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annajoybooks's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Misogyny, Emotional abuse, and Gaslighting
Minor: Biphobia, Homophobia, Rape, and Sexual assault
softboiledegg's review against another edition
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
But his attention was captivating, and he was unencumbered by hesitation or angst. I wanted to believe his control was ugly. Yet, faithfully, I was eager for it...
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Emotional abuse and Toxic relationship
justinec's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Emotional abuse and Physical abuse
placeholder13's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.25
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual content, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, and Misogyny
Minor: Sexual harassment, Alcohol, Emotional abuse, Cursing, Biphobia, and Toxic relationship
jneverland's review against another edition
dark
funny
informative
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gaslighting, Domestic abuse, Rape, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, Toxic friendship, Violence, Misogyny, and Sexual violence
marieantoinette's review against another edition
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infidelity, Toxic relationship, Cursing, Sexual violence, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, and Sexual content
Moderate: Alcohol
Minor: Physical abuse, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Violence, and Mental illness
madelinequinnee's review
informative
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
I can’t really describe how I feel about this book. I understand the message it was trying to portray, that what you once believed your sexuality entailed can change, since sexuality is so fluid, and that love doesn’t necessarily mean you want to have a whole life with a person and involve them in everything, but i don’t know, it just feels like at times it missed the point slightly.
There were some beautiful lines in this novel, so i did appreciate that, but i’m not a fan of books that don’t use speech marks when someone is talking, it always makes it so much harder to follow.
I don’t really understand what Olivia and Eve saw in Nathan, it kind of just felt like a story about two women following a mediocre man just because he could fuck well?
I just found this kind of boring at times, and i’m not a huge fan of lit fic so that probably had something to do with it.
There were some beautiful lines in this novel, so i did appreciate that, but i’m not a fan of books that don’t use speech marks when someone is talking, it always makes it so much harder to follow.
I don’t really understand what Olivia and Eve saw in Nathan, it kind of just felt like a story about two women following a mediocre man just because he could fuck well?
I just found this kind of boring at times, and i’m not a huge fan of lit fic so that probably had something to do with it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Lesbophobia, Misogyny, Cursing, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Infidelity, Toxic relationship, Sexism, and Homophobia
c_ourte's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse
Minor: Domestic abuse
glitterdeww's review against another edition
challenging
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
My feelings on this book went through so many iterations. I think there's a really salient point here that I finally placed in my update.
Acts of Service is primarily a study on sex. The plot is relatively thin from beginning to end, and serves to reinforce the psychological, cultural, and philosophical analyses of sex and sexuality through the main character, Eve. As her worldview shifts, Eve relates her personal beliefs to other characters, no matter how briefly they reside in the context of the story.
As one might expect, the scenes involving the act of sex are graphic, but it's the energy around these scenes... the ways in which sex is tied to attraction, class, vanity, monogamy, consent, kink, control, and freedom... That seemed, at least to me, to be the most challenging. And similarly, the additional characters of Olivia and Nathan are... Difficult. So many of their intentions were left walking the line between selfish, cruel, and pitiful.
The prose used throughout the book can be excellent, almost hypnotic. It both confused and fascinated me, very much like a slow moving car crash. I still don't know if or how I liked it.
~*EDIT from a week later*~
This book has been nagging at me for days now, and I think I've hit on a "more" conclusive review after remembering tiny aspects to the writing that, in retrospect, are very intelligent and very important.
There are a number of lines in this book that felt like throwaways as I was reading it... But I think they were intentionally placed to pull the reader back from reaching the same conclusions as the main character. When I said before that the plot of this book is thin... In regards to action in the plot, that still is true. The most notable events in this book took place within Eve's character, and the changes in her are meant to be unsettling. Initially I wasn't sure if the author meant to convince the reader of any argument the characters make, but when remembering those throw away lines...
A cult joke, a hint that Nathan may have actually been Olivia's college professor, comments about a LACK of communication being ideal, boundary violations all over the place, Olivia's visible anxious ticks...
...None of these are meant to convince the reader of anything, but they are all intentionally meant to pull the reader into discomfort just as Eve is choosing to disregard them. The book is also framed with two passages on feminism which painfully illustrate how Eve's beliefs have changed.
I saw another review where the individual asked, "Did any other lesbians read, and actually like, this book?" That comment put the final pin in my thoughts on the writer's intention, because who IS the audience for this book? It's fellow queer folks, women, progressively minded and sex-positive individuals that probably look a lot like Eve at the beginning of the story. The book is not meant to criticize any progressive cultural practices, like queerness, kink, nonmonogamy, etc, but rather to show how, when constant pressure is applied by systems like patriarchy, we can change our worldviews in such a subtle way that we don't even realize it. If you cease to think critically why you align yourself with particular groups or labels, your "ideals" are more easily corruptible. And that's terrifying. No, this was not an enjoyable read, it was damn depressing. That's the point.
Eve thinks towards the beginning that men like Nathan... Cold, calculating, privileged... had "gone out of style." This is a reminder that if you ignore a pervasive problem by acting like it has already gone away, it will eventually corrupt you.
Acts of Service is primarily a study on sex. The plot is relatively thin from beginning to end, and serves to reinforce the psychological, cultural, and philosophical analyses of sex and sexuality through the main character, Eve. As her worldview shifts, Eve relates her personal beliefs to other characters, no matter how briefly they reside in the context of the story.
As one might expect, the scenes involving the act of sex are graphic, but it's the energy around these scenes... the ways in which sex is tied to attraction, class, vanity, monogamy, consent, kink, control, and freedom... That seemed, at least to me, to be the most challenging. And similarly, the additional characters of Olivia and Nathan are... Difficult. So many of their intentions were left walking the line between selfish, cruel, and pitiful.
The prose used throughout the book can be excellent, almost hypnotic. It both confused and fascinated me, very much like a slow moving car crash. I still don't know if or how I liked it.
~*EDIT from a week later*~
This book has been nagging at me for days now, and I think I've hit on a "more" conclusive review after remembering tiny aspects to the writing that, in retrospect, are very intelligent and very important.
There are a number of lines in this book that felt like throwaways as I was reading it... But I think they were intentionally placed to pull the reader back from reaching the same conclusions as the main character. When I said before that the plot of this book is thin... In regards to action in the plot, that still is true. The most notable events in this book took place within Eve's character, and the changes in her are meant to be unsettling. Initially I wasn't sure if the author meant to convince the reader of any argument the characters make, but when remembering those throw away lines...
...None of these are meant to convince the reader of anything, but they are all intentionally meant to pull the reader into discomfort just as Eve is choosing to disregard them. The book is also framed with two passages on feminism which painfully illustrate how Eve's beliefs have changed.
I saw another review where the individual asked, "Did any other lesbians read, and actually like, this book?" That comment put the final pin in my thoughts on the writer's intention, because who IS the audience for this book? It's fellow queer folks, women, progressively minded and sex-positive individuals that probably look a lot like Eve at the beginning of the story. The book is not meant to criticize any progressive cultural practices, like queerness, kink, nonmonogamy, etc, but rather to show how, when constant pressure is applied by systems like patriarchy, we can change our worldviews in such a subtle way that we don't even realize it. If you cease to think critically why you align yourself with particular groups or labels, your "ideals" are more easily corruptible. And that's terrifying. No, this was not an enjoyable read, it was damn depressing. That's the point.
Eve thinks towards the beginning that men like Nathan... Cold, calculating, privileged... had "gone out of style." This is a reminder that if you ignore a pervasive problem by acting like it has already gone away, it will eventually corrupt you.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gaslighting, Sexual content, Emotional abuse, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Classism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Addiction, and Violence
marcellajoa's review against another edition
dark
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse and Sexual content