Reading: The Scales of Seduction (Rien Gray)
I'm always here for Rien Gray's writing, whether it's historical, fantasy, romantic suspense, or anything else. The Scales of Seduction is the mythological F/F erotic novella that I didn't know I wanted I'm always looking for.
Petra Kruos, a trans mercenary and last living basilisk, is given the task to steal the dead Perseus' gifts from Medusa's lair. When Petra arrives, she's in for more than she bargained for: a gauntlet in which she must shed more than her possessions, and intense violence shifting to a connection with Medusa she does not expect.
I loved this novella. I love how it centres lesbian desire and the relief of finding others like oneself in a world that does not understand or respect you. I love how queerness and transness is presented as part and parcel with the brutality of the Ancient Greek mythological setting: it all fits together beautifully and unflinchingly.
The Scales of Seduction is very much high-heat erotica, and is kinky—do check the content notes on the page if you have dealbreakers that you don't want to encounter. It's truly so refreshing to find F/F literature like this: I do enjoy some fluffiness on occasion, but it's a delight to read genuinely feral, intense encounters like this—especially in a setting whose cosy retellings don't always quite work for me.
Along with the erotica, The Scales of Seduction examines the price of assimilation, and the catharsis of embracing (queer) monstrosity, in an incredibly heartfelt way. I was expecting this book to be thrilling and well-written, but I wasn't expecting it to make me cry in the middle of a kinky sex scene.
It's a testament to Rien Gray's skills that they draw all these elements together so brilliantly here.