Euphoria meets Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke in this latest novel by the Bram Stoker Award–winning author Hailey Piper, following a couple whose search to spice up their sex life leads them down a path of madness.

A kink-fixated couple, Carmen and Blanca, have been in a rut. That is until Blanca discovers the enigmatic Smoke in an under-street drug den, who holds pages to a strange play, The King in Yellow. Read too much, and you’ll fall into madness. But read just a little and pull back, and it gives you the adrenaline rush of survivor’s euphoria, leading Carmen to fall into a game of lust at a nightmare’s edge.

As the line blurs between the world Carmen knows and the one that she visits after reading from the play, she begins to desire more time in this other world no matter what horrors she brings back with her.

Bram Stoker Award–winning author Hailey Piper masterfully blends horror, erotica, and psychological thriller in this captivating and chilling story.

I received a complimentary copy of this book courtesy of the publisher. All thoughts are my own.

I’ve heard nothing but good things about this author, and when I read the synopsis of this one, I decided to finally give her a try. It promised psychological horror and obsession–two things I love. While it delivered on all of that, I have to admit that it didn’t quite land for me. It’s beautifully written and full of eerie, provocative ideas, but it was also a bit too high-brow for my taste.

Let’s start with the positives, because there are plenty. The writing is stunning. Piper has a way of crafting sentences that feel like they’re breathing. Every page drips with atmosphere. The premise itself is fascinating: a lesbian couple trying to reignite their passion stumbles across an addictive play, The King in Yellow, that blurs the line between pleasure and madness. Just reading small pieces of the play brings on a rush that feels like surviving death itself. Read too much, though, and you’ll lose your mind.

It’s a brilliant metaphor for addiction and desire, and the book explores those themes in all their messy, uncomfortable glory. What happens when wanting something consumes you entirely? How do you recognize when the thing you crave most is the thing destroying you? Piper doesn’t offer easy answers. Instead, she pulls you into the spiral and lets you sit with the discomfort.

There are moments here that are genuinely chilling. The horror isn’t jump-scare or gore-driven; it’s psychological. The kind that crawls under your skin because it’s rooted in emotion and obsession. (Think Black Swan.) The way Piper describes the world bleeding into something other, how Carmen and Blanca lose themselves in the act of wanting is haunting and unsettling in a quiet, hypnotic way.

That said, I struggled to connect emotionally with the characters. The writing is rich and the ideas are sharp, but I never quite felt invested in Carmen or Blanca as people. Their relationship is fascinating to analyze but difficult to care about. I think that’s intentional to some degree. This isn’t a book built for comfort or easy empathy, but it made it harder for me to stay fully immersed.

Where the book truly shines, though, is in its ending. It’s ambiguous, eerie, and open to interpretation to the point that it’s a little unsettling. I closed the book with that lingering chill of “what did I just read?” It’s the kind of story that doesn’t give you closure but leaves you haunted instead.

For me, it’s one of those reads I’m glad I experienced, even if I won’t revisit it. I appreciate what Piper was doing and I know there are readers who will absolutely devour this book and spend hours unpacking its layers. It is definitely an experience that lingers long after you turn the final page.

So I guess you could say I liked it, but I didn’t love it. I think maybe I admired it more than I enjoyed it. For readers who crave something literary, symbolic, and psychologically rich, this will hit the spot. It’s bold, erotic, and deeply weird. Perfect for fans of high-brow horror.