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A review by goodbyepuckpie
Death Love Lust by Catherine Stovall, Jaclyn Osborn, Jenn Nixon, Lily Lutes, Patrick Tumblety, Charlotte Ondac, Libby Bishop, Aurelia Fray, Olivia Harper, Michael Cross, Iskra Ryder, Victoria Kinnaird, Jen L. Joyal, Emma Michaels
3.0
Anthology read: updating review as I read so I don't forget individual stories.
Liked Victoria Kinnaird's The Price - it's very clearly a prequel but there's enough information to grasp what happened before and after, and it's well written and engaging.
I wanted to like the Devil's Dozen, because lesbians, hooray, and the last two paragraphs were an excellent spin/twist, but the characters weren't quite convincing, especially in reacting to a whole bunch of death in the start of the story, and I didn't care for how the bodies of either woman were described. (I get what they were aiming for with the line about Marilyn Monroe but golly did it Not Land.)
Patrick Tumblety's Restless Sinners has one hell of an opening, and the aside was kind of awesomely weird/gross, I dug that. This had a kind of Cabin in the Woods-esque vibe, interesting and pretty fucked-up but well crafted. (Didn't love the 'punish the Other Woman too' trope but this was an intriguing enough piece otherwise that I could still enjoy it.)
Iskra Ryder's I'll Be Seeing You was great; solidly composed and clear and engaging; it does a great job with the theme by being entirely self-contained and yet feeling like part of a bigger story in a good way. Well put together, hot and with a hopeful ending.
Emma Michaels and Michael Cross' Until Death We Won't Part was also solid; neat plot and competently written.
About a third of this antho wasn't quite to my taste - some of the other erotica stores were more purple-prose-y than I prefer for sure - but Ryder, Tumblety and Kinnaird were the definite standouts.
Liked Victoria Kinnaird's The Price - it's very clearly a prequel but there's enough information to grasp what happened before and after, and it's well written and engaging.
I wanted to like the Devil's Dozen, because lesbians, hooray, and the last two paragraphs were an excellent spin/twist, but the characters weren't quite convincing, especially in reacting to a whole bunch of death in the start of the story, and I didn't care for how the bodies of either woman were described. (I get what they were aiming for with the line about Marilyn Monroe but golly did it Not Land.)
Patrick Tumblety's Restless Sinners has one hell of an opening, and the aside was kind of awesomely weird/gross, I dug that. This had a kind of Cabin in the Woods-esque vibe, interesting and pretty fucked-up but well crafted. (Didn't love the 'punish the Other Woman too' trope but this was an intriguing enough piece otherwise that I could still enjoy it.)
Iskra Ryder's I'll Be Seeing You was great; solidly composed and clear and engaging; it does a great job with the theme by being entirely self-contained and yet feeling like part of a bigger story in a good way. Well put together, hot and with a hopeful ending.
Emma Michaels and Michael Cross' Until Death We Won't Part was also solid; neat plot and competently written.
About a third of this antho wasn't quite to my taste - some of the other erotica stores were more purple-prose-y than I prefer for sure - but Ryder, Tumblety and Kinnaird were the definite standouts.