Reviews with content warning for Grief - 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

ktv's review against another edition

Go to review page

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

Content Warnings

clareasday's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional reflective tense fast-paced

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

5.0

Content Warnings

laicsouza's review against another edition

Go to review page

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.

Content Warnings

saranoh34's review against another edition

Go to review page

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!

Content Warnings

antidietleah's review against another edition

Go to review page

fast-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

3.25

So I'm kinda surprised how much I enjoyed it. The spice was on point, I generally liked the plot, but there were some pretty big holes. I think more work could have been done on why he went into priesthood... his sister's story in and of itself wasn't a compelling enough reason for me without knowing more about his thought process. I liked how everything got wrapped up, even though the final drama is eyerollingly predictable. I'm not religious (but was raised Lutheran) so a lot of the religious references were lost on me but I got the gist anyway.

Content Warnings

kelisabeth's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark emotional fast-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

4.75

Content Warnings

More...