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Series: The Orc Prince Trilogy by Lionel Hart

Greetings and welcome to Reviews That Burn: Series Reviews, part of Books That Burn. Series Reviews discuss at least three books in a series and cover the overarching themes and development of the story across several books. I'd like to thank longtime Patron Case Aiken, who receives a monthly shoutout. Full Audio Here   An elven prince. The son of an orc warlord. In two warring nations, their arranged marriage brings peace. They never expected to fall in love. Prince Taegan Glynzeiros has prepared since childhood to fight and lead armies against invading orc forces, the enemies of elves for hundreds of years. But after a successful peace treaty, the elven prince will not be fighting orcs, but marrying one. The first words he speaks to Zorvut are their wedding vows. Despite being considered the runt amongst the orc warlord’s children, Taegan finds him to be intelligent and thoughtful—everything the stereotypes about orcs say he shouldn’t be. He doesn’t want to fall in love, but Zorv...

Nothing But Blackened Teeth by Cassandra Khaw

A Heian-era mansion stands abandoned, its foundations resting on the bones of a bride and its walls packed with the remains of the girls sacrificed to keep her company.

It’s the perfect wedding venue for a group of thrill-seeking friends.

But a night of food, drinks, and games quickly spirals into a nightmare. For lurking in the shadows is the ghost bride with a black smile and a hungry heart.

And she gets lonely down there in the dirt.

TITLE: Nothing But Blackened Teeth
AUTHOR: Cassandra Khaw
PUBLISHER: Tor/Forge (Macmillan)
YEAR: 2021
LENGTH: 128 pages
AGE: Adult
GENRE: Horror
RECOMMENDED: Highly

Queer Rep Summary: Bi/Pan Main Character(s).

*I received a free review copy in exchange for an honest review of this book.

NOTHING BUT BLACKENED TEETH is a chilling story with a classic setup: a very old mansion which the protagonists aren’t really supposed to have entered, and a variety of interpersonal tensions and allegiances which normally wouldn’t matter much to their daily existence but suddenly drive life-and-death stakes when the spooky stuff begins. The prose is exquisite, articulating the numb feeling of finding oneself the genre-savvy protagonist of a horror story but unable to change things. I love how it uses the hero’s trope-awareness to ramp up the terror and resignation as events play out to their viscera-laden conclusion. 

Short and spooky with an excellent ending, make sure this is on your horror shelf.

CW for cursing, sexism, misogyny, toxic friendship, sexual content, mental illness, depression, vomit, blood (graphic), gore (graphic), body horror (graphic), violence (graphic), murder (graphic), major character death (graphic), death (graphic).

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A woman in white with black hair and pale skin, her only facial feature is a smudge red mouth with a black void inside.


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