Do yourself a favor: go to wherever you get your books and download or borrow or buy Serpent in White by Nyla K. Just do it. You can read this review later. You can also thank me later because that’s exactly what you’re going to be doing as soon as you finish this book. Oh and while you’re at it, go ahead and find and favorite The Principality playlist on Spotify and maybe peruse Nyla K’s Pinterest board for this book too. Fuck me, this book is good.

Shit. Where do I even start? Okay, up top, this bad boy is dense and intense, okay? But hear me out, you’re going to love every word, layer, and plot twist. It’s been a while since I’ve consumed a story that has absolutely zero filler. Pay attention to the details and your patience will be rewarded. Scraps will be dropped throughout and for most of the journey, you will be driven mad with the need to know the answers. And just when you thought you’ve figured it out, you will be introduced to a new layer that creates more questions. But you know what? Once you know all, you will have a Kaiser Soze moment of epic proportions.

Alright, let’s get into it. Serpent in White is a retelling of the Brother’s Grimm fairy tale, The White Snake, which I didn’t know going in and, TBH, still don’t know much about. Nyla provides an analysis of the two stories at the end of the book, which, if you’re curious, is interesting. But don’t skip to that before you read this book or the whole thing will be spoiled for you. And you. Do. Not. Want. Spoilers.

We are brought into the story via a beautifully written, prolific prologue, which speaks about our oneness with nature (i.e. The Mother Earth) and the concept of cyclical time (i.e. death, rebirth, and transformation). This is very important as the running theme throughout this story centers on the notion of interconnectedness and how nothing that happens in our lives and beyond is an accident. Nyla writes, “everything is connected. Everything has a point.” What a powerful idea, no? If you knew that every experience you’ve collected was purposeful, would you have more acceptance, patience, and understanding? My father (RIP), although he never really specifically shared his beliefs with me, seemed to embody these notions in his life. He always said, “it is what it is” as a way to accept whatever comes is whatever needs to come. We deal with it all because that’s what we need to deal with, right? He wasn’t afraid of death, in fact welcoming it when it came. And even though I’m not entirely certain about what I believe about what happens after we die, I do feel in my soul that he released some of his energy into the universe to become part of nature. Just a feeling, I guess.

Abdiel Harmony was born into a commune called The Principality. He is a member of the Regnum, the people within this commune, that value the Mother, worshipping the Earth and blessings of nature. This community is self-sustaining, separate from the Outside World, and off the grid. We learn that Abidel’s parents died when he was 12, seven years ago, and he lives near his guardians, Gina and Paul, but for the most part he lives independently on The Expanse. He works as a Domestic, which means that he serves King Darian and his wives by cooking meals and cleaning The Den, where they live.

The Principality was started by Darian and his foster brother Drake (The Alchemist) many years ago after they ran away from their live and, “found solace in the woods of the Pacific Northwest”. They believe that Mother spoke through them and inspired them to create a community of people, who could embody this notion of simplicity and peace with nature. Everyone has a job and purpose in the Regnum. They consider themselves family and operate with the highest respect for each other. They even have their own law enforcement called The Tribe.

As we get into the story, we get the sense that Abdiel is trying to figure out his sexuality and his place in life. This sets us up for a running theme of self-exploration and journey to Ecdysis, which is a shedding of your old self and embrace of your new self. He has a strong connection to King Darian, but since he is the Head Priest, Abidel has always seen him as this otherwordly, untouchable. Drake is a mystery, who occasionally shows up a dinner, but mostly spends his time working in his lab up on the mountain.

One night, Abidel spies Darian and Drake through the window of the lounge, where Drake is shooting up Darian with some sort of drug – we later learn this is called Empyrean, which has psychedelic and well as some magical qualities – and then they proceed to have incredibly passionate sex. Abidel is overwhelmed by this new information and causes him to burn with curiosity. Like a pebble dropped in a still pond, the ripples move further and further outward, as Abidel becomes more and more involved in the inner circle of this community.

There is so much to this story that I don’t want to give away, so I hope this is enough to reel you in and convince you to read this book immediately. I guess I can add throw some keywords in there to hopefully wet your whistle more. Aside from the absolutely gorgeous expression of spirituality and meaning of life and the cult, we’ve got spice that is utter perfection. As the podcast Fated Mates always says, Nyla K “knows the job”. The honorifics alone will get your heart pumping. Each spicy moment is fueled with such strong emotion whether it’s love or anger or longing or sadness, nothing is a throw away, like some of other books. There’s this element of otherness or magic thrown into a very contemporary world. But it’s almost as if you can believe that these things could happen in real life, from the Empyrean to an evil rock at the top of the mountain to unexplained forces in the woods. You sort of start to think that maybe it could happen. To truly enjoy this story, though, I recommend suspending disbelief as much as you can. There are triggers in this book, so if you have any concerns, do your due diligence.

This post is getting long, so I think I will end it here. As always, let me know if you’ve read this or any other of Nyla K’s work. You can check out her website here. Oh and I bet you can guess, but I gave this book a solid 5/5 stars. I wish I could’ve given it more!