So you're thinking, 'A basilisk? Really?' The answer is YES. REALLY. This book changed me. Absolutely not safe for work, but so addicting you'll read it in the break room anyway.

A fun romance that brought humour to quite a serious topic or idea of how society places values on things such as sex, sexuality and virginity.
It did have lots of popular tropes but this is what makes the escapism so appealing. You know what you’re in for but are also pleasantly surprised along the way. It was wild.

This book probably wasn’t for me. The smut - plot ratio was way off and I couldn’t believe how quickly she went from virgin to sex professional. Very fun but mostly just very unhinged.

from episodic chapter drops during the heatwaves of summer in 2024, to a full blown multi books series the following winter.

as Lindsay Straube, author of the book herself writes at the start of the book, "[...] it's best to go into this book with absolutely no knowledge of its content."

only thing I'm going to say about the content, there is a LOT of explicit sex happening on many pages throughout the book, so read at your own risk.

don't question my rating, I for one had fun, when reading it chapter by chapter during summer, then reading the self published edition and now reading the full review copy of it.

and for anyone who still wants to know a little more about the book; [spoilers ahead!]
Lindsey is kinda bringing back the love triangle in this one and I somehow don't hate it completely, and I'm still holding out for it to maybe evolve into a literal love triangle where Tem, Cas and Leo can just be together without jealousy towards one another. (and I'm not talking about the non canon Challengers chapter)

I had reservations about reading this book in its indie version because 700 pages of basilisk smut isn’t for the faint of heart. Yet when it turned out that Split or Swallow would be traditionally published under the new title Kiss of the Basilisk, I thought maybe I should give it a try. So hear me out.

Essentially, the whole story hinges on spice, absurd sex competitions, and creepy rituals, whose rationale isn’t really explained well. The characters are very tropey, so their behavior is quite predictable. The book is also definitely too long. I thought it might have been shortened after re-publication, but from what I can see, aside from a few small changes, it’s basically the same. The smut starts on the first page, and by the middle of the book, the scenes become repetitive. A lot of it can be skipped, but honestly, it was so tiring at some point.

Overall, I don’t think anyone reading this book has any illusions that it’s great literature. But surprisingly, despite all that, I actually had quite a bit of fun reading it. Listen to me: setting aside the fact that this book isn’t good, it can still serve as entertainment. Unlike most paranormal spicy stuff, here we actually have a plot—absurd, yes, but if you go with the flow, it doesn’t really matter. There are stakes, and while the world-building is obviously flawed, it has a lot of potential. I think the idea of a world where basilisks live alongside humans is actually pretty interesting. Surprisingly, the love triangle is also done decently. The pacing is really good, and if it weren’t for the aforementioned overabundance of spicy scenes, there would be very little to complain about.

I realize this isn’t a book for everyone. I wouldn’t have picked it up if I weren’t following and really enjoying Lindsay Straube’s social media. I don’t regret picking it up, but considering what else I read, I can’t give it more than 3 stars. It’s also hard for me to recommend it to a broad audience, but I do think that readers who enjoy paranormal romance might find something new and refreshing in this book.

Will it be strange to admit that I’m actually looking forward to the sequel?

Thank you so much for the opportunity to read this one. Unfortunately I was unable to finish this book so cannot give a fair review as I did not read the whole thing.
I wish this book every success but I cannot continue it - DNF at 15%

The plot is plotting.
The spice is spicing .
Omg a whole surreal experience.
This book was so good.
The paranormal aspect,the banter.
Everything fit so well.
Highly recommend.

This book was an absolutely surreal experience, like nothing I’ve ever read before. You have insta-love, paranormal romance, love triangle, enemies to friends to lovers, he falls first, witty banter between him & her. I loved it!!! And the spice was… spicy to say the least. Grateful to NetGalley for giving me this Arc!!!!!