I loved this book more than I expected. It was so well written and there was a lot going on but it never got overwhelming and it moved seamlessly. I'm definitely going to need to go back and read the first book even though it is t necessary to read this one.

I’ll admit, initially, I was a little put off by the idea of a retelling of The Portrait of Dorian Gray without the queer elements included. I should have known better, because of all the novels I have read by Rebecca Kenney, I have never once been disappointed by the respect for the source material and the execution of a well written story. This was no different. Particularly so when we consider that it isn’t so much a retelling as it is a continuation of Dorian’s story. Being the immortal man that he is. Hallward’s painting still exists, albeit is reaching a point of decomposition due to Dorian’s hedonistic and fast-living ways, that Dorian is forced to scour the world for a new painter, one who can achieve what Basil did before them thus allowing him to continue his frenzied debauchery.

He ultimately finds his new artist in Baz, a painter that has been forbidden from ever painting the likeness of another human being due to a bloodline ability that tethers the subject’s soul to the painting. A gift, or curse, that Baz was informed of far too late and only after her parents both passed on does, she truly understand the whispering premonitions that have plagued her for her entire life. Naturally, she wants nothing to do with Dorian – who, in the modern era, is a pompous and social media in touch influencer.

Dorian, however, is convincing in the way that he can creep into Baz’s mind, coaxing her into a life she’s craved for much of her adult life, and ultimately coerces her into a Faustian bargain that, once fulfilled, would give them both what they desire most: Dorian, a way to continue his hedonistic and immortal ways, and Baz, an entrance into the right avenues of the art world.

Overall, the book was well-written and enjoyable for me. I loved the characterization of a modern Dorian Gray, and I even enjoyed Baz as a female-contemporary to Basil. Albeit, her tendency to try and encourage her beliefs and understandings onto others became a bit of a nuisance until quite a bit into the novel. I think Baz’s sensibilities are justified, however, given what she’s experienced and the way she’s steeled herself to the world as a result.

What always enraptures me in anything written by Kenney, though, is the world she crafts. Even when the setting is modern, or the world we know, there is a particular edginess to it that makes it undeniably different. And this was no exception. There is a unique mythology that comes along with the Gilded Monsters and a secondary villain to Dorian that contributes to a compelling story full of twists, turns and just the right amount of spice.

As always, I would like to thank NetGalley, Sourcebooks Casablanca and Rebecca Kenney for the opportunity to read this in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Five out of five moons, no question. And a further emphasis that if Rebecca Kenney writes it, then I will read it.

Rating: 🌕🌕🌕🌕🌕 | 5/5

I love Rebecca Kenney, so when I got the opportunity to do get an ARC of one of her books - I hopped on it as fast as I could. This book did not disappoint, and is on par to what you would expect from Rebecca. I loved it, and could not put it down once I started reading it. I loved the characters, and the plot was interesting. I get so tired of the same retellings, it was refreshing to find one that was Dorian Gray adjacent.

Charming Devil is the reimaginative retelling of Dorian Grey we didn't know we needed. Just as moody and mysterious as the original, this spicy retelling has added twists and turns that make this story more than a retelling.

This book was so good that I now want to read about Dorian Grey by Oscar Wilde. This was the second book of this Author's that I have read and I absolutely loved it. The Premise of the book was so good.

An advanced copy was provided through Net Galley prior to this review. This will be a relatively spoiler free review.

Charming Devil, the second book in Rebecca Kenney’s Gilded Monsters series takes on another literary classic and gives it a modern-day spin. Dorian Gray is a very wealthy influencer who runs through people and things with little thought about the consequences until he has no choice but to face them. After all, what concern would Dorian have for consequences when his portrait experiences them rather than him? Baz, a distant relative of Dorian’s first love, has her own demons as well – she’s running from a past and consequences from actions she was too young to understand. When the characters meet, the results are nothing short of explosive in all the best ways. Desperate to continue his existence, Dorian uses all the charm and influence he must try and convince Baz to help him, all the while facing battles neither of them had ever expected.

I’ll admit, The Picture of Dorian Gray is one of my absolute favorite books of all time, and one that I’ve reread frequently. This leads me to always be nervous when I hear about a different take on it, no matter who is tackling the material, because I feel the story won’t manage to hold up well enough. When it comes to Kenney’s book, I quickly learned that I didn’t need to be worried at all. Every one of those sharp edges Dorian Gray has – the spoiled nature, the hedonistic behavior, the callousness towards others – were not overlooked to make him a more palpable character. For her part, Baz’s own edges were there to be seen as well, making both characters – and the rest of the characters in the book – fascinating because of their depth and layers. They’re allowed to be imperfect, which in my opinion is one of the best things a book character can be. The fact that Kenney doesn’t shy away from this made me incredibly happy and allowed me to enjoy the book even more than I had hoped to.
Additionally, the bits of ancient folklore and magic that Kenney weaved throughout the book brought a new energy to the old story that kept me intrigued and wanting to know more. While this may only be a two-book series (Gilded Monster, Kenney’s take on The Great Gatsby is very much a part of this world and referenced a few times, though Charming Devil is a stand-alone), I very much hope that Kenney returns to this universe a few times more. Her world-building alone makes me want to read another dozen or so books in this world, because I know how amazing they will be.

Charming Devil is a wonderful escapist read, capturing and keeping the reader’s attention completely. It’s easy to want to read this book in one sitting and let the rest of the world fade away for an afternoon – or a weekend. One would expect nothing less from Dorian Gray.

As soon as I heard this was Dorian Gray inspired, I needed this haha!

I love what Rebecca Kenney is doing with retellings. She puts her own twists on it that make it feel fresh and new. I really liked what she did with Dorian Gray. Baz and Dorian are complicated characters. Sometimes you like them, sometimes you don't. But that's what made them so interesting for me. I liked how conflicted Baz was and Dorian, is well Dorian Gray, lol. I thought Kenney did a great job writing their relationship and chemistry. If you enjoy a bit of dark romance, you'll love these two.

This also has supernatural elements so that was cool. I thought it kept the plot moving along as well as interesting. I thought the way the plot concluded made sense and was satisfying.

If you enjoyed Beautiful Villain, you'll devour this!

I recieved the ARC from netgalley, and as usual, anything Rebecca F Kenney I could not put it down. As someone who loved and religiously read classics like The Great Gatsby and Dorian Gray as a teen, I can say I absolutely devoured this retelling of one of my favorites. The little twists she puts on the story to make it modern yet still fantasy, is nothing shy of amazing. If you love classics that you read when you were in school and are also a dark romance reader, this next installment of Gilded Monsters is definitely the book for you. If you like your MMC so morally grey he is one step away from pure black, this book has that. The rollercoaster I went on rooting for him, but sometimes voting against him, gives him one of the best character development arcs I've read in a long time. I definitely can't wait for her next installment in the series.

The book was everything you would expect it to be. The retelling of Dorian Gray was done in a clever way by Rebecca with extra magic. I enjoyed that it tied in with Beautiful Villain. There were no major plot twists and the story was pretty predictable. It was cute and the level of spice was nice for this particular book. Overall I thought it was done well and I’ll be reading the next books in the series.

I didn’t realize this was a series when requesting this but was pleasantly surprised to learn that it is a standalone story though. I love a retelling of a classic and this one could have been better to be honest. Baz was an annoying character throughout so this wasn’t for me. Giving it a 3 out of 5. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to read this advanced copy.

This is just another example of why I will always read anything Rebecca Kenney writes. I enjoyed Charming Devil just as much as Beautiful Villain and am so excited to read the next book. The pacing kept me engaged, the dialogue felt natural, and the characterization was completely believable. The parallels between this and the original were really fun to read. I especially enjoyed seeing the moral dilemma Dorian was experiencing. It really brought to life the "morally gray" aspect that made the payout at the end all the more satisfying. I thought the weaving between the first book and this one was clever, and I seriously cannot wait to read more!

Retellings of the classics? Stop I love this author and Dorian Gray is one of my favourites, I thought this was brilliant, maintained the same themes as the classic but with a modern spicy twist, compelling writing and plot! Can't wait for the next one in the series!

I believe the premise behind this book is very original and creative, and reading the summary in the description definetly captivated my attention..leading me to begin this book immediately. From what I gather the basic premise is that Dorian Gray has been brought to life through his painting, however the painting has now begun detoriating, requiring the help of the painter in the family of the original painter who constructed his portrait. Then we meet Baz. She is eccentric in everyway and definetly at times a confusing characters because of how often she would flip flop on ideas/decisions. The chemistry between Dorian and Baz was there from the very beginning, which I definetly appreciated. However I felt as if I jumped into the middle of a series when I began this book. I felt like the main plot was kind of lost at times, moreover I just did not relate very well to Baz causing this disconnection.



This is not to say that this is a poorly written book at all - this is a very fun read that I truly appreciate the creativity the author brought to life. I have a strong belief that it is never the book that is the issue, but the reader, therefore because I could not connect that well with the main character Baz, i feel that is why this book fell a little bit for me in the ratings. Which is not at all the author's fault; because I am positive most people will connect great with Baz - even more so with Dorian Gray.



Just to caution, i have not read Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde, therefore i had not predisposed ideas on how Dorian Gray should act or talk. The chemistry was really my favorite part - if you love a dark romance with a truly morally gray character, then you will most likely adore this book.



Thank you very much to NetGally, Sourcebooks Casablanca, and Rebecca Kenney for an arc of this book. I will most certainly be checking out some of her earlier work because of this book.

This was not for me. I didn’t like it. At all. I think the FMC was trying way too hard to be tough and different. The constant mentioning of name brands gave me the ick, I know there’s an audience out there for this, but it isn’t me.

Charming Devil is the second book in the Gilded Monsters series. While these books can be read as stand alones in the series Jay Gabsy from Beautiful Villian is part of the plot toward the end of the book. Baz is an artist with a troubled past when Dorian Gray walks into her studio. Dorian is beutiful, flawless, charming and so much more. When Dorian approaches Baz about having her paint his portrait she declines for personal reasons. Now Dorian is offering Baz an oppertunity of a lifetime and everything she can possible dream of , if only she will say yes. Charming Devil is just a right amount of mystery and steamy romance. This book would be perfect for fans of Katee Roberts and Emily McIntire. I would like to thank both NetGalley and Sourcebooks Casablanca for letting me read an advance copy of this novel.

Spicy Dorian Gray retelling. I think it’s genius that Rebecca is doing literary retellings. This is so fun and still explores the main themes of the original book. Excellent spice, modernized Dorian, supernatural elements. Ties in with Beautiful Villain

I find the concept of Dorian Gray to be wildly intriguing, so I was very excited to read this book. And honestly I had a pretty good time with it. A few feelings I had while reading..

The pacing of the beginning was quick and easy to get into, but then it stalled out for me a bit midway through. There was a part of the plot that seemed like it should be important that kept getting covered up with the emotional turmoil of Baz’s conscience against Dorian’s lifestyle. That admittedly got a tad bit old after a while. Baz made the choice to keep being around Dorian, but kept hating him for everything he was and did. I also got a bit annoyed at the constant reminder of her vow. It just didn’t feel like a strong reason when she made it as a child. I think I would have preferred to feel her explore the other reasons for not agreeing more rather than mostly just defaulting to “I made a vow”.

Then, there was the fact that for a romance novel… I don’t know that I actually liked the MMC.. hardly at all? He was beautiful as Dorian Gray always is and the author did a wonderful job of describing this. Of describing how people responded to him and how he felt about that. But up until the VERY END I didn’t like him or trust him. I wasn’t rooting for him. Idk. It was a really interesting way to feel in romance. He was a good representation of Dorian Gray for sure because I’m not sure he’s ever been likable, but I assumed for romance there would be a reason to like him in this representation. There really wasn’t. We did get some of his POV that made me WANT to like him, but he was so easily swayed into being bad, not committing to his own feelings. I found him weak and mostly unappealing but still interesting to read about if that makes sense. I don’t think I believed they loved each other in the end though…

But.. all that to say I still enjoyed reading it? So thank you to Netgalley and Sourcebooks for the ARC!

Rebecca Kenney writes a morally grey man like no other. She always sprinkles in the perfect amount of redemption to make him compelling and dynamic. Of course this is the case with Dorian Gray. Dorian was painted by an old lover, who had an unknown gift and accidentally captured his soul and tethered him to the portrait he painted. More than a century later, Dorian remains untouched by age and has lived a dark lifestyle of excess and sin. Although his person remains flawless, his portrait is marred by his sins and age and is disgustingly warped, showing his true nature underneath his angelic looks. But after years of decay, the portray is finally beginning to wither- enter our FMC. Baz is a descendant of the original artists and has inherited his abilities- although she has vowed to never use them. Dorian vows to change her mind and thus their torrid love affair begins.
My favourite part of this book is that Rebecca let Dorian be bad- he's self serving and apathetic to a fault. He leaves a string of broken hearts and ruined lives behind him, without a care in the world. It isn't until he's forced to face his past transgressions that he seems to show any kind of regret..
Kenney has created such an immersive and fascinating world with the Gilded Monsters series and I was loathe to finish this book. To say it exceeded expectations is an understatement (and after Beautiful Villain, my expectations were high) but somehow this one was even better.
Rebecca's spin on these classic novels is addictive and if you are a fan of retellings, I would highly recommend this series to anyone.

I was really enjoying the first half of this book because it felt like a uniquely paranormal spin on the Dorian Gray story, but I’ll be honest, it took a downturn for me in the second half. If I could rate the two halves separately, the first half would be ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ and the second half would be ⭐️⭐️ - so average I’m giving it ⭐️⭐️⭐️.

Dorian’s portrait was painted over 100 years ago by Basil Hallward and has allowed him immortality while maintaining his beautiful facade. However, during his long life he’s glutted on drugs and pretty much everything bad for his body while funneling the pain and damage into his portrait. What he didn’t realize is that his portrait could only take so much and it’s started deteriorating. Once the portrait fully deteriorates, so does he. This prompts him to look for Basil’s current day descendant to paint him a new portrait.

Baz has vowed to never ever paint a portrait again after the one and only time she did, she killed her father. So when Dorian asks her to paint his, she adamantly refuses. He proposes two weeks of wealth, parties, and fame to convince her otherwise and she agrees.

The extravagant lifestyle and Baz’s new “friends” were entertaining to read about for a while but it started to take a turn for me when she was confronted with Dorian’s influence over many individual’s drug use leading to their deaths and she just brushes it off. She was just like everyone else, falling for his godly beauty and was inexplicably in love with him without him doing anything genuinely love worthy. Not to mention his constant self obsession and remarks about how beautiful he is. We get it, you’re hot, but it’s quite literally the opposite when you constantly say it. Then add in his grotesque behavior towards his little posse, no wonder Vane went crazy!

The toxicity of Baz’s feelings for Dorian can be summed up in her own thoughts:
”And most of all, I hate Dorian Gray for making me care about him. It’s like instead of running from his red flags, I fucking collected them. Carelessly. Eagerly. Clutched them to my chest like a big bouquet of roses.”

The Lloyd-Henry spin was interesting - I’d call him the evil little devil on Dorian’s shoulder. The skriken were one of the most interesting aspects of this story and I was eagerly awaiting the action promised from their appearance. I will say that I loved the tie in to Beautiful Villain and the whole Gatsby cast, so I am intrigued to continue on with these retellings and where they will go with the overarching god plot.

Quantity of spice: 🌶️🌶️
Quality of spice: 🌶️🌶️

A wonderful spicy retelling of the Picture of Dorian Grey. It is a quick read, but full action, paranormal incidents, and heart wrenching aspects from both Dorian and Basil's perspectives.