I went into this book thinking it was something completely different, and even thought it wasn't what I thought, I very much enjoyed this book. The diversity of the characters throughout the book is wonderful.

The 15 short stories are all very different, but in most of the stories I could find a couple of traits, or even situations that I could relate to. This is a very eye opening and deep dive into different kinks and the situations surrounding them. I think the story that I most related too, and could really see myself in was "Safeword". I sometimes really feel like Julia, and want to stay what I want in my relationship but am just too chicken. I admired her for finally saying what she wanted and for Philip to keep asking since he knew something was off.

If you are looking for a smut book, this is not it, but instead an amazing inside look into what it would be like if those stories where more towards real life. *I am using smut in a loving way, for it is one of my favorite genes.*

I liked this little compendium of kinky shorts, my favorite was Scissors by Kim Fu with second and third being Safe Word by R.O. Kwon and Oh, Youth by Brandon Taylor. And of course Roxane Gay is always a treat. I wouldn't say this subject is in my normal wheelhouse, but I wasn't too shocked, disturbed or compelled to pearl clutch at any point really. Although I have to say it did make me mad in Trust when they have sex "on their second date and he came inside her and she wasn't as mad as she thought she'd be." And there were a couple times when I was confused by pronouns, but in a productive way. Overall I found this multi-cultural collection to be well written, edited and full of good new words I had to look up like coterminous, rugae, and dehisced.

I fully expect my mother will see this title and make some comment, but I'm okay with that too!

Kink
Edited by: R.O. Kwon & Garth Greenwell
Genre: Short Story Collection, Erotica
Pages: 288

This is a collection of 15 literary short stories that examine some aspect of sexual desire or kinks. There are many respected writers in this collection such as Roxanne Gay, Carmen Machado, and Garth Greenwell. Unlike a lot of short story erotica, this collection has gotten main stream mentions in places like Oprah’s website.

I was so excited to review this book. It was one of the first books I requested on NetGalley. I typically devour short story collections especially those with erotica. I got this review copy on 10/19/2020 and I’m still struggling to read it at the end of January. At this point, I need to listen to my instincts and just mark this as a “could not finish.” I made it to 67% of the book.

There are a couple of great stories in this collection, ‘Safeword,” by R.O. Kwon. This story is about a monogamous married couple that goes to a professional dominatrix so the husband can learn how to safely do impact play on his wife. It is an incredibly relatable story about how far you would go to meet your partner’s needs. I also enjoyed, “Impact Play,” by Peter Mountford as it featured Kinkfest which is based in Portland! It also explores what relationships with domination and submission look like and how complicated it is to explain to family members.

I found “Gospodar” by Garth Greenwell to be thought-provoking as it includes a non-consensual rape scene in the context of a BDSM scene. It explores some of the shame of the victim for believing that these dark desires are what caused the rape instead of the rapist themselves. The (very wrong) idea that if you have these kinks, you someone deserve what someone does to you, even if it violates all your negotiation, boundaries and consent.

While, I did appreciate the diversity of the authors, sexual orientations and kink interests as well as three of the stories, I cannot recommend this anthology. It did not captivate me as a reader for the entire collection.

ARC provided to me by Simon & Schuster, via Net Galley, in exchange for an honest review.

#kinkbook #netgalley

I was able to get a early copy of this anthology from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

This anthology started so strong! And I loved all the beginning stories and in each story, there were lines that I resonated with. But as the stories continued, I began flipping through them and not caring or connecting to the stories. But this anthology had so many impactful stories that I know it will impact a lot of people. I loved the LGBTQ rep. I would have loved if there were a stories involving someone with a visible disability and an invisible disability. Just for more inclusion. I do recommend this just because of how impactful some of the stories were.

3.5 stars

This is way out of my wheelhouse in every single way, but I adore many of these authors, so I had to know.

Like any collection of works by disparate authors, there are some stories here that I found particularly moving, thought-provoking, and well crafted. There are others that just felt too centered on shock value. What I enjoyed very much is the knowledge that my strong feelings about particular works are likely directly opposed by other readers. In a collection like this, it may be more challenging to separate the content from the craft than in other topical areas. I'm really filling up this review with caveats because I'm still working through those and expect I will be for some time.

I'm glad I read this not only because I truly did enjoy the stories overall but also because the collection pushed me out of the realm of my typical reading. If this sounds appealing to you, you will get a lot out of this.

As a certified sex educator this collection of short stories was at the top of my list to dive into. A diverse collection that takes the reader around the globe and covers more vanilla encounters to intense BDSM from a variety of viewpoints. This is great reading for the casual (lit)rotica reader or those simply looking to expand their view of the world, While these stories may seem to focus solely on love or lust they are in fact a deep analysis of power- who has it and how they use it.

Thank you NetGalley for providing me with an eARC of Kink: Stories in exchange for an honest review.

This book is haunting, some stories more so than others and I had to measure my reading pace to be able to move on from one story to the next. Some stories were uncomfortable, ambitious with consent and potential triggers(eg. Violence, death, transphobia). Read with abundant caution.

Like many anthologies, Kink is a mixed bag. Some stories I really enjoyed, but there were others that didn't work for me. I picked up this story due to some big-name contributors that I had read work from before and really enjoyed (Roxane Gay, Carmen Maria Machado, etc.) but there were some new to me authors that really blew me away (Brandon Taylor - you have a new fan!). I do feel the need to include that there was one story that made me extremely uncomfortable. While this book focuses on the topic of love, desire, and human sexuality, one-story titled Gospodar crossed a line for me. It displayed a nonconsensual sexual scene and I would have skipped it if I was aware of this. Please take this into consideration when deciding whether or not to read this title.

A collection of fifteen short stories, edited by Garth Greenwell and R.O. Kwon, Kink is a diverse collection by a wide variety of authors. Truly something for everyone. As the editors state in the foreword: the stories treat kink as a “rich act of communication” and “explore the whole gamut of human feelings”.

My favorite is Oh, Youth, Brandon Taylor’s piece on being a seasonal rent boy. An architecture student, the main character pays his bills by spending summers with married couples who are looking to infuse some spice into their love life. Brandon Taylor’s prose, and the meaningful way he delves into relationships and emotions is lovely.

Ranging from Melissa Febos’ clever story The Cure, about a gay woman who revisits sex with men. R.O. Kwon’s Safeword about a husband trying to fulfil his wife’s need for pain, even though it makes him uncomfortable. And Impact Play by Peter Mountford, which is a nice, relatable story about a man navigating his way through life, women, and BDSM. (I liked this one so much I read it twice.)

S&M, humiliation, cross dressing, bondage, exhibitionism - a range of kinks as wide as the range of writing styles in Kink. Each one is short enough it gives a bit of insight into how these kinks impact some folks’ lives. But best of all, it gave me an opportunity to discover authors whose work I’d like to explore further.

I love reading people’s interpretation of what kink is to them. Editors R.O. Kwon and Garth Greenwell gather a set of stories which give us a glimpse into other people’s imaginations.

The cover of Kink: Stories allows readers to kind of “hide” their book as it is a black cover and there is so much pink writing that no will be able to read it at first glance. (laugh)

Once again I let fate decide my first read and let my finger swipe to a location. Reach is an intriguing story about trust, letting go, and knowing what your limits are. Roxanne Gay introduces us to Annie and Sasha who are married and in a Domme/sub relationship. Sasha likes to domme from the bottom and is kind of a brat...sorry Sasha. Gay shows the push and pull for dominance. How fear of real communication is inhibiting their relationship in and out of the bedroom. Gay gives readers some play and fun, but for those of us in the know Sasha needs a lot more than what Annie is giving her and that means trouble ahead for the couple. Luckily for us they end on a happy ending.

After reading the second story, I needed to take a moment and read the introduction to understand what the editors’ intent is for Kink.The statement that jumped out at me the most was: “A book like this hasn’t been published in a long time.” I respectfully disagree as I read books about kink all of the time including anthologies. They have managed to not follow the stereotype of “movies, television shows, and popular books”.

They have also managed to disregard the key components in BDSM or kink. Consent, communication before activities begin, and safe sex. There is respect with BDSM done correctly.

Being a cock tease, such as Melissa Febos’ character in The Cure, without having a conversation with her “friend” is rude, disrespectful, and dangerous. She has no clue how many women the guy has slept with and does not use a condom. Then she changes the rules that he understands of the sex they have without talking to him about it because she is exporing. Yeah, selfish.

The next story I read Oh, Youth travels along a similar line in the lack of communication between a prostitute and the couple he is staying with for the summer in return for compensation. He is continuously paraded around, stroked, prodded, and questioned by others as to his relationship with Enid and Victor. Brandon Taylor tackles the issues of age, loneliness, loss of beauty and attraction, and emotional infidelity. This is a dark tale dealing with people’s insecurities and jealousies.

Kink: Stories does not really deal with “kink”, but with people’s emotions who just happen to like some kink in their lives. These issues would happen regardless of whether the people were involved with kink or not. The communication issues between Annie and Sasha come back to the secrets they keep from each other even though they are married - nor will they ask about it. Instead they let each other fester in doubt. Nothing to do with kink.

Not being sexually satisfied has nothing to do with kink. Just because someone was a dominatrix years ago, has nothing to do with why she is not sexually happy now. Falling in love with the person you are having an affair with...umm yeah not a kink issue.

I think the title of the book is an illusion to spark interest and sell books. There is nothing wrong with these stories as the authors are exploring emotions whether they are about themself or about others. I was expecting exactly what the title and book blurb hints at and what I got was a trip through some depressing and dark emotions about self-exploration.

I received an ARC of this book and I am writing a review without prejudice and voluntarily.

What I was expecting with this book, was fun erotica reading, but some of the stories just lost me. I don't know how to describe it, but at times some of the stories felt too "literary"(???) for me. There is a market for this book for sure. The readers at our small library would probably not check this out. They are not fond of short story books, and I think they are looking for more elaborate stories. This was just not the book for me, but thank you for the opportunity to read it.

KINK received 2 stars from me, but it might be a better fit for someone else. tbh I only requested KINK from Netgalley bc I love Roxane Gay’s writing & wanted to read her essay. I should stop requesting essay collections though bc I tend not to appreciate them. I also was not particularly interested in the subject matter, which is mostly BDSM. if you’re literally into that or curious, you might like KINK.

Did I pick up this book explicitly because I saw Roxane Gay listed as an author? Yes.
Did this meet my expectations? No...?

I expected more I guess, like the stories were honestly captivating and I found them truly interesting. But I felt left wanting it to be more SPICEY.
While the stories in this collection are something if showed up in my run of the mill book, I'd be less than pleased. But being this book is labeled as Erotica, and named Kink I expected more spice to this book.

TLDR: if you're looking for smut this probably won't meet your expectations.

Like most anthologies, Kink: Stories was a mixed bag, though it's certainly enjoyable for its novelty alone (its thesis being that erotica has a place in literary fiction). I found the preponderance of stories about BDSM started to get a little boring after a while, but this was otherwise a refreshing collection that I enjoyed spending time with.

I felt the stories that were the most successful were the ones that contextualized the characters’ kinks—I don’t mean that in a ‘every kink comes from a fucked up childhood’ kind of way; I mean that your life and your sex life are part of the same whole and some of these stories were more interested in interrogating that intersection than others.

The two absolute stand-outs were Brandon Taylor's Oh, Youth (tender, devastating) and Carmen Maria Machado's The Lost Performance of the High Priestess of the Temple of Horror (weird, sensual)--incidentally the two longest stories in the collection. The other surprising highlight for me was Trust by Larissa Pham, an author I'd never heard of, whose Vermont-set story I found evocative and effectively moving.

The less said about Roxane Gay's Reach the better, and a handful of other stories fell flat too, mostly the ones that lacked interiority of any kind. You could tell that a lot of these authors wanted to forgo character and dive straight into Commentary About Desire, and I always found that much less effective.

(Also, anyone looking forward to new Garth Greenwell should know that his story, Gospodar, is a chapter taken straight from Cleanness--I ended up skipping it when I realized I recognized what I was reading as I hadn't particularly enjoyed that chapter the first time.)

Bottom line is that it's honestly worth the price of admission for Taylor and Machado, but otherwise it didn't totally reach its promising potential.

Thank you to Netgalley and Simon & Schuster for the advanced copy provided in exchange for an honest review.

I think I was expecting something different with this book. It was much more abstract than a straight up romance book. That doesn't mean I didn't appreciate it...There was a lovely bit of writing and a lot of it was very insightful. I enjoyed the essays and the book overall.

Kink
I do not even know where to begin…
.
I will say I can’t speak for the whole book only the 4-5 stories I read, I did not finish at 32%. It just was not for me. I was hoping for some entertaining stories with some “hotness” in between. I wanted these stories to be fun and to be able to feel what the characters were feeling and imagine the what if’s…. but to me the stories did not do that and seemed rather depressing.

**Thanks to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for providing me with a complimentary copy of Kink in exchange for my honest review. **

I think this book could do well if the audience knows what to expect going in. It's very cerebral and if you go into for a collection of skilled authors around the topic of sex and introspection and humanity in its many variations—good, bad, happy and not—then this will be an interesting book and will lend itself to great discussions.

This book just wasn't for me. Each story that I read seemed to have some sort of depressing element to it. I skipped ahead to an author that I have enjoyed in the past, but that story also fell short for me. While I personally didn't enjoy the book, I can easily see how others enjoy it. The writing was great, and very artistic.

This collection holds space for literature that, in the words of R.O. Kwon and Garth Greenwell, the editors, “takes kink seriously.” And it does. There’s a range of voices here that each expands, humanizes, complicates, enriches, and subverts traditional notions of kink, of what it can be, what it can look and feel like for “embodied persons in the world…engaging with personal and social histories,” as Greenwell has said in an interview. It occasions an exploration of how, contrary to popular stigma or conception, BDSM and “othered” sex practices are hardly monolithic, hardly limited to purely physical experiences or confined by simple binaries such as dom/sub. The collection de-caricatures kink, celebrates it, offers a window into the endless textures and terrains of play and love and intimacy. It assures us that sex (in literature) can be dynamic, many-layered, psychological.

I’m happy about the refreshing mix of writers in these pages—predominantly writers of color, queer writers, women. As with any anthology, not all the stories landed the same for me, but that’s not to say that I wasn’t challenged or delighted by each of them, because I was.

Kink explores the world of kinks. BDSM, D/s, bondage, objectification, humiliation, denial. It was a really nice anthology of different scenes, different atmospheres, different people searching for different things within the same spectrum of kink.