Customer Reviews

"18"

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I didn't like this book. Not because of the subject, but because the plot was weak, the characters shallow, and the erotica non-existant.

18, the main character, narrates this tale of his introduction into a BDSM cult. He sells himself into slavery hoping to serve a beautiful and dominant women. As reality sinks in that his pleasure isn't important we're subject to his long boring self-examination and trip of self discovery that never really goes anywhere. I found it really boring everytime he got whipped, screamed how much he hated it, then confessed to himself he really wants more and wanted to please the holder of the whip better. It wasn't loving BDSM but psychological torture, for all of us.

A mystery developes that someone is trying to destroy the cult, but it was so unclear what was happening that I coudn't follow it. I was waiting for at least one good sex scene and, lacking that, a good plot twist.

I was disappointed all around.

On the plus side, if you just have to read any story with BDSM, it does give some insite into the Master and slave paradigm: the true meaning of slavery.

i finished reading both "Rhapsody" (also by Mistress S.) and "18" this week. I found them both very intense. However, "Rhapsody" was vaguely disturbing to me. i never felt like the submissive really was strong enough to make a choice, and there was no evidence or background to indicate that she was innately submissive to begin with. i felt like there was a certain amount of coercion and mind that only has a place within an already established, negotiated D/s relationship. But i still enjoyed it - except sometimes i got confused as to what was actually happening, as it was written in SUCH an impressionistic fashion.

i liked "18" a lot more. Even thought the situation was a bit fantastic, the behavior and relationships and dynamics between the Dom/mes, subs/slaves, were portrayed with great insight. The multi-levels of hierarchy were fascinating.

The best thing about the book, though, was the mental and emotional experiences of the submissive, the many revelations he encountered in the process of turning his fantasies into reality, and the inner struggle with his own resistance Vs his desire to submit to a Dominant force. More than just about any other BDSM/fiction book i have read, "18" described and defined the intense emotional battles a would-be submissive must fight against their ego, inner self, and external conditioning,before they can finally truly submit - and attain the peace of mind and complacency to be content as a "slave" to another's will, and to another's needs.

i felt that, as one who aspires to be the full-time, life-long submissive of a Dominant i entirely adore, this book was a wake-up call, of sorts. Not so much an "instruction manual" for the "perfect" slave, but definitely a cornucopia of food for thought, and self-analysis, that, hopefully, will assist this "one" in reaching her goal.

Masterwhp's vixen

this book takes you back into medievel time. The story is weak and talks about a submissive man and his mistress, it's not at all interesting. I wanted to throw it away after reading it halfways. I made myself finish reading because I paid for it, I shouldn't have wasted my money.....

Well first of all, I thought this book was very hot! Even though, like the slave himself, I sometimes felt anger rising in me while reading it.

I won't say there was nothing in this book that I found confusing, but I think that confusion mirrored nicely the confusion felt by the slave, and helped me vicariously share his experience. Like him, while reading it I sometimes felt agitated and unsure of myself! I'm guessing that the author artfully intended just that effect in giving the reader only partial understandings of some happenings, just as the slave himself had.

The most powerful part of the book for me was the slave's final realization of what his strongest need was. That was extremely well done.

Yes, this book was full of trauma and torture, and no, there wasn't much love and tenderness (though some). But that harsh backdrop illuminated like a clear and brilliant diamond the slave's discovery of his destiny.

Fiction of course can do what real life can't, in creating impossible situations that illuminate more vividly some aspects of human life. I doubt I would survive a day in the circumstances created in this book, but it still instructed me usefully (especially the ending).

If you have inclinations in this direction, and can let your imagination go beyond where you actually might wish to go yourself, you should enjoy this book. And possibly even learn a thing or two about yourself as I did.