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A review by mspilesofpaper
The Succubus's Prize by Katee Robert
emotional
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
The Succubus's Prize is the fourth instalment in the on-going series A Deal With A Demon and features Belladonna (human) and Rusalka (succubus). It plays in the established universe from the previous books and mentions previous characters (only the other male leaders) but it can be 100% read as a standalone. It is a very short (not even 180 pages) fast-paced spicy monster romance.
The following review might include spoilers.
PLOT
Belladonna made a deal with the demon Azazel. In exchange for seven years of servitude, her sister will get treatment for her cancer, acceptance into her college of choice, and access to a trust fund. Rather reluctantly, Azazel allows her to sign the contract and whisks her away to his realm where she gets "auctioned off" to Rusalka. Unlike with the other leaders, Azazel talks to Rusalka before the auction to point out that they should take Belladonna as they are the most likely to do well with her as Belladonna suffers from massive religious trauma. Over a relatively short period of time, both get to know each other better and fall in love. Of course, there are struggles - just like in the previous books - but they do get their happy end at the end.
WORLD-BUILDING & MAGIC
As mentioned, it plays in the same universe as the previous books but focuses on Rusalka's realm where the succubus and incubi live. It's community-based living with "everyone does the job that they love while everyone will be involved into the undesired ones from time to time". The entire world-building is relatively superficial (similar to the previous books) and benefits from the fact that the reader is likely to know the world. If you haven't read the previous books: don't worry, Rusalka explains enough to Belladonna to give the reader a brief overview as well. E.g., why the realms require humans for offspring, how the first dragons/kraken/succubi & incubi/... came to be and so on. The magic is connected to the succubi (fire) and incubi (shadows) and isn't much touched upon aside from mentions that Rusalka has often her fire around her and that they can use it as a weapon if required. In addition, they can sense emotions and influence them as well (especially desire), and can shape-shift as they aren't limited to strict gender rules.
CHARACTERS
Belladonna (she/her) and Rusalka (she/they) are the main characters of the story. In addition to them, there are three side characters that makeup Rusalka's court (her inner circle), a few other side characters (the mate of one court member, the gardener that takes Belladonna under his wing, ...), short scenes with Azazel and Ramanu, and mentions of Sol (the dragon from book 1), Thane (the kraken from book 2) and Bram (the gargoyle from book 3).
Belladonna deals with massive religious trauma as her parents are part of a cult-like Christian church but also suffers from shame and guilt. The shame is partly explained (and linked to her religious upbringing) but the guilt part isn't really explained. The author just says that she suffers from guilt and that's it. In addition, she's a mid-sized/plus-sized character and views herself as unattractive due to her upbringing. She's the kind of character who puts others above her own needs and safety, e.g. getting into a deal with a demon for her sister (who doesn't really love her imo), offering to have the child as "it will benefit your people" and so on. Her healing feels very rushed (despite the epilogue) and I think the deconstruction of her religious trauma could have been handled better as it feels very heavy-handed and partly like a soap opera with the dialogue/monologue concerning it (e.g., "I have desires but I cannot act on them because of my shitty parents and their pastor" or "I want the shape-shifting succubus but I was told that sex is a sin!" or "If I do it, it will be for the people because I was told that I'm worth nothing"), which gets exhausting.
Rusalka on the other hand is a self-sacrificing character who would do anything for their people. I think with them, it's a case of "hard shell, soft inside" because they are worried about Belladonna's well-being and mentions more than once that "a more ruthless leader would accept her offer to have a child even if Belladonna would suffer from it". They are the kind of character who thinks that they have to do everything on their own, without relying on other people, despite having a supporting group who would be there to help.
ROMANCE
Unfortunately, the entire romance is utterly rushed. Their relationship could have benefitted from having more pages dedicated to the romance's development, so it would feel ... well, healthy. It is especially important as Belladonna is utterly fine with a play scene with four people (well, five if you consider herself as well) after one day of being in the realm and despite her religious upbringing that drilled into her "pre-marriage sex is sin, sex is to procreate, do not have sex with the same gender". Despite her vocal agreement, the scene felt icky as Belladonna is under the influence of Rusalka's magic to increase her desire and let her forget her shame/guilt for the time.
For the sex, I would give it 3 🌶️ as it is graphic and explicit but feels less intense than the sex scenes from the previous books. The sex scenes include oral sex, vaginal sex, double-sided fire dildo, fingering, sex parties, double vaginal penetration (epilogue), cream pie (epilogue), soft BDSM (restraints), "good girl", soft Dom/Sub, breeding kink, tail play, "let me care take of you".
TW & CW
For the TWs: religious trauma (alt-right church, cult-like church), emotional abuse by parents, toxic family members, gaslighting by family members, guilt-tripping by family members and the church, harmful body image, internalised homophobia/queerphobia, general concept of sin, cancer (sibling, mentioned multiple times in the story), drugging (consensual & magical), wanted pregnancy, wanted non-monogamous relationship. (Please, check the author's trigger warnings as well!)
As for the sexual content warnings: breeding kink, sex parties, shape-shifted sex (genital-related), sex toys, oral and vaginal sex, restraints (handcuffs), soft Dom/Sub, tail play, double vaginal penetration.
TL;DR
Sapphic/gender-fluid monster romance (with spicy scenes) that feels rushed and uninspired (compared to the previous books). The deconstruction of the religious trauma could have been handled better as it plays a massive part in the main character's background (and their relationship). Unfortunately, there are also a lot of typos and grammar mistakes that dimmed my enjoyment as well. Overall, very lacklustre and I did expect more/better.
The following review might include spoilers.
PLOT
Belladonna made a deal with the demon Azazel. In exchange for seven years of servitude, her sister will get treatment for her cancer, acceptance into her college of choice, and access to a trust fund. Rather reluctantly, Azazel allows her to sign the contract and whisks her away to his realm where she gets "auctioned off" to Rusalka. Unlike with the other leaders, Azazel talks to Rusalka before the auction to point out that they should take Belladonna as they are the most likely to do well with her as Belladonna suffers from massive religious trauma. Over a relatively short period of time, both get to know each other better and fall in love. Of course, there are struggles - just like in the previous books - but they do get their happy end at the end.
WORLD-BUILDING & MAGIC
As mentioned, it plays in the same universe as the previous books but focuses on Rusalka's realm where the succubus and incubi live. It's community-based living with "everyone does the job that they love while everyone will be involved into the undesired ones from time to time". The entire world-building is relatively superficial (similar to the previous books) and benefits from the fact that the reader is likely to know the world. If you haven't read the previous books: don't worry, Rusalka explains enough to Belladonna to give the reader a brief overview as well. E.g., why the realms require humans for offspring, how the first dragons/kraken/succubi & incubi/... came to be and so on. The magic is connected to the succubi (fire) and incubi (shadows) and isn't much touched upon aside from mentions that Rusalka has often her fire around her and that they can use it as a weapon if required. In addition, they can sense emotions and influence them as well (especially desire), and can shape-shift as they aren't limited to strict gender rules.
CHARACTERS
Belladonna (she/her) and Rusalka (she/they) are the main characters of the story. In addition to them, there are three side characters that makeup Rusalka's court (her inner circle), a few other side characters (the mate of one court member, the gardener that takes Belladonna under his wing, ...), short scenes with Azazel and Ramanu, and mentions of Sol (the dragon from book 1), Thane (the kraken from book 2) and Bram (the gargoyle from book 3).
Belladonna deals with massive religious trauma as her parents are part of a cult-like Christian church but also suffers from shame and guilt. The shame is partly explained (and linked to her religious upbringing) but the guilt part isn't really explained. The author just says that she suffers from guilt and that's it. In addition, she's a mid-sized/plus-sized character and views herself as unattractive due to her upbringing. She's the kind of character who puts others above her own needs and safety, e.g. getting into a deal with a demon for her sister (who doesn't really love her imo), offering to have the child as "it will benefit your people" and so on. Her healing feels very rushed (despite the epilogue) and I think the deconstruction of her religious trauma could have been handled better as it feels very heavy-handed and partly like a soap opera with the dialogue/monologue concerning it (e.g., "I have desires but I cannot act on them because of my shitty parents and their pastor" or "I want the shape-shifting succubus but I was told that sex is a sin!" or "If I do it, it will be for the people because I was told that I'm worth nothing"), which gets exhausting.
Rusalka on the other hand is a self-sacrificing character who would do anything for their people. I think with them, it's a case of "hard shell, soft inside" because they are worried about Belladonna's well-being and mentions more than once that "a more ruthless leader would accept her offer to have a child even if Belladonna would suffer from it". They are the kind of character who thinks that they have to do everything on their own, without relying on other people, despite having a supporting group who would be there to help.
ROMANCE
Unfortunately, the entire romance is utterly rushed. Their relationship could have benefitted from having more pages dedicated to the romance's development, so it would feel ... well, healthy. It is especially important as Belladonna is utterly fine with a play scene with four people (well, five if you consider herself as well) after one day of being in the realm and despite her religious upbringing that drilled into her "pre-marriage sex is sin, sex is to procreate, do not have sex with the same gender". Despite her vocal agreement, the scene felt icky as Belladonna is under the influence of Rusalka's magic to increase her desire and let her forget her shame/guilt for the time.
For the sex, I would give it 3 🌶️ as it is graphic and explicit but feels less intense than the sex scenes from the previous books. The sex scenes include oral sex, vaginal sex, double-sided fire dildo, fingering, sex parties, double vaginal penetration (epilogue), cream pie (epilogue), soft BDSM (restraints), "good girl", soft Dom/Sub, breeding kink, tail play, "let me care take of you".
TW & CW
For the TWs: religious trauma (alt-right church, cult-like church), emotional abuse by parents, toxic family members, gaslighting by family members, guilt-tripping by family members and the church, harmful body image, internalised homophobia/queerphobia, general concept of sin, cancer (sibling, mentioned multiple times in the story), drugging (consensual & magical), wanted pregnancy, wanted non-monogamous relationship. (Please, check the author's trigger warnings as well!)
As for the sexual content warnings: breeding kink, sex parties, shape-shifted sex (genital-related), sex toys, oral and vaginal sex, restraints (handcuffs), soft Dom/Sub, tail play, double vaginal penetration.
TL;DR
Sapphic/gender-fluid monster romance (with spicy scenes) that feels rushed and uninspired (compared to the previous books). The deconstruction of the religious trauma could have been handled better as it plays a massive part in the main character's background (and their relationship). Unfortunately, there are also a lot of typos and grammar mistakes that dimmed my enjoyment as well. Overall, very lacklustre and I did expect more/better.