Endless pages

Warnings about the book: Consent issues, blackmail for sexual acts, talks about a sexual power imbalance involving a teacher and student, under negotiated kink play, and stereotyping southern whites as mostly being bigots to everyone that isn’t a white and Christian. If you have any problems with these things listed above, this is not the book for you.

This is book is listed under erotic on NetGallery. This is where I got a free copy from for an honest review. This book is different than most erotic novels that I have read. It had elements of mystery and the ending surprised me. I enjoyed the book, but I would never re-read it. I will explain more at the end why.

The story is told by Stanley, a lawyer. He is living with a Creative writing professor named Tom. They are extremely close friends who have spent a large amount of time together. They spend their nights drinking wine while playing chess. They both had trouble with women. Each one had been married at least twice before. The Professor mentioned that their lives would be better if they were gay. Then they could simply be together because they get along so well.

The solution to this problem is getting a go-between. The go-between would be a younger woman that they could control and would simply be there to allow them to have sex together. It was later noted that Stanley starts going soft if he touches the other man in the room while having sex. For example, just the weight of the professor on his legs was enough for him to go soft. The professor doesn’t seem to have this issue.

The professor suggests one of his students because creative writing students look up to their professor. They would be easy to control. Stanley turns this down fearing for their jobs. Instead, the professor meets a younger writer named Victoria who writes romance novels. She lives rent and food free if she cleans. She also has sex with them. She is using them for material in her books. They have scheduled nights for being her to with Stanley, for her to be with the professor and for threesomes. Her nights with Stanley introduce him to some kinks. This is farther explored later 

Life isn’t smooth sailing as they would like. Victoria isn’t easily controlled. First, the guys are gross, and Victoria spends a lot of time cleaning after them. Then, mostly the professor but also Stanley has several sexist reasons to be annoyed with Victoria. However, there is an understandable reason to be annoyed with her. She keeps moving their things. Last, Victoria blackmails them into cock cages and other sexual acts. The men plan to get rid of Victoria and then one day she just disappears. What happened to her is what made the book so interesting. It wasn’t what I was expecting.

I enjoy the plot even if I hated most of the characters. The plot was great and the answer to the mystery was great. It would have been a 5-star read if it had been for the heavy-handed stereotype of Southern white and some women being bigots. I felt like every character (minus the black people, some Jewish women, and the Jewish men) highlighted their bigotry like twice in every scene they were in. This led to it being a 3.5 and why I would not re-read like this, but I round up to 4-star for Goodreads.

“With the Fire on High,” tells the story of Emoni Santiago’s senior year. She is a single teen mom who got pregnant during her freshman year of high school. She must deal with all the stress and judgment that comes with being a young mom. Her escape from the pressure is cooking. She is an extremely talented cook. She joins a cooking class for an elective. This class allows her to realize that she is more than just a mom. She is a person with dreams and wants.

Favorite line: “the best thing Tyrone could do for Babygirl is leave her mother the hell alone”

What disliked about this book

I will say that I thought I wasn’t going to like this book. The writing, in the beginning, was awkward and lacked feeling. The censoring of her swearing in her own head was going to drive me crazy. It also seems that she was just creating problems for herself.

What I liked about this book

I enjoyed the parts focused on her cooking the most. I enjoy how the romance worked in the book. I also enjoy the honest that the father gives at the end of the book. I know a lot of people hated it. I grew up in an interesting family setting. If you can’t be there 100% for your child (for whatever reason), find someone who can do that for your child. But at the same time, your child should not be your whole world. You can be a parent and a person. I am glad the main character made choices that led her that her whole happiness is important.

I give the book 4 of 5 stars. The last 60% saved this from being a 2-star read.

In Wilder Girls, the story is told by jumping every few chapters between Byatt and Hetty’s points-of-view. The two girls are in a relationship. They are quarantined on an island with the rest of their all-girls school. A strange illness has taken over the girls and the island. It is implied that this is related to climate change. The illness is known as “Tox”. It slowly rots the inside of living creatures. It mutates the girls and their teachers until it kills them. Flare-ups happen to the girls on a regular timetable. <Spoiler> I think it could be linked to their periods. <spoilers>.

Genre 

The book is supposed to be a mystery horror. It is more of a mystery thriller. The book had some gore and there was some scary element but didn’t reach the level of horror.

Writing style

The writing was fast-paced and emotional. It was great at drawing you in and making you feel like you were there with the girls. But the beach scenes were awkwardly written.

The Ending

The ending was terrible. It felt more like the end was the middle or the climax instead of the ending of the book. Since this book is a stand-lone, the story is done but cut short. Several questions need to be answered. This was a highly disappointing ending.

Rating

I give Wilder Girls 3 out of 5 stars. The writing was great and the idea of the book was great. But the lack of an ending was enough for it to lose 2 stars for me. I feel like it needs another 300 pages.