Reviews with content warning for Sexual assault - Priest

I can't stop the tender shoots and slender, seeking roots of him, and I am his garden, his soil, his place, and it would be wonderful if I wasn't supposed to be the garden of my god instead.” (SAINT)

if you told me a year ago i was going to post an in-depth review of a series based on catholic church erotica i would have told you, “yes, and?”

when i started PRIEST, i was not expecting much. i figured i would be like, okay, yeah, spicy! and move on. which is honestly kind of what happened, because i read it in december, watched fleabag, became obsessed with Hot Priests for a week, and then forgot about it until one fine day in february. i was at work and was needing a mindless audiobook to get through the remainder of my day and i figured hm, yeah i kinda had a fun time with the first book, i’ll try his brothers story, SINNER.

how funny i was to think it would be a mindless audiobook. i started it and immediately became invested. a series that started as a solid 3 quickly became a 4, and then, dare i say it? a 5 star read by the time i finished the final brother’s story, SAINT.

i saw an immense amount of growth in simone’s writing style, character development, and overall storytelling throughout the series - something, let’s be fair, i just don’t expect when i’m picking up a book for a spicy time. i was impressed with simone’s handling of the tough topics she chose to include in the series; including systemic SA, suicide/suicidal ideation, death of a parent to cancer, and depression, and she includes the CW at the beginning of each book for her readers.

this series was not without its faults, such as sometimes there was an overreliance on the “i’m not like other guys” trope from each of the brothers, while they were quite literally like other guys lol. also, simone did rely on the black fmc to basically give a racism 101 lesson to the white mmc in the second book. and while i do think simone tried to navigate writing interracial relationships responsibly and with care – she just could have chosen any other way to explain these things without putting the burden on the black fmc.

anyway, i came for the hot priest smut, stayed for the intimate storytelling and now i own physical copies of each book because i literally cherish these stories.

Content Warnings

mana_reads's review against another edition

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challenging dark hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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melist6's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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moonlit_mxri's review against another edition

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tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

Personally I enjoyed this book at first but then when I sat and contemplated about it I had some troubles with it. That third act break up needed to be longer and more of an emotional response not a sexual one. Also the mmc had no character development. He didn’t fix his troubles at all or what was on his mind.

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emilyd443's review against another edition

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adventurous hopeful mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

What was that ending…. After chapter 20 it was kinda rubbish. It was all in his POV tho which is pretty cool. But like really

she kissed Sterling back. Hellooooo like how could you forgive her so easily. I understand it’s explained but in the end I disliked poppy more than I did Sterling. Because at least he helped Tyler out… she said she tried to reach him afterwards. Obviously not very hard

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ktv's review against another edition

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Cannot stomach porn in written form anymore. Never returning to this ever again.

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laicsouza's review against another edition

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It is very hot, but I guess I don't have a "sin" kink, maybe because I am not religious. And the male main character is quite dramatic in a way that I don't like.

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saranoh34's review against another edition

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adventurous hopeful fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Immaculate spice! It was a bit sudden love-y and clearly more smut than anything but I’m not complaining… very well
Written also!

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