Book Review: Sex Wizards by Alethea Faust

I had heard sooooo many positives about this series online and I will admit the cover design and blurb made me think this would be a quick DNF. The premise promises an abundance of smut: wizards harness the magic of their spells through various sex acts. Spells are stored in cock rings, anal beads, and various other round objects. Each chapter opens with a description of the magic type that the chapter focuses on. The magic types are based on BDSM sex acts. The three novels and two short stories follow Dominai and his fellow wizards at the Crux, which is basically the headquarters for magical independent study. There is also a spin-off novel that follows the origins of one of the couples in the novels. I have read the main series and the short stories. I highly recommend reading the short stories in addition to the novels for added world building.

When I say I devoured these books, I mean I was reading until the wee hours of the morning, could not put them down, and bought the rest of the series immediately after finishing Book 1. Althea Faust handles their characters with such love and the smut with such nuance that it is difficult not to enjoy the world they have built. Reader be warned: the books do border the line between fantasy romance and erotica. I believe the series is being marketed as erotic fantasy, so this makes sense. But it helps going into Book 1 knowing that there's a lot of sex throughout the series, most of it supremely kinky.

The representation of kink is so well done though. This is not a 50 Shades of Grey situation. Faust has done their research. Sex scenes, especially in erotica and fantasy romance, can be written just to titillate and come across a little gross. This DOES NOT happen in Sex Wizards. I would say that the sex scenes included serve a purpose: to explain something about the world, for character development, for romance development, or to explain the magic system. I would liken this to my favorite fantasy romances: Kushiel's Legacy series by Jaqueline Carey. There's loads of nontraditional sex, but it makes sense in-world.

While most of the online reviews used BDSM as the major selling point, I would argue that it is Faust's characters that really make the series shine. Character development arcs include overcoming trauma, understanding gender identity, and finding family. There's more that I could say, but I would be giving more plot away. Characters are three-dimensional and undergo problems that even non-sex wizards face. I never thought I would cry at an erotic fantasy novel over the similarities between a character and myself. Faust covers each of these topics with commendable knowledge and dare I say, sweetness, though in many cases the character arcs involve things that are decidedly not sweet (like trauma). The main romance is also so cute and caring and filled with normal relationship issues, like navigating jealousy when you both have sex with other people. Well, that's not a normal issue I have, but jealousy is definitely something I have experienced in my current and past relationships. Characters are relatable and so are their struggles and triumphs.

The series is currently ongoing (as of 5-17-24) and Book 3 ends on somewhat of a cliffhanger. You can buy Initiation, Book 1 of Sex Wizards here.

RATING: 5/5

SPICE: 10/5

WOULD I READ IT AGAIN? Hell yes!