Listen, I give this book two stars because I enjoyed the first 200 pages.

I was excited to read another book published by Bloom, I have a thing for their books. I was looking forward to a story about a woman gaining power through sex because honestly, it is one of the most effective ways for a woman to gain power in most worlds and while that is sad it is also empowering to some people.

Then I hit page 250. And I was no longer okay. While I understand where this plot came from, I sincerely wish I had never read it.

Instead of the story of a woman becoming empowered, it is the story of the abused learning to be the abuser. And that is me not even discussing the crazy plot twists that felt like they came from a fanfiction.

This book was a wild ride but completely bingeable. The way Lindsay Straube pushes boundaries is next level. It's sexy and exhilarating - this book isn't for everyone but if you like thing outside the box. Like 100 yards out. You'll love this.

I don't have words for this one except maybe that I may not be a "typical reader" based on my reaction to this book. I can't say anything about the plot or my feelings about it because EVERYTHING I want to say is a spoiler, but what I CAN say is that this is a ridiculous book with high heat and so much intrigue and yet, I wanted MORE. The bonus chapter at the end, in my humble opinion, could have been the whole book and I would have been thrilled.

firstly, thank you to the publisher for an arc

dnf @6% ... i mean, REALLY?

this book will find its audience, but it is not me

This was an ovulation fever dream. No, I will not be elaborating.

I will, however, take 20 more. Immediately. Not a single note needed.

This is a book where the smut IS the plot, and the book is mostly smut. If that is not your vibe, you will not enjoy this!!

If that IS your vibe—go in as blind as possible and enjoy the fever dream. 🫡

Thank you to Bloom and Netgalley for the ARC of this weird and fun book!!

What a freaking wild ride. I don’t even know what to say after reading this book and it’s been a few days. I will say I thoroughly enjoyed it however, my only gripe was how naïve the FMC was.

Kiss of the Basilisk by Lindsay Straube is an enchanting and immersive read. The story weaves together mystery, magic, and adventure in a way that keeps you intrigued from beginning to end. Straube’s writing is captivating, and the world-building is rich and detailed. It’s a thrilling and unique experience that will stay with you long after finishing. Highly recommend for fans of fantasy and intrigue!

Tem is thrust into a dark world with princes and snakes. She falls in love twice but there is not much to this book besides smut. It’s too long because of that. Whenever I got excited by the plot, there would be a sex scene thrown in. I will probably give the next book in the series a chance because it seemed promising at times but I wouldn’t recommend this.

In a nutshell, this is a fantasy version of The Bachelor combined with a Draco Malfoy fan fic (or maybe something else I’m not hip enough to recognize). Until recently, humans and basilisks have been at war. The humans won, and the basilisks have been subjugated by the humans. Every time the king’s male heir turns 20, the small kingdom hosts a competition for all eligible women of the same age. The women are… trained… by the male basilisks to be excellent lovers, and the prince winnows down the pool of contestants to the single one who will be his queen. Into this quagmire steps our protagonist, Tem the chicken farmer’s daughter, who manages to fall in love with both her trainer basilisk and the prince.

Did someone actually write a novel based on the above? Yep. Is the plot compelling? No. Are the characters interesting? Not really. Is it over quickly? Noooo, this is easily 700 pages. Is this just an excuse for sex scene after sex scene? Yes.

But honestly I might have enjoyed it pretty unrepentantly if the following issues had been addressed:
• This originally was serialized with chapters released weekly online, and it still reads like that. Pacing is all over the place. Subplots come up, are resolved very quickly, and have little to no bearing on the rest of the book. I think it’s neat to see web serials and fan fic with the serial numbers filed off get traditionally published, but I expect far more polish when that happens.
• The Bachelor plot and the “falling in love with your sex instructor who’s a monster” plot could and should be separate books. Combining them results in some really weird issues (a small sampling of my questions below) and an entirely unnecessary and lopsided love triangle.
• Why are the prince’s candidates trained by basilisks??
• Why is the king much more supportive of the baker’s daughter winning the competition over the chicken farmer’s daughter??? He’s so invested in what would seem like a pretty small difference to royalty.
• Why are the basilisks warm blooded? And more importantly, have you ever SEEN drawings of medieval basilisks? Check out my favorite image:
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/14/Basilisk_aldrovandi.jpg

At the same time I was reading Kiss of the Basilisk, a friend of mine was hate-reading her way through a Dark Souls-inspired epic fantasy. This book featured the most purple prose I’ve ever seen, no Oxford commas, and gratuitous violence against women. It made me realize I was being a little unfair to Kiss of the Basilisk. Is the plot a barely held together contrivance for monster smut? Yes. But listen, the sex is consensual. It’s centered on the female gaze. It’s relevant to the plot (such as it is). The protagonist speaks up multiple times when she doesn’t like something and the other character apologizes. The plot is both inane and insane, but that’s clear right from the start– no bamboozling here. The bar may be low at “will this book give me psychological damage or make the world a worse place by teaching teenage boys that whole groups of people primarily exist to be abused”, but Kiss of the Basilisk passes it and this other fantasy book does not.

Also, fantasy books with romance-dominant plots get way too much flack. To quote Leigh Esposito, the only difference between a fantasy romance and Game of Thrones is misogyny based semantics.

So, to wrap up– a grudging three stars.

Such is the way of the basilisk.

When they said this book isn't safe for work they meant it lol there is so much spice and smut in this one and the plot was intriguing. We have the fmc Tem that has to train with Caspen the basilisk to learn the art of seduction so she can win the prince in marriage. Immediately there is smut, seduction, claws(it's hot,) and a snake-shifter basilisk. Tem and Caspen fall for each other and along with the lust and attraction there is also a deeper connection, especially regarding Tem's feelings and low self-esteem in some aspects.
In comes the prince and the royal family drama that is like a part 2 to the romance and Tems also finds herself falling for him. I enjoyed the political intrigue, threats, fights, and so much more. The only issue I had was the length but overall I enjoyed this read. Thanks to Bloom Books for this arc.

WOW THIS WAS UTTERLY UNHINGED in the best way. If you're looking for some R rated romantasy, this is for you. The spice, the banter, the chemistry was off the charts. Throw in some love triangle and you've got yourself a hit book. This is not for the faint of heart but wow, I truly loved this book.

Thank you to NetGalley for sending me an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Kiss of the Basilisk by Lindsay Straube follows a human who joins a competition to train in the art of seduction and win the prince’s hand in marriage.

In theory, this hits a lot of boxes for me. Shifter romance, trials and competitions, spice, and FMCs that find their power. I’m not a fan of love triangles but it’s def something I could set aside here.

But overall I gave this a three star rating as, unfortunately, I just left this read feeling a bit meh. It seemed to drag for me and I think it would’ve been much better if some of the fat was trimmed off. I wouldn’t discourage anyone from reading but I don’t know if I could recommend it either.