I don't think OBSESSED is enough for this one 😂
It's definitely not a book for everyone, but it kept me enthralled. I love everything about it.

Combining steamy queer romance with ancient greek mythology, Our Satyr Prince is a refreshing read - fun, sexy, yet accurately reflecting the roots of its origin, and building complex characters with believable motivations. Excellent

Thanks to Netgalley and BooksGoSocial. Honest review ahead!

If you like queer romance and fantasy settings, this book is for you. Some mythological stuff thrown into the mix (who doesn't love Greek mythology??), doused in spice.

All in all, be prepared for a spicy adventure with some great character development.

My only gripe (even with the lady stuff that's really not my jam) was how long it took for things to happen at the beginning. It felt long and slow to me. I know there is a lot of world building and set up, especially for a fantasy with so much political scheming and plotting, but I just struggled to get into it at the beginning.

Recommended for queer romantasy readers who aren't afraid of all the spice. 3.5 stars rounded up.

Thank you NetGalley and BooksGoSocial for the E-Arc!
A spicy queer story with vampires and werewolves? Sign me up! One of my favorite parts about this book is the characters and how much you can connect with them as a reader. It's amazing when you can start a story and immediately feel for the characters. This book is packed full of emotion and restlessness. So many instances throughout the book I could almost feel something about to happen. I also really love that this book doesn't really shy away from the darker or more serious aspects. We see the lengths that the characters are willing to go to!

Our Satyr Prince is the first book in the Myth Shifters series by Dylan Drakes. It is a spicy queer fantasy inspired by Ancient Greece.

Aurelius Savair, twenty-one, can have any man he wants. Disinherited for his deviant lifestyle, the former heir to the throne of Mestibes has schemed and screwed his way back to prominence. But it isn’t enough – he yearns for the power that was stolen from him. Suddenly, an opportunity comes to get it. War is looming, and the only man who can save his city is Calix Viralis, the mysterious crown prince of Ardora, the distant land of passion. Now, Aurelius must put his skills of seduction to the test. But in doing so, he will uncover Calix’s monstrous secret. And discover that his own ashen heart can burn once more. Teigra Cosmin, eighteen, is living a wasted life. The best pegasus rider in Mestibes' history, she has been reduced to a groveling bachelorette by her power-hungry mother. Worse, she is plagued by the life-destroying mistake that she can never allow herself to forget. But all this changes when she is sent with her cousin, Aurelius, on a dangerous mission. Now, she must take control of her own destiny, and make the soul-wrenching decision between saving her family’s legacy, or the powerful woman who fills her with forbidden desire.

Our Satyr Prince is a multilayered book that I both loved and sometimes dreaded. The characters were very well developed and the story was full of twists and turns. I felt for the major players, and was greatly effected by their struggles. Several times I could see the bad things coming, and wanted to warn the characters only to be heart broken and fearful of the future right along with them. This is an engaging and entertaining read. However, I also found it to be a very emotional read, and if you are not in the right head space for that I just might hit you hard. With all that out of the way, I have always been a big fan of mythology and I loved the take on the creation and powers of the mythological creatures here. It was well thought out, planned, and executed. I thought the world building and character development was well paced, and had me eager for more despite the emotional trauma. There is a good deal of sexual tension and interaction, as the blurb and all other promotions for this book state, so if you are not open to that (or looking for that) you might want to tread lightly.

Our Satyr Prince is a well written and engaging read that hit a lot of great notes. I will be looking to read the second book, but only after a few light and fluffy books to give my poor heart some time to rest.

Thank you NetGalley allowing me access to this arc.

I loved the queer fantasy of this book. The characters are great and the greek mythology blends the world well. I would like a little more world building but other than that its a great book!

Thank you to Netgalley and Dylan Drakes for providing me with a free electronic copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
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Our Satyr Prince is a spicy, queer, mythological fantasy, with a base in Greek myth but plenty of original spin. With all the political scheming and plotting that we love in a good high fantasy, the deep, real connections to characters, and some damn good sex scenes, this book is a treat and a dream for the queer lover of fantasy who longs for a bit of smut in their world. Calix is a swoon worthy beast of a man, Aurelius is a fun character, with a real undercurrent of turmoil and sadness, and every other character felt fleshed out and real, with their own personality and motivations.
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I am so glad I read this, and I absolutely devoured it in a single day. I can't wait for more from this series, and from what I can tell, the author does have an awful lot more to come for us (phrasing). I can not recommend this book highly enough, and I'll be buying myself a physical copy!

Received an eARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

CW/TW: the book starts with a very detailed list of trigger and content warnings at the start. Primarily there's homophobia, PTSD, accidental manslaughter, violence, and aspects of dubious consent towards sex

This is a spoiler free review

This book was a large diversion from my usual books of late, which I think definitely helped me get through it so quickly! It is a fantasy romance, that doesn't shy away from the sex and sexuality being used to scheme towards characters' morally grey goals. This book is set in a fantasy world that is inspired by Ancient Greece both in it's myths and also it's political structures. The story starts somewhere that appears to be very loosely based on on Athens, as it values politics and academics above all (although they are against war which Athena obviously condoned if it was done wisely). However, the gods are not the usual from greek myths so it is clear from the getgo that this is Ancient Greek-inspired, as opposed to being set in ancient Greece.

The story follows two perspectives. Aurelius Savair, a young gay man from a high society family, who has been hurt and cast aside repeatedly for being who he is. As such, he acts out in ways that make him in many ways, quite unpleasant. However, as the reader learns more about why he has this mask up, of acting how he does as a response to how he's been treated, you grow to develop some empathy towards him. Saying that, there is a pretty large moment of breaching of consent/dubious consent that I admit made me have to put the book down for a day or so.
The young woman we are following is Teigra Cosmin. She is from a well-respected family but lower class family than Aurelius. She and Aurelius make unusual friends, he is loud and crass and she is doing her best generally to be quiet and good and...bland. That latter aspect is something that Aurelius seems to constantly take issue with as he is constantly trying to get a rise out of her. She is dealing with her own trauma, and like Aurelius, is not dealing in the healthiest way.
Both MCs get sent to a far off polis that focuses more of passion than moderation, and they both have goals that grow and change whilst there. Especially as Prince Calix gets drawn into the political machinations of Aurelius and Teigra to a lesser extent. However the Prince gets drawn to them both in different ways but is wary from the get-go of his attraction to Aurelius when he has his own desperate dark secret to keep.

I did enjoy this book, though it was odd for me to spend so much time struggling with dislike of Aurelius. By the end there are a lot of answers and his behaviour makes more sense, but it was difficult seeing.a character take the accusations of deviancy and acting like they accuse him of being. I just wanted him to stop and take care of himself and stop lashing out! As alluded to there is a moment of dubious consent, as he'd been told to stay away, and he hurt someone a lot just because he cared more about what he wanted. I liked that this moment wasn't brushed over, they made him talk about it and explain what he thought he was doing.

Drawbacks? I'd say there's an overuse of exclamations, but I might be sensitive to that due to my experience as an editor but generally speaking I think I agree with the author's describing it for fans of TJ Klune's Wolfsong and but maybe also Lore Olympus but make it queer (and more violent).

I'll be looking out for book two!

Aurelius is a 21-year-old who can have any man he wants, he was the heir to the throne of Mestibes but was disinherited because of the lifestyle he leads. He yearns for the power that was stolen from him and an opportunity soon comes in the form of war that is looming and the only person who can save his city is Calix the crown prince of Ardora. He must use his powers of seduction to use.

Excellent start to the series the world building and politics are well done . It gets more interesting as it goes along . Really looking forward to the next book.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me access to this arc.

4.5 stars / 5 stars

Things I loved:
Love a queer fantasy
Loved the ending
Characters are so charming
Love Greek mythology aspect

Things I didn’t love:
Needed a little more world building

Excited for what is to come next!!!

This is a polical fantasy with a theme of romance. The book follows two main characters Aurelius and Teigra.
I liked Aurelius dispite his characters flaws. I like how he didn't just amidately redeem himself. However, I found Teigra (Tiggy) to be annoying, she was constantly getting push around. I disliked to so much I skipped some of her chapters.

Mestibes is one of five countries, the other country we see in the books is Ardora. I liked the idea of the different countries and hope to see the others in more detail in the next book.

There were some issues with pacing. I think the author came up with a story arc but decided it wouldn't fit in one book, which has lead to some padding, the pacing is okay for the first few chapters, then there isn't much development then alot happens very quickly at the end to set up for the next book.

There was genuinely one plot twist just took me by surprise, it fitted perfectly with the story.

Such a great debut! I love How dark it is and how morally grey the characters are. I will definitely keep reading this series and follow this author!

4/5

Received from NetGalley as an eArc.

*Minor Spoilers*

This book follows Aurelius and Teigra, cousins from the city of Mestibes, both social outcasts for their own individual reasons. Following the death of their aunt, Aurelius receives the opportunity to return to his family's good graces and regain social status and power. Aurelius and Teigra head to Ardora, the land of passion, after becoming the archon's herald and the low envoy to Ardora. With war on the horizon, Aurelius' one job is to seduce the isolated and elusive Ardoran prince Calix in order to secure Ardoran's aid in the upcoming battles. Their life in Ardora, however, is a lot more complicated than either of them predicted. Relationships will be betrayed, secrets will be revealed, and emotions will be tested.

Positives:
I very much enjoyed reading this book. As an asexual person, I was hesitant, as I often am, to read spicy romance because I'm not always sure if I'll enjoy it, however, the spice in this book never made me uncomfortable and was not overbearing. If anything, I would call this book more sensual than spicy. The actual plotline of the book was intriguing and there were several twists and turns that I never predicted. The characters were extremely well-written. Though there were times that I didn't like either Aurelius or Teigra, I always felt like that was on purpose. Aurelius is a pompous, manipulative, classist jerk a lot of the time, but there's enough depth to his character that I never hated him. Teigra seemed to flip from a scared little girl to overly aggressive, but the depth of explanation of her character made me understand why. Even the side characters never felt two-dimensional. The writing of this book is incredibly deep and the world-building is extensive. The spice is well-written and doesn't overpower the story. Despite being an instalust romance, the two love interests actually fall in love with each other before any spice happens and there is an in-world reason as to why the instalust occurs. Nothing about the relationship between Aurelius and Calix feels forced, despite the pushing and manipulation of Aurelius. The parts of the story that didn't revolve around romance or spice were just as interesting as the romance as well. The subplot of this book is well developed to the point that I forgot I was reading a spicy romance book.

Negatives:
There are some points of foreshadowing early on in the book that felt forced and out of place. Along the same vein, some of the secrets being revealed were mildly anticlimactic or easily predictable. Aurelius and Calix seem to fall in love pretty fast and for seemingly little reason, but as said above there is an in-world reason for the instalust and fast falling. Also, the cover isn't the most attractive, but that's purely aesthetics.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book and I cannot wait to read the next one. I would recommend this book to my friends easily, though if you're a person looking for a lot of spice then this probably isn't for you. If you're looking for a monster romance with an intriguing subplot and complex characters that you may not like all the time, then this book is for you.

Thanks to NetGalley for the book.

I found it very hard to read and finish this book. The main characters are the worst and in general I found I was rooting for no one. The main male lead is manipulative, a terrible person and just meh. The female lead seems to be in the story to basically be a stomping post for all the other characters.
This was very much a finish to be done rather than enjoying the book.

I saw that there was a few LGBTQIA+ characters and was hard pressed to find them. I’m also a bit tired of fantasy stories including real world issues and not allowing these worlds that have been created to be better than what’s happening IRL.

The book ends on what I assume is meant to be a cliffhanger which leads into a sequel but I personally won’t be looking out for it.

2.5 stars ⭐

I'll start this review by saying that I'm a huge fan of fantasy, especially high fantasy, so diving into a debut novel like "Our Satyr Prince" seemed like an exciting idea to me. Dylan Drakes presents us with a sprawling fantasy series, and as a reader, I appreciate the effort put into establishing the world and laying down the foundations for what could potentially be an epic saga.

The main characters, Aurelius and Teigra, immediately caught my attention, and I became invested in their journey. Aurelius, a cunning and brazen viper, thrives in the court of Mestibes, while Teigra, a skittish yet compassionate young woman, seeks to protect her family. Together, they must venture to a foreign polity to prevent an impending war that threatens to wipe out Mestibes for good.
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The Pacing vs Plot: However, despite the promising premise, the plot and pacing left me wanting more. While the worldbuilding was impressive, the story itself felt somewhat half-empty, lacking the development it needed to truly captivate me. One aspect that disappointed me personally was the dynamic between Aurelius and Prince Calix of Ardora. As someone who adores reading occasional slow-burn romances filled with tension, I didn't feel the desired connection between them. Additionally, the book focuses heavily on political intrigue and betrayal, with both Aurelius and Teigra making numerous questionable decisions and betraying each other more than once. Unfortunately, this led to an imbalance in the consequences they faced, leaving me dissatisfied. The narrative felt incomplete, lacking the development and depth required to fully engage the reader.

Characters and the Story:Moving on to the characters, Drakes has created a well-thought-out world with lived-in history. The cast of characters is interesting and diverse, each with their unique traits, or well, supposed to be, I felt when I read the glossary and notes of the author. Throughout the book, I had a love-hate relationship with both Aurelius and Teigra. Initially, I disliked Aurelius, while sympathizing with the meekness of Teigra. However, as the story progressed, my feelings toward them wavered. Prince Calix fits the standard archetype of the brooding, muscular prince struggling with internal conflicts. Calix stands out as a stuck-up character who seemed out of place with his transformation towards the end. While initially portraying him as haughty and self-centered, Drakes attempts to fill the voids between his genuine and shapeshifting aspects. However, this transformation felt jarring and inconsistent with her established persona, leaving me confused about the true nature of his character. But my personal favorite was Jaspar, an intriguing secondary character who stood out.
Now, let's address the complicated dynamic between Aurelius and Teigra. Early on, Teigra, who genuinely cares about the well-being of her community, confronts Aurelius about his controversial means of promoting his activities. Unfortunately, Aurelius responds to her genuine question in a petty manner, which left me questioning the author's choice. To my surprise, as the story progressed, Aurelius reveals that he knew Teigra was the one behind the question, leading to a somewhat threatening response and continued pettiness towards her. This unexpected turn of events left me emotionally invested yet perplexed by the direction the author took. Aurelius goes on to block all communication with Teigra, only for her to later discover that he had once publicly expressed his opinion on the matter. This whole sort of emotion felt unnecessary and left me somewhat conflicted.
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In conclusion, "Our Satyr Prince" offers an intriguing premise and showcases the talent of Dylan Drakes as a writer. The world-building is exceptional, and the potential for a captivating story is evident. However, the lack of plot development and inconsistent characterizations. It's important to note that my dissatisfaction doesn't stem from any form of homophobia; it simply boils down to personal taste. If you enjoy intricate political intrigue and betrayal, this book might be more to your liking. However, as it doesn't align with my preferences, I won't be continuing with the series. Nonetheless, I wish the author all the best and believe that "Our Satyr Prince" will find its audience.

For a dense political fantasy novel, this was a refreshing read. I enjoyed the Greek inspired setting and I loved the characters. This book was passionate and well plotted and it was a blast to read. It was also the first non-romance novel I’ve been able to read since being in an awful slump; I couldn’t believe how fast I was flying through the pages.

Let me start off by saying this is a ME thing, not a book thing.

The Good:
The plot was engaging and interesting. This is Dylan Drakes debut novel and his world-building rivals experts in the fantasy genre. Detailed, unique, and vivid landscapes and cultures were thoroughly flushed out. The characters were well developed and flawed naturally in ways that complimented the plot. Overall, I enjoyed everything in the “background.”

The Not-So-Good:
I though this was a mm romance. It DOES have some mlm going on, but there’s also some vague wlw in some scenes. Neither are completely developed in my opinion. I think if this had been advertised more of fantasy with “some” romantic elements, I would’ve been more prepared. But I thought I was getting into a mm romance and that’s definitely not what I got.

Bravo, though, on Dylan’s debut because for those who enjoy this genre, it’s perfect!

Arc provided to me from NetGalley and the publisher.

This book has a wide world building,deep characters and political intrigues,but however,I've ended it with the feeling the only thing wich have propelled me forward was the sex scenes. Anyways,I would recommend this book to other audiences.

I loved the description of this book and that's why I was so excited to read it. Mythology and LGBTQ+ characters? Sign me right up.

My problem was that I think it was a bit high fantasy, which I'm not used to (not the writer's problem, but my own) and that i had a little trouble following what was going on.

The writing was great, the idea was great, but I was a confused person at the beginning.