A lot will depend on...

I requested a free copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

This is my second book from Lucas Mangum, and my first from the narrator Melody Muzljakovich and though I believe both did a great job in their collaboration of Saint Sadist I didn't really like the result.

The story revolves around a young girl escaping an abusive relationship with her father who finds herself embroiled in a doomsday cult. As she becomes more entrenched in the bizarre goings on the world around her seems to twist into new shapes as the powerful personalities around her take hold.

She is not, however, a passive victim but rather an active participant who uses what life has taught her to manipulate those around her as much as they do her; eventually finding herself far more important in the group than she could have possibly guessed.

Lucas Mangum is a good writer and arguably Saint Sadist is a far better piece of prose than my previous experience of his work (Gods of the Dark Web), but I enjoyed his previous work far more.

There is a point in Saint Sadist when I became jaded with its perversity, bored even with the parade of sexual activity that seemed to inhabit a great deal of its world. For me these moments became just "dead air" that advanced the story very little and failed to disturb or interest me but rather just make me want to skip forward until something more interesting happened.
A lot of a prospective listeners enjoyment will depend on their attitudes towards sex in entertainment and, I think its safe to say, its just one of those activities I'd want to see less of rather than more of in the art I read.

To no small degree it is necessary in Saint Sadist, in fact it would be hard not to include a great deal of sexual activity in such a story as this is the lead characters main connection to the world around her, both in a positive and negative sense, but I suppose I fall in the camp that believes sometimes "less is more".

If you've read this far in my review I hope you have decided on whether Saint Sadist is one for you. Lucas Mangum is a good writer and you'd do yourself a service for taking steps into his world, and Melody Muzljakovich does both herself and the character proud in her rendition of the story, the fact that I didn't take to this particular story should not sway you too much. Just be warned, and prepare yourself.

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