of this.
- romantasy duology book 1
- fae, plagues, & banes
- rich lore
- enemies to lovers with lots of back & forth banter
- Pied Piper retelling
- med spice (not a ton but whoop there it is)
PROS
- This world & lore are SUPER unique. I really like the fantasy elements of this world, it is so interesting. I genuinely think we could have like multiple series out of this world vs. a single duology. It is rich with lore & it genuinely feels full of opportunity for as much or as little as Raven wants.
- The story is also super unique! I don’t feel like I’ve read anything quite like this. I love the twist on the Pied Piper, the plagues, etc. & there is so much story to tell based on where we went.
- Solid side characters so far, Conrad being my fave. We didn’t get a ton of anyone else yet but what we saw I enjoyed.
- Esti’s family dynamic was very sweet & heartwarming.
- The spice we got was in fact, hottie patottie. Raven Kennedy writes some gnarly (compliment) spice & I can count on her to make me sweat a lil.
- Some solid social & societal commentary.
- Pied Piper is VERY interesting. I’m looking forward to more from him. We got the little bit in the prologue that was super enrapturing so I’m excited to dive deeper into him. He’s also got a mouth on him (love).
- After THAT ending I feel like THERE IS A LOT of story for book 2 which is really exciting. I’m really interested in that plot unfolding.
MIDS
- Esti as an FMC was both delightful & frustrating. I enjoy how vulnerably she was written; she’s been ostracized by society her whole life & I appreciate that we see into a girl that’s got a lifetime of both hurt (society) & love (family) & how that balance plays out. My heart really feels for her in many ways. She’s also witty enough for clever banter & made me giggle a few times. But she also made an abundance of alarmingly short-sighted decisions constantly & she didn’t seem naive enough for them. & that is just something I don’t enjoy. So for me, she was a mid.
- Also, the pacing of the romance was kinda wild. The banter was so fun & I absolutely love a rakish, filthy MMC but we sort of nose dived into some stuff kind of outta nowhere. Like it didn’t NOT make sense but it also just seemed abrupt & not quite earned. So again, watching them develop was fun but I also got whiplash a lil bit. So also a mid.
CONS
- The ending itself was not bad & I liked the *thing* BUT I have 2 qualms
— The setup to get to the “how” for me was unbelievable given who we are working with & what we’ve seen of them so far. I was just like “no one is dumb enough to think they can [do this thing] successfully” so it felt a little too easy to get to that.
— I am not really excited to revisit an existing dynamic again.
Excited to see where book 2 goes & thanks again to Raven & the team at Avon for the ARC!
September 20, 2026
4⭐️!!
i’m not all that familiar with the lore of the pied piper, but between the various plagues, our fiery, sharp-tongued fmc esti, and the slightly chaotic and troublesome mmc varrik (aka the pied piper), this book kept me thoroughly entertained from start to finish.
this was my first time reading raven kennedy, and i had so much fun with it.
the banter between esti and varrik was absolutely hilarious. when you have two equally sassy main characters sharing one bedroll, one tent, and one horse, you’ve got the perfect recipe for some incredible banter. i can definitely see why so many readers call raven kennedy the queen of banter, because esti and varrik had me cackling one minute and kicking my feet the next. i absolutely ate up every bickering moment and every bit of forced proximity between these two.
the overall plot was fun, the magic system was interesting, and the final chapters had me on the edge of my seat. the banter and the twist at the end were what really sealed the deal for me. now i need to know how this is all going to play out in book two because that ending completely threw me for a loop!
the sweetest fiend releases 09/22.
thank you to avon books, netgalley, and raven kennedy for the earc ❤️
i’m not all that familiar with the lore of the pied piper, but between the various plagues, our fiery, sharp-tongued fmc esti, and the slightly chaotic and troublesome mmc varrik (aka the pied piper), this book kept me thoroughly entertained from start to finish.
this was my first time reading raven kennedy, and i had so much fun with it.
the banter between esti and varrik was absolutely hilarious. when you have two equally sassy main characters sharing one bedroll, one tent, and one horse, you’ve got the perfect recipe for some incredible banter. i can definitely see why so many readers call raven kennedy the queen of banter, because esti and varrik had me cackling one minute and kicking my feet the next. i absolutely ate up every bickering moment and every bit of forced proximity between these two.
the overall plot was fun, the magic system was interesting, and the final chapters had me on the edge of my seat. the banter and the twist at the end were what really sealed the deal for me. now i need to know how this is all going to play out in book two because that ending completely threw me for a loop!
the sweetest fiend releases 09/22.
thank you to avon books, netgalley, and raven kennedy for the earc ❤️
September 24, 2026
Hey so, I finished this at 4am, it was so hard to put down 🙃
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Raven Kennedy has done it again.
The Sweetest Fiend is a darkly enchanting Pied Piper retelling. An incredibly fresh choice that proves, once again, how gifted Kennedy is at taking a familiar tale and transforming it into something entirely her own.
As an early reader, there is so much I want to say, but doing so without spoilers feels nearly impossible. What I can say is that I was captivated from the very beginning and completely invested in discovering where the story would lead. The tension and pacing build relentlessly, tightening their grip with every chapter and refusing to let go.
Kennedy has an extraordinary ability to make readers feel deeply connected to her characters. My heart hurt, warmed, soared, and shattered alongside Esti. Her pain became my pain. Her hope became my hope. Her love became my love.
I decided to do a reread and this time I experienced the story through the audiobook, featuring duet narration by Isabelle Turner and Sean Masters, with original music by Lindsay Dills. The music was the absolute perfect addition to a story inspired by the Pied Piper. Its haunting sound added an entirely new layer to the atmosphere and made an already captivating story feel even more immersive.
Isabelle Turner did an incredible job bringing every emotion Esti experiences to life. I felt every bit of her pain, hope, fear, and love all over again and somehow, it may have hurt even more the second time.
Darkly enchanting, emotionally devastating, and utterly impossible to put down!
I originally went into this book without realizing what I was about to do to myself. Now, after experiencing it again through the audiobook, my desperate need for book two has only grown stronger and book one has not even been released yet.
The Sweetest Fiend is a darkly enchanting Pied Piper retelling. An incredibly fresh choice that proves, once again, how gifted Kennedy is at taking a familiar tale and transforming it into something entirely her own.
As an early reader, there is so much I want to say, but doing so without spoilers feels nearly impossible. What I can say is that I was captivated from the very beginning and completely invested in discovering where the story would lead. The tension and pacing build relentlessly, tightening their grip with every chapter and refusing to let go.
Kennedy has an extraordinary ability to make readers feel deeply connected to her characters. My heart hurt, warmed, soared, and shattered alongside Esti. Her pain became my pain. Her hope became my hope. Her love became my love.
I decided to do a reread and this time I experienced the story through the audiobook, featuring duet narration by Isabelle Turner and Sean Masters, with original music by Lindsay Dills. The music was the absolute perfect addition to a story inspired by the Pied Piper. Its haunting sound added an entirely new layer to the atmosphere and made an already captivating story feel even more immersive.
Isabelle Turner did an incredible job bringing every emotion Esti experiences to life. I felt every bit of her pain, hope, fear, and love all over again and somehow, it may have hurt even more the second time.
Darkly enchanting, emotionally devastating, and utterly impossible to put down!
I originally went into this book without realizing what I was about to do to myself. Now, after experiencing it again through the audiobook, my desperate need for book two has only grown stronger and book one has not even been released yet.
September 24, 2026
I will start by saying that this book is definitely for someone and I do think people will enjoy it.... but that person is not me.
If you like Romantasy where the romance is heavier than the plot, this is for you. If I read this 2-3 years ago, I could've felt differently but this entire book was one big eye rolling ick for me 🫣
Simply, I do not think this author's writing style is for me. The plot was intriguing at times with the plagues, but it felt very all over the place especially in the beginning. The enemies to lovers didn't feel like enemies at all because of how obsessed the mmc was at 30%ish and I just think I should probably never read a fated mates book again at this point.
Like I said, this will be for some Romantasy readers.. but the Romantasy readers that enjoy a 10-25% romance ratio, will most likely strongly dislike this.
If you like Romantasy where the romance is heavier than the plot, this is for you. If I read this 2-3 years ago, I could've felt differently but this entire book was one big eye rolling ick for me 🫣
Simply, I do not think this author's writing style is for me. The plot was intriguing at times with the plagues, but it felt very all over the place especially in the beginning. The enemies to lovers didn't feel like enemies at all because of how obsessed the mmc was at 30%ish and I just think I should probably never read a fated mates book again at this point.
Like I said, this will be for some Romantasy readers.. but the Romantasy readers that enjoy a 10-25% romance ratio, will most likely strongly dislike this.
Want to Read
March 10, 2026Pre Read:
Happy Release Day!💜 Just got my Target special edition. The Pink is so beautiful! Cant wait to start this!
Happy Release Day!💜 Just got my Target special edition. The Pink is so beautiful! Cant wait to start this!
Currently Reading
September 27, 2026Really excited about this one! I’m going to use my Spotify minutes to listen to it since the Libby wait time is like 17 weeks! 😅
September 25, 2026
⋆˙⟡ ── ʀᴀᴛɪɴɢ 4.25⭐️
If you’re on the fence about adding this to your TBR, jump off! This was TOO good. I enjoyed this book from the very beginning. It was very unique, so if you’re in a romantasy slump this is the cure.
Esti is the product of a Fae and a Bane: a Fiend. There aren’t many left. Her kind are feared and shunned because they are believed to carry the 9 Plagues left by the Banes that decimate their cities/burgs. Enter Varrik, the Piper. He’s a Core Fae, a group responsible for killing the Banes and the only one who can help save people from the Plagues..right? What could go wrong when their paths cross?
Everything about this was fun and evenly paced. The “why” took a bit longer to unravel than I’d like, but it wasn’t painful. Also, Esti ALMOST started to give me Diem vibes (iykyk), but thankfully that wasn’t the case. Raven knows how to write great side characters (hey Conrad!) and an even better MMC. If you love Slade, you’ll love Varrick. I’m so glad this is a duology because I’m going to devour book 2!
♡ 𝓡𝓮𝓪𝓭 𝓲𝓯 𝔂𝓸𝓾 𝓵𝓲𝓴𝓮: The Plated Prisoner (series), The Silversmith
If you’re on the fence about adding this to your TBR, jump off! This was TOO good. I enjoyed this book from the very beginning. It was very unique, so if you’re in a romantasy slump this is the cure.
Esti is the product of a Fae and a Bane: a Fiend. There aren’t many left. Her kind are feared and shunned because they are believed to carry the 9 Plagues left by the Banes that decimate their cities/burgs. Enter Varrik, the Piper. He’s a Core Fae, a group responsible for killing the Banes and the only one who can help save people from the Plagues..right? What could go wrong when their paths cross?
Everything about this was fun and evenly paced. The “why” took a bit longer to unravel than I’d like, but it wasn’t painful. Also, Esti ALMOST started to give me Diem vibes (iykyk), but thankfully that wasn’t the case. Raven knows how to write great side characters (hey Conrad!) and an even better MMC. If you love Slade, you’ll love Varrick. I’m so glad this is a duology because I’m going to devour book 2!
♡ 𝓡𝓮𝓪𝓭 𝓲𝓯 𝔂𝓸𝓾 𝓵𝓲𝓴𝓮: The Plated Prisoner (series), The Silversmith
September 25, 2026
The rating is somewhere between 2 and 3 stars.
It’s an interesting concept with a fresh take on fae. The actual world holds potential, but the characters didn’t work for me.
I found Esti insufferable. I get it, she gets kidnapped and is mad, but she came across as an insolent toddler that stomps her foot and throws out “I hate you” constantly.
She is so dead set that Varrick is the villain because he took people from their towns. The same towns that whipped Esti for simply existing, which is not a fact I think she forgot, given that the wounds on her back are mentioned throughout the entire book.
The romance didn’t work for me either. Despite Esti having a past lover, she across as very young, inexperienced and naïve. Like I mentioned, I found that she came across as a child with a temper tantrum, so that didn’t help with me connecting with the romantic aspects. I actually found the spicy scenes unpleasant. The romance was rushed and didn’t have any believable transition.
Another issue was the pacing. Pretty much nothing happens during the entire book. She runs away constantly but gets captured again, states how much she hates the MMC and makes demands that no one cares about.
The ending was a little promising, but I’m unsure if I will continue the series.
It’s an interesting concept with a fresh take on fae. The actual world holds potential, but the characters didn’t work for me.
I found Esti insufferable. I get it, she gets kidnapped and is mad, but she came across as an insolent toddler that stomps her foot and throws out “I hate you” constantly.
She is so dead set that Varrick is the villain because he took people from their towns. The same towns that whipped Esti for simply existing, which is not a fact I think she forgot, given that the wounds on her back are mentioned throughout the entire book.
The romance didn’t work for me either. Despite Esti having a past lover, she across as very young, inexperienced and naïve. Like I mentioned, I found that she came across as a child with a temper tantrum, so that didn’t help with me connecting with the romantic aspects. I actually found the spicy scenes unpleasant. The romance was rushed and didn’t have any believable transition.
Another issue was the pacing. Pretty much nothing happens during the entire book. She runs away constantly but gets captured again, states how much she hates the MMC and makes demands that no one cares about.
The ending was a little promising, but I’m unsure if I will continue the series.
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