Apparently, Sir Cameron Needs to Die

by Greer Stothers, Dan Calley (Narrator)

In this hilarious, off-the-wall queer fantasy romance, a reclusive sorcerer is forced to protect a cowardly knight after a prophecy ties their fates together.

Funny, touching and inventive, this book is perfect for fans of A Marvellous Light and Dreadful.

All his life, Sir Cameron has tried to stay as far away from danger as possible. But when the Church hands down a prophecy to his fellow knights predicting that the only way to defeat their nemesis, the mad sorcerer Merulo, is to kill Sir Cameron, he finds himself in a situation too sticky for even his considerable wiles. Short of ideas, Cameron throws himself on the mercy of the one person who now actually wants him to the mad sorcerer.

Merulo isn't thrilled to be babysitting a spoilt, attention-seeking knight, but fate has tied them together. And transmogrifying Cameron into a vulture is at least a great source of entertainment. Cameron, meanwhile, is on a voyage of self-discovery. It turns out he's really, really into surly sorcerers who lock him up and tell him what to do. Who knew?

As a legion of knights surround their stronghold, led by an angry concussed elf—which definitely isn't in any way Cameron's fault—the sorcerer's poisonous ambitions draw ever closer to fruition. Cameron is quite invested in not dying, but he finds he's also invested in Merulo. And sometimes, supporting the sorcerer you care about means taking an interest in their hobbies. Even if their hobby is trying to kill God.

Even if it might get you killed, too.

Genres: Fantasy, Romance, Queer, LGBT, Fiction, Humor, Adult

10 pages, Audiobook

First published February 3, 2026

About the author

Greer Stothers is an award-winning author/illustrator based in Toronto. Their experiences as a nonbinary individual inform their writing and art, as does their drive to find the humor in everything.


source: Amazon

Reviews

[Gabriel · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book had an incredible blurb and concept, so I bought it instantly, expecting an easy 5 star read. I was promised a fun, steamy, slightly BDSM gay romance between a himbo knight and an evil sorcerer.
What I got was misogyny, weirdly transphobic elements, unbearable characters, dismemberment, and a random shift into sci fi?
Let’s start with the beginning, which I enjoyed. The first two or three chapters were fun and silly, and delivered on the premise. Sir Cameron, a cowardly knight, learns of a prophecy stating that his death is the only way to defeat the evil sorcerer Merulo. Afraid of dying, Cameron seeks safety in Merulo’s castle, and a tenuous alliance is formed. The humour was landing, at least some of the time, and while the characters were shallow, I was entertained. There were hints of chemistry between Cameron and Merulo, and I settled in for what was sure to be a good time.
And then the jokes did not stop. Not one page was taken seriously, and what started as a lighthearted romp became cringeworthy and exhausting. By about page 50, I hated Sir Cameron. Everything he did and said was “comedic”. He acted like a 10 year old boy who still thinks shitting yourself is funny. The best parts were the chapter titles, and I wish the bulk of the humour had been there, leaving the prose space to breathe. I want to make a comparison here to one of my favourite romance authors, Alexis Hall, who often writes silly, humorous books filled with unserious characters. Hall, however, understands levels and nuance. The jokes ebb and flow, and help elevate the themes and emotional depth. I think this is what Greer Stothers was trying to go for, but they failed catastrophically. Sir Cameron took nothing seriously, and therefore underwent no character development. There was even a moment where he finds out everyone hates him, and just…continues to assume he’s amazing. I can’t believe the author missed such a glaringly obvious opportunity for some growth! Cameron started off as shallow and irritating, and ended the book the same way. The only bearable character was Merulo, and that’s because he was boring and underdeveloped rather than annoying and underdeveloped.
By about page 90, my rating had dropped to a 2. And then in the space of 10 pages, it became a 0. Why? Because Cameron, knowing that the prophecy specifies his appearance, decides that a great way to prevent it coming to fruition is for Merulo to turn him into a woman.
This is where the “written by a 10 year old boy” vibes really intensified, because the first thing we hear about woman Cameron is how massive and huge and ginormous his boobs are. They’re just sooooo big and they keep jiggling and he has to hold them up and my God they’re so massive! Are you laughing yet? Get it? Boobs funny!
It just felt so…icky. Why is it that male Cameron is a muscular man, and female Cameron is a tiny woman with the biggest tits you’ve ever seen? Why are we describing him like a cishet man who hates women? The author is non-binary, and yet treated gender with such carelessness and borderline bioessentialism. When he’s a woman, Cameron is so emotional, but when he’s a man he can finally think clearly. When he’s a woman, he’s just so sexy and feminine, but when he’s a man he’s so huge and toned. He also feels no discomfort about being in the wrong body, which I assumed a non-binary author would at least address. We live in a time of rampant transmisogyny where trans women are labelled as men with fetishes, and here we have a trans author writing a male character fetishising his new female body to an absurd degree. And it’s meant to be funny, apparently.
From a transmasculine view, this also made me uncomfortable. Cameron and Merulo begin sleeping together while Cameron is in woman form, and Cameron makes a comment about how fun and easy it is to have “different plumbing”, which…I am a trans gay man, and I’m sick of the misconception that having a vagina makes gay sex so much easier and cooler and wow wouldn’t every cis man want a handy vagina if he could aren’t trans men so lucky that they can bottom so easily with their cool vagina that they're totally happy with having! Again, this book is written by a TRANS AUTHOR! COME ON! And I know Cameron isn’t intended to be trans in either direction, but there were so many implications that I would expect a non-binary author to at least consider. Maybe I’m overthinking it, but the whole situation left a bad taste in my mouth. We also get no acknowledgement of what it’s like to be a gay man dating another man as a woman, and when Cameron turns back into a man, no acknowledgement of what this is like for Merulo who I believe has never dated a man before.
While we’re on the subject of the romance, it was terrible. All the sex scenes happened entirely off page, which is fine, but not when a) you mention a kinky power dynamic in your blurb and b) all the romantic development also happens off page. One moment, Merulo is threatening to kill Cameron, and the next they’re kissing, and the next they have feelings for each other. We are told that they’ve come to understand each other, but we are never shown this, because God forbid the author write some actual character development when they could make shit and boob jokes instead. I don’t understand how you could fumble such a fantastic romantic dynamic so easily.
Outside of Cameron and Merulo, the other characters weren’t much better. Another key player was Glenda, the elf prophesied to kill Cameron. There were so many ways the author could have made Glenda an interesting villain. She has a great motivation, and if we built some dynamics and lore between her and Cameron, this could have been a hard-hitting tale about how religious fervour can make you lose yourself and betray the people you love. But instead, the author just made Glenda a cartoonish bigot. She hates gay people, trans people, fat people, humans, the list goes on, and this is shown to us through over the top “wow trans people are freaks who are denying their reality” lines of dialogue. She spends a chunk of the book hanging out with another elf, Domitia, who combats her cartoonish bigotry by being cartoonishly inclusive. There’s a scene where a knight (with whom Cameron flirted while in woman form) rants about being tricked into almost kissing a man. Domitia then corrects his pronoun usage to “she” and says that it was not trickery if this is who Cameron really is. Which like, I agree, but Cameron IS NOT TRANS. He is a cisgender man who was magically transformed into a woman for a few days. These are not the same thing, and Domitia conflating the two is so weird. I just feel like we can do better than Twitter argument dialogue about trans people. Make a villain who is actually nuanced, please.
But don’t worry, Glenda being a bigot is fine, because she discovers she’s a lesbian and despite her homophobia she is fine with this and everything is forgiven. Yippee!
Speaking of the cartoonish bigotry, why is the Church, which is anti technology and pro magic, also randomly homophobic? It made no sense, and clearly only existed so that Glenda could go on her rants. We could have had an interesting commentary on toxic masculinity amongst knights, on the link between heteronormativity and chivalry, but we didn’t because a) the book has no depth, and b) this is not a fun fantasy book about knights. Plot twist. It’s actually a sci fi.
So around the halfway point, Glenda kills Cameron. This has nothing to do with her prowess as a villain, and everything to do with Merulo’s stupidity, because why, when Cameron’s death is the key to your defeat, would you let Cameron roam freely and unsupervised around the streets? Anyway, Glenda kills him, which isn’t sad at all because we don’t care about this guy or his romance. But it’s okay, he’s only dead for a few pages, because Merulo, who is actually a dragon, does time travel to undo Cameron’s death, reveals that dragons are actually made of AI, takes Cameron to a futuristic underwater technology haven, dismembers himself to create a magic wand, and then they all get on a spaceship and go to space, only to find out that God actually made the Medieval knight world to look like his favourite video game.
I am not joking. That is literally the plot. What are we doing here?
There’s so much more I could mention, like the fact that we are meant to agree with Merulo that a return to AI is good for us and that we shouldn’t have gotten rid of it because we could have fixed climate change if we had a bit more time, or the lack of exploration regarding how traumatic it would be to watch your boyfriend chop off two of his limbs, but at this point I’m just exhausted.
Biggest disappointment of the year, hands down.

[Ditte · Rating 3 out of 5]

Apparently, Sir Cameron Needs to Die is absolutely ridiculous, full-on hilarious, and it had me laughing right away. Sadly, it couldn't follow through on the excellent opening and ended up confusing and unsatisfying.

The first 25% of the book was fantastic! I loved how utterly bonkers everything was and our dumb, darling MC Cameron who just really didn't want to die was an instant favourite. A true himbo! Merulo, the evil sorcerer, and his disdain for Cameron was also hilarious and they had great banter. I also loved the chapter names/summaries, they almost all made me laugh.

Sadly, the plot felt weirdly resolved quickly and somehow also never resolved at all, and the pacing of the story wasn't great. It started dragging in the middle, picked up a bit near the end, and then ended on the absolute weirdest note that left so many open plotlines that felt like they should've never been introduced. What was the point of Glenda? Why not use those chapters on giving Cameron and Merulo's characters some much needed depth? There were so many things this book could've done something with and it instead did nothing with any of it and ended in a nonsensical way. And not the fun kind.

There was humor throughout the book but it wasn't nearly as funny as in the beginning and I found my eyes glazing over for a while near the middle. This book had such potential and started off so well but it just couldn't follow through. I still adore himbo king Cameron but I'm sadly mostly left feeling disappointed upon finishing.

I read an eARC from Titan and Netgalley.

[ThianeJansen · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really wanted to love Apparently, Sir Cameron Needs to Die. On paper, this should have been a slam dunk for me: absurd premise, unserious tone and a story that clearly doesn’t take itself too seriously. And to be fair, the opening is fun. The setup is chaotic, the chapter titles are clever, and Cameron’s earnest refusal to die is genuinely endearing at first. It feels like the kind of book that promises ridiculous, LOL comedy.

But somewhere along the way… it just never delivered on that promise for me.

The book leans hard into humour, yet I didn’t actually find it funny. Not even a giggle. The jokes often felt more silly than sharp, more quirky than clever, and the tone skewed almost childish at times. Maybe my humour is just too dark 😆 but I kept waiting for that moment where it would fully click and it never did.

Structurally, things also started to unravel. The pacing dragged in the middle, rushed and confused itself near the end, and somehow managed to both resolve things too quickly and leave far too many plot threads dangling. Interesting ideas and characters were introduced only to go nowhere, which made the ending feel messy and unsatisfying rather than delightfully absurd. Emotional beats that should have landed didn’t, largely because the story never quite asked me to take anything seriously even when it clearly wanted me to.

By the end, what remained was a book that was occasionally entertaining, occasionally clever, but ultimately frustrating. I can absolutely see why this works for some readers as a low brain power read, and I appreciate the creativity behind it but for me, it just wasn’t funny enough, cohesive enough, or emotionally grounded enough to stick the landing.

A fun idea, a strong start… and a big miss for my personal taste.

[Abigail · Rating 1 out of 5]

Don’t underestimate the phrase “genre-bending” in the description of this book. This ‘funny fantasy romance’ turns into a story where Artificial Intelligences work to save humanity from itself and its belief in God. The end goal is to kill God and escape Earth by going to the Moon or Mars. The first half of the book is fantasy while the second half is just science fiction. And the two halves don’t blend well.

The story starts when Sir Cameron, a vain and goofy knight, is informed that his death will fulfill a prophecy that will lead to the downfall of the evil sorcerer Merulo. While she does feel kind of bad about it, Glenda, Cameron’s only friend, is going to murder him. So Cameron escapes and seeks shelter with Merulo. What ensues is a lighthearted comedic enemies (ish) to lovers closed door romance. I like how fluid gender is in this relationship, but I don’t understand why the two leads are actually into each other. Later, Glenda captures and kills Cameron. In his grief, Merulo reveals himself to be a great black dragon, and he sacrifices his magic to turn back time and save Cameron. I personally would have had a much better time reading if this had been the end of the story. But it just keeps going.

Merulo and Cameron retreat to the corpse filled underwater city where Merulo’s sister lives. This is when Cameron (and the readers) finds out that dragons, including Merulo, are all AI systems that were given physical form when God came to Earth and introduced magic (and homophobia, I guess) to the world. Because Merulo was made from magic, his body can still be used for magical purposes when he cuts off his limbs and burns them. This is how he’ll continue his quest to kill God. In the end, Merulo learns that God granted magic to Earth and shaped society in the image of a video game then they died. God has been dead the whole time. They all sail off into space on an AI powered ship that enjoys making people uncomfortable by saying slurs. When the people of Earth learn that God is dead, homophobia disappears. The end.

Reading this book was not enjoyable, especially in the second half. The things that I liked (a queer fantasy relationship) have been done better in other books, and the things that I disliked were abundant. I don’t want to deal with debates of God versus AI (a false binary for sure) in a fantasy rom-com. I actually don’t want to read about God or AI in fantasy rom-coms at all. The romance itself wasn’t great. All of the characters felt underdeveloped and flat. I didn’t like Glenda’s drug abuse storyline, I don’t think slurs are funny, and I don’t want to read about the protagonist of a ‘funny fantasy’ story dismembering themself. This book just didn’t work for me. At a minimum, I think it is being marketed and classified (it is sci-fi, and not just as a sub-genre) wrong.

Thanks to Edelweiss and Titan Books for providing me with an eARC.

[Me, My Shelf, & I · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was an utter delight from beginning to end. A fresh and original take on what I'm dubbing the "irreverent/humorous medieval Fantasy genre," in which the author maintains a jovial tone throughout, poking fun at old-fashioned tropes using modern sensibilities, while still paying homage to genre staples like dragons and elves and quests to save the world.

If you get nothing else from this review, just know that I loved this humorous, queer, fresh take on Fantasy, and the endearingly horrible little himbo coward man who gets into the most entertaining and farcical situations.

The Writing:
I already knew I'd be in for a good time from the silly, tongue-in-cheek chapter heading of the prologue. The only question was if it would be over-used and become annoying, or if it would be used in just the right balance. Humor is subjective so I'm sure it won't work for everyone, but for me it was just right. While the whole book is goofy and humorous, it's exaggerated and voicey during the chapter headers, but toned down for the rest of the text so I felt that it never overstayed its welcome.

World-building:
The scenarios are often over-the-top and implausible, but the author makes them feel as if they're perfectly logical within the rules of the world. Still bonkers sometimes, sure, but never breaking that immersion. This is the kind of world where the thought of a hornless unicorn (aka a horse) seems just too strange to imagine, but magical battles that transform half the species present are just a ho hum Tuesday.

LGBTQIA rep:
But despite the medieval-ish setting and often Conservative mindsets (especially of the Church and the elves), the text is really inclusive and non-judgmental of a variety of explicitly and implicitly mentioned identities and lifestyles. The main cast all exhibit some amount of LGB throughout the story, but there are also trans and non-binary side characters and some gentle, accepting conversations that don't feel overly preachy.

Cameron:
The majority of the book is told through Cameron's POV, so I think that how much he grows on the reader will largely determine the overall impression of the book. Cameron is a himbo and a consummate coward. But not only do I find his rather obvious flaws to make for a lot of humorous and dynamic situations, I also appreciate the way he grows throughout the book so that he feels like a much more well-rounded character by the end.

Overall:
Cameron and Merulo wormed their way into my heart and I loved watching their story unfold. This is one of those books where I can't help but give it 5/5 because I honestly would've finished it 1-2 hrs earlier if I didn't pause so often to repeat quotes aloud to my spouse. It was fun and took me on such a journey as the book I was reading by the end felt totally different (but tonally the same) from the one I started at the beginning.

All I can hope is that this book is a harbinger and that 2026 brings more horrible little vulture men!

Thank you to NetGalley and Titan for granting me an ARC. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

[Corv · Rating 1 out of 5]

It has been a long time since I have hated a book as much as I hate this one. A lot of that is probably because, on paper, it seemed so promising! A funny, queer fantasy romance where a himbo knight falls in love with an evil old sorcerer? Sign me up!!

And the first few chapters were fun! For the first 50 pages or so, I thought I was going to really like the book.

And then the book got really, really foul.

So, on the cover and the back copy, it says Sir Cameron gets turned into a vulture. It's funny how little it bothers our hero, and I think this part is really fun. Sadly, it's astonishingly short-lived for something that's on the cover of the book, and also, I don't really enjoy anything in the book after this segment is over. After he's a vulture, Cameron convinces the sorcerer Merulo to transform him into a woman. While he was big and strong as a man, he's small and beautiful as a woman. And his boobs are HUGE! He keeps holding them! Because they're so big! Haha! Now that he's a woman, he cleans the castle! Cameron gets hit on by a gross man he’s not interested in, and reflects that this is how women must feel! Has Cameron ever made unwanted advances on a woman? Not really! He’s very gay! There was one time, near the beginning of the book, where he tried to seduce someone in an attempt to save his own life, but I don’t think the situations are at all comparable, despite Cameron’s self-reflection on it. “This must be how Glenda felt” girl, she was going to KILL YOU! I don’t think so! Thankfully, like every low quality fanfic I read in the mid-2000s, our hero is saved from the advances of a gross man by our romantic lead, and then they make out. Incredible. Groundbreaking. I really believe their love. They haven’t forged any sort of intimacy and don’t seem to have really changed their opinions about each other in any way (Merulo is constantly complaining that Cameron is stupid, annoying, incompetent, and generally in the way, and Cameron… well, Cameron doesn’t seem to have a lot going on upstairs, for all that he’s the POV character, so I couldn’t tell you what he thinks of Merulo), but I guess all it took for them to finally consummate their relationship was for Cameron to become a cute little tradwifey. Awesome. Anyway, he stops being a woman because he gets his period and then begs Merulo to turn him back into a man. Could you imagine the horror? Of having a PERIOD? Perish the thought.

There is a deep insincerity running through this book that makes it, frankly impossible to like or care about even a little bit. Why should I care about Merulo? He never does anything nice (beyond like… not killing Cameron. But I don’t kill lots of people and I’m not in love with all of them), or endearing, or unexpectedly observant. I couldn’t even tell you what Cameron likes about him. His thoughts about Merulo’s appearance and behavior are nearly identical at the start of the book and at the end. He always describes him in the least flattering terms possible, emphasizing his skeletally thin body and greasy hair, it’s just that, by the end, I’m supposed to know that those are good now I guess. Why should I care about Cameron, anyway? He seems to have no thoughts or feelings, beyond “fear of death” and “having a boner” (and then later, “fear that Merulo will become a computer”, and like. Greer Stothers, I’m on tumblr, too. You and I both know that only an idiot would make a robot you can’t fuck). Our two leads never achieve any true level of intimacy. They don’t bond. Everyone in the book sexually harasses Cameron because being threatened gives him a boner, and Merulo is the only one desperate enough to actually want to touch his dick after that. And that’s what passes for love I guess. They’re in love now.

They go to space in the end. I don’t want to talk about it. Leave me alone.

It felt like this book was making fun of me, because only an idiot would actually want to read a book with fantasy, or romance, or queer relationships, or genderbending, or old men, or young men, or woman in general, or feelings, or drama, or human beings, or non-human beings, or commas that are in a sentence because the sentence needed them and not just because you hadn’t yet decided how the sentence was going to end when you were writing it. There’s nothing in this book that I haven’t seen before, done better in other books, written by authors who understand that “having an erection” does not actually constitute an emotion.

[Louis Muñoz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Love the subtitle: "In Which Many Dangerous and Homosexual Things Happen"!! I'm in; let the many dangerous and homosexual things begin!

Update: Pleasant enough story.

[Niv]

Saw the beginning of chapter posts by author online and the fact that it's getting published!!!
can't wait it's going to be hilarious

[Caitlin Ford · Rating 2 out of 5]

This had so much potential but the execution was just not it.

[Brittany · Rating 1 out of 5]

1.5 stars I'm just not sure whether to round up or down. This was not good. I disliked all the characters and was hoping they would all die.
full rtc

[Oleandy · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was another person who was really, really excited to read this book. I was asking about it months before it released, and was joyous when it came to my library!

And then I didn't finish it, actually couldn't finish it, and returned the book early.

I find I have an issue with books written by popular Tumblr users, it seems. Sir Cameron has a very similar writing style to The Locked Tomb series, in which I also put down the first book. Both writing styles start out fun and different, but end up becoming a slog to get through for me by page 100. Often felt less like a book than a bunch of excerpts that people will quote into viral Tumblr posts. Alongside that, Sir Cameron often felt like it was either talking down or punching down on me as a reader as I tried to get through it. Yes, I was one of the many people drawn to this book for its "wacky homosexual adventure", which unfortunately it didn't even provide because the only sex scenes I read were while Sir Cameron was magically transformed into a woman.

While I do not think it is intentional, for a book based around it having gay sex, it really treats such a topic (both gay sex but also unconventional sex) as a punchline way too often for my taste. I'm assuming it's because of the setting, this pseudo-Feudal style medieval world (which I did find out wasn't always how it was), but that's a Watsonian excuse I feel. Yes, I wanted there to be sex where one person was degraded, that was an intriguing topic to be shown featured in a book, but unfortunately I feel throughout the story there was an air of "Wow, I can't believe you wanted sex to be WEIRD and UNUSUAL! Wow you want someone to get hit??? That's so STRANGE. It's so funny that anyone would want to be hit in sex!" Which really, really put me off. I could deal with Sir Cameron being mocked for it once or twice, but even then it felt like too much that prided itself on its steamy, homosexual intercourse.

Onto smaller nitpicks:

The whole scene where Weed Elf (sorry forgot her name, but she really was a forgettable character) talks with her friend about how embarrassing Sir Cameron's response to her not being attracted to humans felt tone deaf and just... awkward to read. I wanted to get through that passage as quick as possible. I get that apparently the elves are descendants of ancient celebrities? But once again, Watsonian!

Also, I felt like we, as Tumblr users, have gotten past the "coolness" of "big muscle mommy woman character". Felt like I was back in 2014 reading anything regarding the Wizard's evil sister and their "reverse sexual dimorphism" since they're dragons. It also felt weird emphasizing how sad it was that the Wizard was so small and effeminate in comparison to her (alongside all of the jabs about Sir Cameron caring about his appearance and being a coward for not wanting to fight... just puts me off).

I suppose my lesson is to stop looking for authors on Tumblr.

[♥Milica♥ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Would you still love me if I was...a vulture?

What a strange little book, I don't even know how to describe it. It's so...random? I honestly thought I'd be giving it five stars in the first few chapters because it was hilarious, but then certain things happened that made me go "huh", so I ultimately settled on a three.

The chapter titles were the absolute best part and set the tone for the rest of the book early on, I knew I was in for a silly, chaotic mess and Stothers certainly delivered on that front.

The first half of Apparently, Sir Cameron Needs to Die is fantasy, the other half scifi. Does it work together? Yes, and no.

Personally, I enjoyed the fantasy section more than the scifi one, because so many things got thrown in later on, and we already had a complete story by that point.

It just kept getting more and more ridiculous, and the romance didn't make up for it. I thought these two were okay on their own, but I couldn't see why they fell for each other, their relationship was underdeveloped, and happened out of nowhere.

Then there was the gender swap thing, which I thought was kind of annoying and eye-roll inducing (endless period jokes, anyone?), but after reading some reviews talking about it, there was a lot of misogyny present during those parts, yeah. Looking back, I definitely see it.

I would still read another book by this author, even if this one wasn't a complete hit.

[Sofia · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was so good!! The humor was amazing, the romance genuinely heart-warming, the characters really likable and complex. I think my only criticism is that the ending felt the a bit rushed, but overall I loved it.

[kaitlyn · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF. Too much misogyny, too little plot/romance. Does not match description AT ALL!!

[Psycheros · Rating 2 out of 5]

oh so this sucked. i was so sure it couldn't be that bad after seeing the ratings, but oh now im thinking the reviews were being TOO nice.

1. Let's start with saying they were pushing this HARD as a funny, quirky book, but it was just... not. Hey at least the plot could somehow save it a little, right? (it didn't, it's worse)
2. It was really good until like 50 pages or a couple chapters after they met, but from there it went downhill. The plot did not have weight nor clear direction. Cameron just walks around achieving nothing (literally) and did not have a SINGLE coherent, interesting inner musings, ever. The ending could not be worse. The story wrapped up disastrously.
3. I almost lost it when i read '...to kill God' for the 100th time.
4. The characters were just people who were in a competition of who is more annoying (spoiler alert: it's the writer, for subjecting me through this horrendous experience)
5. The characters did not go through any growth nor even a decline. They didn't go through ANYTHING they were so stagnant. Also how the FUCK did you make a horny masochist, self-absorbed man as the main character but skimp on the details? PLEASE can i read something INTERESTING
6. Oh and did i say that the characters were annoying as FUCK and we have to slog through this whole book being told in 2 povs of the most annoying characters of them all.
7. OHHHH and the humor... umm where was it? because sure as hell i did not see any. PLEASE tell me when you find it, oh and maybe the plot, too, because it's also nowhere in this book. Thank you

[rowanix · Rating 1 out of 5]

(I usually post my reviews on storygraph but my friend told me to post it here too bc they want to see me get eaten alive ig. Don't read if you're gonna get upset about someone not liking this book :p Some spoilers are present also.)
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Jesus FUCKING christ wtf did I just read. REALLY glad I read reviews before I read this because otherwise I would've happily trotted in thinking I was about to enjoy a silly goofy queer fantasy, and would have suffered catastrophic levels of psychic damage. I mean, I did read it anyway, coz internally I was like "It can't be THAT bad if so many people like it. I have to experience things for myself to form my own opinion." Mistake. Here's my review in case I can save another poor soul.

TL;DR: Don't read this book if you do NOT like the following: racism, misogyny, transmisogyny, bioessentialism, fatphobia, homophobia, ableism, an overreliance on bodily fluids for comedy (including shit and period blood), sexual harrassment, that trope where there's an SA scene purely so the love interest can swoop in and save them then make out with them, incest (but not really), random prolife sentiments, people with anxiety disorder being portrayed as cowardly crybabies, and bad writing in general.

Or still read it if you want, I'm not your boss. Also, if you wanted to read this bc you thought the ace author might write some representation for ace people, you will be sorely disappointed. There are no ace characters, but there is a lil aphobia sprinkled in from the main characters themselves which is never addressed! There is a non binary character towards the end for those seeking that rep, but largely not much is said about fantasy trans people. There's a genderswap spell (don't even get me started on that trope), and it's suggested that some trans people use this, but there is no mention of trans people outside the gender binary and how they would go about a transition. Hope this helps.

Apparently, Sir Cameron Needs to Die is a medieval-esque fantasy/sci-fi crossover (they don't advertise that last part, but I think it’s kind of important to know what genre you’re reading) in which handsome but idiotic and pathetic knight, Sir Cameron, discovers from his bigoted elf bestie, Glenda, that there's this prophecy where if he dies, they'll be able to defeat the Mad Sorcerer, Merulo, who's trying to kill God and is terrorising everyone. Cameron, after failing to seduce her (uncomfortable), knocks Glenda out (despite us being told that she has superior elf strength so surely it would take a stronger blow) and bolts. It's here that we discover Cameron's primary motivation for everything: He is absolutely Terrified of dying. Remember that.

Now, the prophecy is very specific, down to Cameron's manner of death, his golden hair, and even the length of his eyelashes. If I were Cameron, and THAT scared of dying, I'd probably just yank out my eyelashes or smear dirt on my hair to temporarily change the colour to buy myself some time. But Cameron is an idiot, because stupid people are supposed to be funny, and instead seeks aid from Merulo who will surely want him alive because Cameron's death will lead to his downfall. It doesn't occur to Cameron that Merulo could just kill him in a different way to what the prophecy states and become functionally immortal. It apparently doesn't occur to Merulo, either, who is supposed to be a genius btw. Maybe this is because we're supposed to think Merulo's not actually that bad, but he just brutally murdered a bunch of knights before capturing Cameron soooo ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Merulo instead realises he can change Cameron's appearance to delay the prophecy. So he's gonna dye his hair? No. He turns him into a vulture (but a magic one with the ability of speech!) and later a woman (this whole bit is Extremely bioessentialist and misogynistic, but that would take a whole essay to go over istg) and later back to Cameron. With dyed hair, you ask? No. Cameron insists on staying blonde because he's 'more handsome as a blonde'. So much for that all-consuming fear of death lol. At some point, it's implied Cameron might have an anxiety disorder? If that's true, this is not the representation I want, because this man is depicted as a sopping wet crybaby who'll fuck over anyone so long as it means he doesn't have to face his Big Fear. Which can't actually be that big since, again, he wouldn't even dye his fucking hair to avoid it. I have no idea why Merulo likes him, since by all accounts he has no redeeming qualities.

Anyway, I can't be bothered going over every chapter in detail, but you've got the set up now. Cameron is now in a roomies situation with Merulo, keeps trying to seduce him bc he's a masochistic sex pest, eventually succeeds, etc, etc. Would be a semi fun set up if not for all the gross shit.

Let's take a lil detour now just to say, if you're going into this expecting a comedy, here's what the author finds funny in no particular order: All manner of bodily fluids, farts, incontinence, sexual harrassment, incest, poor personal hygiene, big boobies, periods (and women being overly emotional on them), slurs, did I mention the bodily fluids? In summary, it's the sense of humour of a 9-year-old, with swear words and sex jokes thrown in to make it clear this is definitely a book for adults. If that's the kind of thing you find funny, go wild my dude. Unfortunately, I find none of these things funny, and in fact find the personal hygiene and incontinence stuff kind of ableist, and the misogyny, well... Misogynistic. But that's just me.

Back to the plot: While Cameron and Merulo are navigating their poorly communicated new situationship, we get some chapters from Glenda's POV! (Except not first person like Cameron's chapters so it's a bit weird but whatever).

Now, how shall we describe Glenda's chapters? Hmmmm. They are very... Tumblr.

Here's the thing: I feel uniquely qualified to critique this because I, like the author, am an enby white person who's been on tumblr for way too much of my life, so you could consider me an expert here. The thing about tumblr, and tumblr authors by extension, is that it's algorithm-free, so you create your own little echo chamber where everyone you follow parrots back how awesome and woke and unracist you are. This leads to characters such as Glenda, where the author is trying soooo hard to be soooo self-aware, pointing at her and going "omg white people are so crazy, right?" when they themself are a white person with no real self-awareness. Making elves blue doesn't remove this, that's such a cop-out. 'Now the White Man can experience racism, bc elves are different and BLUE!' Wow. Genius. Never been done before. Glenda is a very over-the-top caricature of your stereotypical white (sorry, blue) woman. If you've ever seen the show Community, she's basically just Britta. Right down to the vegetarianism, addiction to (magic) weed, and the whole "I can excuse racism, but I draw the line at animal cruelty." In other words, Glenda is wholly ✨️Unoriginal✨️. She's actually written worse than Britta if I'm being honest. The author's trying way too hard to shove in your face how awful and bigoted she is. And then it comes out that she's actually been self-medicating a personality disorder, because everyone with a personality disorder is inherently an evil bigot, I guess. Oh, but she’s secretly a repressed lesbian, too. Ok. Not sure of her job title btw because it is never actually mentioned, but she's more or less a fantasy cop. A suppressed lesbian fantasy cop. Ok. Sure. Fine. NEVER seen that before. Not a harmful stereotype AT ALL. (Is the sarcasm coming through? Just making sure coz apparently reading comprehension is dead).

Speaking of Glenda turning out to be a repressed lesbian, let's talk about her lesbian awakening, Domitia. Domitia is a half elf/half dragon (so a mixed race woman, but the fantasy kind) who was "surgically corrected" at birth to live as an elf. Sooo, is she a poor attempt at an intersex metaphor? She's also dark-skinned (but still blue!), fat, and a big trans ally who performs the genderbend spell for anyone who's desperate enough to drag themselves through her swamp to get it. Abortions, too, but she's real bummed about ‘the snuffing of a tiny life’. Ignoring that last part, it kind of seems as though the author shoved every minority they could think of onto this one character purely so Glenda could face her bigotry via... lusting after her. So essentially Domitia is just a plot device. And not just for Glenda, but I don’t wanna spoil it too much. Great. Most of the chapters with her are from Glenda's POV, which makes it totally ok to say a bunch of fatphobic shit about her and refer to her as a "mongrel" because Glenda is, say it with me, a ✨️Bigot✨️. Everyone knows her as 'the mongrel witch', though, so even Domitia uses it to refer to herself sometimes! Wow.

Another badly written female character worth mentioning is Hydna! Hydna is Merulo's sister (they were raised together but it's unclear if they're blood related) and she is described as having 'tawny' skin and 'a *wild mane* of burgundy hair'. So she's a woman of colour. And if you look up 'tawny skinned woman' on google images, you'd see that it's pretty likely she's a black woman. You got that? This is her opening scene:

"In the midst of this awkwardness, the dragon contracted into a giant woman. Muscular, broad-shouldered, big of hip and thigh and breast. Just... large. Her clothes didn’t particularly impress me, being a man’s standard tunic and leggings, but I marveled at how they stretched to fit her contours.
'Listen, man, I’m not being bigoted.' The dragon made an obvious effort to soften her voice as she approached. 'My brother has never had a friend before. I’m proud of him, is all.' She dropped a hand on Merulo’s shoulder with enough force to hammer in a six-inch nail. It was commendable that he did not visibly vibrate.
I peered at the two of them in disbelief. With her tawny complexion, wild mane of burgundy hair, and overall glow of health and vitality, the woman could not have looked more dissimilar to my poor, pasty Merulo.
'Huh.' The dragon studied Merulo’s un-shoed foot, then looked me over in turn. [...] Her biceps also outsized mine by several orders of magnitude."

If you don't understand why That ^ is bad, you might be beyond help idk. Go make some friends who aren't white. If you're struggling with that, try again, but this time, actually listen to them.

Now, apparently the author didn't intend for her to be a black woman. A lot of authors seem to use the descriptor ‘tawny skinned’ as shorthand for "I don't want to write non-white characters, but need plausible deniability in case I get called out." I think we should put that word on a shelf until these authors understand what it actually means. 'Olive skinned' can stay, but it's on thin ice. Listen to me, dear stupid authors, you may not have intended to write a non-white character, but you did. Maybe look up words before you use them.

The lack of self-awareness of the author is a continuous theme throughout. The book tries to make commentary on racism and homophobia etc without fully understanding what those things are. I can name the number of non-white characters on one hand. Of those, one is Domitia, who is 'dark blue' so unclear if she's supposed to count, and one is a character mentioned in a throwaway line listing dead knights, so unclear if he counts either. By the end, 2 are dead (if we're counting that knight), and one’s in jail. Incredible. I can also count the number of named female characters on one hand (not counting Cameron) and only two of them aren't blatant bigots. Those two, well... you've already heard about how they're written.

Now some people may tell you all the racism and homophobia and whatever else is intentional, because that's how this world works and it's something for the characters to overcome! But here's the thing, there is a Massive difference between bigotry intentionally written to add depth and flaws to the world and characters, and bigotry that is subconsciously written into the narrative because the author has unchallenged, internal biases. And if you caught the former but somehow skipped over the ABUNDANCE of the latter, then I'm sorry, but I am side-eying you so heavily. Maybe do some soul-searching and check your privilege, bud.

Lastly, a word about the fucking chapter subheadings. Some people find these hilarious, and whatever, you do you. But I saw on tumblr that the whole reason these exist is because the author was trying to meet a minimum word count, and that makes me so very annoyed because you know what? We could have used those extra words in the actual fucking book instead of using them to spoil whole chapters ahead of time and slapping you in the face with things that should be subtext. SO MUCH is glossed over. The plot is so full of holes I could wear it as fishnets. There is seemingly no sense of continuity. I don't know any characters' ages, apart from Cameron's, which is off-handedly mentioned halfway through. I don't know Glenda's job, because if she's ‘of the Knights of Order’ then why are 'Knights' synonymous with 'men'. Where are all the other female knights? How dare you deprive me of them. There's no clear rules to the magic system. It seems to just be 'every kind of spell is possible, except ☝️ when it isn't' aka, a spell only exists when it's plot convenient, even if it would have been real handy to have 50 pages ago. There was barely any mention of any sort of timeline, so this whole book could take place in days or years, I DON'T KNOW. Cameron was in Merulo's castle for 'weeks'. 2? 5? 15?? Fuck knows! At like 200 pages in, it's Autumn now! What was it before? Cameron's first 2 transformations are glossed over; we don't see him adapt to being a vulture and he learns to fly off-page, and we barely see him adapt to being a woman apart from all the boob and period jokes. Merulo's adjustment to his super awesome prosthetics that are hardly different to real limbs (hate that trope btw) is glossed over. ANYTHING that would have been a great opportunity for character exploration is GLOSSED OVER. The whole MAIN RELATIONSHIP happens mostly off-page. We're barely halfway through and they're already being cosy and domestic? WHEN DID THAT DEVELOP?! In the fade to black sex scenes?? ELABORATE please on ANYTHING just not those stupid fucking SUBHEADINGS jesus fucking christ. You cannot hide bad writing behind "it's a comedy". Good comedies are intelligent and don't rely on fucking toilet humour. Write better, hire some goddamn sensitivity readers, and maybe even go outside and talk to real people who aren't on tumblr. Ok I'm done.

[Natalie all_books_great_and_small · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received an advance reader copy of this book to read in exchangefor an honest review via the publishers Titan Books.

Apparently Sir Cameron Needs to Die is a very funny, camp and fun queer romantasy with a diverse cast of characters.
Sir Cameron is a cowardly knight who has avoided battles and kept himself away from danger. That is until the church for-tell a prophecy that to kill their nemesis, the mad sorcerer Merulo, (who wants to kill their god to save the world) the knights must kill Sir Cameron. This sends him fleeing to Merulo with the request of staying within his protection to ensure the prophecy doesn't come true, and to save them both. What he doesn't expect is to fall for Merulo. But does Merulo feel the same.
There's so much that goes on in this fast-paced romantasy and I honestly don't want to spoil it for anyone by giving too much away. I think this book will be a book you either love or hate (I absolutely loved it) and I'd recommend going into with an open mind and not give up on it.
The situations Cameron gets himself into are absolutely hilarious and I love the slapstick moments, the layers to each character that peeled back throughout the course of the book and the messages conveyed which are quite in tune to political and religious events across the globe and so does feel relatable in parts.

[anna b · Rating 4 out of 5]

was genuinely so scared that this would be so so annoying and not as funny as it thought it was (like *loud throat clearing noises* iykyk), but it wasn't! actually funny! went somewhere I Did Not expect! silly and aware of itself and the subchapters are probably my favorite part! fun!!

[Katin · Rating 1 out of 5]

"That's right," called Merulo, sketching something now in broad sweeps, "He only wants you to say nasty thing in pretend. And then you have to fuck him afterward."

I genuinely thought Apparently, Sir Cameron Needs to Die would be one of THE books for me in 2026. I stumbled upon it so perfectly. I visited a local bookshop after a long day with my manager at work, and it was standing right there in one of the first shelves. The title, the cover, the sprayed edges screamed to me that I must pick this book up! It all felt so organic. I could not wait to get my hands on it.

The first chapter had so much promise. Each chapter starts with an intro of sorts which dictates the humor for the rest of the novel, more or less. I knew that the humor needed to land with me in order for me to be enamored by it. In the first chapter, I thought there was some charm, a promise that I could get through this novel. However, I was sorely mistaken.

Unfortunately for me, once the main character of Sir Cameron is introduced, it was all downhill from there. But Katin, you just started the book! How can it already be downhill when we haven't even climbed? Exactly, my dear reader. That is precisely the problem. I could not stand being in Cameron's head, and he doesn't grow in any meaningful way from what I read. I thought I liked himbo characters so Cameron either completely proved me wrong or was written so poorly.

To be fair to Cameron, it's not like I liked any of characters either. Merulo and Glenda were poised to be the secondary protagonists in my eyes, and neither did the story any favors. Merulo was too cranky (that's not the right word, but I don't know how to describe how he feels to me). I got the purpose of Glenda, but I honestly found her chapters to be boring and annoying. I never wanted to read her side of the story.

As for Cameron and Merulo's relationship, uhh... That's what we were given? I thought this was marketed as a romance? Did I smile at some "romantic" scenes with them? Of course! I love love! But everything about their romantic relationship felt unearned. If I'm going to be honest, I really couldn't tell you if they ended up being a proper couple at the end of the novel, or if they were in a friends-with-benefits-but-we-know-we-like-each-other situationship. I truly feel like if they were written as friends instead of eventual lovers, they would've had a lot more chemistry that didn't feel so contrived. It's a shame too because I loved Cameron being masochistic! I was behind their relationship dynamic the whole time! But it's almost as if the author gave us a decent scene or two and expected readers to be okay with it.

Also a side tangent, maybe this is too heternormative for me to say, but did we really have to emphasize how not appealing Merulo is? Calling him bent, old, hair like an oil curtain (?), got me more grossed out than actually thinking, "Wow, Cameron must really love this man beyond his looks!" He can be ugly, that's fine, but I don't like how it was consistently written out. Maybe it's because I'll never purposefully think of a character to be unattractive in my head, but it kept ruining the motion picture in my head.

Anyway, I have no idea where the science fiction portion came into play. I was like, "what now?" when we were catapulted into space, and there were talks of spaceships, moons, and martians. I don't even know where Gita and The Captain came from. I think I could've kindly rated this book two stars if we finished in the medieval fantasy setting we started with. But a science fiction ending that truly felt like an ass-pull? Sign me the fuck out.

I thought I could read another Greer Stothers novel. The only condition would be if that would be their fourth or fifth novel. After this novel took such a drastic turn in a direction I didn't see coming and didn't enjoy, I'm not sure if I will pick up another book at all.

I wished I liked this book more, even if I would've only rated it three stars. I wanted to enjoy the banter between the two male leads. The banter was okay at first, but then it got tiring when it felt like I got no growth from either of them. The plot itself didn't keep me entertained either. I was for sure skimming. This book basically put me in a reading slump which is so disappointing to say. I should have DNF'ed, and it's my fault yet again for not listening to my gut. The ending wasn't worth it.

[Natalie Clark · Rating 1 out of 5]

I think it's really hard to try to be like Pratchett

[Jen (Fae_Princess_in_Space) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Friends, this book was an absolute rollercoaster and I LOVED it. It’s marketed as a fantasy, but I genuinely think a sci-fi tag would suit it better… I definitely went into it expecting a medieval romantasy, and whilst we did get elements of that, I think the sci-fi twist far outweighs it! Don’t go into this expecting pure romance, as that’s very much a sub-plot (and it’s all closed door), but the sexual tension between the two MCs is really fun (think ultimate black cat x golden retriever, but the black cat has to power to end the world and the golden retriever keeps nearly getting murdered on accident, oops!)

If you’re someone who loves unreliable, chaos-gremlin narrators, you are going to LOVE Sir Cameron Vaillencourt. He is the biggest himbo on horseback that you could ever meet. He’s big, dumb and gorgeous - and spends a considerable amount of time transfigured into various other forms, much to his horror. He is a perfect counterpoint to the ‘mad sorcerer’ Merculo, who is a genius determined to ‘destroy god’ and save the world.

Having gone into this expecting a silly, easy read, I actually ended up having to pay quite a lot of attention… trying not to give spoilers, but this is definitely more reminiscent of ‘Some Desperate Glory’ or ‘A Complicated Love Story Set In Space’ than ‘Fourth Wing’… but there are dragons, so that’s very exciting!

Overall not the read I was expecting, but definitely the one I needed! Read for:
✨ Fantasy x sci-fi mash up
✨ Elves, dragons, unicorns
✨ Black cat x golden retriever
✨ Jock x nerd
✨ Chaotic unreliable narrator
✨ MC is a himbo on horseback
✨ So stupid… that he’s smart?
✨ Escaping his own prophecy
✨ What is really real?
✨ Destroy god, save the universe
✨ Apocalypse!? I hardly know her!

Thank you to Titan Books for an ARC! It’s available on 3rd Feb 💕

[Emily Arscott · Rating 1 out of 5]

nothing about this book worked for me if I’m being honest. The plot is certainly ridiculous and outlandish, but in a way that is enjoyable for no one. I was hoping for wit but the banter is so juvenile and try-hard that I was rolling my eyes by the third act.

I can see how this came from tumblr because every character/plot point seemed set up ONLY for a surface level gag that they spam for laughs every 2-5 paragraphs. I usually love silly queer romances but this was wrong on every level

[bird]

positively baffling that i encountered this as a novel in 2026 and not as an original side project on livejournal in 2005. i would have loved this in 2005.

[Wolfgang · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gosh I don't even know what to say. I think it's changed something in me. I finished it only minutes ago so please forgive me. the humour was so so up my street. There were moments where I had to put the book down to laugh.

And the twists?? oh my god the twists. oh my god. Enough said. holy fuck.

The characters are all written so beautifully. And I love a pathetic sickly repressed older man so this was doing things for me. I love pathetic men in general so honestly both Sir Cameron and The Sorcerer were doing it for me if I'm honest.

I think this is definitely a book I shall reread over and over and remain a favourite for life.I remember they posted about the book premise online years ago and I have been eagerly awaiting for it to be finished. It does not disappoint at all. I can't wait to read what Greer Stothers writes next.

Edit: um. I forgot my colleagues follow me on this app. so um. if you're my colleague and you saw that thing about me talking about pathetic older men... um. no you didn't.

[Kayleigh | Welsh Book Fairy · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.25*

I went into Apparently Sir Cameron Needs To Die ready for chaos, and for about 90% of the book it absolutely delivered. The wit? Sharp. The humour? Relentless. The overall commitment to being completely unserious? Deeply admirable. This book spends most of its time winking at you like it knows it’s ridiculous and is daring you not to have fun. Which I did. Immense fun, in fact.

Until we hit the last ten percent. The plot didn’t so much conclude as it cartwheeled off a cliff, waved goodbye, and left me standing there holding several unresolved thoughts and a mild sense of betrayal. The vibes felt completely different and therefore, so was my overall enjoyment level.

[Becky · Rating 5 out of 5]

Listen… Apparently, Sir Cameron Needs to Die is one of the silliest, most ridiculous books I’ve read in a long time and I can see why some people wouldn’t like it. But me personally? I loved the heck out of this. Gimme 15 of ‘em.

The main character Cameron is conceited, cowardly, and an absolute idiot. Like truly. But somehow… he’s also insanely lovable? I was rooting for him the entire time, even when he absolutely did not deserve it. That kind of protagonist is hard to pull off, because he could have easily been a very hated character. But I adored this stupid sex-crazed hunk of a goofball so much.

Actually, what really got me was how attached I became to all of the characters. I didn’t expect that at all. Merulo is an evil sorcerer who in truth treats Cameron rather poorly, but I also really loved him and their relationship. By the end I was genuinely sad it was over because I wanted more of their banter and shenanigans. Glenda is a frenemy who spends half the book trying to kill Cameron despite being his only friend. We meet other characters who are also badasses that I wish I read more about. Basically I would 100% read a whole series Cameron and the gang and eat it up, no matter what the plot was about.

Speaking of the plot, I was pleasantly surprised that the ending shocked me. I genuinely did not see it coming, probably because it was so outlandish, but it fit perfectly with the overall absurdity of the plot. I won’t spoil it, but the end gagged me for real and I loved it.

The only downside for me was that the ending, though enjoyable, felt rushed, and a few characters kind of disappeared without real closure, which left me wanting a little more. If there had been about 20 more pages to tie up some of the loose ends this would have been a perfect book for me.

Still, this is one of those books I know I’m going to remember and randomly think about forever. I laughed out loud throughout the entire thing, and I am desperately hoping for a sequel.

Overall I rated this an easy 4.75 stars. It’s not for everyone, but it was exactly right for me. If you’re looking for a silly, cozy fantasy with a bit of genre blending, an absolutely ridiculous plot, and a cast of characters you will inevitably fall in love with, this is the book for you.

Thank you to NetGalley and Titan Books for an advanced digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

[Kevin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Apparently, Sir Cameron Needs to Die is a humorous queer fantasy about a cowardly knight and an evil sorcerer who wants to kill God. Sir Cameron is a handsome but cowardly knight who gets by because of his friendship with an elf. But when a Church prophecy dictates that he has to die before the sorcerer Merulo can be defeated, he runs away to that mad sorcerer and is willing to grovel or seduce. In Merulo’s lair, Sir Cameron discovers a masochistic kink within himself, several good reasons why God needs to die, and a lonely flawed obsessive man he can grow to genuinely care for.

I really enjoyed this book but milage may vary depending on how you respond to its tone. It is super casual and incredibly unserious, and the title hints at it. It is also a ton of fin because of that. It actually reminded me of AJ Sherwood’s “How I Stole the Princess’ White Knight and Turned Him to Villainy” more than it did Caitlin Rozakis’ “Dreadful”. It’s kind of a parody of the fantasy genre that turns kind of meta by the end. I won’t spoil it, but the setting was a surprise as the book takes a science fiction bend.

I really enjoyed the clippy long chapter titles, but I do think they’d do spoil the chapter a bit. The short sequential episodic chapters do give the impression of an online serial so it did made me wonder if that’s how this started as. I liked the himbo of a man that is Cameron. He is gay, knows himself rather well and is honest to himself about it, and does not let dignity get in the way of survival. I enjoyed the hijinks he gets himself into including discovering masochism and being turned into a vulture and a woman. I was just charmed by him and his earnestness throughout. The book just brought a smile to my face. Honestly, it was cute too while also somehow managing to make me tear up.

Apparently, Sir Cameron Needs to Die is a funny gay fantasy-turned-scifi romance that does not take itself too seriously.

[Angus F · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is another book where the cover immediately caught my eye, and the title sealed the deal. It’s not your typical fantasy title and that alone made me curious. After reading the synopsis I was completely in

I don’t usually pick up humor books, and honestly, I’m not sure why.. but after this that might have to change. I’ve never described a book as literally making me laugh out loud until this one. Cameron’s humor is unmatched. Everyone in this world seems to hate him, which is wild because he’s so genuinely lovable. Merulo was also a standout, but when these two share the page, the story really shines. Their dynamic is chaotic and charming and somehow perfectly balanced

The side characters, especially Glenda the elf, add so much personality. Getting brief POVs from them made the world/universe feel even more alive. The world is one of the most unique settings I’ve read in a while. It blends this almost futuristic feel with ancient magic, and while I’m still not totally sure I understood every piece of the lore... I loved the ride it took me on 😅

The ending was totally unexpected. It really feels so much different than the start of the book, and i never really would have guessed it going there, but honestly I really loved that. I don't know how to exactly convey my feelings on what happens without spoiling things, but simply I need more!

For a debut, this was seriously impressive! The writing, humor, and pacing were all spot on, and I’m already excited to see what Greer Stothers does next.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

[gracie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Did I find this funny? Yes, but it got to a point where I genuinely felt frustrated with the humor. It didn't help that the book slowed down considerably to build up for the climax at the same time. The best way to describe it is when a friend keeps telling the same structure of a joke over and over, it's funny for the first few times and then it's just...not.

I did really like the settings of the book and the overall atmosphere. The writing was pretty immersive and I loved it. Cameron as a character was hilarious and a fucking dolt (affectionate) and his interactions with the other characters were definite highlights!!

[Nia]

One last DNF before the end of the year!

Apart from the chapter sub headings, the humour isn't working for me and the plot and characters are not nearly interesting enough to hold my attention. I don't think it's bad, just not for me.