Prohibited by Madeline Thorne

 

I feel like the fact that people are so hard on FMCs has caused a lot of authors to be afraid to take risks with their female characters. Male protagonists can get away with virtually anything but if an FMC even squints at someone the wrong way, suddenly she's unlikable or a bitch. That's why it was so refreshing to read about Evie. There's an idea that strong women aren't allowed to be vulnerable or feel weak, but I am constantly reiterating that sometimes survival can be enough: and that's what Evie is. Caught between two powerful and abusive men, she is doing everything that she can do to survive, given her father's own brand of oppression and her traumatic experiences in the war.

When her lover, Walter Stanley, uses her as a set-up to assassinate someone in his way, she ends up out of the frying pan and into the fire because that someone has two angry half-brothers and a cousin who decide to kidnap Evie and use her to get back at Walter. Those people are the Lockwoods: Alex, Ryan, and Lindsay. And just in case that weren't drama enough, Ryan was her lover when she was young, back when he was the gardener for her childhood estate. Now he hates her, but he still kind of wants her, too. Uh-oh.

PROHIBITED has the vibes of one of those old skool bodice rippers I love, specifically Christine Monson or Natasha Peters: both of them had spirited heroines who went through hell and back, and never stopped surviving. I'm not usually a fan of Why Choose but I liked this book because I liked how distinct every male character felt, and because they all had relationships with each other, it felt like a natural progression for their circle to open to involve Evie. (And by the way, there's no incest: Alex and Ryan are stepbrothers, and Lindsay is Ryan's cousin, who has no blood relation to Alex. So you know, in case you were worried.)

I would have liked more suffering to happen to the two bad guys, especially considering what they did. It kind of felt like they got off easy. Like another review said, I also felt like there were too many Roberts POVs. The one with Walters and Saoirse was chilling and really well done in a way that added to the suspense and stakes (I actually said "holy shit" out loud), but some of them dragged the pacing a bit. BUT overall this was just really well done, dark without feeling like it was trying to shock. Everything felt like it unrolled exactly as it needed to for the sake of the characters and their development arcs and I can't say that about every dark romance I read. This is the second book I've read by Thorne and after this book, I kind of feel like I might have to read every single book they write.

Thanks to the author/publisher for providing me with a copy!

4 to 4.5 out of 5 stars

Without You, There Is No Us: My Time with the Sons of North Korea's Elite by Suki Kim

 

WITHOUT YOU, THERE IS NO US has been sitting on my Kindle for a while but it took me a while to finish because it is so heavy. I read every nonfiction book about N. Korea that I can get my hands on because I find it so fascinating but most of the books I've read are memoirs from defectors. I've read a couple memoirs from people who traveled there for one reason or another, but usually it was to get a story or travel somewhere really unusual. Suki Kim is different from those: she is a journalist who traveled there incognito with a bunch of Christian missionaries to learn more about N. Korea through one of its universities, teaching English to some of their elite youth.

I thought this memoir was interesting because Kim is South Korean and so she did at times feel an almost cultural kinship with the N. Korean students she was teaching because of their shared history. But at the same time, the way they have been isolated from the rest of the world and raised to believe in the complete superiority of their nation with a fairytale fervor that feels almost religious made it hard for her to relate to them because she literally came from a different world.

I think this memoir shows her frustration at teaching without really being able to teach, and wanting to shed light and inform without getting anyone into trouble. Her whole situation felt very precarious and dangerous and it felt like she constantly had to walk on eggshells. Not just with the N. Koreans either, but with the very missionaries she arrived there with, with whom she does not share her faith.

Anyway, I liked this book a lot, although with books like these when there's no real sense of closure at the end, it makes me realize how life doesn't come to a neat full stop like fiction and how unsatisfying that can be (which is maybe why we shape fictional narratives the way we do). Highly recommend this to anyone who is interested in learning about N. Korea from a gentle, sympathetic, but grounded Western perspective.

3 to 3.5 out of 5 stars

Twelve Rolls of Tit Torture by Matt Nicholson

 

I found this while randomly looking for extreme BDSM books and the premise sounded wild enough that I had to read it. Abbey is a college student taking a photography class and for some reason, she thinks it would be a great idea to submit a bunch of photos where she's clawing and biting her own boobs. She takes the rolls to a professional photographer who specializes in this sort of kink and he offers to take even better photos that will guarantee her an A in class.

Ostensibly it's consensual but the line sure thins out between the dub and the non side of con. The writing is not the best although the story was compelling enough that I had to see what nonsense these two were going to get up to after he kidnaps her and takes her to the desert. The author lost me when he leaves lubes up her whole body with sunscreen, except for her vajazzle and her tittays, and leaves her to get sunburned all day under the hot sun. That's how you get melanoma, friend. What are you doing? What ARE you doing?

Absolutely insane BUT I do appreciate the author's note at the end that's like, "Hey, maybe don't do this specifically, and if you do want to try kink, maybe don't start with this. There are books that actually instruct you on that sort of thing."

2.5 out of 5 stars

Their Heart A Hive by Fox N. Locke

 

THEIR HEART A HIVE was a purely impulsive read because I saw that Cat Hellisen had given it a high rating and I really respect their writing (and their taste). And they weren't wrong! This is a vastly underrated queer fantasy with Celtic and cottagecore undertones that at times almost feels like a sweeping gothic with a fantasy backdrop.

One of the critiques of fantasy is that they often include homophobia as part of the default world-building but in this book queerness is completely accepted. The hero, Lowen, is gay. When he kills a magical bee that belongs to the local lord, he is summoned to the lord's domain where he finds out that the "lord" is actually genderqueer and is also sometimes "the lady" or even "themself" or "lord and lady."

The Lord and Lady of Honeymoore has a mysterious relationship to bees and their household staff, one of whom, Brem, Lowen ends up in a sexual relationship with. The plot is very slow and this is mostly just a book of vibes. I liked the vibes but the drop-off in pacing did make this a little harder to finish in the second act, although the ending was fantastic and left me a little misty-eyed.

Highly recommend this to people who wanted something like ACOTAR, but gay, or something that has an almost Miyazaki feel to it. I'm honestly shocked more people haven't read this.

3 to 3.5 out of 5 stars

The Eyes Are the Best Part by Monika Kim

 

I was a little hesitant to read this book because I am a HUGE WUSS when it comes to horror and I don't care who knows. Body horror and spatterpunk are really hard for me to read and the cover makes it look like this book is going to be really gory. But it's not. It's kind of like if you crossed MY SISTER, THE SERIAL KILLER with YELLOWFACE: you have the literary female serial killer pulp juxtaposed against some very powerful discussions of Asian racism.

Most of the horror doesn't happen until the last 40%. The first 60% is an intense character portrait about Ji-won, whose mother has just started dating a white man named George. George is That Creep(TM) who has a fetish for Asian women-- and even worse, he ogles and objectifies Ji-won's younger sister. She needs him gone, stat. But he has the prettiest big blue eyes... and she thinks they look tasty.

The imagery of literally eating the white male gaze is quite powerful and I think this book does a great job of showing the anger that a lot of Asian women (rightfully) have when they exist in a culture that fetishizes and objectifies them, denying them the right to exist as autonomous, flawed human beings, as well as the expression of their identity on their own terms.

I had a few issues with the ending and there were one or two things that felt a little over the top, but on the whole this feels like a smart and campy horror movie and I was actually pretty into it.

3.5 to 4 out of 5 stars

Homecoming by Madeline Thorne

 

Between Kate Rivenhall and now Madeline Thorne, I have been suckered into enjoying incest erotica by authors with names that sound like they ought to be cavorting around on a sprawling British estate tending to prize-winning orchids or breeding horses. Instead, they're out here converting the unwary into shipping blood siblings in extremely toxic but hot relationships. WHAT A SCAM. (I'm in.)

I was interested in this book because the author kept teasing the most tantalizing quotes on her Instagram. When she offered me an ARC, I was so excited. And oh my gosh, it did not disappoint. After reading Meg Smittherman's THRUM, I was really wanting another semi-gothic smut in space book, and this book really delivered. I feel like it also had DUNE space-punk vibes (only as window dressing, though, this is not hard scifi), with a generous dash of FLOWERS IN THE ATTIC family gothic incest drama.

And if you're looking at this book, you're probably very much in it for the family gothic incest drama. And maybe also the tentacle non-con. Man, when you see tentacle non-con in the list of TWs, you know you're in for a rollicking good time.

Soren was hot and Abra was such a strong character. Stabbing a dude in the dick with a nail file? COLD-BLOODED. I also really admired how resourceful she was, and how she gave as good as she got when it came to Soren and his forcefulness. She really reminded me of some of the classic bodice-ripper heroines, like Catherine from STORMFIRE and Ginny from SWEET SAVAGE LOVE. It ends on a cliffhanger with a promise of more, so there isn't an HEA at the end, but there is a ton of smut and forbidden desire and passion, so woo.

The only thing I couldn't fully get on board with was the "nectar" business. But it wasn't cream, so hey, if that's what they call come in this scifi universe, I'm willing to allow it for the sake of good smut.

Thanks to the author for providing me with a copy

4.5 out of 5 stars

Breathless by Cat Wynn

 

BREATHLESS was an impulse read since it was on Kindle Unlimited and I liked it quite a bit. There's a lot of humor in this book, and the reclusive heroine-- a burned out ex-fashion model who is incredibly neurotic-- was crazy in a very sympathetic and relatable way, and I liked her zany obsession with aquariums, which is how she meets the hero in the first place: through a forum for people who are obsessed with fish and aquariums. In the forum she meets a guy named Mack, who she has a crush on, but when he sends her a selfie after she pressures him for a pic, she notices a strange reflection in the picture...

I liked the first half a little more than I did the second half, but this was a very fun and amusing ride. Villains were a little cardboard cut-out-y but I got the impression that this was a loving parody of things like The Shape of Water and Splash, with a hefty dash of monster-fucking thrown in to keep things extra spicy.

Very cute.

3 out of 5 stars