Oh dear. I had hopes for this book. The description and cover showed promise. First chapter was beautifully written and I was ready to fall into the story. Then the consistent rape happened. Then the rescue. Then the consistent rate happened again. Wtf. Kill the mmc and just have the fmc take the dragon and fly on her own adventure. This was difficult for me to finish.

⭐️2/5
🌶4/5
🩷1/5
🎧3/5

OVERALL RATING = 2/5

This is one of my most mixed reviews, so please stick around to see how I feel by listing pros & cons.

🎧 I'm going to start by reviewing the audiobook and narrators. The audio was done well and edited seamlessly. The female narrator was good at convening differing emotions but also sounded like she was ready to cry almost the entire book. I also felt like the FMC was bored and lack-lustre, but I believe it is because of the story and not the actual narrator's fault. The male narrator was good, but some of the emotive choices he gave to the FMC made her feel meak. Otherwise, he wasn't that bad.



🌶 The spice was spicing, and there was LOTS of it. So much so that the plot got dropped for half the book - sigh. If you love a spicy book, this is for you. If you want a book WITH spice, this is not for you (for example, this book vs. Fourth Wing).

🩷 Romance... what romance? This is not romantic. This is a dark erotic fantasy, not a fantasy romance. This story includes straight-up rape of the FMC from the MMC and other characters. I believe it was meant to come across as a 'heal her through sex', but this method fell flat immediately after the MMC raped the FMC while she slept. And before you call me 'sheltered', let me just say that I read and edit all the trigger books, including taboo and erotic horror. This romance seemed problematic and almost encourages the reader to treat this behaviour as romantic, sweet, and loving - it is NOT.

📚 The plot surrounding the spice was not bad. I quite liked the start, the premise and was intrigued. But again, the plot also started to die off, getting lost to the toxic sex-capade, and even got 'fuzzy' from around 60%... lacking direction. The FMC was meant to be strong and formidable, but she was meak, weak, and pathetic with no insight and severe suicidal motivations. Then the MMC was meant to be 'not like other guys' and wanted to show her how he can respect her and tenderly care for her, but then proceeds to guilt, manipulate, gaslight, coerce, bully and stalk the FMC, including taking her against her will in her sleep and refuse to apologise... Like, she just got out of 1 year of being chained, tortured and raped, then tried to kill herself several times (even begged the MMC to kill her), then he forces her into a sexual relationship with him within minutes of taking her... and she apparently is ok with it within a day or 2. Like, wtf?! Um, no.

Overall, this was not for me. I'm genuinely surprised it has such high reviews. I am a very generous reviewer and find most stories (even B-grade ones) to still be exciting and interesting.

I very much was hooked at the beginning of the book as I like dark books. However once the MMC was introduced and the interaction with the FMC began I was like no homie. I disliked the instant attraction even if it was one sided. Also considering what she went through I didn't really like what the MMC was doing to FMC. For me it felt like it was not advertised as dark romance if this is what the author was going for. Which is a shame because I really enjoyed the plot before all that smut started to happen.
Last note: no hate to the male narrator but if it is supposed to be dark romance then find someone who has a deeper voice. Everyrime the pov changed I needed a moment to get used to the voice.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book! The plot was intriguing and makes you want to carry on the series. There is a central romance to the book that is enemies to lovers and has you swinging back and forth about whether you want them to be lovers or not. For me that was really fun to read. There is some world building but not too much so I didn’t find the book heavy. Overall a really enjoyable read!

There are some parts of the sorry that are a tough so check the trigger warnings if you think you may be impacted. The difficult parts do add to the depth of the story and really endear you to the characters and their backstories.

I liked this story but the audiobook was lacking for me. I didn’t care for the dragon noises, it made it feel in-genuine. I feel like it would have been better without that. I will be interested to see what happens in the next book but I won’t be listening to the audiobook version.

The Death King was a pleasant surprise for me. Dark romances and fantasy are genres that I have a hard time with and I found myself very invested in this story.

When Calista was fifteen The Death King named Talon came to her town on a dragon and killed everyone. Her father was one of the casualties. Her life is spared and she is sent to a mine to live out the rest of her life.

The general in charge of the mine was a piece of trash. This is where the trigger warnings for this book will begin because he was raping Calista for years. Calista finds a black diamond which should win her freedom but he won’t let her go. Talon comes riding in on his dragon and when Calista tries to escape she learns she has the gift to communicate with dragons.

I did not care for Talon most of the time but he did have his moments while he was with Calista. I had to keep reminding myself what he was capable of because it felt like Calista was often forgetting he was responsible for her entire town burning.

Imitation is the best form of flattery is what I kept telling myself here because so much in this book was similar to other books in the genre. What hooked me was the last few chapters and the ending. For most of this book I didn’t think I would continue the series, but then the way this ended I knew I would be back for book two.

The Death King (Death Series #1) Penelope Barsetti
Pub Date Sep 24, 2024 Dreamscape Media

General Fiction (Adult) | Dark Romance | Sci Fi & Fantasy

The Death King by Penelope Barsetti is a dark fantasy romance, for those who enjoy spice, action, and morally gray characters. The FMC (Callista) and MMC (Talon) have a passionate drive for revenge but have a forbidden attraction to each other, which is frustrating and confusing for both. The lines start to blur between the captor and the captive as they both try to understand their feelings and try to keep their wants and needs separated as they both want retribution against the people who destroyed their family and kingdom.

What is in this book?

A King who can raise the dead and use them in his army
DRAGONS
Morally gray characters
A war between good and evil
Rare Dragon/human bonds
Enemies to Lovers
He falls first but is in denial
Spice

The time hop from when Calista is young and skips to "today" was pretty significant and there could have been more information added in there before, especially in regards to the new King. Although Talon's part was meant to be a bit of a mystery that is brought to light later on in the book. The main plot is a bit overshadowed by King Talon's maddening desire for the Calista and being a cocky attractive King who has women throwing themselves at him cannot understand why she denies him. Although Calista is indeed extremely attracted to him, she tries to avoid her want for the man who ruined her life. Both characters want revenge for the fall of their kingdoms and he tries to convince her to work with him to help take back what was taken from him, his family, and the dragons who have been enslaved. Little does he know what he took from her. This book is the set up for the story to follow in this series with a cliffhanger that leaves the main characters in chaos.

Fast-paced and an easy read, I flew through this book in a few hours. I will be reading the next book to see how these two characters get on as they both have an agenda to accomplish, and I am curious how their relationship will change throughout the books.

Trigger Warning: Contains dark themes including rape and suicide.

I was given this audiobook from Netgalley and Dreamscape Media in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley for this audiobook ARC.

This was a duel POV with duel Narrators.

This story follows Calista and Talon in this new dark fantasy series.

10 years ago Princess Calista life is changed in one night when it is told her the Death King , a necromancer with a Dragon, comes to destroy in Kingdom. Resulting in the death of her father the King and her running for her life. After becoming a slave in the desert and owned by the mad general, Calista has known nothing but cruelty and regular torture.

The Death King unexpectedly visits the desert and in her desperation, she tries to use his dragon to escape, she learns she can speak to this dragon Khazmuda. Impressed by her sheer nerve and bravery, also this very rare ability to talk to dragons , The Death King decides to take her back to his Kingdom.

Both of them have secrets but slowly Enemies turn into Lovers and the Detah King, Talon, starts to show Calista more to live and pleasure.

This did end on a cliffhanger and was a lot of world building since it is the first book in a series. I am intrigued to see where this story goes and the growth of both characters plus more dragons!

I did not like the mmc. I got to like 45% in. I didn't want to do a review but I felt like I needed to add that I did not like that the mmc was told several times to stop and he still proceeded to pursue her. It did not sit well with me. The fantasy aspect and dragons I loved. But not the MMC

The Death King by Penelope Brasetti offers an intriguing start, with strong world-building and a dark, atmospheric setting. However, as the story unfolds, the pacing slows considerably, making it difficult to maintain interest. The main character, while initially promising, remains largely underdeveloped and lacks the depth needed to fully engage the reader.

Additionally, the book features vivid and intimate scenes that may not appeal to a wide audience, limiting its reach. Overall, *The Death King* had potential, but inconsistent pacing and flat character arcs hinder its full impact. It's a story with promise, but one that ultimately feels underwhelming.

This book had everything in it that I ordinarily love. Dragons, some spice, an FMC with a traumatic past, a morally grey shadow daddy MMC … but it fell flat. So, so terribly flat. The chemistry between the two made zero sense to me, there was zero sensible progression from enemies to lovers. The king was unlikeable with zero charm, the FMC was a generic Mary Sue. Worst of all was the absolutely insane handling of her aforementioned trauma — that after being raped for a year at the hands of her captors in a prison work camp, the king frees her because he wants to sleep with her himself — and that his answer to her repeatedly saying no to his advances, is to simply wait until she’s asleep to shoot his shot. Gross, and even more gross is the way nobody in the book is especially bothered by it, including her, after a little while and enough gaslighting.

This was not even close to a hit for me, despite the high hopes I had going into it. I stuck it out hoping it would get better, and found myself sorely disappointed. I appreciated the dual narrators for the audiobook, for his chapters and hers, but that couldn’t redeem this one for me.

Thank you to the Dreamscape Media for the copy of this audiobook to check out.

Where to begin……

So the first 30% had me the story line was moving the characters developed at a fast face it was good.

Then we hit the next 60%….. which in all honesty was not right there was so much missing it was just filler and rushed. Pointless romantic scenes that made no sense baring in mind the FMC traumatising past.
The romance needed to be dragged out slower the MMC was adamant he earned her but he really didn’t at all it was all backwards.

The last 10% was great. Again I was hooked the story was back on track and the story line developed again.

I would say this could have truly been such an amazing book if the middle of it was removed a revised. Because the story is there, the characters are there it clearly had a well thought out plot the execution just wasn’t right.

The dragons were beautifully written and described. The death kings big secret wasn’t really a big wow secret. It just was a story of his childhood which was similar to hers.

Warnings…. There is rape and traumatic triggers in this book which I normally avoid however I didn’t feel like it was horrible reading just the moving onto another relationship barring in mind what she had gone to made no sense to me.

Would I read book 2….
Yes. Because as I stated the backbones was in the story and it ended well, I just hope the next book has more depth to it.
I didn’t hate the story it just seemed like it was more in editing stages still.

Thank you netgalley, Dreamscape media and Penelope Barsetti for the audio book arc in exchange for an honest review.

3⭐️⭐️⭐️

Wow. All I can say about this book is that it was a complete surprise.

I was not expecting it to be as good as it was and I definitely was NOT expecting to like it as much as I did. On the more serious side - there are some pretty intense and serious events that are involved in this, with rape (off page) being the worst of it, but I wanted to throw that out there.

We are introduced to the FMC Calista, who was a 15 year old Princess before her community is devastated and her father the King killed by the Death King and his Dragon. Her life as she knows it changes that day - and definitely not for the better. Through a crazy sequence of events, she ends up trying to escape and discovers that she can talk to his dragon. Because of that, the MMC Talon (the Death King) takes her away from the prison she was in and takes her back to his castle.

Without going into spoilers, the story gets very interesting. I liked Calista. She was a strong FMC and very likeable. Talon, on the other hand, is a chartcer that you know you shouldn't like, but somehow you end up rooting for him anyway.

Lots of things happen but EVERYTHING changes at the very end. This is one of those books that unfortunately ends in an awful cliffhanger...UGH!!!!

But will I keep going to book 2? Are you kidding....OF COURSE!!!

Thank you to NetGalley and to Dreamscape Media for the opportunity to listen to and to review this audio ARC. The opinions above are mine and mine alone. This book will be out for publication on September 24, 2024.

This book suffers from....a lot. I'll start with the more technical part I guess. The pacing was bonkers. We didn't see any actual plot until like 65%. The sex was the whole personality of this book and not in a good way. If you told me this was written by a man, I'd believe you. (See below for details). I also don't believe the male narrator fit the MMC and that was off-putting as it's a duet audiobook.

***On to some spoilers (and triggers)***

I hate writing spoilers but this has to be spoken about. The FMC was 'graped' first by an abuser (for years). Then again by the MMC. I knew this going into it thankfully because I read the reviews first. The part that was the MOST disturbing was the rhetoric that followed. IT IS STILL GRAPE IF THE WOMAN "ENJOYS" IT....but not according to this book. I get dark themes but this is irredeemable. The MMC and his dragon companion both try to gaslight the FMC because her body responded WHILE SHE WAS SLEEPING. (What happened to the honor of dragons).

The MMC is an absolute man child who cannot control his urges and coerces the FMC into having sex with him (but won't commit to her) for the entirety of the book. The summary of all the sex scenes is as follows : white panties, locked ankles, small tits, huge dick.

The book has so much potential. If we peeled back the unnecessary assault scene and built some tension while intertwining an actual plot, this could have been something.

Also I just realized I've read another book by this author and the abrupt way the books end....is so jarring. I don't even want to call it a cliffhanger TBH.

Thank you to Netgalley for the opportunity to review this audiobook. I am leaving my review honestly and voluntarily.

The audiobook is very well done. I would say to please add trigger warning as there are several moments of dubious consent and sexual abuse.
This book has probably my least favorite MMC I've ever read in a book. The FMC has been enslaved in the desert and s*xually assaulted for the last seven years. The MMC is aware of her history of abuse but has several moments where he forced himself on to her in situations of dubious consent. He refuses to share a bed with her after having sex with her because he only wants her for her body. It is hard for me to buy the "romance" when he has no respect for her as a person. My favorite moment in this book is the dragon. He is without a doubt the best character in this book. Those are not the only problematic situations in this book but those are the most pressing.

Penelope Barsetti once again has her listeners under her spell. Talon and Calista's enemies to lovers storyline will suck you in from the opening lines and the ending will leave you wanting more. There are a ton of moveable parts the interlock to one great audio. Add in the lovable and sometime scene stealing dragon and you have the beginnings to another series that will become an instant favorite.

The death king

It was thought that all of the magic and powers died with the mages in Calista’s world . However, it becomes quickly obvious that this king is special. He had the power to command the dead and rides into the city on a dragon, threatening everything for the sacred place.

Calista’s father is the king of Scorpion Valley during the siege and prepares his kingdom the best he can, which means one day of training. Calista was 15 when the attack left them trapped and helpless.

Calista recommended submitting to his reign but her father couldn’t stand for it and insisted that they fight and that death would be better than submitting to his cruel reign. She witnessed the Death King ask her father for the location of the remaining dragons of the land, and his life would be shared if he told him. Calista thought that dragons died out so long ago that they never even really existed, apparently that was not true. Before his death, her father ordered Calista to be taken away for a chance to escape since his fate was clear.

After the fateful day, the book jumps to 10 years later, where we see Calista living as a slave. She’s serving as a space to a powerful man in the new kingdom, but will not submit to the luxury she could have out of pride. She spends her days in the sand searching for black diamonds in exchange for freedom.

For as quick / short as this book was, the world building was still strong for me. Early chapters were descriptive to set the scene and make clear the threat of the Death King. This book was action packed from the first page and had my interest instantly.

Narration was expressive with a range of emotions and thrill! While the world building was strong, the transition from enemies to lovers seemed quick and without much connection, but I’m okay with that because the spicy scenes were great ! 🌶️🌶️

We get both points of view from Calista and Talin. Dragons, revenge, and spice oh my!! It does end with a cliff hanger and I feel like I have too many books like that I’ll struggle to keep track of when sequels come out, but still worth it.

Thank you to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. Publish date 9/24!

*The Death King* by Penelope Barsetti is easily one of my top reads of the year—I seriously couldn’t put it down! The chemistry between Calista and Talon, both gifted with the ability to speak with dragons, is intense, and their dynamic is full of tension, especially with the enemies-to-lovers-to-enemies twist. Hearing Michael and Ramona narrate again, just like in *The Dirty Blood* series, was such a treat. The ending has me on the edge of my seat, wondering how their relationship will evolve, and I’m so excited to see Calista finally embrace her independence with the help of a dragon! I can hardly wait for the next book.

Thank you NetGalley for the audiobook arc of The Death King for my honest review. The narrators were the same as another series which made it hard to discern the two series apart. The summary had potential to be great but unfortunately for me it fell flat. The story was too close to her dirty blood series. The woman loses everything and/or family abandons the mfc and the mmc wants to band her she says no for a good 40% into the book then gives in. I get its dark romance, but it could have been a better story.

3,75 ⭐️
I’m a bit conflicted about this book. I really liked it and the story but I had a bit of a hard time accepting the MMC. I felt like he was too forceful. I love dark romance but this one didn’t quite feel right.
I listen to this on audio and the dual narration was really good