The narrator was great and the production of the audiobook was great. The only reason this got 2 stars was because of the story and the writing, which is no fault to the production company or the narrator!

This book started ok, then it got good. It was reminding me a lot of Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo and Mortal Instruments by Cassandra Clare. But then, I don’t know what happened. I was not happy with the direction the book was going. And then they added the pregnancy trope and completely lost me.

Thank you Netgalley for an ecopy for review.

This book starts slow, but it is fitting for the feelings the author wants you to have to immerse yourself into how Marlow, the FMC is feeling herself. Once the action begins, however, it picks up in pace, and you find yourself getting excited at the action, feeling what Marlow is feeling, and laughing at the banter. Marlow and her guide work together to navigate the pantheon of worlds and her own fears to find her love. Ends in a cliffhanger as this is part one of a duology as per my understanding.

This is a marked improvement from the author’s last work, I think that urban fantasy is a better fit for the way she writes. This genre allows for less issues with world building, especially seeing as anachronisms aren’t a problem. I still think the writing leaves much to be desired but this is a 2.5 where as the last series was poor quality all around. This feels more written from a place of the personal rather than performance.

I absolutely was wrapped up into this urban fantasy book by Piper C.J. I did listen to the audiobook as I received an ALC of this book and the narrator, Luna Rey, did an amazing job! It was so easy to follow the book, especially with the world building early on.

This book definitely brings up the topics of religious trauma and Marlow is forced to acknowledge that everything she has seen and experienced growing up was real and she was not just crazy like she was made to believe. I cannot even imagine how difficult and confusing that would be, but I think it is very well written in showing the growth of her character throughout the book.

Also her and Caliban’s chemistry is literally palpable as I listened and I just need more of them together ASAP. Like when he says, “I’ve missed you more than air” I was swooning. And then he follows up with “If you wouldn’t burn the world to the ground for the one you love, are you even in love?” And I absolutely died and went to hell with that quote - please bond with me instead because DAMN!

Rating this book 4.5 stars and I definitely loved it! Would rate the narrator/narration of it 5 stars! It was very well done! Cannot wait to see where the story goes from here!

Thank you to Netgalley and Tantor Audio for the chance to listen to an ALC of this in exchange for an honest review.

3.5*
Marmar, you silly girl.
After growing up in a violently religious household (flashbacks actually made me ill), Marlowe is a highly medicated author with major anxiety over going to hell. So when she finds out she's been frolicking with a Prince of Hell? ooooooh doggy, she's in for a rollercoaster of emotions, turns out her fantasy novels aren't so fictional after all. After banishing her prince, Marlowe figures out she isn't actually mentally unstable (debatable), she just has fae blood in her and is on a mission to get her prince back.
An adventure through different religions and mythology with lovable side characters to help guide our naïve main character.
I did find this novel ended in a weird spot, the cliff hanger would have been more effective to me about 3 pages earlier. That being said.... gimme the next in the series plleeeeease.
Thanks NetGalley for the ARC.

(3.5/5)

This book had a really interesting and exciting concept that I was excited to read about! It did end up falling a little flat for me, however, and while the first chapter caught my attention, the next several chapters could not keep me hooked. There were very much two plots happening - her human life and the life she wanted to believe was all a figment of her imagination. Having two storylines kept things interesting but they didn't seem to go together or reflect what was happening for the FMC. I honestly wanted less about her and her life and more about the fantasy world and what was happening there.

Thank you NetGalley for letting me read and review this story!

This book got fast paced about one third through and was hard to put down. I was extremely fascinated by all the mythology and god lore.
Quick plot: Fantasy author is haunted by her past and a mysterious and handsome possible figure of her imagination. Then he goes missing and she wants to find him and that throws her into a world of gods, demons and more.
I love the take on Hell. Also loved the reincarnation theme.
The FMC had been through so much so it was good to listen to her work through it and make new relationships with people that help and support. The romance was steamy and I’m awaiting the sequel.
The narrator was lovely and upbeat so it sounded more natural than a normal reading. I’ll be looking for more of her work. Thanks to NetGalley for the arc in return for this review.

*Thank you to the publisher for giving me a Digital Review Copy of this book*
I was quite surprised by how much I loved this book. I was hooked into the story really fast. Ultimately, I think it was a bit slow in the sense that I would have liked it if more stuff happened in the first book. I do understand that it's the start of the series and it was setting the scene for the 3 books to come. I will definitely read the next one.
I enjoyed this book because the FMC, was trying to convince herself that what she was seeing wasn't real and that she had mental health issues. I thought that was a different idea that I hadn't seen before. I liked that the FMC was strong and kind of went headfirst into this as soon as she realized it was real and her man was gone. The book has good dialogue, the characters you meet are great (I want to be friends with all of them, yes even Silas please).

The Deer and The Dragon by Piper CJ is a fantastic, romantic installment in her new series, No Other Gods. She is a favorite author of mine, so I am thrilled to have had the opportunity to read this audio ARC.

Thank you to the author, Recorded Books of Tantor Audio, and NetGalley for providing this copy. I am leaving this review voluntarily.

The Deer and The Dragon is so dreamy. Just, completely, incredibly, unbelievably dreamy. The characters were all so multidimensional, and the plot is complicated but entertaining. The romance was compelling and the reincarnation trope had such a hold on me. The FMC is also proudly childfree, which is a huge plus to me as a cf reader.

The magical realism, mythology, and religious discussions were intertwined into this book in such an expert way. Everything felt connected and like it all belonged.

Overall I really adored The Deer and The Dragon, and I’m rating it a full five stars. You’ll love this if you love mythology, angels and demons, fated and star-crossed lovers, and high-but-somehow-cozy stakes.

In full transparency, Piper CJ's book The Night and It's Moon is the book I rated lowest in the last year. But when I read the description of this audiobook, I was intrigued and wanted to give it a try. I'm happy to day that this was a significantly more successful book for me - not perfect, but a 3.5-4 stars as far as I'm concerned.

The main character is very clearly a self insert, so she can occasionally be a little insufferable. But if you liked Laurel K. Hamilton's Meredith Gentry series but wish it was a bit more relevant and modern, I actually think you'll really love her. I think the main cast of characters is pretty strong- they're interesting and unique and occasionally surprisingly funny.

The downside to me was how convoluted the plot gets to be. Without giving any spoilers, once we got to the fertility clinic, I was a bit over the journey. But again, much better than the author's previous work as far as I'm concerned, and I think a lot of people will enjoy this.

I wan grateful to NetGalley, Tantor Audio, and Bloom Books for granting me access to an audio ARC. In general, I enjoyed the audio narration with the exception of Caliban's voice. He felt... too earnest? Much of his dialouge felt over the top to me, but I adored Fauna's depiction in this format.

4.5/5

As a pastors kid, the religious trama in this book was very relatable. I also really enjoyed how this book mixes the myths and gods from multiple religions. I thoroughly enjoyed this book!

Thank you NetGalley and Tantor Audio for sending this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.

I was super excited for this book, I had seen Bloom’s tiktok promoting it and honestly the synopsis of it sounds really interesting. So, this book follows Marlow who can see angels and demons which seems like it was something that has been passed down from her mother and her grandmother. Anyways, she’s actually been sharing a bed with the Prince of hell. THAT part intrigued me, I said oh really? Say less! Unfortunately, I’m dumb and this is a paranormal romance. Here I was thinking it was a fantasy romance where the Prince of hell was an actual person.. I mean he is but he isn’t? I hope that makes sense. Honestly, this book seems like it would be an easy read but having just heard the audiobook, I was throughly confused majority of the time. The only thing I really understood was the spice. Which was fine I guess. I’m sure I’m just not the audience for this book. Also, the ending? I’m not sure what happened but okay. Anyways, I would try to give it another try with the audiobook and the physical book or ebook, but this isn’t a book that I’ll probably remember for long.

Unfortunately, I chose to DNF this book at 53%. I did so for a few reasons.

First, I would highly recommend that the trigger and content warnings be outlined on the main Goodreads and NetGalley pages. There are topics in this book that can be extremely triggering to many folks (in particular, the religious trauma aspects, but also the attack in own home, drug use by main character).

Second, at 53% I was still feeling like we were spinning our wheels trying to get to the plot. I suspect the main plot is getting Caliban un-banished, but I can't say that with confidence. At 53%, I should not only have a good handle on the plot but be fully invested in it.

Third, I felt no connection to the two (currently) main characters - Marlow and Fauna. While I think Marlow has the potential to be a character that stands out in this genre, I felt disconnected from her. I appreciated that she had a sex work background, but I felt that the way the sex work was portrayed was disingenuous. She met someone on the street and they immediately invited her into sex work, gave her clothes and client contacts and everything was completely safe and she had the most high-paying contacts and the safest encounters. I can suspend disbelief but this is so far out of left field that I couldn't get on board with it. It started to feel like a device to explain why Marlow has scads of money and alleviate the need to squeeze a day job into the plot somehow. I suspect we will eventually have an explanation from Caliban who made sure she had the richest clients (as she asked him to) but also the safest (minus one).

Despite not having completed the book, I would recommend it to someone looking for a sensual, richly described, slower-paced, slow-burn fantasy romance. I disagree with the Crescent City comparison, beyond the aspects of the fantasy/paranormal worlds coinciding with our own.

The audio narration was excellent. The definition between characters was well done, and I could always tell who was speaking. There was a bit more sensuality in the tone than I prefer, but I did feel like it fit the writing and the characters well.

Thank you to NetGalley and Tantor Audio for an advanced listener copy. All opinions are my own and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

If you like mythology of any kind, this is a fun book to try.
I listened to the audiobook and I have to say that Luna Rey did a phenomenal performance. The voices sounded true to their character and it really kept me engaged.
The story line of a traumatized girl meets the devil and falls in love is not ground-breaking but the author did a good job weaving in other mythological creatures to freshen it up. I particularly liked Fauna, who was a Nordic deity. There are some other creatures that might haunt me for awhile as well.
I am a vibes reader and this was just what I was wanting. I already knew most of the lure so the story went fast for me with little effort. I do think this could have been worked on a touch more but overall, I enjoyed it!

Marlow has lived her life with beings who she’s always believed her mind has made up so she can cope with what’s going on in her life. She is in love with a man who she believes is purely a figment of imagination. Until he goes missing and she comes to realize that he is actually a demon and the prince of hell. She comes to realize there is a whole world of demons, angels and other mythical beings. Now she has to help save the prince of hell and in doing so creates a war among the demons and angels.

Thank you to NetGalley for the providing me with the audiobook for early review!

I really struggled with this story. The narrator was great, but the pacing was a bit off, the FMC gave too many "I'm not like other girls" vibes, she was kind of a jerk to her friends, and I really struggled to get interested enough where I felt like I wanted to know what happened next.

I did like the mix of folklore and the premise of the story was so interesting to me and I desperately wanted to love it. But the execution wasn't quite there for me and it felt like a chore to push through this story.

My review is based upon the audio format.

I liked a lot of things about this book. I didn't not however, like the main character.

Marlow was really tough for me to rally for. Her internal dialogue was insufferable, but did improve a bit when she got over the "I'm crazy". She spoke a lot about how people talked to her like she was stupid... There was indeed a reason for that. Many times over. A main plot point is directly caused by her stupidity.

What I enjoyed most was that I was never left wondering how a scene was set up or where the characters were. I found it consistently easy to visualize what was occurring from the way everything was described. I visualized everything almost too well at a particularly brutal scene around the 25% mark (I think, I didn't actually check the progress at the time)... That one is probably gonna bother me for a bit.

The take on angels and demons, on prayers and acknowledgment being a boost to power, was refreshing. It wasn't all white feathers and bat wings. But this has huge potential to be a soft subject for some readers in the way religion is handled. It is a very large part of the book and is not always tactful in its delivery.

The ending was surprising to me, mostly in its abruptness. I did not realize how close to the end I was until the credits started playing.

Please also take note that there probably should have a trigger warning list, I did not note there being anything of the sort at the beginning of the audiobook. Not just for religion... There are a handful of other reasons.

In regards to just the audiobook: Luna Rey is a great narrator, her tone was perfect for this novel. She had a good range for the character voices and I really liked the way the side characters sounded. I didn't like the main characters voice quite as much, but Marlow annoyed the stuffing out of me, so it might have just been the way the character was written and no fault of the narrator, as it did suit her.

Thank you so much to Netgalley for access to the audio ARC in return for my honest opinion.

Happy Publication Day!!
Book 1 in the No Other Gods series.

I went in blind not knowing anything about this book, but I absolutely love the cover. The book is centered very heavily around religion and mythology, blending the two together with other paranormal entities.

Marlow, a mostly human, discovers the visions of a man she thought were only in her mind were actually real when she’s faced with other beings popping up to both save and kill her. In a twist of fate, she also realizes she banished her man – who happens to be the Prince of Hell - off somewhere and must find him with the help of an unlikely cast of characters. But who can Marlow, a religiously traumatized mostly human girl, trust in this new world she is now a part of?

Marlow’s personality is a bit off-putting. She is very self-absorbed, whiny, and unassertive. She starts the book with 2 friends because she’s more of a recluse, but she treats those friends terribly. She gives them little to no thought throughout the entire story unless they contact her first. She is very judgmental throughout the entire storyline. She’s also apparently delved deep into mythology lore to write two books, but when she’s thrust into the pantheons herself, it’s like she forgets everything because every move she makes is a misstep. She doesn’t actually DO anything; she just goes along for the ride.
Caliban is our love interest (I think? Marlow is attracted to several different men throughout the story, so who knows.), but he barely gets any page time. Marlow is constantly talking about him or remembering him, but he’s only on page for maybe 15% of the story. So there isn’t much romance. We’re just told they’re in love.
Fauna isn’t much better. She continuously calls Marlow stupid, but the next minute she needs her help with something. She is very irritating. They’re on a time crunch, but she has plenty of time to stop for sweets? And I understand that time was of the essence there at the end, but how she treated Marlow was wholly uncalled for.

The plot was simple enough (find Caliban) with about a million side quests involved. Add to that the enormous amount of info dumping around every turn and the sheer volume of minute details made this book longer than it needed to be. This is definitely a case of tell not show. We are told everything but hardly shown anything.

I’m not entirely sure where the title of this book comes in play within the story. A side character’s name is Fauna, which could allude to the deer. But the dragon part stumps me. I need dragons!

I did like that the author went the less traditional mythology route. Typically books about mythos go for Greek or Roman, but we got Nordic plus numerous others thrown in.

I did enjoy the storyline enough that I’d want to read book 2 to see where it goes. Plus, it ended on a cliffhanger.

Trigger warnings (which the author did not include a list of): Religious trauma, child abuse, attempted assault, attempted murder, drugging, and dubcon.

The narration of the story was fine. I’m not sure if it was the narrator or the author that made parts of the book unfavorable, but it was all the same.

🦌The Deer & The Dragon by Piper CJ🦌

Pages: 448 pages 🎧
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Book Goal 2024: 53/100
Narrated by: Luna Rey 🎧


✨Would you rather a book have the main character’s personality be the same as the authors or a completely dull character?✨

First I want to say thank you to @netgalley and @Tantoraudio for the ARC copy of this audio in exchange for an honest review.

Unfortunately my streak of luck had to come to an end with 4⭐️ & 5⭐️ reads at some point and I guess this is where it happened.

💖I want to be clear that the narration was BEAUTIFUL & I do love this authors work normally. 💖

I have followed this author for a long time and honestly really enjoy her as a person… that being said…

If I wanted to read a memoir I would read a memoir.

❌ This book goes on to describe a main character who has a literature degree with a focus on mythology. (The author has a masters in folklore.)
❌ The main author writes best selling books. (Obviously the author writes books)
❌ The main character is subjected to enormous amounts of religious abuse by her family. (The author also has been very open about this aspect of her life.)

Not only that the main character really comes off as a snob who doesn’t love her fans, cares about luxurious things even though they try to portray she doesn’t, and just doesn’t treat her friends well. I hate that I couldn’t separate the author from her writing due to the characters similarities and so when it came to the negatives of the main character’s personality, it just made me sad. 😢 I know that Piper doesn’t feel this way and I’ve met her, she doesn’t come off this way but it made her character horrible since they were so similar!

Then at one point the character says “are we here for a history lesson?” And this is the only point in the book I laughed because I felt like the entire book was a history lesson I didn’t need so it was relatable.

The best thing about the book was the growling during the hot scenes. That was honestly it. 😂 That was hot.

This book may be great for someone who doesn’t follow the author on TikTok and know a lot about them but I just couldn’t get past it.

#netgalley #deer #dragon #deeranddragon #netgalley #review #reads #reading #booknerd #booksbywomen #books #book #0to100