Reviews

Eight Kinky Nights: An f/f Chanukah romance by Xan West

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forthe_girlwhowaited'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

3.5

cakt1991's review against another edition

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emotional 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

I’ve wanted to read Xan West’s Eight Kinky Nights for a long time, having taken the plunge to buy it and their other works not long after their passing in 2020. Unfortunately, while I read several of their shorter books, I could never get around to reading this one at what felt like the opportune time, although I had a feeling I’d love it. But this year, I resolved to make it happen in tandem with Chanukah. And as I suspected, it’s the best thing Xan West has ever written.

I love both leads and how real they are. Jordan and Leah are 49 and 51 respectively, and that in itself is not super common in romance, but I love how they’re also both Jewish, autistic, fat, and queer, with Leah having recently realized she’s also gray-ace. With the two of them being longtime friends, it was beautiful to see the two of them exploring sexuality and kink within the context of their identities and their established friendship, with Chanukah as the perfect backdrop for their lessons in kink. There’s a nice tenderness between the two, even if it’s tempered by their respective personal demons.

While I’ve read polyamorous romance before, I loved the way polyamory was included here, with the supporting cast feeling important to the journey that the protagonists were on as a couple, not to mention being varied and represented of various shades of the LGBTQIA+ spectrum, including queerplatonic partnerships.

My one minor complaint is that the book had a somewhat slow build at first. However, it does pay off, as it helps to set up the dynamics between the leads and the terms of relationship. Once the story got into the titular “eight kinky nights,” I was hooked.

This is a wonderful book from an author gone too soon, combining some of my favorite tropes, like friends to lovers and sex (or in this case kink) lessons with compassionate portrayals of various marginalizations from an ownvoices perspective. If that sounds appealing to you, I’d recommend checking this out!

felissadee's review against another edition

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overwhelming but not in a fun way

hutchisonterrace's review against another edition

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1.0

i only read this because i knew it would make me laugh. the writing is very juvenile in a see-spot-run type of way; all of the characters have the same 'voice' (if there weren't character names attached to their dialogue, you'd never think different characters were speaking), and the actual sex descriptions are genuinely revolting. (using "yummy" to describe violence against sex partners is enough to make my skin crawl). it tries really hard to be sex positive and showcase kinky activity as normal and desirable but it just made me feel even more prudish because it was, for lack of more eloquent terms, gross. it also, at some points, came across as propagandistic- but i couldn't figure out if that was intentional, or if the author simply couldn't truly comprehend that were other ways to live outside of their own.

when i finished it, all i could think is that... there is no way this could've possibly aroused ANYONE. it's so lacking in soul, so lacking in character and conflict and anything truly meaty. all it had to show was that it was abusive, controlling and - stark as it may be compared to the other adjectives - DULL. DO NOT READ.

makes a great gag gift though but honestly, be careful of your audience.