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A review by grimdreadful
Lies That Bind by April Yates, Rae Knowles
3.0
3 stars - a sapphic, dark, erotic/smut horror.
This is not a sub genre I read often but when I saw Rae Knowles was involved I HAD to read it. Lies That Bind at its core is a very dark romance with hints of the supernatural, that follows two women in a relationship Adele and Lorelei, who run a sham séance business and hold some dark secrets from one another. With the sudden arrival of Viola their relationship is tested in more ways than one.
This was an intense read, definitely be sure to check the content warnings before going in. I enjoyed the book for the most part, but as someone who reads primarily horror I wish there was more on Adele and her condition, I loved this part of the story and wish the plot on that went deeper. I also didn't love Chesters character being in the story, him being that young. I don't think his character truly added anything unique or note worthy so he could have been older or just excluded. That's just my personal thought and to just clarify, he wasn't in any inappropriate scenes but going from reading smutty scenes to parts of the story with him just felt a little weird and uncomfortable.
Overall, am I going to go seek out other smut novels now? probably not. Will I read more smut should Rae Knowles release more in the future? most likely. LOL
I also really appreciated that the authors included content warnings in the back for those that may need them.
Many thanks to Netgalley and Brigids Gate Press for providing a digital copy to read, as always opinions are my own.
This is not a sub genre I read often but when I saw Rae Knowles was involved I HAD to read it. Lies That Bind at its core is a very dark romance with hints of the supernatural, that follows two women in a relationship Adele and Lorelei, who run a sham séance business and hold some dark secrets from one another. With the sudden arrival of Viola their relationship is tested in more ways than one.
This was an intense read, definitely be sure to check the content warnings before going in. I enjoyed the book for the most part, but as someone who reads primarily horror I wish there was more on Adele and her condition, I loved this part of the story and wish the plot on that went deeper. I also didn't love Chesters character being in the story, him being that young. I don't think his character truly added anything unique or note worthy so he could have been older or just excluded. That's just my personal thought and to just clarify, he wasn't in any inappropriate scenes but going from reading smutty scenes to parts of the story with him just felt a little weird and uncomfortable.
Overall, am I going to go seek out other smut novels now? probably not. Will I read more smut should Rae Knowles release more in the future? most likely. LOL
I also really appreciated that the authors included content warnings in the back for those that may need them.
Many thanks to Netgalley and Brigids Gate Press for providing a digital copy to read, as always opinions are my own.