In a world where fantasy novels have taken over the literary scence, it can be hard to find one that unique and captivating. The Deer and the Dragon is both unique and captivating, an epic journey of conquoring your childhood demons, beliving in the voices you hear and learning you are highborn acording to the gods you write about in your fantasy novels. A well devleoped and exciting plot full of action, unexpected turns, and starcrossed lovers that have found each other in every lifetime.

Thank you to Netgalley for the audiobook review! Again solely listened to the audiobook.

My initial reaction when I heard the narrator was a nope for me, but she eventually grew on me. The internal monologue was excruciating - the guilt, the shame… I get it. I was just waiting for Fauna the whole time to come and steal the scene away cause I couldn’t stand it.

The time jumps were confusing, but I understood the process. I wouldn’t recommend for people that have a hard time with time jumps, maybe it was the timing that made it difficult?

Needed more scenes with Caliban!!! Then towards the end where she completely went off the rails and did everything they told her not to do was a no for me with the goddess. I felt it could have gone a different direction. 2.5 rounding up for the steamy men.

This is my fifth Piper CJ book and although I found TNAIM as a series easy to get into, The Deer and the Dragon took more time. The build up in this book very much reminded me of the build up in ACOTAR. It took about 20 chapters for ACOTAR to get interesting to me and this felt similar. I love the way Piper explored religious trauma in this book and LOVED the No Other Gods theme in general.

After finishing this book I found myself craving more but it took awhile to get there. I think, just like many other fantasy books, this series required a lot of world building before we get to the real plot points. Marlow as a character is refreshing because she doesn't come with immediate badd-assery like so many other FMC do. She's fully aware that what she's going through is seriously messed up and that a "normal person" would be freaking out. I think this made her more relatable than most characters. Fauna is an absolute delight and Azrames is wonderful.

I cannot wait to learn more about Caliban and his history with Marlow. Overall, I enjoyed this book a lot but if you aren't familiar with the author and her personal connections to this story then it may not immediately be for you. I cannot wait to see more religious representation and learn how all the realms intermingle.

Thank you NetGalley and Author for providing me with an audio advanced reader's copy of this book.

Let me start off by saying that this book has a lot of potential. When reading the blurb, I got super excited as it seemed to be just like something I'd read. Tropes like reincarnation with true love, angels and demons, Hell and heaven, and so on.

The book started off a little slow in the beginning. There was a lot of talking about the main character and what she had been going through. There wasn't really happening much and I had trouble going through the first 30% or so. It didn't grab me from the beginning on.

It picked up around 30% when Fauna came in and began to explain what is happening to our main character. This is where Fauna introduces her to a new world and a new beginning. Telling her that no, Marlow was not crazy while she was having dreams as a younger girl and was friends with a fox. This is where the book began to pick up for me and where I started to enjoy the book. It's where we get to know more about the other world and the many creatures that Marlow will get to know.

I loved the infusion of the angels and demons and the mythology of it all. I think that was well done in combination with the trauma of Marlow.

I didn't like the main character at all. Often times I found her a bit whiny, mean and also just negative over all. It felt as though she was the best in the world. Pretty and rich, a successful author and someone who was the chosen one. It felt as though the Main Character was supposed to be this picture perfect woman with trauma. Personally, I don't really love that in a book. I would've loved for Marlow to be a bit more sensitive to her friends. What I did love, was that she was a sex worker and that it gets talked about in this book to slay some of the taboo's around the topic of sex. I did think it was a bit unnecessary and could have been explained better. The male character in this book was a bit vague for me. We don't see him much, besides the memories of Marlow.

Overall I did enjoy this book, but I hoped for a more. It was described as a Hazbin Hotel and crescent city inspired book, but I didn't really see the connection with the show or the books by SJM. I also hoped for a bit more romance to touch the heart.

The ending leaves us open for wondering more and I will try out the next book to see where it will be heading.

This was a chore to get through. I liked some parts but hated the majority of it.

one of the worst lines: “I had the worst case of blue tubes in the history of womankind.” this gave me the ick.

the editing in the book was poorly done. a lot of errors. the main character was insufferable and i did not like her at all. she was a terrible friend.

Thank you to Tanto Audio, Piper CJ, and NetGalley for an eARC of The Deer and the Dragon in exchange for an honest review!

A few things I loved:
1 ) The incorporation of so many religions and folklore into one book. There are so many religions from the past and present incorporated into this novel. It provides a bit of background and learning so if you like learning about world religions mixed with fantasy, you'll like this book!
2) The representation. We have a bi-sexual, ex-sex worker as our protagonist. She is not shamed by her friends and found family for her sexual orientation or her past. There is also a non-binary side character. I love that we are embracing this little bit of diversity.

A few things I didn't
1) This is the first book in a series which may explain my first complaint, but I felt like the book took SO LONG to really get going. Maybe there was a bit of world building in there, but it even took us a while to get to the part where we realize a world is supposed to be built! We were questioning the FMC's sanity for the first half of the book!
2) Once we did get to the action, the book ended. Again - I know this is going to be a series, but we could have used more action once the world was set up. I felt like I did a lot of waiting while the world was built up, but the reward wasn't enough.

I am feeling pretty neutral about this book - I didn't love it, I didn't hate it. I'll give book 2 a try and hope we get the action I was waiting for in book 1 there!

3⭐️ This was nothing like I’ve ever read before. Starts out like a modern fantasy then gets into gods, demons, angels, & fae all mixed together with some spice. So if that sounds like something you’d like then this book is definitely for you!

"The Deer and the Dragon" introduces readers to a likable protagonist, and I appreciated the author's bold choice in portraying her as a sex worker, aiming to normalize this often-taboo topic. The plot is undeniably intriguing, delving into themes of religious trauma and the dynamics of gods in a captivating manner. However, I found myself wishing for a more prominent exploration of the angels and demons aspect, as this felt somewhat overshadowed by other elements.

Unfortunately, the character of Fauna detracted from my enjoyment of the story. Her presence felt grating, her dialogue reminiscent of poorly executed YA banter, which pulled me out of the narrative. I couldn't shake the feeling that her inclusion was unnecessary and even detrimental to the overall experience.

Additionally, the book suffers from an excessive amount of information and unnecessary tangents, making it feel bloated and cumbersome at times. Trimming down at least 100 pages could have greatly improved the pacing and readability of the story, allowing for a more focused and engaging narrative.

Despite these flaws, "The Deer and the Dragon" still offers an interesting read for fans of urban fantasy, particularly those intrigued by unconventional protagonists and intricate world-building. However, prospective readers should be prepared for some uneven storytelling and be willing to overlook certain shortcomings in favour of the novel's strengths.

Gods, goddesses, angels and demons? Yes, please! This includes all folklore in one and I was absolutely THERE for it. There was also a 🌶️ mystery going on - so it kept me wanting more to figure out that the heck was going on.

The author has a masters in folklore and it showed - this the best part of the book by far. It was so well done and she laid out the complexities of the lore in an easily digestible manner.

There have been critiques online about the author self-inserting in the book - and that didn’t bother me since I imagine it happens more than we think. My main issue was that I couldn’t relate to the main character, Marlow. She felt flat somehow and her character didn’t grow as much as I had hoped throughout the book. Though understand that this might be a result of her trauma, so I hope that her growth might expand in the next book in the series. I did in fact love that the author normalized sex work with Marlow’s history.

My only other complaint was the lack of ROMANCE in this book! It really was just at the beginning and the end, and the whole time I was just waiting for Calaban to show. As a lover of relationship development, I couldn’t fall in love with Marlow and Calaban as a couple because I didn’t get the chance to witness their relationship development.

Overall, this was an addictive read, despite some of my critiques. The plot development kept me intrigued, and I am hoping to see characters and relationships develop in the next book. Some of my most favourite series are the ones that get better and better, so I still have high hopes for the next book. Thank you so much to the author, NetGalley and Tantor Audio for providing me with an ALC in exchange for an honest review.

Absolutely OBSESSED! This audio and book were INCREDIBLE! I was so drawn in by the story and the narrator was fantastic and captivated me with their story telling. I found myself stopping and just sitting to listen instead of completing house chores because I was so into the story. I hate I have to wait so long for the next book because I just want it now already!

Wow. I was blown away by this book. Piper CJ has an amazing away of describing emotions and thought processes that the characters experience when thrown into uncomfortable or earth shattering situations. There are so many amazing quotes in this book. The characters were loveable and REAL. Marlow is very relatable and Caliban is a heart throb!! Also I want Fauna to be my best friend! Honestly loved this book!

When I started this audiobook I wasn't sure if I was going to like it. The first chapter I felt was rushed and out of place until I got past it. Then it fit perfectly to show us where Marlow our main character was at in her personal journey and how it felt to live in her body. I really enjoyed this audiobook. The narrator did a great job with the different character voices and emotions of the characters. The narration was seamless between characters and ups abd downs of the story. I would highly recommend this audiobook to anyone that enjoys modern day settings woven with amazing myth and lore creatures.

I hadn't looked into this author's controversies or reviews of her other books before picking up The Deer and the Dragon, and I wish I had, because if I did, I never would have given this book a chance. I really wanted to like this book, but I knew almost immediately that the writing style was not going to work for me. I had hoped that the plot could redeem the book, but it just didn't.

The premise of this book is alright. Marlow has been friends/lovers with the prince of hell for years, but thought he was a figment of her imagination. Now, she knows the truth and is drawn into a celestial war. Unfortunately, not much of this book explores any of that lore or the war between different classes of gods and religions. Instead, we follow Marlow, one of the most insufferable protagonists I have ever met, in her day-to-day routine.

Let me introduce you to Marlow. She's incredibly hot, like physically perfect. She's rich, but still unfilled. She's a quippy feminist (but in a Buzzfeed "we paint with our period blood" type of woke millennial way). She's a sex worker, and the process of her becoming a sex worker is incredibly easy. Hey, did you guys know that sex work is really fun, well-paying, easy to get into, and safe? (please sense my sarcasm). The way this book depicts sex work is incredibly harmful, as it practically encourages girls to jump blindly into an incredibly dangerous industry. And most of all, Marlow is dumb as a rock. She gives gods who can bind her to do anything her full name, she breaks into a supposed serial killers house for fun, and oh yah, she is physically touching and having sex with a demon every night for YEARS, but doesn't believe he's real until like the 40% mark of the book. But don't worry. Despite all the faults, multiple men are in love with her. Her demon beau even calls her incredibly gifted and refers to her as smarter than him. You know what she did to wow him? She acted like a snotty rich person all day. The explanation we're given is that you have to be really good at reading people to pretend to be rich, therefore, Marlow is a genius.

So back to the plot. Marlow finds out her Prince of Hell is real (a lot of "w-w-w-what?" moments follow) and decides to save him because she loves him. Here's the thing: we never get to see this couple fall in love. They are declaring their love and having sex on page one. The excuse for this is that Marlow has been reincarnated many times and he has fallen in love with her in other lives. But like, could we not even see them fall in love in one of those lives? Or see some scenes of them doing anything other than having sex in this life? No? Alright, whatever. We just jump straight to the marketable declarations of love and smut, bypassing any romantic or emotional growth.

And as I mentioned early, aside from issues with the plot or characters, I really hated this writing style. It was so shallow, and at times felt very dumb. It felt like the author was trying to be edgy and sexy, but nothing about this book was clever. Every joke annoyed me, and every attempt at depth had me rolling my eyes. And my last point - I just finished this book and yet I have no idea why it's titled The Deer and the Dragon. I hate to be so negative with ARC reviews, but this book truly didn't have any solid features I could latch onto for some positivity.

Thank you to Macmillan Audio for the audio ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Didn’t love this one tbh, I received it as an audiobook ARC which can be pretty tricky. I did enjoy the premise, a woman on the verge of going insane and thinking she’s seeing a ghost or imagination but he’s real 🤤. But in the end it was just too much teasing for me and not enough action. I grew a bit bored and I’m not sure if that’s just because of the cadence of the author or not. I would try this again as an ebook though!

Thanks Netgalley and the author for the ARC!

Overall, this book was a miss for me. There was a lot going on here. The plot felt confused and didn't really take any substantial form until 25-30% of the way in. A quarter of a book spent on lead up is way too long for my personal preference.

<b>To start of with the things I did like (which is why I rounded up to 3 stars):</b>

- I enjoyed the main character's backstory of religious trauma. It made her choice to delve into other belief systems in her novels make sense, while still leading to a reluctance to actually believe in these other religious/myths/have a reluctance to dip her toes into any other kind of spirituality.
- The childhood backstory was achingly sad, but did evoke an emotional response, and again led credibility to the current day character's actions & motivations in her choices.
- I appreciated the theology discussions. This book may be set in a fantasy world but it did present some valid critiques on "real-world" religion.

<b>What I liked... less:</b>

- There were a couple of phrases that made me cringe to read and felt so chronically online that it left a bad taste reading them in a book (ie "grippy sock vacation"). I don't have a problem with modern language in urban fantasy as a whole, but this went beyond that and every time one of these phrases was said it really pulled me out of the story.
- Why did every character we meet require paragraphs waxing poetic on their beauty? Maybe this is less painful to read in the physical book, but with the audiobook every time a new character was introduced it would go on for minutes at a time, multiple times throughout the interaction. It got old... really fast. We get it, everyone's hot.
- The plot was really muddy in my opinion. It took too long to get into the meat of the story and when it did there was a lot of unnecessary filler that felt like the author was trying to meet a word count at times.
- I honestly just found most of the characters to be unlikeable. (For example: the main character is knowledgeable about various pantheons, under the assumption that they are myths. When brought into reality, this understandably causes an adjustment period for her, in which every side character treats her like she's stupid.) The main character was frustrating for me because she at times seemed intelligent, then it seemed like a switch would flip and she would become vapid and grating.

Overall, this is not a series I would be continuing. However, I can see the appeal for some readers, it just wasn't my personal taste. I think this book is great for fans of urban fantasy intensely mingled with the modern era, as well as people interested in dipping their toes into a variety of different pantheons, while still having a central focus on romance (and some smutty scenes).

I wanted to like this book when I heard the synopsis, the idea of a book that contained Greek gods, Nordic gods, demons, angels, etc. sounded SO good. The premise of this book was definitely promising. Unfortunately, I really disliked this.

Our female main character, Marlow, is terrible. She’s self-centered, whiny, she takes advantage of her friends, and flaunts her extreme wealth all while feeling terrible for herself. I thought maybe by the end of the book there would be character growth – but sadly there isn’t. Our side characters aren’t the best either. Our male main character isn’t around for over 70% of the story, so I honestly don’t know much about him at all.
There are a TON of trigger warnings that need to be stated before someone reads this book, I’m not one who is usually bothered by this at all – but even I thought this was too much. Also, the spice in this book is *very* cringe worthy. It just made me feel uncomfortable.

As for the plot, I didn’t like how preachy this felt against Christianity. It’s one thing to make angels the bad guys, and another to mention how terrible the religion is every other page. Besides that, the plot was based around finding our main male character who is missing, but there are about 5000 side quests before we even get to that. There is a lot of info dumping that happens here, and it left me confused as to what was even going on half the time.

The narration was fine, it’s hard to give an actual rating for the narration without being influenced by my dislike of the book.

Thank you to NetGalley, Tantor Audio, and Piper CJ for the ALC in exchange for my honest review.

This book was a bit of a struggle for me. I listened to an advance copy of the audio book so I’m not sure if I truly didn’t care for the book all that much or if it was the narrators reading of the material. Everything with the narrator sounded sultry, so maybe that is just the way she reads, but it really got on my nerves after a while especially when it felt like she was trying to make unsexy scenes sexy.
The plot of the novel was also so slow. We spent so much time with Marlow’s sexual exploits, daydreams, and reminiscences where we could have been moving the plot along (and don’t get me wrong-I love a good spicy smut plot, but some of this just felt forced and misplaced in the story). Fauna joins Marlow on her crazy adventure with gods and angels as her representative from her grandmothers pantheon. I think she’s supposed to be a sassy, spunky sidekick, but she just comes across as a mean sugar addict.
Overall I think there was a lot of potential in this book and the execution (and narration) fell flat. It picked up significantly at the end, so maybe there is still potential for book 2 to redeem this chaotic mess.

I have numerous criticisms about this book. It had so much potential, but unfortunately, it failed to deliver on almost every front. As a generally easy-to-please reader, I was particularly disappointed with how this book began. The opening was lackluster and failed to capture my interest. While the theme of self-discovery is often engaging, I found the protagonist's introspection to be self-absorbed and tedious.

The first 40% of the book left me confused and disengaged. The world-building was poorly executed and lacked the necessary detail to create an immersive experience. It felt underdeveloped and left me with more questions than answers. The setting and background information were sparse, making it difficult to understand the context and stakes of the story.

While the narrator did a passable job, her voice did not align well with the protagonist. There was a noticeable disconnect that made it difficult to fully immerse myself in the narrative. The choice of narrator can make or break an audiobook experience, and in this case, it fell flat.

The plot was a disorganized mess. The storyline lacked coherence and structure, making it a slog to get through. It felt as though I was trudging through wet clay, each page more arduous than the last. Despite my efforts to approach this book with an open mind, I found myself increasingly frustrated and disappointed.

This book needs significant improvement in its world-building, character development, and plot organization. It had the potential to be a compelling read but ultimately failed to deliver a satisfying experience.

I'd been hearing a lot about this book before I requested the ALC and a friend's review plus this gorgeous cover led me to request it. It's my first book by this author and I really enjoyed this audio. It's not at all what I was expecting but not in a bad way. I figured it would be all about the romance but it's more about self-acceptance, friendship, overcoming trauma, and then finding love. Marlow is such an interesting character, she's fighting herself and what she's seeing doesn't match up to what she's been taught her whole life, leading to a lot of suffering on her part and making it difficult to believe in the truth. I love her character growth and of course Caliban -- he's so supportive, caring, loving and truly willing to do whatever is best for Marlow even if it's hurting him. While he's *lost* for a lot of this book and doesn't have as much character development, his descriptors and the scenes his is a part of make him an easy to like character. Also, he's the Prince of Hell so that's... hot (; Fauna and Az are 100% the best supporting characters ever and I want more of them! Silas is also an interesting character that I want to see grow in the next book. The characters are solid and entertaining and Piper left me wanting more of all of them. The mythology is easy to follow and very well done with a lot of worldbuilding. I did find the beginning a little slow but overall I really liked it and look forward to continuing with the series. It's a fun, at times heart wrenching and emotional, journey that definitely sets the series up to get better and better.

Now for the audio narration: Luna Rey is the narrator and does a lovely job! I believe this is the first time I've listened to an audio narrated by her but her voice was smooth, easy to listen to for hours on end, and kept me engaged in the story from start to finish. The pacing was good and I was able to listen at my preferred 2x speed without feeling like I was listening to gibberish! I would certainly listen to more by her and hope she continues narrating the rest of this series. It was nice to listen to this one for some of the pronunciation but also because storytelling is an ancient practice and how stories were told long before people started writing things down and with the mythology aspect of this novel it just felt very fitting.

If you like mythology, strong & protective men, books with books within them (hope that made sense🤣), romantasy, some spice, soulmates, funny side characters, and don't mind some heavier topics, then check this one out!

There are definitely some triggers to consider before reading/listening to this one, including: religious trauma, physical assault, parental abuse, how certain mental health issues are portrayed, etc.

Thank you so much Tantor Audio for the ALC! All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Marlow is desperately in love with her childhood best friend and confidant, Caliban (I think that's how you spell it, I listened on audiobook), and he is devoted to her in return. The only issue is that Caliban is a figment of Marlow's imagination, or at least she's pretty sure he is. Surprise, he isn't. The premise is very sexy and the mystery surrounding Caliban pulls the reader into the story. Unfortunately, "The Deer and the Dragon" was not a great fit for me.

This book includes:
- dark and mysterious, yet very supportive MMC
- gods and goddesses from every mythology (including Judeo-Christian so Christians beware that your God a villain in this story)
- religious trauma
- a road trip heist
- long internal monologues
- childhood best friends to lovers
- psychosis
- no dragons or deer
- TW

While the book has an exciting premise with a very enticing first couple of chapters, there were a couple of issues that prevented me from enjoying it.
1. Marlow (the FMC) was a clear self-insert character, which doesn't usually bother me too much, however, it was so glaringly obvious in this book that it became very distracting. Especially since Marlow's personality was not very grounded and was full of many contradictions. She was also a bit of an "everyone is in love with me and IDK why" character type, which tends to annoy me.
2. Side characters were extremely one-dimensional. Marlow's sidekick/god guide is the quintessential manic pixie dream girl.
3. The pacing unfortunately lagged enough to make me lose interest in the plot.
4. Marlow spends so much time convinced that Caliban is a figment of her imagination, while readers know that he is real. It comes off almost like a miscommunication trope since it came off like Caliban could be doing more to prove he is real. Marlow also makes many frustrating decisions, which can become difficult to enjoy as a reader.

I think there is an audience out there for this book, but unfortunately, it was not me.

I received this audiobook as an ARC in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to NetGalley, Piper CJ, and Tantor Audio for the opportunity to review this book. This review is also available on my GoodReads - check out my profile https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/62314863