- May 24
- 6 min read
Romantasy Power Desire and the BookTok Monster Romance Obsession
I knew Kiss of the Basilisk had become a phenomenon long before I opened it. The internet had already done what it always does with books like this: endless reaction videos, dramatic annotations, “hear me out” edits, morally questionable thirst posting, and enough warnings about “the snake man book” to make even seasoned romantasy readers nervous. By the time I finally sat down with it, I was expecting spectacle more than substance.
But, colour me surprised ... what I got was spectacle and substance. Messy substance, admittedly, but real substance nonetheless.
This book is positively outrageous. It 's excessive. It 's horny in ways that occasionally feel almost confrontational. There are moments where Lindsay Straube seems to look directly at the reader and ask how far they’re willing to follow her into complete romantic depravity. And yet, underneath all the intensity and fantasy spectacle sits a surprisingly sharp story about power, class, desire, shame, control, and the emotional danger of being wanted by people capable of consuming you whole.
Temperance Verus is one of the more interesting romantasy heroines I’ve read in a while because her insecurity never feels cosmetic. She isn’t written as the secretly perfect girl who simply hasn’t realised she’s beautiful yet. Tem genuinely believes she's undesirable, poor, and embarrassing. The “chicken shit girl” label attached to her by the village follows her through almost the entire novel, shaping the way she interprets every interaction she has with both Caspen and Leo.
That emotional uncertainty gives the novel a far stronger foundation than I expected.
The structure itself initially feels familiar: a royal bride competition, political tensions between humans and monsters, and a dangerous mentor figure. Add in a hidden heritage, court intrigue, and impossible attraction. The DNA of modern romantasy is everywhere here. You can feel echoes of The Bachelor, monster romance, and fae-court fantasy. There are the usual forbidden-love tropes, and the now-beloved formula of “girl enters deadly magical social system and accidentally destabilises the entire political order.”
But, and this is a huge 'but', this distinguishes itself through the intensity of its emotional atmosphere. Everything in this book feels heightened. Desire isn't soft or decorative here. It is invasive, and physical, and telepathic. The passion is possessive, and hunger-driven. Even tenderness carries danger underneath it.
Caspen works precisely because Straube never sands down his monstrousness to make him more conventionally palatable. He's deeply romantic, but his love often arrives wrapped inside violence, instinct, territoriality, and fear. One of the smartest choices the novel makes is refusing to pretend those things are uncomplicated. Tem is drawn to him partly because of the danger. The book understands that attraction isn't always morally tidy, and it doesn’t infantilise either the characters or the reader by pretending otherwise.
At the same time, Leo could easily have become the forgettable “safe” alternative love interest and he somehow doesn’t. In fact, one of the book’s greatest strengths is that it genuinely commits to the emotional reality of Tem loving both men for entirely different reasons.
Leo represents something Caspen can't: gentleness without intimidation, emotional transparency, and human vulnerability. His future is grounded in reform rather than dominance. He begins the novel appearing arrogant and politically insulated, but gradually reveals himself to be a deeply lonely man trapped inside inherited systems he no longer fully believes in. His relationship with his father becomes one of the novel’s strongest parallels to Caspen’s own struggles with Bastian (his father), because both sons are ultimately forced to decide whether they will perpetuate the violence handed down to them or destroy it.
That idea (inherited power as inherited corruption) runs through the entire novel.
The bloodletting storyline is where the book becomes far more interesting than its marketing suggests. The revelation that the kingdom’s wealth is built upon the imprisonment and draining of basilisk blood reframes almost everything. Suddenly the lavish royal setting stops functioning as pure fantasy escapism and becomes something uglier: luxury sustained through systemic exploitation.
Straube repeatedly returns to questions about ownership and extraction. Bodies are ranked, displayed, and evaluated. Lives are consumed, traded politically, and desired publicly. She does not shy away from exposing us to the sexual control and the economic exploitation of the basilisks who are the source of wealth for the kingdom. Even the romance is tangled up in those systems. The claw, the cresting, the rituals, and the bride competition. None of it is disconnected from power.
And that is why the book is so polarising, I think. It may not be a literary masterpiece in the rankings of Bronte, or Wells, or Shakespeare. Certain scenes lean so heavily into excess that they border on absurdity, and some readers will absolutely bounce off the intensity of the sexual content or the extremity of the emotional dynamics. But the novel commits so fully to its own emotional logic that I found myself completely unable to look away.
There's is also something invigorating and empowering about a romantasy novel that allows female desire to exist without constantly apologising for it. Tem’s sexuality is neither punished nor framed as corruption. Her emotional and physical wants are treated as central to her identity rather than obstacles she has to overcome in order to become “worthy” of love. I think this is key here.
And I absolutely loved the ending. Without spoiling specifics, the novel resists the easy simplicity that romance structures often default toward. The emotional resolution is satisfying without becoming neat. Choices still cost something. Love doesn't magically erase political violence, and desire doesn't automatically solve incompatible realities. Even victory carries grief attached to it.
And I respected this book enormously for that. It would have been very easy for this book to become nothing more than viral romantasy shock value. Instead, Lindsay Straube delivers a book that's dramatic, chaotic, excessive, emotionally messy, strangely thoughtful, and far more compelling than its premise initially suggests.
I completely understand why readers are obsessed with it.
Book Details
Title — Author Kiss of the Basilisk — Lindsay Straube
Paperback ISBN: 978-1464250378 (Bloom Books/Sourcebooks edition; varies by region)
Hardcover ISBN: 978-1464250385 (special editions vary by retailer and region)
eBook ISBN: 978-1464250392
Genre: Romantasy, Fantasy Romance, Dark Fantasy Romance, Adult Fantasy, Monster Romance, New Adult Fiction
Subgenre: Monster Romance; Political Fantasy Romance; Dark Romantasy; Erotic Fantasy Romance
Tropes / Literary Threads: Love triangle; monster romance; basilisk romance; enemies-to-lovers undertones; forbidden love; royal bride competition; forced proximity; hidden heritage; chosen one narrative; mutual obsession; telepathic bond; monster seduction mentor; morally grey love interest; possessive hero; emotionally conflicted heroine; dual identity; human/non-human romance; class disparity romance; court intrigue; political rebellion; secret lineage; blood bond; monster transformation; dangerous desire; emotional repression; jealousy and possessiveness; ritual trials; rivals for affection; fate versus choice; sensual awakening; emotionally divided heroine; anti-purity culture romance; women reclaiming desire; coercion versus consent; emotional vulnerability; power imbalance; yearning; gothic sensuality; erotic tension; found emotional identity; self-acceptance through duality
Publisher: Bloom Books / Sourcebooks
Series: Split or Swallow Series — Book One
Sequel: Between Two Kings — Lindsay Straube
Formats Available: Paperback, Hardcover, eBook, Audiobook, Kindle Unlimited
Audiobook Narrators: Full cast and regional editions vary by distributor/platform
Release Date: 2025
Page Count: Approx. 500+ pages (varies slightly by edition)
Setting: A fantasy kingdom divided between humans and basilisks; mirrored walled villages; royal castle; underground basilisk cave systems
Primary Setting Details: Royal court; basilisk caverns; ritual chambers; political gathering halls; sacred underground lake; bloodletting dungeons; ceremonial wedding arena
Main Characters: Temperance “Tem” Verus; Caspenon “Caspen” Drakon; Prince Thelonius “Leo”; King Bastian; King Maximus; Rowe Seneca; Adelaide; Daphne; Kronos; Vera; Gabriel; Princess Lilly
Content Warnings: Graphic sexual content; coercive dynamics; sexual assault; violence; blood and gore; torture; emotional abuse; bodily transformation; explicit language; death; manipulation; possessiveness; captivity themes
Where to Buy (Australia): Available via Amazon Australia, Dymocks, Booktopia, Big W, independent Australian bookstores, and online romantasy retailers
Danielle Robinson is a literary critic and writer whose work explores literature through the lens of atmosphere, memory, culture, and emotional experience. Holding a double degree in philosophy and theology, she combines academic insight with a deeply refined aesthetic sensibility shaped by more than three decades working across the creative industries as an internationally published, multi-award-winning makeup artist, fashion stylist, and interior stager.
She reads widely and rigorously, reading and reviewing more than 200 books each year as both an ARC reader and commissioned critic. Through Silk & Sentences, Danielle approaches literature as something immersive and lived with — not simply stories to consume, but works that shape the way we think, feel, and move through the world.
She writes from her rural Queensland home, where she lives with Alex, her husband of 33 years, their dog Oscar, and an ever-growing library of books.
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