edgybutfemme's reviews
131 reviews

I don't think I've literally ever DNFed a book so quickly. I don't at all have a problem with stalker romances and quite like billionaire romances, so when I got this in my probably smut novella bundle I really thought it'd be my speed. I absolutely cannot go any further, even just 16 pages I had to drag myself through because it's quite... cringe-y? This is what people think I mean when I say I like smutty books and that is so upsetting. I am totally down for instant chemistry and wanting to fuck immediately, but I cannot handle the writing style. This one is not for me!

This is an incredibly sweet childhood friends to lovers romamce! This first volume is very chaste and sweet and I wouldn't be surprised if it stayed that way since they are young. 

This has excellent found family vibes. Jiang Shen is so talented and so wonderful and everyone adores him. Since he is from a small town, I expected there to be some homophobia or toxic masculinity issues around him being a dancer. Instead, everyone is incredibly supportive and wonderful. The whole town really comes together to support him and his dancing career. As each of his friends find out, they sneak him extra portions of the food he needs and buy him ballet shoes. It's an incredibly wholesome narrative.

In terms of the love interest, Bai Jinyi is incredible. He is extremely intensely devoted from very early on. He is also rich and very straightforward in his thinking. It would never occur to him not to do things like buy Jiang Shen a cell phone (so they could talk more) or renovate his home to add a dance studio (he can't let his definitely-just-a-friend practice outside). I adore him! 

This is much sweeter than I usually take my romance (especially danmei), and one of the few contemporary danmei that I've read. However, it is very enjoyable and the novel equivalent of a warm hug. Also, at only two volumes, this will be the shortest danmei I've read to date. I'm looking forward to reading the next one!

This is absolutely perfect and not at all what I expected. When picking this up I assumed this was Tadek getting to have a little post canon romance. This is so much better than that! This is a beautiful tie up of Tadek's emotional arc, a brilliant glimpse into who he is and why he makes the decisions he does, and also a delightful opportunity to spend some time with Evemer and Kadou and Tadek after they get to just be all together on Evemer and Kadou's secret honeymoon. This isn't at all about romantic love! Instead, it's a beautiful treatise on fealty and the unique love and bond and oath between a kayha and their lady or lord. Tadek gets to work through his grief and finish his self actualization journey and I am so glad for this. It's exactly the wrap up that I didn't even know I needed, and I'm so glad it exists. Go read this! I loved Tadek already, but even if you weren't fully sold on him you should still try this out. I love him So Much I need to go lie down and feel my feelings about this banger of a sequel novella.

This delivered exactly what I expected it to: a fun bdsm romp with a polyamorous throuple. I enjoyed the dynamic between the whole group as well as the dynamics between each of them paired off. I always want romances with two men and one women to have the men be actually into each other as well, and this gave me that! Also, the smut was very enjoyable and kinky. If I remember I will add a spice rating later.

I wasn't expecting that this book would have a solid emotional arc with one of the two men coming to terms with his own bisexuality, dealing with his own internalized homophobia, and making sure he can be the partner each of them deserves by taking the time he needs to work on himself. I would absolutely read more by this author. I showed up for the bdsm smut, but I feel like I was also given a book with surprising emotional depth and romance as well. Also, as a polyam person who just kinda accidentally realized years into a "friendship" that I was actually in love with all three of the people I was living with, this book's polyam dynamic was particularly relatable to me.

Caleb is one of my favorite critical role characters and this hits exactly as hard as it should. Also, I really really appreciate the intentional polyamory inclusion. Astrid, Eadwulf, and Bren are so tragic, but I love them deeply and it was wonderful to see their relationship threaded throughout the entire story. Also, re: the end

I am obsessed with the choice to end the novel with him introducing himself for the first time as Caleb Widogast. It's a name that became his because that is the identity he used when he met his new family and it gives me the Big Feelings.

🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️4 / 5
This features many explicit scenes with lots of detailed language. This book is heavier on the spice, but the plot is still there and doing something interesting. Also, it's probably at least a little kinky.
 The Smut / Kinks include: breathplay, knife (hook) play, blood play (light), fear play, pain play, light BDSM, dubious consent, edge play, and a lot of literal swordfighting as foreplay. 

This book was everything I hoped it would be based on the pitch: a grown up Peter Pan and Captain Hook having a queer fairytale romance. It's been 14 years since Peter left Neverland and Captain Hook would tell you he's never been happier (outside of the shadow consuming more and more of Neverland) but that is a lie. Meanwhile, Peter is living a totally normal life having forgotten Neverland: he's 26 years old and working at a college teaching music but haunted with a loneliness he can't seem to escape (and that no amount of dating Perfectly Nice Guys seems to fix).

My absolute favorite part of this book, and what really sold me on this dynamic, is how much Peter and Hook both live for the game. They both need adventure and battle and an equal to fight against. It appears immediately in their dynamic and the smut was incredibly fun because of it. Hook feels like a villain and certainly has his red flag moments, but it is also genuinely so sweet how he never wants to actually do real permanent harm to Peter or anyone he cares about.

I love a villain/hero romance, and this also delivers on both ends of the enemies to lovers dynamic. Hook doesn't want to like Peter and has a very good reason to hate him (small spoiler, and not much of one if you know the original story:

y'know, the whole cutting his hand off thing

). It is so funny to see Captain Hook have to deal with searching for Peter in 21st century America because he needs his nemesis of hundreds of years to come back and fix Neverland. Peter's half of the dynamic is made even more complicated by memory shenanigans, but once he does remember, he also has a perfectly good reason to hate Hook (bigger spoiler, unique to this story:

He thinks Hook killed Tinkerbell. It's more complicated than he thought, but that's the place he's starting from once he has his memories back

). Their romance is incredibly spicy and also ends up surprisingly sweet by the end. 

There is a plot here outside of the numerous excellent sex scenes and romance, and I enjoyed it even though the main focus of the story is definitely the romance. They also both have interesting relationships outside of each other, and I enjoyed all the side characters which is always a bonus. This isn't a groundbreaking novel, but it isn't trying to be, and it succeeds at delivering exactly what it set out to do. Like other good fairy tale re-imaginings/sequels, this delivers the beats I expected in a way that I enjoyed. I am really looking forward to checking out this author's other work, especially the next book in this series of stand alone romances. 

This was fine! It was a short 106 pages and I probably wouldn't have finished it if had been longer. This is mostly smut and honestly I would have preferred it if it had really committed to just being erotica. The dynamic / second chance romance plus the plot theoretically bringing them together was just too much to execute on effectively in such a short novella, especially considering how many of those pages were devoted to the sex. 

The one thing that I really commend this novella for is committing to the monsterfucking. Augustus is a snake demon and they put some fun thought into the sex scenes and monster anatomy. Spoilers about the smut & magic:

Something that I find fun in magic/monster media is when sex with a magical creature causes some sort of physical changes or bestows some fun magic powers on their partner. This novella did commit to that and that aspect was fun.Drinking Augustus' blood and having sex often gives Ari fangs, changes her eyes, and makes her glow green in addition to giving her some sort of snake powers. Idk, don't think about it too much.

 

Since I really saw the writing on the wall that it was mostly going to be smut, I turned my brain off and tried to enjoy the ride for what it was: some smut between two people who have been apart for five years and carry old hurt and regrets, but are still irresistibly drawn together the second they are back in the same place. Nothing to write home about, but not much to complain about either. Just perfectly fine monsterfucking with a HEA. 

It just...fine. I was fine while reading it, but the second I put it down I had no desire to pick it back up. Also, like, I come from fandom communities and I'm queer, I've read so much good omegaverse and this isn't it. I can name three fics off the top of my head that do it better and have something interesting to say about it. This is bland straight omegaverse to introduce it to your mainstream heterosexual audience and therefore it has nothing for me in it. It doesn't even really seem to have put much thought into HOW it works both biologically and societally. How are these two doctors so uneducated about what their biology means for them? Are the unable to resist each other becauze they like each other, or because biology, or because fated mates, or some combination of the three? It truly can't seem to decide by the point I hit. I can't believe I apparently walked away from a book mid sex scene. I'm a smut lover! This is a bad sign. Anyway, hit me up if you want GOOD omegaverse recs. I guess now I am going to go see if there is any good published omegaverse books out there. *sigh*

This is the best volume yet and I absolutely cannot wait for the next one. Unfortunately, I will have to wait (or, more likely, go back to webtoon and finish reading it there since it's complete I believe).

Ah, Sovieshu, my beloathed: welcome to the consequences of your actions! I am living my every second of Sovieshu and Rashta falling apart as Heinrey and Navier get closer and closer. It is so good to see things going Navier's way for a change, and I love how bold Heinrey is able to be now that they are married. 

There are so many things to like about this volume, but a definite highlight is shirtless Heinrey and Navier's reaction to seeing shirtless Heinrey. I absolutely love getting to see Navier establish herself as Queen while Rashta and Sovieshu continue to blunder around messing things up. So excited to see Navier and Heinrey finally get to get more extended time together. This comic is the MOST slowburn but I love it.