Tag Archives: erotic fantasy

Book Review: No Demons But Us, by A.S. Etaski

I picked up a copy of A.S. Etaski‘s Treasure Revealed at Savers. Since it’s the second book in a series, I ordered the first one, No Demons But Us, with the intention of reading them together.

My sister deserved to die, but I didn’t kill her. The infamous Sisterhood couldn’t care less – it’s the perfect excuse to make their move. My name is Sirana. I am a young Noble trapped in a most wretched accused of assassinating my sister, the Matron’s heir. If I take the blame, I am next on the sacrificial altar.

Dark Elves live for intrigue in our underground matriarchy. We bend the rules for the cunning and the bold. To survive, I must play the game.

Court intrigue, demonic rituals, and mind-rending trials against deadly foes surround me, pervasive webs spun by our sadistic priesthood and the Queen’s brutal enforcers.

Through it all, the Red Sisters delight in watching me. I must prove myself beneath their ravenous gazes, engage in the power play, or become the next meal for our goddess.

Another reviewer described this book as if it “was written by the Dungeon Master that lost the point of the quest in favor of just getting down with everyone and everything in the campaign.” Personally, I think it feels like sexed-up R.A. Salvatore fan fiction, which is interesting because Salvatore is not among the inspirations the author gives in her GR author blurb. But you won’t convince me that the characters and events of this book are not set in Salvatore’s world. Period.

I wouldn’t hate that in general. I’ve not read all the Dritz novels, but I’ve been fine with the ones I have read, even if I didn’t love them. But this book…Yeah, I came pretty close to hating it. In fact, I actually own the first two books. As a book hoarder, getting rid of books I’ve not yet read feels very unnatural. But I won’t be reading book two (let alone searching out the next eight). It will go straight on the gieaway stack unread.

This is basically an erotic fantasy, which I read a lot of. So, this fact alone isn’t a problem for me. What was a problem was that I found absolutely none of the sex sexy. In fact, most of it is either rape or simply shoving things in a vagina…or netherlips…or netherhole 😬 . Even non-sexy sex might not have killed it for me. But despite the book’s lack of trigger warnings, there is almost no sex that involves people who both consent and enjoy themselves. There’s plenty of sex: sex as rape, sex as dominance, sex as duty, sex as hazing, sex to ‘learn’ someone, sex as a test, sex as a sign of endurance, magically impelled sex, the list goes on. But sex because someone wants to and is enjoying it? Very little of that is on the page. And if non-con is your jam, more power to you. The book is dedicated to “…my husband and companion, who did not know on our wedding day he had married one of his favorite authors.” So, apparently, Etaski’s husband does. But it is not my jam.

Just because most of the sexual abuse is at the hands or orchestration of other women does not give me any less of an ick. In fact, it adds an additional layer for me. Like Salvatore’s dark elven Drow, Etaski’s Davrin are matriarchal. But this matriarchy feels very patriarchal. As if Etaski merely made the men women, and the women men, but did not otherwise change the power structures or social hierarchies. As such, it still feels, to me, very misogynistic. I enjoyed none of it.

What’s more, so very much of it made no sense for its stated purpose. Want to test if someone will be a good spy? Let two men and a half demon rape her. That’ll for sure give you a good idea of her spy capabilities. Want to form a bonded, loyal group of women? Allow 40 other women to do whatever they want to the new one, so long as it includes sex. That broken arm and 2 weeks of coercive sex will for sure endear her to the group. Want to assess someone’s improvement in martial skills? Pit her against two fully-trained women wearing magical phalluses, winning points earned by forcefully penetrating the novice. What? Why? What exactly is any of this training her for?

And again, no judgment if this is something others enjoy. But this is my review of my experience with the book, and I am so glad to be finished with it and relieved to not be forcing myself to commit to completing the second.

Other Reviews:

Book Review: Cruel Shadows, by Harper A. Brooks

I picked up a freebie copy of Harper A. Brooks‘ Cruel Shadows through Amazon.

I’m caught in the shadows…
…and the shadows want to play.

I thought I’d dreamed up the shadow realm and the place I called Dark Castle.

But it’s very real. And he’s still here.

My prince, my savior, my captor…

The monster in my bed.

But this time, he’s not alone.

I must escape, but first, my prince and his shadow men want me to fulfill their demands.

All of them.

The longer I stay, the harder it is to resist their dark promises, their insatiable hunger. Because, while these monsters’ smiles are cruel, their touches are the most delicious torture.

But they aren’t the only threat in this world. The darkness that wanted me before has found me again, and like my Shadow Prince, it’s ready to claim me as its own…forever.

This was a pretty big “meh” for me. It held my attention for about half the book, and then it lost me to boredom. I only finished it to finish it. The writing is fine. There’s a little inconsistency to it, but it’s perfectly readable. The characters could be interesting if they weren’t just cardboard cut-outs. The world could be intriguing if it were actually developed. The plot might have been fun if it actually materialized before the ~85% mark.

Let me be clear here that I’m not actually complaining about the lack of plot. I know what kind of book I picked up. But, for a book this length, I needed something to make me care about the characters and all the sex they were having. I don’t even necessarily need to like them, but I need to care. And that’s where Cruel Shadows fails. I didn’t care. No one grabbed my attention. Nothing kept me interested. All in all, like I said, “Meh.” It’s a thing I read and will quickly forget.

Other Reviews:

Book Review: The Yaga’s Riders, by C. Rochelle

Before I get to the review, a quick housekeeping note. I’ve returned to university and am now working on a Ph.D. As such, the time I can give to reading fiction (my favorite thing) is sadly constricted. It will likely take me a little while to find my feet and my new normal. But at the moment, I’m experimenting with reading and reviewing series instead of individual books. (I even made a whole post asking for omnibus recommendations.) This makes for longer posts a lot of the time but also allows for more time between postings. But I also acknowledge that I don’t usually tend to be quite as detailed when I’m reviewing several books together. So, I may not stick with it. But for now, expect series reviews more often than individual book reviews.

OK, on to the review.

I picked up a copy of C. Rochelle‘s Rise of the Witch as an Amazon freebie and then went back and purchased a copy of the omnibus to finish the series.

Blurb:

As with most beginnings, it started with death.

When I had nothing left to lose, I traveled to the hut in the woods; the one no one dared approach. The witch who lived there recognized the darkness in my soul and took me under her wing—to witness her reign of terror firsthand and eventually, to inherit her legacy as my own.

Now I’m the monster they fear; the one humans avoid at all costs. In this welcome isolation, I’ve attempted to forget my past and the future that was taken from me.

Until three men appear, somehow able to break through my protective wards and see me in my true form. While resistant to their intrusion, I recognize they may be the ones I’ve been waiting for—the ones I need to ascend to my full power.

Too bad I would rather grind their bones than invite them in.

But something is mysteriously devouring the forest, and I suspect the threat may be the same one I barely escaped many moons ago. If it is, he will find me a more worthy opponent than the last time we met.

I am the Yaga and I may be broken, but my edges are sharp.

I enjoyed the heck out of this series. Though more the first two books than the third, which I thought got too sappy and too deus ex machina-like. Characters suddenly developed and utilized powers too easily and conveniently. But outside of that, I loved the characters and thought the world was interesting. The writing is well-edited and easy to read. And there were just a lot of aspects of the romance and sexual relationships that I appreciated—things you don’t see often enough, IMO.

The heroine is curvy and doesn’t conform to a lot of today’s beauty standards. She’s not clean-shaven, for example. And the men make it very clear that they like this about her. One’s kink is even loving the smell of a woman a day or so outside of bathing. (This is notable since women are often taught they shouldn’t smell of anything at all—just one more way to plasticize us, IMO). So, I very much appreciated that the men loved aspects of her body that make her human in the most natural of ways.

Conversely, I did take issue with the gay character becoming bisexual for Vasi. It’s not written as if he was always bi but just finally found a woman to express it with. He was gay but confusingly found himself sexually attracted to Vasi. I found that a little ick if I’m honest. Though I adored the absolute chaos that was his relationship with Tan as well as Nox’s protectiveness of it.

All in all, this series was a winner for me, and I’ll be looking for more of Rochelle’s books.

Other Reviews:

@author.tbwiese @C. Rochelle RH Author I read this in two days. Couldn’t put it down. RAN to my bookcase to start book 2. #bookthoughts #spicybooks #babayaga ♬ original sound – T.B. Wiese – Fantasy Author