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3.49 AVERAGE
3.49 AVERAGE
adventurous
emotional
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Sexual harassment
We love to see a woman free herself from a controlling relationship! There's a short passage in here about how abusers manipulate storylines to justify their atrocious behavior that I found quite moving.
I absolutely loved In At The Deep End by Kate Davies, a laugh out loud funny story about a London lesbian coming out in her mid 20s only to fall into an abusive relationship with the woman of her dreams. (I know, not a usually amusing topic but somehow it works?)
This was a really strange read for me because it paralleled so many of my own experiences living in London in my 20s. I had exactly the same terrible civil service job answering correspondence from the public as the protagonist, I also went to that queer sex club in King's Cross and had a uncomfortable polyamorous time, I too got stuck in a controlling relationship I couldn't seem to get out of, etc, etc.
I found In At The Deep End a really great exploration of a woman coming into her sexuality a bit later than the usual teen narratives, and a perfect representation of how to do polyamory and BDSM really badly! It combined the gradual realisation that something is horribly wrong in your relationship with a very dry wit and I'd really recommend it, especially to queer folks who have lived in London, for a mirror to your life!
This was a really strange read for me because it paralleled so many of my own experiences living in London in my 20s. I had exactly the same terrible civil service job answering correspondence from the public as the protagonist, I also went to that queer sex club in King's Cross and had a uncomfortable polyamorous time, I too got stuck in a controlling relationship I couldn't seem to get out of, etc, etc.
I found In At The Deep End a really great exploration of a woman coming into her sexuality a bit later than the usual teen narratives, and a perfect representation of how to do polyamory and BDSM really badly! It combined the gradual realisation that something is horribly wrong in your relationship with a very dry wit and I'd really recommend it, especially to queer folks who have lived in London, for a mirror to your life!
The blurbs on this book describe it as hilarious, and while it is pretty funny and mostly light-hearted, I found it the most accurate fictional portrayal of lesbian intimate partner abuse I’ve ever encountered. Very impressed at how Davies was able to take such an intense (and commonly-occurring!!) subject and wrap it in what appears to be an easy coming-out novel.
Such a Fantastic Read
This book is full of the right amount of humor and serious subject matter. I related to it so well, and felt myself as Julia. I think it’s important that toxic relationships are represented in same sex couples because the warning signs can be there, whether you’re heterosexual or queer. More books need to be written like this. I definitely want to buy this book now.
Merged review:
Such a Fantastic Read
This book is full of the right amount of humor and serious subject matter. I related to it so well, and felt myself as Julia. I think it’s important that toxic relationships are represented in same sex couples because the warning signs can be there, whether you’re heterosexual or queer. More books need to be written like this. I definitely want to buy this book now.
This book is full of the right amount of humor and serious subject matter. I related to it so well, and felt myself as Julia. I think it’s important that toxic relationships are represented in same sex couples because the warning signs can be there, whether you’re heterosexual or queer. More books need to be written like this. I definitely want to buy this book now.
Merged review:
Such a Fantastic Read
This book is full of the right amount of humor and serious subject matter. I related to it so well, and felt myself as Julia. I think it’s important that toxic relationships are represented in same sex couples because the warning signs can be there, whether you’re heterosexual or queer. More books need to be written like this. I definitely want to buy this book now.
I give this book 3.5 stars. I actually didn't like it much in the beginning, but it got better as I read on. I was kinda expecting a somewhat sexy but mostly pure book about lesbians. And.... I did not really get that. This book is almost entirely about sex. It's just people having sex or the main character thinking about sex or people talking about sex. I mean, I get it, it's a huge part of life and this particular story but... Jesus. This book was too horny even for me.
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
ughhhhhh
I wanted to like this!! I really did!! I picked it up without knowing much about it, but I was excited for a fun, filthy, and fresh lesbian rom-com....but oh boy did it disappoint. I was sad because I really related to the MC (at first) - a recently out lesbian who is starting to date women who have intimidatingly more experience than her after dating lots of men. While I know that my experiences are not universal, I saw truly none of my own experiences mirrored in this book. Every single character seemed so one-dimensional and stereotypical!! All the lesbians were just polyamorous sex fiends who were god-like in bed and had a laundry list of niche kinks that they just expected their partners to also be into. There may be lesbians like that out there - no shame to them - but when lesbianism is already so hypersexualized by society, it is really disappointing to see it here too. There were also references to queer culture that I just felt weren't accurate? For example, Sam saying she'd lose her street cred if her friends knew that she was a 'butch who got fucked by a femme,' and also that 'slut is a compliment in our community.' There were quite a few other small things like this that just felt like someone was regurgitating stereotypes they heard, instead of making it feel like this was a book written by an actual queer person. It makes me genuinely sad to think that there are cishet people out there who could pick up this book and think that it represents anything near the actual experience of lesbians.
I am no prude, but I do also have to say that I think there is just. too much sex in this book. It is all every single person talks about: either the sex that they're having, the sex that they're not having, the sex they would like to have, etc, etc, etc. They talk about sex at work, they talk about sex at home, they talk about sex at dance class, at dinner, at art shows, EVERYWHERE! It just gets soooo boring and dull, and you lose any sort of dimensionality to any of the characters. There are also an incredible amount of sex scenes for absolutely no reason. As another reviewer pointed out - typically they are used to either be a point of growth for the MC and/or their relationship or to .... excite the audience. The ones in this book did neither. It felt more like you were having brunch with your one friend who has absolutely no boundaries and is telling you every single minute detail of all the sex they've ever had. Exciting and a little shocking at first, but very quickly it gets to be too much and you'd rather just change the subject.
There were a few things I did like! I felt like Julia's (the MC) relationship with her parents seemed really organic and real, and that the scenes with them were some of the best written of the book.
Overall, I would not recommend this. What was seemingly intended to be shocking and filthy quickly turned stale and boring, and the one-dimensional stereotypical characters were not strong enough to support the thin plot that got buried under unrealistic and un-sexy sex scenes.
I wanted to like this!! I really did!! I picked it up without knowing much about it, but I was excited for a fun, filthy, and fresh lesbian rom-com....but oh boy did it disappoint. I was sad because I really related to the MC (at first) - a recently out lesbian who is starting to date women who have intimidatingly more experience than her after dating lots of men. While I know that my experiences are not universal, I saw truly none of my own experiences mirrored in this book. Every single character seemed so one-dimensional and stereotypical!! All the lesbians were just polyamorous sex fiends who were god-like in bed and had a laundry list of niche kinks that they just expected their partners to also be into. There may be lesbians like that out there - no shame to them - but when lesbianism is already so hypersexualized by society, it is really disappointing to see it here too. There were also references to queer culture that I just felt weren't accurate? For example, Sam saying she'd lose her street cred if her friends knew that she was a 'butch who got fucked by a femme,' and also that 'slut is a compliment in our community.' There were quite a few other small things like this that just felt like someone was regurgitating stereotypes they heard, instead of making it feel like this was a book written by an actual queer person. It makes me genuinely sad to think that there are cishet people out there who could pick up this book and think that it represents anything near the actual experience of lesbians.
I am no prude, but I do also have to say that I think there is just. too much sex in this book. It is all every single person talks about: either the sex that they're having, the sex that they're not having, the sex they would like to have, etc, etc, etc. They talk about sex at work, they talk about sex at home, they talk about sex at dance class, at dinner, at art shows, EVERYWHERE! It just gets soooo boring and dull, and you lose any sort of dimensionality to any of the characters. There are also an incredible amount of sex scenes for absolutely no reason. As another reviewer pointed out - typically they are used to either be a point of growth for the MC and/or their relationship or to .... excite the audience. The ones in this book did neither. It felt more like you were having brunch with your one friend who has absolutely no boundaries and is telling you every single minute detail of all the sex they've ever had. Exciting and a little shocking at first, but very quickly it gets to be too much and you'd rather just change the subject.
There were a few things I did like! I felt like Julia's (the MC) relationship with her parents seemed really organic and real, and that the scenes with them were some of the best written of the book.
Spoiler
The development of Julia and Sam's relationship into an abusive one was also very well done, and the scenes of Sam and Virginie truly made me want to crawl out of my skin right along with Julia.Overall, I would not recommend this. What was seemingly intended to be shocking and filthy quickly turned stale and boring, and the one-dimensional stereotypical characters were not strong enough to support the thin plot that got buried under unrealistic and un-sexy sex scenes.
Someone on here said that this is the straightest piece of lesbian/queer writing they’ve ever read and I just want to hop on here and second that.
Through the writing you can tell that the author is uninformed about the kink community and poly community, especially where these two communities overlap with the queer community.
I would have given this book one star, but I finished it because it was entertaining enough for me to keep going. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Through the writing you can tell that the author is uninformed about the kink community and poly community, especially where these two communities overlap with the queer community.
I would have given this book one star, but I finished it because it was entertaining enough for me to keep going. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
