Morbid Romantic

Book Review & Personal Blog

Goal
10/28

Completed Books

1.

Title: Submission
Series: Deviations
Author(s): Chris Owen & Jodi Payne
Genre: Fiction
Tags: erotica, sex, fiction, bdsm, bondage, discipline, domination, submission, sadomasochism, sadist, masochist, gay
Summary: Tobias is a Dom and Noah is a submissive with a rocky past that has made his submission all the more of a test for both him and Tobias. They draw closer together as they test Noah’s limits, working through his fears, deepening their relationship and their love for each other through Domination towards the ultimate submission.
Finished: July 4, 2008
Rating: 4 Stars
Review: here

2.

Title: Perfume: The Story of A Murderer
Author(s): Patrick Suskind (translated by J.E. Woods)
Genre: Fiction
Tags: fiction, historical, france, 18th century, crime, murder, erotica, obsession, insanity, serial killer, smell
Summary: Set in 18th century France, Perfume relates the story of Jean-Baptiste Grenouille, “one of the most gifted and abominable personages in an era that knew no lack of gifted and abominable personages”. Born lacking a personal odour (a fact other people find disquieting) but endowed with an incomparable sense of smell, he apprentices himself to a perfumer and becomes obsessed with procuring the perfect scent that will make him fully human. In the process, he creates perfumes—presumably based on pheromones—that powerfully manipulate human emotions, murdering 25 girls to take their scent.
Finished: July 22, 2008
Rating: 3 Stars
Review: here

3.

Title: Domination
Series: Deviations
Author(s): Chris Owen & Jodi Payne
Genre: Fiction
Tags: erotica, sex, fiction, bdsm, bondage, discipline, domination, submission, sadomasochism, sadist, masochist, gay
Summary: Tobias works at becoming more comfortable and finding his balance as a full-time Master again. Meanwhile, his work brings out the true submissive in Noah, who faces some of his greatest fears, and his greatest secrets, confessing to Noah about a terrible time in his past. He’s not the only one who has a rough time. Tobias breaks down and shows Noah he’s not all dominance, too, which sends shockwaves through their romance, leaving them to wonder if they can keep it together.
Finished: July 24, 2008
Rating: 4 Stars
Review: here

4.

Title: Discipline
Series: Deviations
Author(s): Chris Owen & Jodi Payne
Genre: Fiction
Tags: erotica, sex, fiction, bdsm, bondage, discipline, domination, submission, sadomasochism, sadist, masochist, gay
Summary: Tobias and Noah explore their relationships more deeply than they ever have, not just with their own dominance and submission, but with their friends. As Noah helps Tobias through the loss of someone dear, he finds Tobias helping him, too, leading him through some intense sexual games, breaking down the last of Noah’s fears, and helping him face his biggest one. The cage. Meanwhile, Tobias’ ex-lover, Phantom, becomes close friends with Noah as they discover and try to resist the simmering sexual tension between them. Their teasing turns to real support when Phantom reaches the breaking point thanks to the lack of a master in his life, something he desperately needs. While Bradford works to become that master, Tobias and Noah go to Paris, where they see the sights, go to sex clubs, and re-negotiate their contract.
Finished: August 5, 2008
Rating: 4 Stars
Review: here

5.

Title: The Handmaid’s Tale
Author(s): Margaret Atwood
Genre: Fiction
Tags: dystopia, feminism, women, gender, fundamentalism, future, misogyny, post-apocalyptic, contemporary fiction, speculative fiction, totalitarianism, patriarchy, fertility, patronymic, concubine, sexual slavery, fundamentalist theocracy, handmaid, sumptuary law
Summary: In the Republic of Gilead, formerly the United States, far-right Schlafly/Falwell-type ideals have been carried to extremes in the monotheocratic government. The resulting society is a feminist’s nightmare: women are strictly controlled, unable to have jobs or money and assigned to various classes: the chaste, childless Wives; the housekeeping Marthas; and the reproductive Handmaids, who turn their offspring over to the “morally fit” Wives. The tale is told by Offred (read: “of Fred”), a Handmaid who recalls the past and tells how the chilling society came to be.
Finished: August 8, 2008
Rating: 5 Stars
Review: here

6.

Title: The Hellbound Heart
Author(s): Clive Barker
Genre: Fiction
Tags: alternate universe, body modification, depravity, fantasy, gore, hell, horror, murder, pain, sadomasochism, science fiction, violence
Summary: Frank’s pursuit of pleasure has trapped him in an extra-dimensional hell, and his brother’s wife provides him the opportunity for escape. Frank’s resurrection provides Julia with the opportunity for escape from the marriage she has quickly grown bored of. Rory, who naively adores his more worldly wife, becomes their innocent victim while Kirsty is drawn into this dangerous realm by her desire to protect him and show him the truth about Julia. Kirsty soon becomes the main character as she tries to save herself and Rory from the consequences of what Frank has unleashed.
Finished: August 10, 2008
Rating: 3.5 Stars
Review: here

7.

Title: Never Let Me Go
Author(s): Kazuo Ishiguro
Genre: Fiction
Tags: cloning, donor, dystopia, ethics, future, organ donation, science fiction, speculative fiction
Summary: As children Kathy, Ruth, and Tommy were students at Hailsham, an exclusive boarding school secluded in the English countryside. It was a place of mercurial cliques and mysterious rules where teachers were constantly reminding their charges of how special they were. Now, years later, Kathy is a young woman. Ruth and Tommy have reentered her life. And for the first time she is beginning to look back at their shared past and understand just what it is that makes them special–and how that gift will shape the rest of their time together.
Finished: September 11, 2008
Rating: 4 Stars
Review: here

8.

Title: Savage Kingdom: The True Story of Jamestown, 1607, and the Settlement of America
Author(s): Benjamin Woolley
Genre: Non-Fiction
Tags: 17th century, american history, christopher newport, colonial history, early america, english imperialism, history, jamestown, john rolfe, john smith, king james, new world, nonfiction, pocahontas, powhatan, settlers, slave trade
Summary: This highly readable account of the founding of Jamestown moves from the English throne to the daily struggles of the colony’s first settlers and the experience of Virginia’s Indians as their relations with colonists became increasingly strained.
Finished: October 13, 2008
Rating: 4 Stars
Review: here

9.

Title: Dead Until Dark
Series: Southern Vampire Mysteries
Author(s): Charlaine Harris
Genre: Fiction
Tags: vampire, new orleans, telepathy, shape shifting, louisiana, romance, horror, mystery, murder, blood, sookie stackhouse, bill compton, true blood
Summary: Sookie is just a regular barmaid and telepath from Bon Temps, Louisiana until she meets the vampire Bill and becomes entwined in murder and supernatural mystery.
Finished: October 30, 2008
Rating: 5 Stars
Review: here

10.

Title: Living Dead in Dallas
Series: Southern Vampire Mysteries
Author(s): Charlaine Harris
Genre: Fiction
Tags: vampire, new orleans, telepathy, shape shifting, louisiana, romance, horror, mystery, murder, blood, sookie stackhouse, bill compton, true blood
Summary: Sookie finds herself in the path of more danger and mystery as she first investigates a murder before being sent out to Dallas to find a missing vampire.
Finished: November 15, 2008
Rating: 5 Stars
Review: here