A review by vanmeers
Marionette by Antonia Rachel Ward

dark mysterious fast-paced

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

3.75

This was most definitely very different to the books I normally read but I have to say I was pleasantly surprised by it! Marionette is erotic horror fiction, so obviously ‘reader beware’ and all that, you WILL encounter smut. I usually don’t mind sexually explicit books, but I also don’t normally seek them out so it was fun reading something different than the usual. It also helped that the writing was done exceptionally well - the author was able to entertain and intrigue, and made this little novella into a real page turner. 

Marionette is able to entertain the reader with both a compelling mystery, in which you do feel interested in uncovering it, AND some straight up smutty scenes. But while I did enjoy it a lot, I also think for how short it is, that I would have liked for it to either have been straight up erotica or straight up mystery/horror as I felt both failed to dominate the novella. That’s also, obviously, a personal preference so I don’t think this should keep anyone from reading it - perhaps others like the duality of erotica and horror in short bursts! 

I would recommend looking up the content warnings for Marionette before reading though as it could potentially be triggering for some! I would also say that while the author gives content warnings at the end of the book, including saying it has ‘dubious consent’, that most of the sexually explicit scenes are non-consensual due to the nature of the possession. 

Thank you NetGalley for the review copy!