Sonni De Soto

Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for a review

First and foremost, I don't read a lot of erotica. With that said, I think I understand the general look and feel of the genre, so we'll go from there.
My first gripe feels ridiculous, but it kept on bugging me throughout the story; I understand that the female lead in erotic novels is meant to be enticed to do things that she wouldn't normally do. But when you build a character up to be a tremendous powerhouse of pro-feminist literature and philosophy; an edifice of the modern feminist establishment, you had better make sure that the process that dismantles her is absolutely irresistible. Apparently submissive females ignites some kind of Tumblr guilt (in much the same vein as Catholic guilt) means that we have to imply consent all throughout Max's submission, meaning we have this weird narration about how nice feminist girls don't do that kind of thing.
I'm not so sure that Hayato lives up to those expectations. Not that he fails, but he doesn't feel so amazingly enticing that I think he could corrupt someone who was meant to be so headstrong and proud. Max's intrigue feels a little bit like an ethical compromise rather than a dissolving of barriers.
It annoys me because I think it taints what female empowerment is about - when you pick up a book about bondage (and the cover and title make that pretty clear), I don't need to be told it's okay once I open the book; just let it happen.
Now that sounds like I didn't like the book and that's not the case. The pacing was good, I was keen to see it escalate. It felt formulaic but in a comfortable way - we know that good will triumph over evil and eventually our love interests will get to mash their genitals together. I think it would have benefitted from another edit - some of the point of views would drift, so you'd start a chapter inside one character's head and end it in another. I also didn't understand the intrigue of hiding one of the character's names, it felt like forced mystery. Some strange details were over-discussed too — if I'm reading about a woman being seduced by a man, I can only read about her fulsome breasts so many times before I wonder why I need to be reminded every time anyone looks at them.

Overall it was a good read. I think that Sonni de Soto is still finding her feet a little, but I think she has a lot to offer and I would love to read her future stories. This isn't the lightest read you'll find, but you want a feminism-refresher wrapped in leather, this might be the one for you.

3.5 / 5… (plus d'informations)