Some of the books on this reading list have been there for so long that I don't remember their origin stories anymore; I can't trace back how I heard about them or why I bought them in the first place. But some of them I remember perfectly, like this one. You tend to remember a book that Mara Wilson of Matilda fame recommended on her twitter as a good alternative to Fifty Shades of Grey :D
This book feels like a cross between a version of Fifty Shades that's not terrible about consent with The Devil Wears Prada, with a good dose of Secretary in there as well. The first two thirds of the book is a pretty compelling fantasy about a relationship between an older, obscenely rich dom and a young, ambitious sub that is sexually fulfilling for both of them, and that never loses sight of the game at the heart of BDSM. There are no contracts to be signed, it's clear from the POV that the sub is always very happy about the pain she experiences, and while the writing style isn't exactly to my taste I definitely understood why this book would be suggested as a good alternative to Fifty Shades.
And then, in the final third of the book, the entire plot goes completely off the rails. I had already been getting a bit fed up with the terminal reluctance of both characters to admit that their relationship wasn't just about the sex, and the work drama seemed to be totally beside the point and yet kept on going. But the final narrative twists in the last couple of chapters were frankly baffling, and completely out of keeping with the genre, whether you consider this to be romance or erotica. I discovered at the end of the book that it was the first in a trilogy (which in retrospect I probably should have guessed), and from the blurbs of the second and third books, my issues with the sudden plot twists would not lesson if I read any further. So, I am not reading the next two books, and sadly I can't really second Mara Wilson's recommendation of this one, either. It certainly doesn't have the same failings as Fifty Shades, but it still doesn't succeed for many other reasons.
Grade: D
This book feels like a cross between a version of Fifty Shades that's not terrible about consent with The Devil Wears Prada, with a good dose of Secretary in there as well. The first two thirds of the book is a pretty compelling fantasy about a relationship between an older, obscenely rich dom and a young, ambitious sub that is sexually fulfilling for both of them, and that never loses sight of the game at the heart of BDSM. There are no contracts to be signed, it's clear from the POV that the sub is always very happy about the pain she experiences, and while the writing style isn't exactly to my taste I definitely understood why this book would be suggested as a good alternative to Fifty Shades.
And then, in the final third of the book, the entire plot goes completely off the rails. I had already been getting a bit fed up with the terminal reluctance of both characters to admit that their relationship wasn't just about the sex, and the work drama seemed to be totally beside the point and yet kept on going. But the final narrative twists in the last couple of chapters were frankly baffling, and completely out of keeping with the genre, whether you consider this to be romance or erotica. I discovered at the end of the book that it was the first in a trilogy (which in retrospect I probably should have guessed), and from the blurbs of the second and third books, my issues with the sudden plot twists would not lesson if I read any further. So, I am not reading the next two books, and sadly I can't really second Mara Wilson's recommendation of this one, either. It certainly doesn't have the same failings as Fifty Shades, but it still doesn't succeed for many other reasons.
Grade: D
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