Reviews with content warning for Sexual content - Queenie & the Krakens

Alright, I can’t help but have a completely different set of criteria than normal for judging whether or not this was a good book due to the explicit nature of it. The bar was real low honestly and I didn’t go into this book with high expectations. This is a very explicit polyamorous reverse harem paranormal romance, and since this is my first book of this nature I was just hoping to have an entertaining time.

And I did honestly! I chuckled a few times at the ridiculous circumstances and dialogue. The word “fuck” was used as an adjective and expletive so many times, it probably averaged out to at least twice every page, not even counting when it was used as a verb. There were quite a few typos, which I wasn’t surprised to see. Each of the five guys involved in the romance had different enough characteristics , though a few of them were super similar, and they each had their own proclivities to keep things sort of fresh.

The actual plot was fair enough! There was a throughline and several bloody action scenes, it wasn’t just hundreds of pages of people having sex with each other, though that was certainly a good portion of it. Although one of the men in particular was an unhinged sadist/masochist, in the end it was consensual stuff between everyone, the men all worship and thirst over Queenie and aren’t afraid to share the love, and Queenie is very capable of defending herself in her own right, so if you’re looking for that stuff then you’ll probably enjoy this. The sex scenes were… Good? I think? They were on the level that I expected? I don’t know, fam, this genre is so far out of my lane, I don’t read books for explicit sex, so I’m probably not the best person to say if those scenes were good or not. I was certainly fascinated, if anything!

This didn’t convert me into a smutty paranormal romance girlie by any means, but I mean it wasn’t bad for what it was? Not top-shelf literature, but I’m glad I gave it a try and can say that I have read a truly smutty book and didn’t hate the experience by any means.

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givemaribooks's review

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adventurous dark emotional medium-paced

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

2.5

I really wanted to like this book. I was drawn to it because the cover is BEAUTIFUL, and the premise of the book seemed interesting, but I was very disappointed. My first disappointment was realizing there were no krakens. I really thought there would be kraken shifters, but it’s just the name of the MC. The guys are actually mermen.

The writing in the first half felt aggressive (?) and a bit repetitive (see how often she started sentences with “see” in the first chapter). I think this book had a lot of potential but the execution of it did not work for me. Once I realized that there would not be a lot of actual world building, I though we would get a lot of character development and really get to know these characters, but we did not get that at all. I am all for no plot, all vibes, but we have to get good vibes! By the end of the book, I still don’t know the real names of most of the men or their actual background, or what illegal/legal activities the gang is involved in. What was the point of getting the men’s POV if we were not going to actually get to know them? I am still unsure of most of the guys’ races/ethnicities. Even for Queenie, all we know is her dad has a Hispanic name and she has dark skin, so we have to assume she is Afrolatina, I guess. The only guys we get to know a bit more are Slug and Box, and even then I was very put off by the scene where Slug is telling her about his traumatic childhood while Box is going down on her, LIKE WHAT?! And then we have Delfin, who has two “conversations” with Quennie and decides he is in love. There was no reason why he was a love interest at all, and should have been cut out completely in edits.

As I said there was a lot of potential with this story, particularly with the idea of an MC trying to rescue a woman who doesn’t really need rescuing, but this did not translate well in the book. Instead we get weird dub con scenes where we see zero consent, just for the Queenie to then say it was all consensual and she could’ve stopped it, but like how exactly? Could she really? And did he know that? I think not on both counts. Plus we also get a lot of implied “not like other girls” vibes from her, both on how she sees herself but also how she sees other women. It made me wonder why such a smart badass woman kept making such dumb decision that are inconsistent with how smart and capable she is (like not thinking she could be easily found). Then again, she was often inconsistent. One second she is calling women bitches/females and curses every other word, but then also objects to a man saying bitches and saying “vulgarities” (I am surprised I don’t have an eye injury from that eye roll). And while she objects to someone in another gang speaking like this, “her men” speak about women exactly the same. I also don’t understand how she can say that the men in the other gang are bad men because they are criminals who kill and torture people, but how is that any different from the kraken, who are also criminals who kill and torture people?? I mean Box is a psychopath who enjoys gruesome torture… And this leads me to the ending being unsatisfactory because we don’t get to see how their relationship is going to work out unless she is now completely ok with being part of a criminal organization.

Lastly, I was also disappointed by the fact that this was billed as set in the Caribbean, but this might as well had been set in a small beach town in New Jersey. There was zero indication this was the Caribbean in the actual book with the exception of her friend saying “coño” twice and them mentioning they were in the Caribbean a couple of times. No one ever spoke Spanish even thought this is supposed to be the Dominican Republic (?), and the one food that was mention was paella (another eye roll). Where were the tostones?! If the author was not going to give this book any Caribbean flavor then I would have preferred if it was set in Florida, especially considering most of the guys seemed to be American since some were in the US Army (again I am assuming because they just said “Army” and spoke of what sounded like the being in a war in the Middle East).

I will say that one of the highlights of the book was Sugar, and I hope she gets a book because I would be interested in getting to know her better. And yes, I know I have said a lot of bad things about the book, but I planning on giving this author another chance because there were aspects of the book that I did enjoy, like when Queenie was bantering with the Lourdes or hanging out with the honeys, plus the writing did improve in the second half. Overall I liked most of the characters, but we just don’t get to know the men well enough for a book that’s over 400 pages long.

CW: dub con, CSA/rape (past), torture, murder, kidnapping, stalking, violence, magical roofing, PTSD, panic attacks, absentee/neglectful parent, restraints, impact play, fluids play, humiliation kink

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liferhi_inspired's review

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adventurous dark emotional 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? It's complicated

5.0

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 5/5 Stars
🔥🔥🔥🔥 4/5 Steam Rating
📝 Alternaing 1st Person POV; Pansexual Characters; Why Choose Romance with Sword Crossing; Available on KU

There were just so many things about this book that I loved, but the strength of Queenie’s character definitely sets her apart from other romances.

Read this book if you enjoy:
🐙 Why Choose Romance with sword crossing
🐙 Swoon worthy men/shifters in a MC
🐙 Characters that are vastly different but complement one another
🐙 Found Family
🐙 A woman that can save herself, she doesn’t need a man

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the_lit_associate's review

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dark fast-paced

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

2.0

This book has two major downfalls: unlikeable characters and lack of connection between main characters.

I didnt particularly like or relate to any of the characters. Queenie was alright but there was not a lot to her character. I think the author tried to add depth to her character at the end but it just didnt work. Similarly, there was nothing really great about the guys. Queenie's connection with them didn't seem realistic and they would just randomly start going it at without any real reason. It just didn't make sense. Usually in a reverse harem, each guy has a different personality and brings something different to the relationship. However that wasn't really executed here.

When I was reading this book, I kept getting reminded of Den of Vipers because a lot of the character in this book were similar to the character in DOV. However, DOV was way better, but it was also much longer and I think that gave the author more time to develop characters and the overall relationship between the main characters.

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kbairbooks's review

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful lighthearted reflective relaxing 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

This was my first book by this author and I REALLY enjoyed it!! It was fast and fun and sexy and overall a great time. There was more heart than anticipated, the characters were all so different and had such personality, I liked how Lourdes realized Dimas didn’t love her the way she loved him and actually left. Genuinely didn’t want to put this book down.

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booksandcurlz's review

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.5

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shector1's review

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adventurous dark emotional medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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jessicastaylor's review

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adventurous dark emotional funny lighthearted mysterious fast-paced

5.0

This reverse harem shifter MC club romance was to dieeee for. I loved it so much! I was lucky enough to beta read for Aleera, and let me tell you, if this isnt on your TBR, it needs to be!

Queenie, our FMC, is delightfully rebellious, closed off and insecure, and smart as a whip. She was hilarious, and even more fun to read about.

Our men, the council for the Krakens MC, are hilarious too, but also deadly and delicious. Box is something else that words can't describe, Rock is our fav Daddy Kraken, Scorp is just *chefs kiss*, Delfin is our fav broody sad boi, and I would die for Slug.

My only wish is that this wasn't a standalone!! I could read books and books and books about this crew.

If you're a fan of hilarious but also dark and serious RH MC romances, with some mermen shifters thrown into the pot, check this one out! Like the TikTok sound says.... "good soup"

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