You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.

2.78k reviews for:

Split or Swallow

Lindsay Straube

3.54 AVERAGE

challenging dark funny fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus: No
funny medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes
adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful informative mysterious medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

Who put what in this? I went in completely blind. I'm so glad I did because I don't know how you could've sold me on snake smut. But sold me you did. I want the prequel, the follow-up, the Christmas novella...sold! It shouldn't have made sense, and it shouldn't have been hot... but by Kora did it, and was it! Hot, hot, hot. This book was 95% smut, so how the heck did we find the time for so much plot? Yet it was there. More unhinged than a barn yarn door in a twister, and I ate it the heck up. I'm buying whatever she is selling, because she already sold me on something I never thought I'd buy. 0 buyers remorse. 0 regrets. More!
dark funny slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: No

Felt like, and I mean this as a compliment of the highest order, stumbling across your first spicy fanfic on tumblr, I had a great, hilarious, wild time
dark emotional tense fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

The spice in this book literally made me sweat! Wooo! Sooo good! I was reading it and looking around the room because I could swear people could see what I was reading and that I was squirming in my damn seat! I love me some hot and spicy smut! I gave it a 3.75 because Tem annoyed me throughout the book with her incessant insecurity. She was always begging Caspen to validate her and I feel like it set back the scenes and the plot. I wanted to see her come into her power as a basilisk and into herself as an independent woman. But she always needed a man; either Leo or Caspen. It was annoying to read until the end of the book. The plot got a little messy toward the end after the basilisks attacked the wedding. What is going to happen to the Kingdom? What is going to happen to Evelyn and Leo? Why can't Leo, Caspen, and Tem just be together? Can we get a deeper explanation on how Tem's dad went missing? I feel like I wanted more information. I also wanted more information on how Caspen's dad ended up being and evil jerk. He didn't seem so bad and then all of a sudden...evil? Other than those little things, I couldn't put this book down! I LOVED it! For my dark smut lovers, I definitly recommend!

3.5 ⭐

This could have been a 4 star reading if the FMC wasn't so badly written. Congratulations to Tem for winning the "Worst FMC I've read so far in 2025"

Terrible. Bookclub choice. Don't bother

THE CANON CHAPTER!!!
dark slow-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

There's something kind of poetic about a world where we aren't pretending s*x doesn't equal power, unhinged monster or not.

Don't get me wrong I was gasping here, there, and everywhere with this one. Even got me a pearl clutch in. As I went further and further into the rabbit hole though I felt all the things a compelling read might make you feel. I was giggling, rolling my eyes, frustrated, I even raged a little. At quite litterally every chapter people kept telling me the craziest part hasn't even happened yet, and though I was in disbelief, they would have been correct.

What Straube has done elegantly is create a world where intimacy doesn't have to hold fear or punishment, so for that alone it's in my good books.

My advice for you dear reader, is do not go into this dark night alone. Find a friend, find a few. Have some conversation, laugh a little as you process. All in all it was worth every second spent and I look forward to what comes next. Consider my bookish hazing ritual complete. Straube has me in her clutches. I'm a changed woman.