#Sense and Succubus is a fun book. Adrienne Blake being a wonderful storyteller. The cover after all is a great indication 💜🐾🐾
Thank you for the advance copy

This one was a bit of a miss for me. As a huge fan of the original story, Sense and Sensibility, I was so very excited to dive into a paranormal re-telling. Unfortunately, the first few chapters lost me completely and this book fell to the bottom of my reading pile until I just picked it up again to finish it. Just not my cup of tea.

A very good recreation of sense and sensibility . Totally gives the Austen vibes . The plot and characters were really good. But not as much as the first book in souls and shadows , pride and paranormal . It was enjoyable read.

This is the second book in a series. I hadn’t read the first book but this works as a stand alone. This is a retelling of Sense and Sensibility except in a paranormal world. While this is an interesting premise, it just didn’t quite work well. There was very little world building. We are introduced to all different species but their characteristics are never described or explained. There also was very little character development. None of their actions or motivations were explained making them very shallow characters. Subsequently, I didn’t care for any of them. The dialogue was adolescent at best. It is supposed to be a tale with two love stories but I didn’t really get the romance. It just wasn’t there; there was no spark. By adhering so closely to the story of Sense and Sensibility and not focusing on the paranormal aspects, the author missed a real opportunity to make this an innovative fun book. Overall, this story was not for me. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for giving me an ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review. ALL opinions expressed are my own.

On first starting this book, I thought it was great fun. I couldn't wait to see how each of the well-known characters from Sense and Sensibility would be portrayed, which supernatural creature they would be. The first couple of chapters with the satyrs and their rhyming couplets, and Fanny Dashwood the goblin were hilarious. And then... it just all went downhill.

Sense and Sensibility is very much a story of its era. It's impossible to move it to a modern setting and also keep the exact same plot - it just doesn't work because in 2020 there are too many opportunities for travel and communication, less importance of social class, different importance placed on reputation. This means that when this book tries to follow the plot of Austen's work so closely, the reader is just left baffled as to why characters are doing what they are doing - this might be normal for the 19th century but 21st century people don't act this way.

The fact it's set in a supernatural world could get around this problem quite neatly, but there didn't seem to be much attempt at world building or explanation of the different supernatural races and their cultures and why that might introduce conflicts between them in the way that it clearly does in the book. There isn't even much description of their physical appearance other than that succubi and incubi have wings, succubi dress provocatively and goblins are green.

The worst part of all though is the way it is written. While it's one thing for the characters to talk like American teenagers (seeing as they are American teenagers!), it grated so hard on my nerves every time the omniscient narration used a phrase like "Marianne squeed." It got to the point about three-quarters of the way in where I just couldn't do it to myself anymore and gave up.

When two sisters hearts are lost to a demon by their dad in a wager, will the ever be able to find love? Follow Elinor and Marianne as the travel through the tangles of loves that don’t seem to be returned. Or are they?

Firstly thanks to @netgalley, @authoradrienneblake & @cityowlbooks for the eBook ARC of #SenseAndSuccubus

Austin’s "sense and sensibility" has had a revamp! Succubi, Goblins, Inncubi, Satyrs and Dryads all grace this story!

This can be read as a stand alone or the there is a book one in the series "Pride and Paranormal".

Our story is centred around the Dasheood girls, Dryads, and their love lives.

Marianne is a total loose cannon and to be honest a pain in the neck.

Elinor is probably the character that I can relate to the most.

That Willoughby though!!! What a bas$$*#d

It’s a lovely story with a modern twist.

4⭐️

Many thanks to NetGalley and City Owl Press for providing me with a copy of this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this modern day paranormal retelling of Sense and Sensibility. Elinor and Marianne take turns as the central figure of the narration, which keeps the story flowing. I’ve not read the original version but I imagine that, like the first book Pride and Paranormal, it will have stayed fairly true.

I did have some issues with the first, in particular the weird shoehorning of the magical world into the narration. This was a complete non issue here and it made reading it a much better experience! I also liked the two main characters, Elinor with her older sister caring vibe, and Marianne with her casual cruelty who learns a bit of a lesson. The story had a good pace, and I didn’t want to put it down. There is an element of slut shaming, and there is a duo of sisters that are frequently referred to as sluts, so that is something to watch out for if that’s an issue but overall I was super happy that I had the opportunity to read and review this book. I’ll definitely be keeping an eye out for book 3!

If the first book put you off a bit, I feel you should give it another try because it’s definitely worth it - I’m glad I did. If you loved the first book then you’ll REALLY love this one!

Thanks to NetGalley and City Owl Press for providing me with an eARC of this release in exchange for an honest review.

I was drawn to this title as a big Jane Austen fan and Sense and Sensibility is honestly one of my favorites. That and me being in a major Paranormal Romance/Monster Romance kick I had to look into Sense and Succubus.

This is a modern day retelling of Sense and Sensibility with an array of mystical creatures such as goblins, succubi, dryads, and even an incubi included. You can pretty much assume who is the incubus in this incarnation.

Since I was pretty excited about the story there were a few things that really ripped me from the element. This is a near faithful retelling of Sense and Sensibility, borderline re-imagining of it, but that paired with the modern day setting really pulled me from the story. It resembled the story so closely when it started picking up that the mention of ride shares, texting and pretty much any modern items would throw me a little bit. I don't know if it was just me not jiving with the choices or what, but I felt it could've worked as a historical paranormal a little more or the story could be tweaked to make it feel more modern.

Other than that it was fun and if you're looking for something a little more paranormal but still Austen-esque. I'd totally recommend it.

Sense and Succubus started out great! I was sucked into this cool new world of supernatural beings. We meet Elinor, who is a no-nonsense dryad, and Marianne, Elinor's carefree middle sister. They are being kicked out of their satyr brother John's house to make room for his self-absorbed goblin wife Fanny and their baby on the way. In the process, Elinor meets Fanny's brother Edward, and Marianne meets incubus Willoughby. However, this awesome world was destroyed within a few chapters.

I understand that Sense and Succubus was a play off of Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen. However, any cute moments, interesting scenes, and cool plot points were immediately undermined by poor character development and explanation. Marianne comes off as extremely childish and her tantrums don't make much sense to the reader. Elinor's motivations and quick emotions for Edward are unclear, which makes it hard to relate to the character. The reader never has a chance to be invested in any point of the story. Basing a book off of a classic doesn't mean you need to follow the plot exactly; making this a modern-day retelling made the emotions and plot points fall flat. What works in 1800s Britain doesn't work in modern-day Maine. The characters used a mix of British and American dialogue, which was jarring and inappropriate. There did not seem to be any emotional depth; the relationships felt flat and underdeveloped.

After all of this, my main complaint was the blatant slut-shaming, sex-negative behavior, anti-Semitism, and slight racist vibes. Multiple times, succubus characters were called sluts. Sexual behavior was deemed to "ruin" a character. The goblins were bankers, obsessed with money, "screechy," cold, cruel, and extremely elitist, falling into the old trope of anti-Semitism perpetuated throughout literature and film. Then there's the slight problem of racist undertones. The green skin of the goblins was described in a more negative light than the half-goblins or other characters, and many times it was "good for a goblin" or "he's an incubus, his kind is all the same." The entire book left a disgusting taste in my mouth.

This is the second book in the Souls and Shadows series. It is supposed to feature two love stories. One featuring Elinor Dashwood and the other featuring Marianne Dashwood. What you end up getting is no romances. It was a very odd book and I understand that it is a remake of Sense and Sensibility, but I was really disappointed. You literally are supposed to believe that a modern day woman is pining away for a man that she has almost little or no contact with. We were never invested in the supposed relationship between Elinor and Edward. I really wanted to like this book because the premise is good. Plus, prior to reading this book I purchased and read Pride and Paranormal the first book in the series and greatly enjoyed it. I feel that the author did nothing to endear the characters to the readers or develop the relationships that she did want us to feel invested in. Unfortunately, I would not recommend this book.

I was provided a copy of this book by Netgalley for a honest review.

I had previously read this author's Pride and Paranormal, which I mostly enjoyed, so I was interested to see how she would approach a Sense and Sensibility retelling. Overall, I think it came together nicely, perhaps even more so than Pride and Paranormal did, since this second story avoided some of the additional 'magical plot point' dumping that had irked me a little in book one. Marianne was perhaps even more annoying in this version than in Austen's original, but Elinor came across well, and it was nice to see her feelings for Edward developing in her internal dialogue, even though she didn't express them to anyone. The story moved at a good pace, hitting all the key points of the original while allowing a little diversity for the paranormal and modern-day setting. I understand Northanger Abbey is next, and I am keen to see how Blake will tackle that one. Sense and Succubus gets four stars from me.

Unique interesting story a good book with great characters and great dialogue . Some characters I liked more than others but overall great storytelling.