Loved Roxane Gay and Garth Greenwell's contributions—a masterclass in laying bare the heat of intimacy. Brandon Taylor serves nothing less than chef's kiss, and "Oh, Youth" is emblematic of that. Such a soft, sad story about the complacency one lives with knowing they are not worthy of love because the only love they've ever known has been ripped away from then. Holy hell can I relate to that… Bravo, Bran. (I demand a whole-ass novel!)

Also really enjoyed Callum Angus' contribution, despite how short it was. Very interesting take on sex, gender roles, and identity. Also liked the migration metaphor, the concept of adapting to the elements, a scenery, an inescapable environment—an inescapable self.

Larissa Pham. Know her name. Her writing is so superb, her storytelling here a reflection of that brilliance. I love that she wastes no time or space with her pages — akin to Raven Leilani, in a way — and this narrative on trust, vulnerability, pleasure-pain, and the costs of interracial love is everything.

Peter and Vanessa's pieces were okay, though I felt something was missing from them both—the latter more than the former. Additionally, R.O. Kwon's story was a bit… meh. Not bad, but I think — considering these characters are described as ex-religious — adding backstory would have given the narrative something stronger to stand on. That skeletal component is missing.

Initially wasn't quite sure where Chee's story would culminate, but what fascinating notions to end on. From "…it's good to be wary of people who are afraid of what they desire" to "We were like prisoners who’d used each other to break out, and now that we were in the wide world, there wasn’t anything more to say to each other." Chee's writing is nothing short of palpable.

I savored Febos' piece and how she delineates on what many would simply dub as masturbation, though it's more profound than that. She informs the power of prioritizing pleasure and climax control. Love it.

Overall, these are very visceral, expressive stories.

I just think this isn't what I was looking for or thought it was.. Some of the stories were more appealing to me than others, but ultimately just not what I was looking for.

Wow, this book was really different. It was like looking into someones diary as they discovered themselves sexually. I enjoyed the insight and the healthy self worth from the first self discovery chapter to the end disillusioned astronaut. I was interested, engaged and intrigued. Thank you.

I requested this collection because I find stories which straddle the line between literary fiction and erotica interesting, as what makes something successful as one often keeps it from working as the other--which, unsurprisingly, was the case here. As with any anthology, I liked some of these stories better than others, but the quality of the writing was consistently high throughout even if some of the marquee names didn't deliver as sophisticated an exploration of various kinks as I've seen from erotic romance authors. Still, I think readers of literary fiction who are interested in the subject matter would enjoy this book.

Kink is a very unique set of stories. While most erotica tend to fit squarely in the romance genre this is different. These stories are more about the mindset and secrets of the characters. Each author gives us a glimpse into the mind of the stranger we might pass on the street. You truly never know what their desires hold.
The storytelling in this collection is also much more literary that typical erotica. Anyone familiar with past work by Roxanne Gay, etc. can imagine how they would approach a story like this.

*I was provided an electronic ARC from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for honest review.**

RO Kwon and Garth Greenwell compile a series of short literary fiction stories from various authors to convey the spectrum of kink, love, and desire.

As always, with anthologies, certain stories resonate more than others for each reader. However, I should have known for myself that I would have difficulty connecting with this body of work; I am not a literary fiction reader. I do not particularly enjoy the lofty prose and find that oftentimes the figurative language common to literary fiction can impede a connection between reader and story. This was my experience with the entirety of this work, even those stories that I enjoyed. This was my fault, as the work was precisely what it proclaimed itself to be.

As such, while I did not enjoy the work as a whole due to stylistic choices, I was still able to rate each work as comparative enjoyment to each other. My average rating came out to a 3. There was a broad variety of representation and a few moments of YKINMK(ATO!).

I would recommend this book to fans of literary fiction who have interest in the topic, but not to genre fiction fans looking to enter literary fiction.

Often when one reads a book they can transport to another reality. This book not only transports you, it also teaches you the range of kink. There seems to be no stone left unturned but I am a vanilla swirl in the midst of a complex sundae. There may be some disturbing scenarios and far fetched , so beware. Enjoy and always employ a safe word.

Overall, I do recommend this book. Some of the stories are absolute delights; notably Chee, Taylor, and Gay. The anthology is uneven, however, in terms of prose, and while some stories are very queer, some also feel very hetero-centric in a way that feels dull; this, in itself, is not a reason to not read it but does mean the book didn't live up to my (high) expectations. Still, a great collection and it's important for books like this to exist.. Ideally, we will have more and more spaces for this sort of writing, so personal preference will carry less weight on each individual text.

I just don't think I'm sophisticated enough for this book. I usually find short stories to be half and half with some winners and some duds. I couldn't connect with any of these stories.