SASSY'S REVIEW
❖You guys know I enjoy my spice. I’m certainly not going to complain when two characters finally stop dancing around each other and put all that sexual tension to good use. 😂 But I also need an actual story to go with it. Give me characters I care about, a plot that keeps me wondering what the hell is going to happen next, some danger, mystery, emotional connection, and then by all means, feel free to make my Kindle blush. Unfortunately, Savannah’s Awakening tipped that balance a little too far in the other direction for me.
And that’s what frustrated me, because I actually really liked the paranormal story hiding underneath all of the sex. Ellie Sandoval created this supernatural world filled with immortality, different supernatural beings, unusual abilities, ancient histories and relationships, dangerous enemies, and a much bigger mystery surrounding Savannah and what exactly she is. The more that part of the story started coming forward, the more interested I became. I wanted answers. I wanted to know more about these characters, their history, the sanctuary, Savannah’s abilities, and what the hell was actually going on. By the end, I could clearly see the foundation being laid for a much bigger story throughout the Carnal Sanctuary series, and that was the story I kept wanting more of.
Savannah herself was someone I really wanted to connect with more than I ultimately did. I liked that she’s confident, bisexual, comfortable with her sexuality, and completely unapologetic about enjoying sex. There’s something refreshing about a female character who doesn’t spend half the book clutching her imaginary pearls because she discovered she has sexual desires. We’re all adults here. Enjoy yourself, girl. 😂 The problem was that her sexuality became such a huge part of her characterization that, after a while, I felt like I knew more about what turned Savannah on than I knew about Savannah. There was so much focus on her appearance, how attractive she knows she is, how other people react to her, and how frequently she’s aroused that it eventually started feeling repetitive. I got it. Savannah is gorgeous, horny, and everybody wants her. Message received. 😂 Now tell me more about the woman whose entire understanding of herself is being blown to hell, because that Savannah interested me.
Her life is being completely turned upside down. She’s discovering that things she believed about herself—and the world around her—may not be what they seemed. She’s trying to figure out why she’s different, what she’s capable of, why she’s being pulled into this strange supernatural world, and where exactly she belongs in all of it. Whenever the story slowed down long enough to let me see that side of her, I became so much more invested. I just wanted more time there.
I felt the same way about Roman and Savannah. I liked Roman, and I liked them together. Obviously, the attraction between them is intense, and nobody is going to accuse these two of lacking chemistry. 😂 But the moments I liked most were actually the quieter ones, when Roman showed restraint, concern, and an awareness that there were much bigger things happening than how badly they wanted each other. Those moments made me interested in what their relationship could become because they hinted at something deeper.
I just wanted the chance to actually feel that deeper relationship developing. Paranormal romance can absolutely get away with connections happening faster and more intensely than they would in real life. Hell, fated mates are practically one of my love languages at this point. 😂 But even if destiny, magic, or some supernatural bond is shoving two people together, I still want those little moments that make me believe they would eventually choose each other anyway. Give me the conversations, vulnerability, trust, friendship, emotional intimacy, and those seemingly insignificant moments where two people actually learn who the other person is. I wanted to feel Savannah and Roman falling for each other instead of relying so heavily on the supernatural and sexual connection to tell me that they were.
And then, of course, we need to address the very naked elephant in the room, because there was simply too much sexual content for my personal taste. Yes, I realize how ridiculous that sounds coming from me. I’ll give everyone a moment to recover from the shock. Check on your neighbors and alert the authorities, because apparently Hell has frozen over and Mz. Sassy K is complaining about too much spice. 😂
But hear me out, because my problem wasn’t that Savannah’s Awakening was explicit. This is erotic paranormal fiction, and the book makes absolutely no secret about that. It knows exactly what it is. Let’s be real—I’m not in the romance section looking for wholesome hand-holding and closed bedroom doors. Who even wants vanilla anyway? It’s boring. 😂 I read dark romances with men ranging from morally grey to damn near obsidian black, proudly waving their red flags like they’re in a Macy’s parade—and apparently I’m over here cheering them on. So trust me, the issue was never that this book had too much spice. 😂
I just like my spice with a really good story wrapped around it. For me, attraction, tension, and intimacy work best when they’re woven into the plot and character development. I want to be just as invested in what an intimate moment means for the characters as I am in the fact that it’s finally happening. What I don’t want is to feel like the actual storyline occasionally pops in to say hello between sexual encounters.
There were stretches of Savannah’s Awakening where the sexual thoughts, fantasies, encounters, voyeurism, masturbation, and overall sexual atmosphere were so constant that they eventually started losing their impact on me. There wasn’t enough breathing room for the anticipation to build, and anticipation is half the damn fun. Sometimes the hottest part of a romance isn’t even the sex. It’s those fifty pages beforehand when you’re practically screaming at two fictional idiots to just kiss already. With this much spice, I came prepared for sexual frustration. Instead, I walked away with an entirely different kind: plot frustration. A severe case of literary blue balls. 😂
Ironically, the paranormal storyline became my favorite part of a book called Carnal Sanctuary. 😂 Once the supernatural elements started taking up more space and Savannah began learning more about herself and the world she’d been thrown into, I was considerably more engaged. Suddenly, I was getting the mystery, danger, emotional stakes, supernatural lore, and bigger questions I’d been waiting for. That was when I really started seeing how much potential this series has, and that’s probably my biggest frustration with Savannah’s Awakening: I honestly think there was a five-star story hiding inside this book.
The paranormal world Sandoval created has enough mystery, danger, supernatural lore, unusual characters, history, and unanswered questions to keep me interested. I wanted to dig deeper into Savannah’s awakening and abilities, learn more about the different supernatural beings and their histories and relationships, understand the sanctuary itself and the danger surrounding everyone, and especially see more emotional development between Savannah and Roman. There were so many interesting threads sitting right there, and I would’ve happily followed every damn one of them.
If some of the sexual content had been trimmed and that space had been used to expand the storyline and deepen the characters, this could have been an entirely different reading experience for me. And I think that distinction matters. I didn’t need less sex because I’m opposed to spice; I needed less sex because I wanted more story.
That’s ultimately what kept Savannah’s Awakening at ⭐⭐⭐ 3/5 stars. The foundation for something I could have absolutely loved was already there, which almost made it more frustrating every time the sexual content took center stage again. Give me this same supernatural world with deeper character development, more of the mystery and lore, a stronger emotional relationship between Savannah and Roman, and enough breathing room for those intimate moments to build some serious anticipation, and I genuinely think this could have been a five-star read for me.
I didn’t dislike Savannah’s Awakening. Not even close. If anything, most of my frustration came from liking the story underneath it enough that I kept wishing the book would give me more of it. There are enough unanswered questions that I genuinely want to see where the Carnal Sanctuary series goes from here, which tells me there’s something here worth sticking around for.
If you love erotica with paranormal elements and want the heat cranked all the way up, you may have a completely different experience with this one, and that’s perfectly okay. But if you’re like me and prefer a strong, developed storyline with your spice generously sprinkled throughout rather than poured over the entire damn plate, you may find the balance a little off. And as for that 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️ 5/5 spice rating, trust me when I tell you those peppers aren’t decorative. This book didn’t just bring the spice. It bought the entire damn pepper farm and apparently set it on fire. 😂🌶️
NOTE: As always, all thoughts, reactions, fangirling, suspicious side-eyeing, and sleep-deprived ramblings are entirely my own. My reviews are always unbiased, unfiltered, and unapologetically honest—whether I loved the book, wanted to throw my Kindle across the room, or somehow managed to do both. –Mz. Sassy K.
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