Reviews with content warning for Violence - That Time I Got Drunk and Saved a Demon

I know that the whole deal about this book is the use of contemporary language/slang in a historical/fantasy setting and I will admit that it took me longer to get used to it than I expected and I did almost DNF very early on because of it. However, ultimately this book offers an adventurous plot that rly clips along, a sexy possessive demon, a band of merry misfits, a noble if reluctant heroine, and hot sex, so it's definitely not bad!

I think Lemming does good work with the reluctant adventurer trope in Cinnamon, whose desire to NOT be the main character is pretty charming and relatable. I did find her narration a bit grating at first but once you settle in to the tone this book has a lot of fun to offer - she grows on you. I liked Fallon a lot of but of course I did. I appreciated that the world building is so well-intgrated into the book that it's not boring at all, and you get just the right amount of it. There's a little more telling than showing going on with characterization than I would prefer, but overall I think it's well-handled and well-balanced.

It's ultimately not really my cup of tea, but I would still read and enjoy the rest of the series, so take from that what you will!

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amy_in_the_city's review against another edition

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adventurous funny lighthearted fast-paced

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

2.5

The setting and the main character's narration were fun, but the characters and romance were extremely underdeveloped. They fell in love in like 5 days, and I just didn't see any bonding moments where they really got to know each other. I couldn't see what they loved about each other besides finding each other hot. Fallon was too possessive for my taste, and I didn't care for the dubcon.

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elizlizabeth's review against another edition

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adventurous lighthearted fast-paced

Loveable characters? No

2.0

I was expecting a fantasy comedy with monsters and honestly it only half excelled at comedy and sucked at the rest. The world building had its moments but overall it was shallow and dismissed as soon as the stakes were too high or the MC needed a way out. As for the comedy I could see where I was supposed to laugh but the chronically online jokes didn't land and I'm afraid will only get worse with time. Skipped the smut scenes, first because they were cringe but they quickly devolved into problematic bioessentialism.
On that matter, for all the author's claims about diversity there were so many questionable choices, especially the slavery plotline. Which you know, if it was just a silly book I wouldn't question much but if you're gonna sell yourself as "diverse fantasy writer" maybe put the work behind the words.

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evawhite's review against another edition

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adventurous lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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siriface's review against another edition

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adventurous funny lighthearted fast-paced

Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.75

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glashtyn's review against another edition

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adventurous funny lighthearted tense fast-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? Yes

5.0

Dear god, give me more. This is a cozy spicy adventure romance that is such a fun, fast read. I plowed my way through it, easily reading 100 pages in a sitting. It gave me the same feeling as playing a satisfying RPG.

The only negatives I have for the entire book are the use of the words dick, pussy, and cunt. I’m always taken out of the moment when the author can’t describe it any better than that. It was so well written however I found myself overlooking them, as I know that’s my personal preference.

A warning that this book is VERY spicy - think Carolina Reaper. So if you prefer mild spice or closed door, this isn’t the book for you.

If you enjoy d&d, adventures, found family, SPICE, and unlikely heroes that enjoy their wine this is the book. You won’t regret it.

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blissofalife's review against another edition

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adventurous funny lighthearted fast-paced

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

3.0

A fun, un-serious romp that felt reminiscent of a dungeons and dragons campaign. I loved the sass of all of the characters as well as the (very relatable) reactions of the main character to combat situations. I loved cinnamons complete and utter reluctance to be a hero and her massive pockets full of snacks.

I liked the plot. I thought it was fun. I liked most all the characters and how they interacted with one another and that as a whole The conflict was towards an entity and not with each other.

I did NOT like the sex scenes. Not because I don’t like sex scenes, but because it felt like they were unnecessarily lengthy and didn’t match the tone of the rest of the book. To be honest, they felt like something straight out of fanfiction. By the third one, I was skipping through the whole thing.

Overall of fun read, but I think I would’ve struggled to finish it if I hadn’t been listening to it on a 6 Hour drive.

That said, I’ll give the next book in the series a try, I really loved the narrator and did think it was a fun book. Just not one I’ll be recommending to my book club lol.

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