Reviews with content warning for Sexual content - For Real

Reviews tagging 'Sexual content'

For Real by Alexis Hall

24 reviews

galleytrot's review against another edition

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Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

FIRST READ: Aug 2022 (originally reviewed as 4.5 ⭐)
SECOND READ: Feb 2023
FORMAT: Digital, then Audio + Digital

BRIEF SUMMARY:

In this contemporary romance set in London, Laurie has grown unfulfilled by the Scene, having lost the only connection that ever felt meaningful and real to him. Going through the motions and growing more and more empty inside, it isn’t until he finds Toby – young, lost, inexperienced, intense, vibrant, and completely certain of what he wants – that Laurie can once again feel what he’s longed for.

ENTERTAINMENT VALUE: 5 / 5⭐

I first read this book five months ago, and I have never forgotten it since, nor gone very long without thinking of it. After reading a complete disaster of a ‘young daddy/mature boy’ book, the urge to come back and revisit ”For Real“ grew so strong that I couldn’t ignore it any longer. From the moment I started my re-read, every vivid beat and plot point came rushing back to me like the most precious memory and I felt like coming home. These characters are both so important to me, so well-realized, so intense, so heartbreakingly honest.

Laurie is struggling with the culture of the BDSM Scene. Submission, to him, means so much more than a word like “play” could ever adequately portray. What he needs is a deeper connection that he could never find through his past six years of endless one-off encounters. He had that connection once, for many long years, until things went wrong and he was left in the settled dust – completely and devastatingly alone.

Toby is a young and wild thing, so full of heart and passion and intensity but also so new to exploring his true passions. He’s more than a little lost in his love life and his schooling and his career, but he isn’t looking for someone to hold his hand and parent him through it. What he needs is a partner, an equal, who will support him and never ridicule him for being exactly who he is meant to be – even if he’s still figuring out precisely what that means.

Together, the two harmonize shockingly well. I wish I had more to say, something a bit more eloquent, but I honestly can’t know where to begin without somehow just writing out the entire book.

TECHNICAL / PRODUCTION: 4.75 / 5⭐

For all of Hall’s works that I’ve read so far, “For Real” is easily my favourite and the one I most strongly connected with. It is a starkly compelling portrayal of not just what submission is, but what it means. This book is thorough, passionate, sensitive, educational, cultured, beautiful, and just so well-written that it has a permanent place in my heart and on my bookshelf.

On my second read-through, I picked up the audiobook to play alongside my digital copy, and this was my first exposure to both Paul Berton and John Hartley as narrators. They both did an absolutely magnificent job with their performances, with both nailing the energy of the main characters dead-on. Toby’s animated stream-of-consciousness lends itself to a chaotic liveliness, with Laurie’s more peaceful and steadier inner-monologue acting as a steadying counterpoint, and each narrator handled this balance quite beautifully.

I guess my only complaint is in Berton’s incorrect and inconsistent pronunciation of Dalziel. It’s mildly distracting, but can easily be forgiven. It’s one of those names that is pronounced nothing like how it’s spelled. I get it.

FINAL THOUGHTS - OVERALL: 5 / 5⭐

Read this book. Read this. Read it, read it, read it. If you’re into bondage and kink, read this book. If you’re not, read this book. If you aren’t really certain and maybe a bit nervous about it, absolutely read the heck out of this book. The SM part of the equation is never pushed into an uncomfortable territory; this book isn’t about that. It’s much more about the meaning than it is about the act.

This book has representation for gay and bi sexualities. There is non-binary representation, with a character with they/them pronouns. There is no noteworthy diversity otherwise.

The following elaborates on my content warnings. These may be interpreted as spoilers, but I do not go into deep detail.

This book contains: flashes of the trauma and anxiety that can come with handling trauma on a near-daily basis; brief mention of being outed and bullied (homophobia, unconventional family); terminal cancer leading to the death of a parental figure; grief, loss; mentions of an injury caused by unsafe bondage (accidental); cheating, emotional abandonment; mentions of outdated values that were normal at the time (casual racism, hitting to discipline a child); and, mild alcohol and drug use (snuff).

Content Warnings

jaelovesbooks's review against another edition

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3.75

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dilaida's review against another edition

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emotional reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Swoony sigh.

This book is a love letter; it holds so much emotion, beauty, artlessness and purity as a confession of love. One of its greatest virtues is realness. Genuineness.

First of all, it destroys stereotypes, and does that in a very clever yet casual way. Not getting any boring or usual things while reading made me so glad. The characters, for one, are as alive as they come. I simply adore how neither of them is a typical romance novel protagonist. Not handsome, not beautiful, not completely ripped. And lo, they notice each other, they have a meaningful but not exaggerated moment, where the notion of „there’s something in him” is undeniable. They are not attracted to each other because their looks are so striking, but because they feel that „I need him”, even if only for one time, that occasion which is so incredible well captured. And that is really refreshing. Apart from that, the book deals with a subject that’s tabooed, and it’s in the center of the story. It shows what the world of BDSM could look like in real life, what it means for those living in it, what it’s like when it’s natural, when there are a million things behind it, when it works instinctively. I read other people saying that For Real is a perfect example of a realistic depiction of BDSM and I’m sure they are right.

The way the Alexis Hall takes two characters that are so different from each other, and what he creates from them, is worth all my respect. Both are so well written and built-up, they are so real, and also very loveable on their own, not to mention together. It occured to me more than once how ingenious the author is for writing the POV of both a 19 and a 37 year old man so vividly. It took me zero effort to imagine myself as either of them, even though my way of life and my thoughts are so different. The way they talk, act, feel and think… it’s coming-off-the-page level good. I haven’t read another book switching POV’s which made me jump from one character’s head to another so easily. Their different personalities may have been one reason for that but they sure as hell written brilliantly, with all their sentences being spot-on and genuine.

While we’re here, this book is dominantly character-driven, and also very emotional, but since the writer brings out the best in these characteristics, it’s not a bad thing. (Esp. not for me because I’m a sucker for good characters and emotions.) Even if something goes strongly in one direction or another, I don’t mind as long as that direction is working out well for it. In the meantime we get great side characters, and glimpses into interesting little corners of life like a sex club of party, or the community of Oxford students. The plot, however, is not very long or complicated, and it lies in the shadow of feelings and thoughts (and, uhm, kinky sex). Personally I adore it a lot, it was wonderful to see into their minds, to accompany them on their journeys (and, uhm, kinky sex). They have their own doubts and fears, of course, but they also have things in common. It’s incredible how the author makes you see those two people connecting, how they needed and wanted each other and how well they suit. I felt fatefulness yet it manages to keep both feet on the ground. As Laurie and Toby went with that wonderful tide that brought them together, I went with them, and it sure was really tough to get out of that drifting every time I put down the book. Because the feels! So. Much. Feels. I’ve read quality romantic stories, I’ve seen love written beautifully, but while I was reading this, god, I had that warm, fuzzy fluttery feeling as many times as there are pages in this book.

There are several other literary solutions that left me in awe. Like how the tiny things, the details as well as the big meaningful stuff are all put together so that the development of their love is well felt by the reader. Without the need of narration it was simply there all the way, this amazing, filling feeling when two lives are binded together as they fall in love, so effortlessly and naturally. (I suppose that would be the „show instead of telling” thing I heard about from writers but don’t often see.) There’s also the beginning of the book, as if it’s only one very abundant and long scene while it’s actually several. That starting part was an experience all on its own, and if that was the whole of the book, I still would have called it my new favourite. It was my first read from Alexis Hall, but however I might like his other books in the future, I already believe him a genius. (Also, he seems really fun and nice, because why wouldn’t he?)

What he himself wrote here on Goodreads about For Real included HFN, which is where I first encountered this term and quickly realised how that really fits this book. This lifelike, genuine ending is just what this story needed. The last scene and dialogue suits the whole thing perfectly.

This is probably the longest review I’ve ever written about anything. I marked what feels like thousands of possible quotes along the way, while being fully aware that this is the kind of book you just have to read.

Finishing this book was actually painful. It’s been about two weeks and I’m still not over it, not over those two, not one bit. I sampled the audiobook, loved it, like, instantly, so I downloaded it and god, the narrators actually do justice to Laurie and Toby. Such intense and gloriously written characters come to life in a wonderful audio representation of a wonderful book I will never forget and will definitely re-read (and re-listen).

I take so much with me from this book, a lot more than I thought possible. It showed and taught me amazing and exciting things about amazing and exciting people. It was such a meaningful experience, it was thrill, excitement, tears, wonder, love. It was as real as can be.

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downtown_kb's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful tense medium-paced

5.0

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metrovm's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

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reading_rainbows's review against another edition

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emotional lighthearted relaxing medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

Content Warnings

calcifowl's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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paulinezed's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional funny fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No

5.0

Just kinky enough sex meets emotionally satisfying love story. I completely adore this book.

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anth's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I can't lie and say that I disliked this book. It just didn't sweep me off my feet, despite being, on paper, exactly everything that I wanted. I guess love always comes when you least expect it, even with books.

The thing is, the way the bdsm is handled in thsis relationship really didn't do it for me. It's not disrespectful, but it didn't get into the topics and reflections I wished it would go in, which was a disappointment. I powered through it in the hopes it would get there, or maybe just because the smut was hot.

And just when I thought it wouldn't make me suffer too much after all, I found myself crying. I suppose this is just an Alexis Hall thing. His books must all make me cry at some point.

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jessiewolf's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

jesus christ, this is the book to read if you’re at all interested in reading about relationship dynamics, relationships with an age difference, kink, submission, or romance. it is a masterpiece of handling taboo subject matter with thoughtfulness and grace and respect. this really feels a book that was written for pleasure, and we are lucky enough to get to read. and there is a lot of explicit kinky sex in it, presented as something to be treasured and celebrated.

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