Q Review | American Queen | Sierra Simone
I rarely read books like this, but one of my writing partners is a romance novelist and her books feature a lot of s-e-x. She recommended it, and I figured, why not?
First, let me say that this book doesn’t just have “sex” in it. This book is basically a string of extremely graphic BDSM sex scenes, overlaid upon a modern retelling of the Arthur-Gwenevere-Lancelot love triangle. The Arthur character is written as the President of the United States of America. (I know, I know.)
All of this is preposterous, and yet, I enjoyed it! I’m almost certain its because of the Arthurian storyline. The erotic parts were fine, even entertaining (though I have some commentary on power imbalance and certain tropes employed around the female MC, which I’ll leave for my non-existent thesis). But it was actually a good, albeit unbelievable, story that felt familiar. It’s a quick read, too. I won’t go into too much detail on the plot, but suffice to say there’s a little something for everyone in here.
Anyway, if you’re not prudish and you enjoy modern retellings of classic ‘fairytale’ stories and you’re cool with suspending your disbelief and you’re looking for something different than your normal fare (assuming you’re not a romance reader), give it a try. There are a couple more books in this series, but I’m not sure I’ll get to them.
The Q Review features short reviews of books, movies and music.
