As a fan of both Hailey Piper and The King in Yellow, I was thrilled to get an ARC of A Game in Yellow to review.
It was everything it promised and more. I loved Piper's take on Carcosa and the ending was sublime on so many levels. I would spoil it if I shared the details that enraptured but those details will stay with me for a very long time in deliciously horrible ways.
The only thing about the book that made it hard to get into initially for me and the only think keeping me from being as in love with A Game in Yellow as I am with Piper's Worm and His Kings trilogy is the characters. Carmen, Blanca, and Smoke aren't meant to be likable but they're not likable in ways that aren't particularly intriguing. Carmen's depression, Blanca's mask of control, and the lack of information about Smoke in general forced me to trudge through the first act of this story. I eventually got into it but it took a while.

I’m not the kind of reader who typically goes for stories with smut or about kink, but I thought this was a very clever retelling/sequel to the classic horror novel The King in Yellow. I loved the queer lens that this retelling took on, and I thought it was very creative. I wasn’t a huge fan of the ending, as I felt it was a bit unclear, but overall a fun read.

I really enjoyed reading about the relationship dynamic of the three women in this novel, and the critiques on the workplace were interesting, but I’m sad to say that this was not a winner for me. I think the play sections were poorly done & the pacing was off. The first half of the book moves so slow & the second half seems to spiral too quick —leaving me with feelings of disappointment. A book with this page count should feel snappy and fun, but it started to feel like a chore.

I do appreciate the advanced copy. Thank you to the publisher, the author, and NetGalley.

3.5
Thank you Saga Press and Hailey Piper for the Advanced Copy of this book in return for my honest review.
I had so much fun reading this and could see this being a great movie. I am not familiar with the source material of The King In Yellow, so I did not pick up on the imagery at times, but the characters well fully-developed and felt real. I would have loved for it to be a bit longer to go more into the relationship dynamics of the 3 women as a group. This book is graphic, but not necessarily "scary", more so unsettling. I think the comparison to "Things Have Gotten Worse..." is apt.

This fast-paced novel kept me engaged, though I’m not sure I’d classify it as true horror—it's more of a twisty drama with eerie undertones. Despite the comparisons to Euphoria, I didn’t quite see the connection. The highlight for me was following an unreliable protagonist, but beyond that, the other characters felt underdeveloped and lacked the depth needed to make them truly compelling. I craved more—more clarity, more from the game or play at the center of the story, and especially more world-building to ground me in what was happening. While I enjoyed the ride, the book ultimately left me feeling a bit lost, and I don’t see it lingering in my thoughts for long.

Wow!!! Thank you NetGalley and publisher for ARC of this book! A game in yellow is disturbing but in a way work of horror fiction should be. Filled with eerie creeping that oozes its way into your your brain and makes you think! Vere much like fever dream which I love! Personally I think it way super creative and fun read!

Sexy, scary, and queer. Love Hailey Piper's short fiction and I'm excited for A Game in Yellow to release.

Robert H. Chambers’ The King in Yellow was a cult hit brought into wider pop culture fame when it got name-checked in the first and fourth seasons of HBO’s True Detective. Piper, the Bram Stoker Award-winning author of Queen of Teeth, has crafted a new descent into Carcosa, but makes it very horny and very queer. Carmen and Blanca are in a loving but sexually dull marriage. They rediscover their spark by reading strange passages from the play The King in Yellow. Addicted to this escape from the mundane, the boundaries between Carmen’s world and the plays blur and bleed with kink, cosmic horror and the grotesque – often all at once.

Diving into this book without prior knowledge left me a bit lost at times, given my unfamiliarity with The King in Yellow lore. The story is unsettling, exploring deep insecurities, relationship trauma, kink exploration, and self-discovery. While dread permeates, it's more about relationship drama than horror. The character development is lacking; the relationships among the women felt choppy, with many missing pieces. As the book progressed, these gaps became more prominent, making the storyline feel incomplete, like an actual play. Despite this, the overall storyline was enjoyable. A solid 3/5 for me.

𝗥𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗡𝗚: ★ ★ ★ ★
𝗥𝗘𝗟𝗘𝗔𝗦𝗘 𝗗𝗔𝗧𝗘: August 12, 2025
𝗔𝗥𝗖 𝗥𝗘𝗩𝗜𝗘𝗪:

I was not personally a fan of this book but there were things about this book that many will enjoy. The book is very vivid, fast paced and easy to read and follow. The writing is surely captivating and each page will keep your attention. This is a book you definitely want to read in one sitting or in a weekend without any breaks between if possible. I love that this is an LGBTQIA+ genre as well, I love seeing the representation done in an amazing was. Hailey Piper did such amazing work with this one and has a talent for writing in the drama/horror genre. I will be recommending this book to my book friends who would enjoy this one!!

Large thank you to our Author, NetGalley as well as Saga Press , S&S/Saga Press

𝗧𝗥𝗢𝗣𝗘𝗦: Fast paced, LGBTQIA+, Horror, Psychological Thri

Oof, okay, I’m torn on this one. The concept is 10/10 and the writing is pretty good here (in the parts where it’s good?) and the subtlety and commonality in which queer and kink relationships are presented is greatly appreciated. As a horror girly, I actually enjoyed the non-horror aspect of this story, the relationship dynamics (eww I know) and

The thing is, this story is flat and void. Everything from the characters to the mystical sequences, to the reasoning, and to the climax of this book is sorely underdeveloped. It feels relatively vapid and shallow, so much so that my hypercritical brain was left confused at several ends. Especially within the first 70-80% of the book.

I think this would do better as a screenplay in all honesty. I hope Hailey shops it for the big (or lil) screen!

Unfortunately this fell a bit flat for me. I love an unreliable narrator- the fact this was described as Euphoria meets Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke had me sold ...but I felt like there was just too much happening all the time that I truly could not get into these characters. I am left feeling a bit confused by it and don't feel like there was a lot of horror elements to this.

I really hoped to like this more but it was average!

Carmen's horrible office job is sucking the joy out of her life. (It's funny, but also rings true, that corporate doesn't know what Carmen's office actually does.) Also, Carmen's relationship with her girlfriend Blanca has gotten stale. In order to add some spice to their relationship, Carmen starts reading a play titled The King in Yellow.

Reading the play inspires terror, but also yearning and lust. If you read too much of the play, it will take your sanity and ultimately your life. However, if you only read small passages, you'll experience the euphoria of someone who's had a brush with death.

When you read the play, the play also reads you. Eventually, Carmen appears as a character in the play and it starts bleeding out into her real life. The novel brings up and answers questions like what happens if you read drunk or what if two people read at the same time.

Despite the page count, it's not a quick read. The dense prose, especially The King in Yellow sections, force you to go slowly, which is not a bad thing. The novel is both spooky and erotic by turns with a satisfying, but messed up, ending. I haven't read many, but this is the best book based on Robert Chambers' The King in Yellow that I've read so far.

This doesn't come out till August, but honestly, go and preorder now. What if you wove in the madness of The King of Yellow into your sex life, and what happens to you on the other end? Piper gives us an astounding blend of kink, playing with format (I'm a sucker for intrusive play scripts), and Carcosa's tentacles reaching out to swallow it all. This is one of the best novels I've read recently that blends kink and horror, and great character work with it. This is probably going to be in my top ten for the year. Preorder now, and kneel in anticipation.

I loved this. But! Some disclaimers:

1. I am familiar with the source material
2. I love messy queers
3. I am obsessed with unique formatting in books and pushing genre boundaries

I think if you’re going to enjoy this book the way I did, those three things would be a necessary prerequisite.

Wow, okay. This book is a wild ride, and I’m not even sure I fully understood 100% of it. The concept is really cool, and I’m sure that there are people out there who are going to love this book - but I don’t think it was for me, and I really don’t know why. This book kind of made me feel like I was going crazy, but that might’ve been the point…which I could’ve been okay with if things made more sense in the end. Maybe they did and I just didn’t get it? I kind of kept feeling like I would enjoy this more visually (if it were a movie or even a play) but there were several instances that stated “you cannot learn this by watching a performance. You must be reading the play” so like I guess not??? I just feel like I had a hard time visualizing the things that aren’t real. Anyway 3.5

First, a HUGE thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an eARC in exchange for an honest review!

Wow. Just wow. I really stepped out of my comfort zone for this one, and boy, did it pay off! I’m not usually one for anything in the horror genre, but I do sometimes enjoy psychological thrillers; so I decided to give A Game in Yellow a shot. I am so glad that I did.

When I started reading this book, I stepped into the lives and issues of Carmen, Blanca, and Smoke. They were all such intriguing characters, and the story itself was so interesting that I very quickly became invested! I devoured this book and its characters and only put it down to sleep and go to work. If I had been smarter and started reading on my off days, it would have been read in one sitting.

Now, it would be five stars but there were a few minor things that I found made it a four to me. The biggest one being the climax. It was exciting and really picked up the pace for me, but it sped up so much from the regular pacing, that it was a little hard to follow at times. That didn’t really impact the ending (which was so GOOD) for me, but it felt a tad rushed compared to the rest of the book. I also wish that I could’ve gotten more of the characters!

Overall, Hailey Piper’s A Game in Yellow is a fantastic read that takes you on a journey of insanity and the effect that it has on the people and the world around you.

The book started off strong but the insert of the play was too underwhelming to take up most of the book.

When I read the premise to this book, I was so excited. The idea of riffing on the notable Tennyson work in such a contemporary and unexpected way is an enticing one.

It's delivered on in a way that wholly exceeded my expectations.

Carmen as a protagonist is just so tragic and her struggles with intimacy and desperation to keep her beloved Blanca are too real.

There are some passages in this that are wholly worth revisiting. I love the transitions between the play and the real life "play" of Carmen and Blanca and sheesh that ending-

The only reason that it is four stars is that I feel like the pacing lags briefly around the 70% mark. Don't let that stop you from trying it though, I still had a thoroughly good time!

It’s so rare to find a book that mixes horror and erotica so well. I was completely captivated the entire time and never wanting it to end. 10/10 will have to read this again.

I read this as an ARC through NetGalley. The beginning of the book REALLY hooked me in, but the middle to the end of the books seemed to drag on for me personally. I am not used to the reading plays, which could attribute to these thoughts. If you love queer, horror, open door romance, plays, this is the book for you. I will be recommending this to others with these interests.