Lor

   

Title: Lor

Series: Monstrous #7

Author: Lily Mayne

Publisher: January 27, 2023

Pages: 619

Genre: LGBTQ+ Fantasy Romance

My role as Moric—ruler of a small and prosperous fiefdom in a quiet corner of the world—has always been painfully dull and stifling.

Until a beautiful, otherworldly creature with pink skin and a mane of golden hair falls through a strange void that has appeared in my guestroom.

And I am instantly captivated by him.

I have never seen anything like him. I have no idea where he came from, and what else is through that unsettling void—another world filled with soft-skinned, defenceless creatures like him? No tails, no horns, no claws, no sharp teeth. Tiny clothing, rounded ears, bright blue eyes. He is fascinating. And I want to keep him.

But I have no idea how my citizens and councillors will react to his presence—to the knowledge that a whole other world exists, and there is a portal to it in my guestroom. As much as I try to keep him my secret, the truth starts to slip out.

And those in my fiefdom who cling desperately onto power do their best to tear us apart. To take him from me.

I won’t let them.

It was SO nice to get to see some more of monster culture. I guess we mostly see vint culture, but you do get some snips of the other monsters as well. In Wyn we got to see a lot of the monster world through the eyes of a human. It was really cool to see their world through the eyes of a monster. I can totally understand how the world-building got away from Lily, and the intended novella became the beast of a book that it is!!

Lor is such a good bean. I really connect with the intense imposter syndrome that he experiences as a young Moric of his fiefdom. (Obviously not the Moric part....just the imposter syndrome.) He's so isolated and worried about making sure that he's doing what everyone expects. Watching his confidence grow over the course of the novel is really beautiful. He just wants to be a good ruler and make sure his people prosper, emotionally and financially. <3

And Jugs. Sweet baby angel Jugs. The himboiest himbo to ever himbo his way into another world through a freaking portal!!! I love his nickname, I love his gigantic ears, I love his short shorts and crop tops, and I LOVE his mullet. I think mostly I love that he is the softest boi even though he's like this massive buff dudebro. 

So Lor and Jugs are perfect, and neither of them deserve the absolute sh*tshow that they have to go through to get from the 80s to catch up to our current Monstrous series timeline. Like that was straight up rude! I loved every second of it. I'm pretty sure I was just crying through the entire middle portion of the book, like from 25% - 75% I was just leaking tears the entire time. 

I did give this 4 stars, and it is purely for the moments when I felt like it dragged. While I LOVED the descriptions of the monster world and monster culture, there were parts that I was ready for the action to start again. I am so glad that we got as much backstory as we did. We've had 6 entire books to learn what the portals did to the human realm, so I *understand* and truly appreciate that we got to see so much of what they did to the monster realm. But I do think the pacing ultimately impacted the book, soooo yea. 4 stars! I still Highly Recommend!!!! Like mega a lot you have to read this whole series!!! I'm currently chomping at the bit for: the release of Lyri's book, Soul Eater on audio, AND what I hope is going to be a Seis/Gryf novella (or novella turned saga while they chase down that pesky monster!)

Ratings

Stars: 4/5

Spice: 5/5