A must read for all gothic fans set up in victorian time. The tale of survival in times when women were less than a commodity.

Antonia Rachel Ward has delivered a titillating and ghastly story of possession in her novella, "Marionette." An aspiring artist, George Dashwood, falls for a ballerina in nineteenth-century Paris. However, the dancer is seduced into appearing in an erotic séance, where she is possessed by a vengeful spirit. Can George’s love free her or will he be destroyed as well?

This story deserves some trigger warnings, and when I read it on Kindle, they didn’t appear until the end of the book, so beware. The most obvious to me was dubious consent. There is also mention of suicide, and there is on-the-page murder. Some of the gore is quite graphic and delivers in the shock value. This is moderately offset by the lush setting of Paris, the trappings of the ballet, and the decadence of the time period. I have to give props to the cover artist for really capturing that in her illustration. It was a very alluring portrait. The characters could have had more development, and I had a hard time sympathizing with any of them. But I also found the erotic element to be enticing and the writing clean and well edited.

All in all, this is an entertaining read, great for the summer if you like something a little spicy and dark while at the beach. I would recommend Antonia Rachel Ward’s "Marionette" if you are not afraid of a little gore with your seduction.

Lyrical and beautiful writing style, but the blend of English and French words together was jarring and over the top. Story itself was intriguing but not my favourite.

This was such a unique read. Set in Paris, historic times, with dancing performances - ballet, and sexual parties, with a touch of magic and witchcraft. The author paints such beautiful imagery. Just around 100 pages and you get so much out of this book.

Mystery. Steam. Magic. Darkness.

Cecile is a promiscuous character and one night she is invited to attend an event. Her friend volunteers first to show Cece how things are done. Cece is enamored by this and decides to partake in the fun; however, during this event she seems to black out. What Cece thought was for show, was reality. She was hypnotized and during this a spirit was encouraged to embody her.

The moment George set eyes on Cece he was in awe of her. Such beauty she held. But can George really be the man for Cece or will he keep failing her?


Dual POV: yes

At times it. felt a little hard to differentiate who's chapter it was, as to there are no name in the chapter headers.
3.5, but rounded up to 4 because I enjoyed the uniqueness, I also had such a good time reading this too.

*Thank you Netgalley for an ARC. My honest review.*

This was a really interesting book to read. The thing that drew me in at first was the cover, which is such an interesting cover! It is really beautifully drawn. Reading the description of the book, I got even more excited. I was slightly let down by this one, however. Do not get me wrong! I had a good time reading it, and I appreciated all of the twists and turns that were in it.
The words were beautifully written and Antonia Rachel Ward did a wonderful job explaining the scenery of everything that was happening. There were a couple of things that I wished for more in this book, however. I feel as though this book could have been a bit longer. I really liked the novella aspect of this book, I simply just do not feel as though the characters were as developed as they could have been by the end of the story. The end of this story seemed to happen very quickly and I wish that more time could have been taken to explain everything that was happening specifically with Selena.
One of my favorite things in this novella was definitely the author describing being hypnotized. I felt as though she did a really good job encapsulating that. I will definitely read more from this author in the future!
Huge thank you to Netgalley and Brigid Gate Press for an ARC of this novella!

"In the forest, a long time ago, lived spirits who would dance a man to death."

Cecile Dulac is a naive girl from a poor background who wants to follow in her aunt's footsteps and become a star , and she does - an erotic dancer who titillates and flirts with her audience from onstage. After accepting an invitation to a séance hosted by an enigmatic mesmerist, Monsieur Rossignol., Cece falls prey to Rossignol’s hypnotic power and becomes possessed by a malevolent spirit. She then has to fight to beat the spirit within her and take control of her life back.

This novella blends a little spiciness (I wouldn't necessarily consider Marionette to fall under the Erotica categorgy), with horror and a dash of mystery pretty well. I thought the plot was interesting and a little kinky, but the characters could have been better developed, and the insta-love 'romance' was nonexistent Also, the ending just HAPPENED and that was that so.....

I like horror books, and smut books as much as any girl but combining the two? Its a no from me.

I tried sticking it through, but this book just made me incredibly uncomfortable and uneasy. Absolutely the wrong audience for this book. The smut was not written well enough for me to attempt and finish this, the horror aspect was just too weird and too much.

DNF @ 67%

It was the cover that drew me, and then the story. It was a good short book, introducing some gothic themes as well themes of love do exist even in the darkest of century(s). From a religious point of view, I could feel chills creeping up my body when reading the ritual scenes. That's how scary good those scenes were.

An enjoyable short read that was full of horror and spice. It was well written with an interesting storyline and a good amount of character development. I would have just prefered slightly more development of the characters and the romance element of the book

“You men always think women who want more are evil. All she wants is to live the life that was stolen from her.”

Smut ✔️ Horror ✔️- while it ticked both of my favourite genres boxes, there were some things lacking from this book for me. The setting was glorious - made me feel very Moulin Rouge. The cover is absolutely stunning and reminiscent of a graphic novel.

The romance unfortunately felt one sided and I found the immediate love for Cece from George lacking description but also, it is a novella so there isn’t much room for in depth love stories. I’d have loved more interaction between them as well.

The ending was abrupt and threw me off but maybe not in a nice way.

Overall I’d give it 3 stars - thank you so much for allowing me to read this ARC.

There's not really much substance to this book. An erotic dancer is taken over by a spirit who leads her to do things.
Yes there's a story. A bit of erotica thrown in. However, this book could have been so much better. The best thing was the cover. You'd buy the book for book for that. Unfortunately not for me.
Many thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to see an ARC

A well written and captivating story about an exotic dancer drawn into the world of erotic seances where she becomes taken over by a malevolent spirit. A tantalizing blend of horror, the macabre, and erotica, with creative storytelling and interesting characters throughout!

A young exotic dancer is on the run and she decides to become part of an erotic seance and soon becomes possessed by an evil marionette. A young and attractive artist witnesses the seance and the exotic dancer seduces him. The evil spirit possessing the young exotic dancer, Ce Ce, causes her to commit depraved acts. The acts range from revenge to murder. George, attractive artist, and Ce Ce must find a way to free her if the evil spirit or her soul will be condemned forever.
The story line for this novella is very different from anything else I have read. In this day and age it is hard to find a unique story line such as this one. The characters were interesting and captivating!

A short quirky, fun, little dark, slightly naughty read, not a huge amount of scene setting or character building which would have boosted this up more but enjoyable enough anyway!

2.5 stars

A moment, please, for that cover 😍

I don't think I've ever read this mixture of genre before, but the cover definitely caught my eye, so I wanted to try it. There's nothing wrong with this book, I just don't think it was really my thing, unfortunately.

I do absolutely LOVE this author's writing style.

"Shop windows shone invitingly in the fading light, like golden sweet wrappers hiding treasures within."

I'll definitely be trying other books by this author.

I was looking for a quick read, and although I normally stay away from both erotica and horror, this sounded interesting. Because of the erotica label, I had low expectations of the writing and plot; but it was actually an intriguing story. I stand corrected on my perception of erotica! This definitely is macabre and has graphic sex with some taboo elements, so keep that in mind if you pick it up.
The love story is too fast and unbelievable, but I understand the need for the rush since it's a novella. There were some unexpected twists that kept the story interesting, and I liked the character of George.
This is a good quick, dark, erotic story.

A short gothic supernatural horror novel - and i thoroughly enjoyed it!
A bit baffled at the present low ratings, but it happens a lot, we all like different things.
Marionette was a well rounded story set in the seedy Parisian society of the (1800s?). Atmospheric and sexy, the story flows easily with a great writing style. It felt well paced, and the characters well built.
Sadly the arc i got from Netgalley (much appreciated) did not contain the illustrations, I'm sure they added to the story.
I would readily recommend this book for lovers of the old style supernatural and sexy stories.

A tantalising, salacious and gripping horror novella! No idea why I thought this was a horror graphic novella (maybe because of the stunning cover, which remains me of Junji Ito's work) but I'm so glad I gave this a chance as I really enjoyed it.

I loved the Parisian setting, which comes to life here. The story took me by surprise with some of its twists and revelations. I definitely didn't see the end coming despite foreshadowing in the opening chapter but I'm here for it! Though personally I would have given George a very different ending 😬

Overall, I was pleasantly surprised by this unique and alluring story about women reclaiming their strength and power. Shame about the lacklustre reviews, especially those that DNF as the last few chapters are the best parts of the story! You'll definitely need to read the entire book to understand the author's intention behind the first half.

Totally gonna be looking out for more from Antonia Rachel Ward!

Thanks to NetGalley and Antonia Rachel Ward for letting me read this early.

I really enjoyed this novella. It felt like a mix between Moulin Rouge and The Illusionist with a touch of feminine rage, smut and possession. It was really fun, kinda dark, well written and the cover is gorgeous too.

Overall an enjoyable read.. Loved the gothic atmosphere. Interesting plot. The author did a good job in blending eroticism with horror.