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Breaking Hell's Rules (eBook)
| Breaking Hell's Rules | |
|---|---|
 Breaking Hell's Rules eBook Cover, written by Lyssa Dering | |
| Author(s) | Lyssa Dering |
| Publisher | Amazon Digital Services |
| Publication date | October 10, 2016 |
| Media type | eBook |
| Length | 84 Pages |
| ASIN | B01IWLJ554 |
For other uses of the word Succubus, see Succubus (disambiguation).
Breaking Hell's Rules is an eBook written by Lyssa Dering. In this work the characters Reth and Nina are Succubi, the Succubus Queen Lilith appears in a minor role and reference is made to Pan, the King of the Incubi.
Overview
- Title: Breaking Hell's Rules
- Author: Lyssa Dering
- Published By: Amazon Digital Services
- Length: 84 Pages
- Format: eBook
- ASIN: B01IWLJ554
- Publishing Date: October 10, 2016
Plot Summary
Freedom wasn't supposed to be this dangerous...
When succubus Reth finally meets their soul quota and gains freedom from Hell, they decide to take up residence in New Orleans. Immediately they discard the body they've been wearing since 1952 and slip into something a little more virile, pleased to find they get a cozy apartment for their trouble. Too bad the apartment has a joint lease with their body's ex-boyfriend Jude.
Jude is walking around with a black eye and a bad attitude, and when Reth tries to explain things, Jude doesn't believe them. Plus, he refuses to move out. Reth doesn't want to take Jude's soul, and they really like this body. So they show him some succubus action minus the soul-grabbing, hoping to scare him off.
But they never expected for the mortal to take a liking to them. And they never could have predicted just how pure Jude's soul would be. When Reth unwittingly commits a sin against Lucifer, they'll need Jude's help to avoid an eternity of suffering... For them both.
Book Review
The following review was originally published by Tera on her Blog, A Succubi's Tale on May 23, 2017
Reth’s paid their dues and now things are supposed to be different. They don’t need to claim souls anymore. They don’t need to be dealing with Hell any longer. But it seems that the body they’ve chosen has a roommate that they can’t resist. The truth, it seems, brings them to a choice that Reth doesn’t want to make. Perhaps, it’s not impossible for a succubus to find love in another soul.
The work takes a slightly different view of succubi and by doing so makes them to be neither a she or a he, but a “they” instead. It’s a bit jarring at the beginning, but over time that fades into the background. While Reth does claim souls, they inhabit bodies or rather their forms, over time and as such they shift from being male or female as their path takes them. This does work well, is isn’t dwelled on either. Reth is who they are, from beginning to end, but more so, they grow as a character in really unexpected ways which were a delight.
Reth’s character begins as being a bit standoffish, a little bit difficult to like, but when Jude comes into the picture, that’s when the story takes a turn and Reth becomes amazing both in character, but in their story as well. In the same way, Jude’s self loathing and confusion is a terrible thing at the beginning, but soon he becomes focused, more sure and that develops him as a character tremendously.
There is a smattering of erotica along the way, which is lovely, hot and passionate. The erotica is male/male themed, but it isn’t silly or over the top which happens a lot. There’s real love and connections made and in being so the genders of the characters become irrelevant.
While the main plot is very good, and both main characters and the supporting ones are very interesting, have depth and I liked, there was one character that didn’t quite live up to my expectations. Lilith was a fleeting presence in the work and it’s a shame because of how she’s portrayed before and afterwards. A few paragraphs of anger and then she’s gone didn’t, at least for me, really show a lot about her.
What’s missing here, overall, is that the background about succubi isn’t explored as much as I think it needed to be. The story itself is a delight, but without the missing parts I think it was a bit too quick, a bit too unsure at times. Perhaps building on the universe more might have helped in slowing the action somewhat.
Four out of five pitchforks.
It’s a different take on succubi, one that I thought was really interesting, but as much as it was, the exploration of that weren’t as deep as I wanted them to be. Getting to the meaning of why things are would have been nice. Telling more about the aftermath would have been good. Most of all, getting deeper into Jude’s life I think would have answered a lot of questions lift behind.