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A review by mspilesofpaper
Kings and Monsters by Clio Evans
dark
emotional
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? It's complicated
4.0
Kings and Monsters is the fourth instalment in the Three Fates Mafia series although it can also be read as a standalone. It's a fast-paced spicy monster romance with a M/M. As it has barely 200 pages, it feels like a novella and can be easily read within a day.
The review might contain spoilers.
PLOT
Unlike with Killers and Monsters, the fourth book has actually a plot. Granted, it isn't a very large one but there's a plot. ;)
Grim and Ryan meet in a sex club where they engage in each other before parting ways. In the following six months, Grim moves from job to job, from place to place, as death follows him. He has finally enough when the decapitated head of his boss starts to speak, so he flees the scene but gets pursued by machine monsters that force him over a cliff where he lands on Ryan's car, causing a massive accident. Ryan knows right away that Grim is a demi-god and despite his urge to kill him, he takes him away from the scene and flees to his apartment with the unconscious Grim. Due to sexual tension, they both decide that they will fuck one night before Grim will leave as he doesn't want to be a demi-god and just wants a peaceful life. The following morning, Grim gets assaulted by Theseus and the Chimera after leaving Ryan's mansion and gets kidnapped to act as bait for Ryan as it is revealed that they are fated mates. The following chapters are just about them finding each other again and finding a way to be together. Here, Grim also gets his memories back, which sparks their revenge on Theseus as he is behind everything.
WORLD-BUILDING & MAGIC
As it is still set in the same world as Killers and Monsters, it plays in Moirai, a fictional city in California. Time-wise, it's roughly a year after the second instalment as Serena's twins are born and can breathe fire (so I would say that they are around 6 months old and she was in the 1st trimester in her epilogue). The book still incorporates mafia elements but they are more subdued and play only a role when it comes to taking revenge on Theseus. There's still no actual magic but Grim has powers granted by his godly father, Hades, which are magical enough. In addition, there's the introduction of the actual Labyrinth of the Minoan Bull myth. The Labyrinth exists outside of time and space as its own thing, so days within it can either be hours/weeks/months or years on the outside (or vice versa). It has a mind of its own as well.
CHARACTERS
In comparison, the cast is very small in Kings and Monsters as the book follows Grim and Ryan on their journey to become a couple (and to take revenge). Of course, there are mentions of characters that have been met in the previous books (e.g., Ian/Serena/Luca, Cerberus & their mate, Percy & Madeline, Theseus and Orpheus) but they play very small side roles.
Grim is the son of Hades and is rather pragmatic and still surprisingly optimistic despite his past. Still, he's rather sardonic from time to time and fed up with the bizarre things happening around him (in the first chapters). He's described as tall (over 6 feet), broad-shouldered and with a soft stomach, so he might be on the plus-size spectrum. While there's fan art within the book, I still found it difficult to tell if he's really plus-size or not. Ryan is the Minoan Bull and can shapeshift between his true bull form and his human form. True to him being a bull: he can be stubborn. He's also a worrier (about his place within the Three Fates mafia, about his employees considering him a good boss, ...) and has a horrible memory for names. For a monster, he feels very human and more fleshed out than Ian.
ROMANCE
Due to the "fated mates" trope, their romance is also insta-lust and insta-love. Unlike the Serena/Luca/Ian relationship, I found Grim's and Ryan's relationship by far healthier and better developed. They talk with each other and take each other's concerns seriously. There's no obsession, blackmail or grooming/paedophilia in their relationship. Of course, there's an age gap but Grim is an adult (in his 30s), so the power balance isn't too one-sided.
For the sex, I would also give it 4 🌶️ as it is very graphic and the book opens with a sex scene (oral and anal sex). Overall, the two constantly fuck (for hours) and there's sex in pretty much every chapter. If you are into it: large, golden bull cock, pierced penis, oral and anal sex, choking & breath play, nipple play & nipple pumps, BDSM, Dom/Sub (both are switches), mating bites, actual monster sex (as in Ryan being in his bull form), collaring, leashing, paddling, breeding kink, consensual degradation, sensory deprivation (blindfolds), restraints (handcuffs), gags and muzzles, rimming & edging, primal hunting/play, size differences. (I likely forgot something but let's just say that the sex is very spicy.)
TW & CW
Please, head the trigger warnings and content warnings that the author lists at the beginning of the book. In addition, I would add the following for TWs:
decapitation, multiple murders, general violence, multiple death of main character, attempted murder, trafficking and child slavery (Grim gets sold as a child to Theseus as his foster father blames him for a death), grooming (Theseus grooms Grim into an assassin), death of family (mother, grandparents, aunt & uncle, cousin), foster care, captivity and kidnapping (on page and past), drugging, memory/mind manipulation, ...
As for the sexual content warnings:
bull cock, pierced penis, oral and anal sex, choking & breath play, nipple play & nipple pumps, BDSM, Dom/Sub, mating bites, actual monster sex, collaring, leashing, paddling, breeding kink, consensual degradation, sensory deprivation (blindfolds), restraints (handcuffs), gags and muzzles, rimming & edging, primal hunting/play, size differences, impact play, begging, flogging, frotting, large amount of cum, ...
Please check other reviews for more or additional trigger warnings and content warnings as these are the ones that I just mentioned in my journal entries on Storygraph.
TL;DR
Short, fast-paced monster romance with a focus on graphic and explicit sex scenes with an M/M pairing and the "fated mates" trope. Both MMCs are burley cinnamon rolls with murderous tendencies who have a surprisingly healthy relationship with each other (especially for a mafia setting). Based on the Minoan Bull myth but with a HEA for the bull.
The review might contain spoilers.
PLOT
Unlike with Killers and Monsters, the fourth book has actually a plot. Granted, it isn't a very large one but there's a plot. ;)
Grim and Ryan meet in a sex club where they engage in each other before parting ways. In the following six months, Grim moves from job to job, from place to place, as death follows him. He has finally enough when the decapitated head of his boss starts to speak, so he flees the scene but gets pursued by machine monsters that force him over a cliff where he lands on Ryan's car, causing a massive accident. Ryan knows right away that Grim is a demi-god and despite his urge to kill him, he takes him away from the scene and flees to his apartment with the unconscious Grim. Due to sexual tension, they both decide that they will fuck one night before Grim will leave as he doesn't want to be a demi-god and just wants a peaceful life. The following morning, Grim gets assaulted by Theseus and the Chimera after leaving Ryan's mansion and gets kidnapped to act as bait for Ryan as it is revealed that they are fated mates. The following chapters are just about them finding each other again and finding a way to be together. Here, Grim also gets his memories back, which sparks their revenge on Theseus as he is behind everything.
WORLD-BUILDING & MAGIC
As it is still set in the same world as Killers and Monsters, it plays in Moirai, a fictional city in California. Time-wise, it's roughly a year after the second instalment as Serena's twins are born and can breathe fire (so I would say that they are around 6 months old and she was in the 1st trimester in her epilogue). The book still incorporates mafia elements but they are more subdued and play only a role when it comes to taking revenge on Theseus. There's still no actual magic but Grim has powers granted by his godly father, Hades, which are magical enough. In addition, there's the introduction of the actual Labyrinth of the Minoan Bull myth. The Labyrinth exists outside of time and space as its own thing, so days within it can either be hours/weeks/months or years on the outside (or vice versa). It has a mind of its own as well.
CHARACTERS
In comparison, the cast is very small in Kings and Monsters as the book follows Grim and Ryan on their journey to become a couple (and to take revenge). Of course, there are mentions of characters that have been met in the previous books (e.g., Ian/Serena/Luca, Cerberus & their mate, Percy & Madeline, Theseus and Orpheus) but they play very small side roles.
Grim is the son of Hades and is rather pragmatic and still surprisingly optimistic despite his past. Still, he's rather sardonic from time to time and fed up with the bizarre things happening around him (in the first chapters). He's described as tall (over 6 feet), broad-shouldered and with a soft stomach, so he might be on the plus-size spectrum. While there's fan art within the book, I still found it difficult to tell if he's really plus-size or not. Ryan is the Minoan Bull and can shapeshift between his true bull form and his human form. True to him being a bull: he can be stubborn. He's also a worrier (about his place within the Three Fates mafia, about his employees considering him a good boss, ...) and has a horrible memory for names. For a monster, he feels very human and more fleshed out than Ian.
ROMANCE
Due to the "fated mates" trope, their romance is also insta-lust and insta-love. Unlike the Serena/Luca/Ian relationship, I found Grim's and Ryan's relationship by far healthier and better developed. They talk with each other and take each other's concerns seriously. There's no obsession, blackmail or grooming/paedophilia in their relationship. Of course, there's an age gap but Grim is an adult (in his 30s), so the power balance isn't too one-sided.
For the sex, I would also give it 4 🌶️ as it is very graphic and the book opens with a sex scene (oral and anal sex). Overall, the two constantly fuck (for hours) and there's sex in pretty much every chapter. If you are into it: large, golden bull cock, pierced penis, oral and anal sex, choking & breath play, nipple play & nipple pumps, BDSM, Dom/Sub (both are switches), mating bites, actual monster sex (as in Ryan being in his bull form), collaring, leashing, paddling, breeding kink, consensual degradation, sensory deprivation (blindfolds), restraints (handcuffs), gags and muzzles, rimming & edging, primal hunting/play, size differences. (I likely forgot something but let's just say that the sex is very spicy.)
TW & CW
Please, head the trigger warnings and content warnings that the author lists at the beginning of the book. In addition, I would add the following for TWs:
decapitation, multiple murders, general violence, multiple death of main character, attempted murder, trafficking and child slavery (Grim gets sold as a child to Theseus as his foster father blames him for a death), grooming (Theseus grooms Grim into an assassin), death of family (mother, grandparents, aunt & uncle, cousin), foster care, captivity and kidnapping (on page and past), drugging, memory/mind manipulation, ...
As for the sexual content warnings:
bull cock, pierced penis, oral and anal sex, choking & breath play, nipple play & nipple pumps, BDSM, Dom/Sub, mating bites, actual monster sex, collaring, leashing, paddling, breeding kink, consensual degradation, sensory deprivation (blindfolds), restraints (handcuffs), gags and muzzles, rimming & edging, primal hunting/play, size differences, impact play, begging, flogging, frotting, large amount of cum, ...
Please check other reviews for more or additional trigger warnings and content warnings as these are the ones that I just mentioned in my journal entries on Storygraph.
TL;DR
Short, fast-paced monster romance with a focus on graphic and explicit sex scenes with an M/M pairing and the "fated mates" trope. Both MMCs are burley cinnamon rolls with murderous tendencies who have a surprisingly healthy relationship with each other (especially for a mafia setting). Based on the Minoan Bull myth but with a HEA for the bull.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Sexual content
Moderate: Child abuse, Gun violence, Trafficking, Kidnapping, and Death of parent
Minor: Drug abuse, Grief, and Car accident