Shannon J Spann
Mayhem Books
3 February 2026
513
Paperback
Fantasy
Bought Copy
The gods are dead. All that’s left are the Players…
The performers of the Playhouse are as worshipped as they are feared, their enchanting shows bending hearts, minds, and even reality itself. Vicious, godlike, lethal. Eighteen-year-old Riven Hesper knows the dangers better than anyone, after her own encounter with a Player resulted in a curse that is slowly killing her.
When the Playhouse announces the spectacle of a lifetime—a chance for one mortal to steal a Player’s immortality—Riven sees her last chance to live. Desperate for answers, she infiltrates the competition. There, she finds Jude, the Playhouse’s brilliant, merciless Lead Player, whose charm is as dangerous as his Craft, and strikes a deadly bargain to save her life.
But with time running out and the Playhouse’s secrets unraveling into a disturbing picture, Riven faces a grim possibility: she might not be the hero of her story after all. In fact, she may be the villain.
Because the Playhouse doesn’t just tell stories. It rewrites them.
And Riven’s might end in blood.
A Stage Set for Villains was a book I picked up on a bit of a whim when I had a gift card to spend earlier in the year, but it sat at the bottom of my TBR pile for a while before I got around to reading it. It turned out to have been a good choice. I really loved the premise of this one, which was something I hadn't come across before and which appealed to my love of theatre as well as my love of dark fantasy. Although a reasonably long book, it never felt tedious as there was plenty of action and drama throughout. Riven was a character I was instantly about to get behind, and the other characters, too, were well drawn an fun to get to know. The plot had plenty of twists along the way, which helped to hold my interest, and I found the conclusion satisfying. I am pegging this one as fantasy rather than romantasy because, while there were romance elements, they were not the strongest focus of the story. All up this was an imaginative and well-executed work, and I would happily read more from this author in the future. I am giving this one 5 stars. It's well worth a look if you like fantasy with an original idea behind it.
No comments:
Post a Comment