Featured in a blog post at https://booksbeyondbinaries.blog/2019/05/27/vamps-in-denim/

This was a fun read. I liked that it had a more unique take on Greek mythology. I also really loved the romance in this book. There are definitely some weird, gross body horror bits in this novel which might not be for everyone, but I think overall it's a fun, exciting read. ( )

Ugh if more urban fantasy books were like this, I'd read more urban fantasy. I love how queer this book was, how respectful it was of its characters, how there was no torture porn, no egregious suffering, how there was pain and fear and death but not schlocky, violence-for-violence's sake. There were characters of all ages and body-types, characters with all different sorts of relationships AND OMG THERE WERE SO FEW CIS STRAIGHT MEN IT WAS SUCH A BREATH OF FRESH AIR!! The narrative was concerned with women: queer women, trans women, fat women, all sorts of women who were given the space to be flawed, complicated characters and I loved it.

I love the concept of urban fantasy but far too many urban fantasy books don't treat their characters with the sort of care and respect that Monahan does. I was so glad I read this book!! ( )

i thought i might like this one: given the mythology stuff. kind of in the True Blood neighbourhood, as it turned out, weird fantasy set in the backwoods of Louisiana. but it was creepy and gross, cardboard and uninsightful, careless and kind of clueless. i may remember it, but not so much fondly. i feel obscurely bad for mythology, that it's come down to this. giving it some points for original story, gorgons and lamia and such not being a standard setup, but i'm not gonna go looking for either the series or the author. 3 stars is really generous: not a keeper. ( )

Trigger warning: Sexual assault, violence

Snake Eyes is one of the weirdest books I’ve ever read. There’s no way I’m ever forgetting it.

Tanis Barlas is the daughter of the Lamia, a monstrous snake woman from Greek mythology who cares little for her human daughters. Yet she retains a tight control over all her offspring, and Tanis is forced to every month find a man for her mother to mate with and then devour. The only thing making her life bearable is her human girlfriend, Naree. But then two events change Tanis’s life forever. Her mother’s ancient enemies, the Gorgons, arrive in Florida hunting them, and Naree becomes pregnant. With Naree in danger, Tanis will do whatever she must to keep her lover safe.

Let’s get this out of the way upfront: Snake Eyes is pretty darn gross. There’s lots of violence, blood, and gore. The book opens with Tanis kidnapping a man who abuses his wife, taking him to her mother, who transforms him into a snake monster and then mates with him. Snake Eyes had a lot of bits where I was like “wtf” and “this is possibly the weirdest and grossest thing I’ve read.” And yet I kept reading. In fact, I read all of Snake Eyes in a single day. It might be weird and gross, but it’s also compulsive.

On the bright side, if you’re looking for a book that’s centered around female characters, queer positive, and body positive, Snake Eyes may very well be the book for you. Almost all the characters who drive the plot are women. The Lamia only has daughters, no matter what type of genitalia those daughters may have. While Tanis isn’t human and can’t really be described in our terms, she does sort of bring in trans and intersex issues. In the author’s note, Monahan says that Snake Eyes is the first book she wrote after she came out, and she truly succeeded in writing a story that’s delightfully queer.

Tannis is clearly an anti-heroine, what with being technically a serial killer or at least an accomplice to one? She’s a character who’s entire life consists of her being stuck between a rock and a hard place and doing whatever she can to get out. I liked her quite a bit. On the other hand, I feel like Naree didn’t have that much character. For me, she never really moved beyond a plot device that exists to motivate Tannis. If she was the only woman in the story, you can bet that I’d be complaining about this a lot more. As is, I’m willing to let it lie.

From what I can tell, the Gods and Monsters series is a shared universe. Goodreads lists Snake Eyes as the third in the series, but it stands completely alone. The two previous books are both written by other authors. I don’t think I’m going to check out any more books in the series, but I will be looking for other books by Hilary Monahan.

Review from The Illustrated Page. ( )