The Sacrifice Review

We start off this dark romantasy book with the FMC, Quintessa, getting railed by her sister's fiancé in a cemetery with the dead rising around them, which in my opinion is a fantastic start to any book. Quintessa is a half-ghost with trauma who does not have the ability to feel, but does have the ability to heal.

In this fantasy world, the humans are gifted with some type of binding power, or “vym” as Quintessa calls it, and the FMC was gifted with the power to heal through the blood. Even though blood-binding is one of the most sought after abilities in the realm, Quintessa does not have full control over her ability and has failed on numerous occasions. As a half-dead disappointment, her father treats her terribly and shuns her to participate in the Sacrifice, a ritual done on Hollow Day to satiate the monsters that come through the thin veil between the two realms.

During the ritual Quintessa ends up fighting for her life against the lower monsters with the help of her shadow dead-but-not-really-dead twin sister Qora. They handle themselves quite well until the four monster gods emerge and ends up chasing them up a tree. After being able to injure the Dragon God that sends all four back into the veil and instead of fleeing with their lives, Qora follows Quintessa into the veil. During the fight that left the Dragon God wounded, Quintessa realizes that she actually was able to feel the interaction, which she obviously chases.

Inside the veil, Qora gains the ability to talk which she never had before and Quintessa finds herself as the new “pet” of the banished Dragon God. This leads to quite a few spicy scenes, but also to some growth both on the FMC and the MMC.

This story does have a happy ending with another spicy scene that leads into the second book which will have you thirsting for more. This book does contain dub-con/CNC with some non-con, but it is not within the main characters and it is not painted in a positive light. There are a TON of BDSM scenes that are done in a positive light including the aftercare that are really fun to read. There are some self-harm themes in the book, but they are done in a way that shows the FMC’s healing journey and is not romanticized in any way but can still be triggering to some people. It does also contain some MM action that I personally enjoy but I know is not everyone’s cup of tea.

The author states that she spent ten years in mental health advocacy which translates into her books and is something that she takes incredibly seriously. I do get that vibe from reading her books as even though the main point of this story is Quintessa breaking her monster's curses’, there is a lot of mental health care towards both herself and the MMCs in healing all the past trauma between them.

This first book starts a shifter dark romantic fantasy series that has the MMCs healing the FMC’s trauma through BDSM fuck sessions while she is breaking their curses and finding her inner strength. If you like double-dicked dragons, fae, vampires, fallen angels, a love story, public fucking, and a “weak” human girl who is ultimately going to be their savior then this book is for you.

“We’re going to play a little game, sweet Pet,” I tell her while cupping her cheek, reveling in her shudders. “You will sit on my cocks. And I will feed you dinner. If at any time, you try to move on your own or you so much as clench your muscles around my shafts, I will turn you around, rip off this gown, and fuck you before the open Court.”

Shore, Emily. The Sacrifice: A Dark Dragon Fantasy Romance (Her Monstrous Boys Book 1) (pp. 191-192). Kindle Edition.

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