Thank you to the author, NetGalley, & Tantor Audio for the AudioARC! All thoughts are my own.

The jury is still rather perplexed as to the likeability of this story, so I am going to do a pro/con list instead.
PRO:
- has a take-no-sh*t main character that life hasn't been so good to, and through grit and confidence made a thriving life for herself.
- the fact that there is an element of a story within a story here. The main character is an author and her fiction becomes reality.
- dark scrumptious man who will wait an eternity for her to choose him.
- Using mythology and creating multiverses where worlds connect but are separate.
- the fact that the main character is a best selling author of smut...priceless.

CONS:
- The glamorization of sex working. To each their own, but when you so clearly "judge" and vilify an entire religion and then turn around and glorify a career where women use their bodies in exchange for money, it leaves a foul taste in the mouth of your reader...just saying.
- Obsessive and borderline creepy characterization of men (the man-hating vibes were rather over done).
- ALL the bashing of Christianity. You obviously did your homework on all the other 4,200 forms of religion you mention (and over exaggeration to the number of religions mentioned, but there's a lot), but not on the highest sales grossing book in the world which makes me think you understand very little about Christianity as a whole. You have quite literally made a villain out of God and Christianity. Not a fan!
- Kinda wish the spicy factor was higher.

Overall the story was entertaining and interesting.
3 out of 4 Stars & NO REGRETS!!!!

DNF @ 28% - I sadly could not get into this at all. I think it's the writing style - it just did not work for me at all and I found myself really not wanting to pick up the audiobook.

This was the first book I've read by Piper CJ, though I've seen her books and her presence seems to have infiltrated my social media. My awareness was limited to knowing she has written fantasy before and that she has a MA in Folklore, based on reels I have seen. Imagine my surprise then when the main character in this book seems to be an exact replica of the author herself - a degree in mythology and an uber successful author of a fantasy series. I enjoyed the world Piper created for her characters and the side characters were funny and decently well-rounded. Azarames, Fauna, and Caliban are interesting and engaging characters. The problem really lies with our main character/self-inserted author, Marlow. Marlow is stupid - other characters tell her this all the time - but she almost seems to have weaponized her incompetence. She makes bad decisions, often directly against the suggestion of other, wiser characters, and then waits for someone to comfort her and tell her it is okay because she's just a human in a world of angels and demons. She is repeatedly told not to give her real name, to make any sort of agreements, or to even thank others for things, because doing so could create a bond or deal that she cannot fathom. So what does she do? Signs a contract with a fertility goddess and allows her blood to be drawn. I quite literally cannot handle the level of incompetence she demonstrates, while also expecting to be coddled and told that everything is fine.

A few other notes: Marlow spends the vast majority of the book going through the same argument in her head - is she crazy or is her shadow-demon-imaginary-friend-lover real? She's prescribed antipsychotics to make the figment go away, but it doesn't work because he is (in fact) real. And yet she continues to debate this for the majority of the book. Her internal monologuing about religious trauma and her own mental health is incredibly tiresome.

The audiobook did not have any trigger/content warnings. I'm unsure if the written book contains these or not, but there are MANY potential triggers that readers need to be aware of. Religious trauma, parental abuse, mental health denial, misgendering, assault, and I'm sure there are more.

I will probably continue the series solely to follow along with the other characters, but frankly I'm hoping that Marlow dies and is reincarnated as a new version of herself in book 2 - otherwise, she's a waste of the page.

3.5 rounded down because I could not justify going to a full 4 stars.

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

I think I need some time to process this book. There were so so many things that I liked about it and so many that I didn’t.

Things I loved:
The world building was amazing and I really liked Marlow’s back story. It really brought a light to decisions to have certain professions because of history and family upbringing. I feel like the author did a great job of appreciating certain aspects of a job that is often looked down upon.

I LOVED Caliban and I can’t wait to see him in book two but that ending left me so worried! I want so much more of him and to see his and Marlow’s relationship grow.

Things I didn’t like:
I know this is fiction but I didn’t like how religious the book was. I feel like that is the nice thing about fantasy, you can leave that out and just make a world with multiple kingdoms and deities or creatures. I felt like the book centered too much around heaven and hell as we know it which took away from the story a bit.

Either way, I am looking forward to the next book!

Spice: 🌶️🌶️/5

Read this if you like:
🦌 Mythology
🦌 “Imaginary” Friends
🦌 Books about books

It’s a dark, urban Romantasy with a strong FMC that I really enjoyed reading. Morally gray characters is a bonus that you can’t help but fall in love with!

When I tell you I am obsessed with this book ... I mean I am OBSESSED with this book.

I absolutely loved everything about it.

Dark romantasy? Check. Mythical beings? Check. Morally grey characters? A billion checks.

I loved it so much that after I listened to the audiobook ... I bought a physical copy.

I really enjoyed that the FMC was an author writing about pantheons that she ends up being a part of. I love all the irony.

Will keep you entranced from start to finish!

You get:
• Ghost Daddy
• Dark Romantasy
• Mythical Beings
• Spicy
• Past Trauma
• Author FMC
• Soul Mates

Pick it up now ... and hold on tight. You are in for a wild ride. Available through audio book, ebook, and paperback!

The Deer and the Dragon brings you into an incredible world of multiple realms. It encompasses gods and deities from many different cultures and blends them into an amazing story. The main character has struggled with mental health and religious trauma for years and doubts what she experiences throughout her life until the veil is finally lifted. Cannot wait until the next book in the series!!!

Marlow has to explore within herself exactly what she wants as she gets sucked into a war she didn’t know was being waged. She has to work through religious trauma and societal expectations in the journey to discover the true definition of love.

The way this book is just leaving me hanging is going to haunt me. “But we’re going to be sunflowers.”

As a self-identified slow reader, when I got my hands on an audio arc of The Deer and The Dragon, I couldn’t put it down. When most books take months for me, this took days. Piper has a magical way of weaving life-like characters into a quest to find MarMar’s love of the ages, Caliban, to leaning on found/chosen family to walk through the fires of her past. This book was healing for me in ways I didn’t know I needed and also had me wanting to move to hell, even if just for the drinks and cookies.

First, thank you to NetGalley and PiperCJ for this ARC audiobook. In exchange for my honest opinion..
I was so excited for this book. I knew nothing about the author before I started. To say The Deer and the Dragon was so epically uneventful is putting it nicely. It was so slow for me. We start off with Marlow who has been seeing her “imaginary friend” ever since she could remember. He lives within the Veil which is is eventually able to see into. Turns out this Imaginary friend is a demon. This has a Supernatural vibe just not as good. Angels and demons aren’t really bad or good, but they are still in a battle.
Anyways, Marlow ends up as a high end escort who ends up getting rich and becomes a famous author whose pen name is Merit. Merit is rich and snooty. She does what she has to do because she HAS to like mingling with her fans. She ends up sending her demon away and he can’t come back because of a promise he made. The book gets a little exciting when a former employer from her escort days comes back for her and tries to kill her. This was the only exciting part for me. I think it was gonna go in the up and up. Nope, it just fell after that. The. gods of all kinds are discussed (they all exist along with the man upstairs). Which is a cool concept but was not executed well. The story seemed all over the place but boring. It turns out she’s a reincarnated princess who has been in love with the Prince of Hel for thousands of years. Maybe there were just too many elements trying to be thrown in here. I know I will not be continuing this series. I hope anyone else who reads it has a better experience than I.

This book deserves all the stars, all the thumbs ups. If you're a fan of paranormal urban fantasy reads with a touch of romance, this is the book for you. I could not put this book down, I was so enthralled. Piper has created such vibrant characters you can't help but fall in love with, and a world you'll wish you could escape to. There's humor, suspense, romance, thrills and a little bit of spice too. It touches on various dieties from different pantheons around the world, so if you are not open minded about religion, this may not be the book for you. As long as that doesn't bother you, then this book is worth reading! The cover art and sprayed teal edges are absolutely gorgeous, making this book as beautiful and engaging outside as it is inside. By far this is my new favorite book, and I will be recommending it to everyone I know.

Deities. Gifts. Curses. Delusions. Hallucinations. Demons. A Haunting. A Stalking.


Marlow is crazy. At least, that is what her deeply religious mother instills in her - the idea that the fox she sees as a little girl isn't real. Like the guardian angel she sees at night, the man who watches over her dearly. Her mother reacts in anger, in hate. "You have the devil in you, girl. You are evil. You are tainted." I despised her disgusting maternal figure, as she didn't care for her little girl at all.

A mother does not make you feel like you are wrong, like you are a mistake because you see the paranormal. Because you are different. Marlow's abilities stem from her mother, the sight - something her mother does not admit to for far too long.

So, our strong female lead accepts she sees angels and demons. Only after trying to keep the feel of him - her guardian "angel" away, so she can attempt at a life with normalcy. Except, her life is suddenly in danger and he cannot help her. She wishes him from existence, from her sight.

A mistake. One little mistake sends her on a quest to find her lover, her friend, her other half. Wanting to make up for all the time she assumed he was simply a figment of her imagination, a fragile part of that popped into existence because she needed love - something she could not get through parents or hard work.

This novel was a great read. Nordic pantheon adventures ensue, and our main girl with a grueling past finds out many truths that have been kept from her - that the man she loves, that she is fighting to get back, just happens to be the Prince of Hell.

The war politics are engaging, the battleground of myths and legends coming together in an exciting world of gods and goddesses and demons and angels. Heaven and hell. Genuinely good start to a series, I cannot wait to read what happens next in Marlow's pantheon world.🌟🌟🌟🌟/5 Stars!

Thank you NetGalley for a copy of this e-arc in exchange for my honest review.

This was an... interesting read. It had a unique plot with questionable characters. My issue is that the pacing felt a bit messy and it was as though the plot of the story was lost about a quarter of the way through. I also don't love That the FMC was diagnosed with something akin to schizophrenia and then it turns out that what she was "hallucinating" was actually real. This is
something that can be harmful. I also don't like when she says that she listens to books that aren't good so that she can avoid making their mistakes. The way it is said makes her seem condescending and self righteous. That's not something I like to see in a main character was also not a fan of how she kept bringing up how fulfilling her time as a sex worker was. She started
saying it so much that I stopped believing her and began thinking that maybe it wasn't as good as she's describing it as I also wish that Calaban was part of the story more. I think that the premise of retrieving your S.0. only works if the characters have an established relationship. We only see them together for such a small portion of the story which made me care very little about what happened to either one of them. I Think this book could use some pretty major rewrites but it has potential as a series if the author makes the FMC a bit more likable.

Thank you for letting me listen to this audiobook. This book has some cool sceans. But in parts it felt as if the author keeps the reader at arms length from the story. So I couldn't really get a feel for the story.

I love a good fantasy steeped in folklore and religious mythology. This is a dark story and not just because a large portion of it takes place in hell. Marlow believes herself to be crazy and no one would blame her after the abuse and religious trauma she dealt with as a child and into her adulthood. When she banishes her "imaginary" lover and he turns out to be completely real and a prince of hell, her and a couple of characters straight out of legend go looking for him.

This was an interesting and well-realized take on the romantasy genre that I really enjoyed and will look forward to reading more of!

“How does a human girl lose the Prince of Hell?”

Ever since Marlow was a small child she’s seen him. Whether in the form of an Arctic Fox or a white haired man the being she dubbed Caliban has always been by her side.

Her extremely religious mother believes she’s possessed, Marlow thinks herself insane. In a moment of panic after a near death experience Marlow banishes Caliban, only to soon discover her “visions” are very much real.

With an angelic soldier on her tail, she joins Fauna, a Nordic skogsrå (nymph) and Azrames, an avenging demon, to track down her Prince through the veil and across Pantheons.

I’m so excited that Piper CJ is jumping into Urban Fantasy, Hazbin Hotel meets Crescent City? Sign me up!

She’s done an amazing job of weaving multiple mythologies together into this fantastic tale! The story also dives into surviving religious trauma and shows the toxicity & destruction that can come with blind faith. The writing is beautiful, I adore Piper’s lyrical style.

I loved the main character Marlow, her internal dialogue had me both laughing and crying. She is deeply relatable to anyone who grew up outside the “norm” and struggles to exist in society while not being neurotypical.

Luna Rey’s narration was impeccable, her voice was the perfect choice to complement the vibes of this book.

~ The deities you call aren't always the ones who answer. ~

What a rollercoaster of a book! So many twists and turns, mixed with layered mythology and lore, I was on the edge of my seat for most of my time listening to this ALC. I thought Piper CJ did a terrific job setting up Marlow as a character with her complicated backstory, involving religious trauma and mental illness (or at least what she believes to be the case). I particularly loved the way the author unraveled things for Marlow as she worked through everything she dealt with as a child and how she moves forward with it at present. I personally found aspects of Marlow's experience that I related to and honestly felt very seen in Piper's writing.

My one qualm with the book overall is that it just felt a little long. At least, longer than it needed to be in my opinion. For the plethora of twists and turns throughout, there were some lulls in the story that felt like they could have been cut from the book altogether and not affected the plot or Marlow's overall journey.

As for the narration, I thought Luna Rey did a fantastic job! Most of why the length only slightly bothered me was because Luna's narration made me want to keep listening on when those lulls in the writing happened at times. The different voice personas she employed for the variety of characters were really engaging to the listener. The serious moments were handled really well in my opinion, just as much as the comedic banter was fun to listen to. Would absolutely listen to another book Luna narrates.

Overall, I did really enjoy this audiobook despite it being a little longer than I would have preferred. Will absolutely continue reading on in this series! I need to know what happens next 👀

I truly struggled to get through this… there are several very heavy topics discussed in this book. So just a heads up. Truly I think this book just wasn’t for me. I felt that numerous points were made that didn’t further the plot but perhaps the authors own personal points and preferences. The narrator did a great job, unfortunately it was the writing that I struggled with… I felt like I was in a fever dream for the first 10-15 chapters. The books seemed to have potential but truthfully I didn’t fully finish it, I just couldn’t. I struggled to make it as far as I did if I’m being transparent. I do feel there was a level of inclusivity with sex work and that I loved. I don’t feel this topic is ever shed in a positive light and for that I tip my hat, However, I do feel the reality of the dangers and not so great parts were not included. Giving it an unrealistic feel… There was so many parts of this book I just felt were a stretch.
Overall it just wasn’t for me, that isn’t to say it may not be for you. I think this is just one of those reads you either love or don’t love so much. I appreciate the opportunity to listen and hope this finds it’s audience 🫶🏻

I was waiting for dragons the entire time. Spoiler alert, there's no dragons.

I really enjoyed the narrator of this audiobook and the way she approached this story, which I think made listening to it so much easier. I wanted to love the plot and give this book and author another chance, but I still felt like the story was lacking that 'oomph' feeling that I get when I read a book I truly love. It reads a lot like a self insert, Marlow basically being Piper? Yeah I'm good, I'd like my fantasy to be just that: FANTASY.

This story has so much potential and I'd love to see Piper continue to grow as a writer and really take this story by storm. There's honestly a lot going on in this book and once again a lot of triggers and issues as so casually brushed past without a thought which made listening to it extremely tricky and often times I found myself cringing at some of these reactions. A lot of the reactions were just so tactless and problematic. Sometimes it's okay to not have EVERY trigger or issue (misgendering on purpose, being drugged for the purpose of having non consensual sex, etc.) in a book if you can't even address them in a classy way or show how characters might heal after these extremely stressful/triggering events.

Like other works by Piper, it glosses over issues the same way she did in her first series and I unfortunately don't know why I'm shocked.

Thank you NetGalley for an eARC!

3.5 stars but rounded up.

Thank you netgalley for this arc audiobook in return for my honest review.

I think that that’s a lot of room for the author to grow. She definitely is good at tying mythology in with a religious spin. I think she has a lot of potential. I did enjoy her world and character building. As well as, the pacing of the story.

The narrator did a great job. I would listen to more of the books she has read.