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book reviews

Book Review: How To Be A Healthy & Happy Submissive by Kate Kinsey

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Photo of the book How To Be A Healthy & Happy Submissive by Kate KinseyTitle: How To Be A Happy & Healthy Submissive
Author: Kate Kinsey
Dates read: 17/04/22 – 18/09/22
Rating 4/5

Publisher: Nevermore Press
Number of pages: 192
Fiction or non-fiction: non-fiction
Subject or genre: BDSM, sexuality

Book blurb:

Beyond Fifty Shades of Grey, there’s an entire kinky world of BDSM, full of real life dominants and submissives enjoying an intimacy and satisfaction in their relationships that vanilla folk only dream of. Whether you want to explore your own submissive fantasies, or you’re just curious about what BDSM is really like, this book will answer all your questions, plus some you didn’t know you had.

Erotic author Kate Kinsey (“Red,” and “The Totally Uncensored Kinky Adventures of Chloe St. Claire, Sex Slave”) brings over a decade of experience as a submissive and kinky educator to this practical step-by-step guide to being a healthy and happy submissive.

Topics covered include: the differences between dominants and masters, submissives and slaves, and tops and bottoms; the different dominant styles; the truth about “training” to be a submissive; how to find like-minded folks in your area; how to negotiate scenes and relationships; what to expect at your first dungeon party; why some people actually enjoy pain; and the warning signs to look out for when talking to potential partners

How I discovered or acquired this book: It was recommended to me by Amazon after reading The Topping Book & The Bottoming Book, and I got it through Kindle Unlimited

Notable quotes The power actually goes both ways because the dominant, by controlling and caring for the submissive, actually empowers the submissive to be who and what they truly are

My thoughts Before we go any further, I feel it is relevant (but also possibly TMI for some) to note that I am a submissive, have known it since my early 20s WAAAY before terrible horrible things like Fifty Shades happened (and that’s a whole ‘nother rant for another day! LOL). Continuing in the TMI thread, neither my Dominant or I have any recent experience and have been doing what all good nerds do, and reading up to refresh ourselves.

This is a really well-written, informative beginner’s guide on what it means to be a submissive. It’s very informal, peppered with anecdotes of Kinsey’s own life/experience and feels like she’s sitting and chatting with you. It doesn’t assume any former knowledge, and is aimed at educating the reader without lecturing.

Part of me wishes I could have read this 10 years ago – I would have found the information on communities and red flags when it comes to Dominants and online behaviour to have been invaluable. But it was also nice to almost have confirmation that the way we’re currently doing things now is ‘right’ – we all need a little external validation from time to time, after all .

4/5, I really loved it, wouldn’t necessarily read the whole thing again but would dip in and out of it as/when needed

book reviews

Book Review: How To Sleep Tight Through The Night by Tzivia Gover & Lesléa Newman

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Title: How To Sleep Tight Through The Night
Author: Tzivia Gover & Lesléa Newman
Dates read: 15/02/22
Rating 4/5

Publisher: Storey Publishing
Number of pages: 64
Fiction or non-fiction: non-fiction
Subject or genre: health

Book blurb: Whether it’s bedtime or the wee hours of the night, this sweetly illustrated nighttime companion is filled with practical ways to help young insomniacs, ages 5 to 9, with reassuring nighttime routines, creative visualisations, and kid-friendly activities and techniques for addressing bedtime reluctance, managing fears and anxiety, easing nightmares, and inviting pleasant dreaming and positive associations with sleeptime. Whether it’s fear of the dark or worry about the day ahead that is interfering with a good night’s sleep, How to Sleep Tight through the Night offers creative solutions for soothing children’s bedtime anxieties and developing healthy sleep habits. This collection of 30 kid-friendly tricks and techniques by sleep and dreaming expert Tzivia Gover and award-winning children’s book author Lesléa Newman is complemented by the dreamy illustrations of Vivian Mineker. From playing an alphabet game to slipping a wish under a pillow, the book is filled with practical, engaging prompts that are accessible to all and easy to implement, using creative visualisation, mindfulness techniques, and playful, fun strategies for easing bedtime struggles and welcoming sound, restful sleep

How I discovered or acquired this book: I received an ARC from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for a review

My thoughts I will preface this with say I don’t have kids. Now, you’re probably thinking ‘Cassie, why are you reading and reviewing a book about bedtime for kids?’ which is fair. But I have chronic insomnia and nothing else has worked so… I figure a different type of tip might help (It’s not going to hurt, right?).

I love the look of the book. The illustrations are bold, colourful and fun. The tone of the writing is straight-forward, informative, and easy to understand, but without feeling like it’s condescending or talking down to the reader. I love the mix of sleep ideas – both how to get to sleep and what to do when waking up from a bad dream. They were all very different ideas, much more practical and interesting than the insomnia advice you get for adults. I think my favourites are falling in love with my bed, listing things from ‘A to Zzzz’ and imagining myself walking down the street and everything I see. Will definitely be trying those to see if they help!

There were a few formatting errors which made a couple of the pages a little tricky to parse but overall it was a cute, fun, interesting, read

book reviews

Book Review: The Fault In Our Stars by John Green

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Title: The Fault In Our Stars
Author: John Green
Dates read: 10/01/22 – 17/02/22
Rating 2/5

Publisher: Puffin
Number of pages: 316
Fiction or non-fiction: fiction
Subject or genre: young adult, romance, contemporary

Book blurb: Despite the tumor-shrinking medical miracle that has bought her a few years, Hazel has never been anything but terminal, her final chapter inscribed upon diagnosis. But when a gorgeous plot twist named Augustus Waters suddenly appears at Cancer Kid Support Group, Hazel’s story is about to be completely rewritten.

Insightful, bold, irreverent, and raw, The Fault in Our Stars is award-winning author John Green’s most ambitious and heartbreaking work yet, brilliantly exploring the funny, thrilling, and tragic business of being alive and in love.

How I discovered or acquired this book: It’s been on my TBR for idk about 8 years or so. I’ve only recently started using the Libby app and this was available through Telford library so I figured it was time to read it and see what all the fuss was about

My thoughts So, obviously I’m not the target age range for this book, but I’ve read a handful of YA novels in recent years (albeit mostly dystopia) and I do love a good tear-jerker. I cry at everything – including TV adverts for RSPCA. I had tissues ready for this book. I didn’t need them. Not a single tear was shed, which considering there’s a major character death (wait, do I need spoilers for a decade old book?) It wasn’t terribly written, it wasn’t amazingly written. It felt kind of flat and emotionless considering the themes and I didn’t feel like I connected with the characters – I just didn’t care about anything that happened to them. I was quite disappointed because I’d been looking forward to reading this for a few years because I’d heard so much awesomeness about it.