Book Review:: The Death King | Penelope Barsetti

This book is an indulgent escapist dark erotic romance fantasy. It is fiction. Please go into this one with the right expectations. This book will NOT be for everyone. Especially none with any sensitivity toward SA (se*ual as*ult).

I received this as an advanced listeners copy from Netgalley & the publisher, and though it did warn of dark themes, I’m not sure I was quite prepared for what this book is.

The Death King Penelope Barsetti Book Cover Sword Sheathed in a Broken Skull

Calista’s father was a King. When the Death King conquered the continent, her father killed himself before the conqueror could get to him. Calista witnessed it all before being shipped off to be a slave in the far reaches of the new kingdom. When she finds one of the coveted black diamonds in the sands, everything changes. Suddenly she finds herself a different kind of prisoner in the King’s own castle, and he’s fascinated by her. She doesn’t know him or what the war he’s clearly preparing for is about, and he’s not forthright with any information either. All Calista wants is freedom, and she’ll do just about anything to obtain it.

This is kind of the dark erotic answer to fourth wing. There are dragons, there is a dark leader love interest, there is a world to save (kind of?). Take that for what you will.

When this book began I was all in. The set up and the world this takes place in feels like a really great setup for an epic fantasy adventure/romance…whatever it might be. But as soon as Calista met the Death King, it turned into straight up erotica. The King is obsessed with bedding our dear Calista, despite the horrific trauma’s she’s endured. Like, literally her second night in his castle after rescuing her from her perpetual r*pist he’s wanting to bed her. And he does bed her, just not that first night. He gives her some choice, though not really the level he gaslights her into believing she has.

I’m not going to argue that this book takes things too far, because I know there are people out there who love a book like this one, it just wasn’t for me.

Anyway, there is a whole lot of sexy times in this book, and we’re not talking love-making. The King (Talon) is a damaged man. He’s basically allergic to intimacy. But Calista alights something new within him he’s unfamiliar with.

Personally, I wish the dirty stuff was toned down quite a bit because I think the skeleton of the plot is actually really interesting and I’d really like to find out what happens next. To me, the incessant lust really distracts from what the book could have been. For me it was 20% great setup, 70% nothing but sex and the pursuit of sex, and 10% hurry-and-wrap-up-the-plot. I also wondered a few times about consistency in the world. It’s a world where seamstresses are making the lingerie (not factory machines), but they have books of matches, and shave their nether regions? With what, a straight razor? …..it disconnected me from the story a few times when things like this would pop up.

There are three more books slated to be in this series, and while I added them all to my goodreads TBR soon after starting this book, I’m not sure if I’ll continue or not.

I thought the female narrator, Ramona Master, did a great job. The voice of Michael Ferraiuolo wasn’t really what I was expecting of a character called The Death King, and while I noticed every time narrators switched, I wouldn’t say it was distracting.

Details

Title:: The Death King (Death #1)
Author:: Penelope Barsetti
Genre:: Dark Erotic Fantasy
Publisher:: Hartwick Publishing
Length:: 341 pages
Audio Length:: 9h 7m
Audiobook Narrator:: Michael Ferraiuolo & Ramona Master
Audiobook Publisher:: Dreamscape Media
Published:: September 24th, 2024
The Litertarian Rating:: 3-Stars
Spice Rating:: 5!

Linky Links!!

Goodreads
Author Website
Amazon Affiliate Links
[Paperback] [eBook] [Audible]

If you liked this book, check out…

Not in Love | Ali Hazelwood
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Book Review:: Not in Love | Ali Hazelwood

I’ve read a few Ali Hazelwood books. Love, Theoretically, Love on the Brain, The Love Hypothesis, Check & Mate — I was expecting Not in Love to be in a similar vein, but unlike the others, which are all romances and usually contain a pretty awkward sex scene or two, this book needs to come with a disclaimer:: This Book is Pure Porn. That being said, the underlying story between the orgasms is a decent story of revenge, personal growth, and lots of obsession.

Not in Love Ali Hazelwood Book Cover

Rue Seibert works in food security science for a pioneer woman in the field who founded her own company, Kline, so the university she worked for wouldn’t own her patent. Now Rue is on the cusp of needing her own patent, just when a finance company swoops in a buys up Kline’s loan. Rue’s hero believes they’ve come in to destroy everything she’s ever worked for, so they are enemy number one. But when Rue recognizes one of the finance guys from a recent hookup, and she learns more about her boss’ history with them, the lines of her allegiance start to blur.

So let’s just jump into it and talk about the sex. This is by far the sexiest (as in literally so much sex) Hazelwood story I’ve read so far – but I haven’t read them all, so can’t say for certain it has the most. Please, enlighten me in the comments. There’s a lot of it. I know I already said that like eight different ways, but really, you need to prepare yourself. If you took away the explicit sex scenes, there may be nothing more than a novella length story in front of you. This is erotica territory.

I couldn’t help but feel bad for the two main characters, who pretty much treat sex as a biological urge and nothing more. They use a sex app (not a dating app) to find others who just want to use each other’s bodies for pleasure. They are both so detached from their feelings that that’s all they think they want or can offer someone else. I guess it did leave room for them to grow, but it was an ick for me. Sex is more than just a physical connection. Or maybe I should say sex should be more than just a physical connection. But maybe that’s my age showing? It was uncomfortable to read so much of it, and the way Eli was obsessed with Rue kind of gave me creepy-sex guy vibes. Sorry, not sorry.

One of the things Rue and Eli exchanged (other than copious amounts of bodily fluids) were all the dark pieces of themselves. Truths they’ve never told anyone before because of the shame it brings them. Similar to Hate Mail by Donna Marchetti (solid 5-Star book), I loved it. They spoke, and the other listened, and there was acceptance. The acknowledgement of their regrets and flaws and imperfect choices – it makes the connection they forge feel genuine. They’re not falling for an image of the other person they’ve built up in their own mind – they’re falling for the whole person. The real person. In that way, I found it very romantic. Then again, the same could happen in a platonic friendship, but since they’re fucking, like, all the time, let’s call it romance.

There are also storylines with themes of food scarcity, complicated family relationships, social struggles, and strong friendships. There’s some good stuff in there, you just have to wade through a lot of fornication to get there, because I’m not sure if you’ve heard yet, but there’s a lot of it.

Overall, it was a decent story. Everything that was promised had a satisfying payoff, and we get a happily ever after. If you like Hazelwood’s science-y style, you still get a bit of that, but the main course is real raunchy. It just wasn’t the one for me.

Details

Title:: Not in Love
Author:: Ali Hazelwood
Genre:: Erotic Romance
Publisher:: Berkley
Length:: 384 pages
Audio Length:: 11h 55m
Audiobook Narrator:: Callie Dalton & Jason Clarke
Audiobook Publisher:: Penguin Audio
Published:: June 11th, 2024
The Litertarian Rating:: 2-Stars

Linky Links!!

Goodreads
Author Website
Amazon Affiliate Links
[Hardcover] [Paperback] [eBook] [Audible]

If you liked this book, check out…

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