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The Savage Beasts of Salem by Cate Corvin

Series:
N/A

Genre:
Adult, Romance, Fantasy, Werewolves, Fated Mates, Dark, Abuse, Reverse Harem, Supernatural, Monsters, Spicy Romance, Insta-Love, Standalone, Why Choose

Publication Date:
December 9, 2022

Read Date:
May 3rd, 2023

Date Finished:
May 3rd, 2023

Rating:
4.8 out of 5

Blurb:

In the village of Vostok, no one enters the forest. Only the Beasts of the Wood prowl there, keeping us prisoner from the rest of the world.

As a Vessel, an ordained maiden of the church, I consume the sins of the village to free us from their hunger—at the cost of my own life.

But when the Beasts slip through my defenses to call me to the forest, they tell me this is not what my life is meant to be.

That the Vessel was never meant to consume them, but to live free alongside them—free of the church, free of the priests who have kept me locked up since the day I was born.

Free to give in to the primal desires of the Beasts.

I am no maiden, but their witch… and they demand the village answers for its crimes.

But breaking free from my chains might be the worst mistake I ever made.

Because it’s not the Beasts out there I fear.

It’s the vengeful beast inside me.

The Savage Beasts of Salem is a standalone dark fantasy romance novella, with monstrous, possessive werewolves, knots, and a heroine who embraces her feral side. For mature readers only.

Review:

I am not sure if the author intended this book to be a mix between The Handmaid's Tale and the movie Into the Woods. It is not a bad thing really because it fits the mood of the book. Our characters have been warned to stay away from the woods. Told that there were monsters in the woods that could harm them, even going as far as to kill them.

Our female lead, Salem, is abused daily by the Father of the church. Forced to drink food and tea to cleanse the village of sins. Women of the village are forced to marry men who abuse them and wear veils to cover their faces. They are not treated as equals, This seems to be the same for Salem. She is forced to do things because she is different from the others =- white hair and something inside of her that wants out. But one
evening she sneaks out to retrieve some herbs for one of the girls and finds herself faced with one of the wolves. He is not particularly happy to have her within his domain and tells her she is no longer allowed within. Unfortunately, she is caught by the Father and whipped. Something in her snaps and she runs off to the woods where she finds that the Werewolves they were afraid of are not exactly as they are portrayed.

I loved this book. I loved Salem and her harem of werewolves. There were times I wanted to smack her in the beginning because she did grate on my nerves. Although I understood her mentality of protecting the others, she also should have fled when she had the chance. Those werewolves would have been possibly able to do something, maybe even help in a way. But Salem does grow a bit toward the middle of the book and I was happy with that.

I would love to see more from this universe. Perhaps Freya?