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A review by rebeshelton
Beyond the Black Door by A.M. Strickland
1.0
I just couldn't do it, I could not finish.
I picked this book for my every other month book club. I was honestly excited to pick it up, especially with the blurb about the main character grappling with her asexuality.
There were several things that I just couldn't get into. I agree with several other reviews that the beginning made me uncomfortable. Now listen, I am all for supporting consensual sex work. But the way the pleasure artist was described really made it seem like the author looked down on traditional sex work.
Second, I couldn't handle the relationship between Kamai and Vehyn. There is definitely a huge power dynamic between the two and I don't appreciate or romanticize coercive relationships. I really didn't want to finish the book and find out that Kamai chose Vehyn and her asexuality was immediately gone. (If someone wants to spoil that for me, please do so! I couldn't find any spoilers online).
And last, for a book that has such grand descriptions of places and objects, I just really couldn't make myself care for any of the characters or their dilemmas. I was so bored with the entire fantasy element and even Kamai's sexuality seemed incredibly over-described. The author was definitely a huge fan of telling instead of showing. The point where I gave up was when the reader is shown an actual picture and then we have to read a lengthy description about it. Like, do one or the other, not both. It was several examples of this over-explaining that really made it difficult for me to pay attention to. After trying to trudge my way through this one for 2 and a half weeks, I'm glad I finally gave myself permission to give up!
I picked this book for my every other month book club. I was honestly excited to pick it up, especially with the blurb about the main character grappling with her asexuality.
There were several things that I just couldn't get into. I agree with several other reviews that the beginning made me uncomfortable. Now listen, I am all for supporting consensual sex work. But the way the pleasure artist was described really made it seem like the author looked down on traditional sex work.
Second, I couldn't handle the relationship between Kamai and Vehyn. There is definitely a huge power dynamic between the two and I don't appreciate or romanticize coercive relationships. I really didn't want to finish the book and find out that Kamai chose Vehyn and her asexuality was immediately gone. (If someone wants to spoil that for me, please do so! I couldn't find any spoilers online).
And last, for a book that has such grand descriptions of places and objects, I just really couldn't make myself care for any of the characters or their dilemmas. I was so bored with the entire fantasy element and even Kamai's sexuality seemed incredibly over-described. The author was definitely a huge fan of telling instead of showing. The point where I gave up was when the reader is shown an actual picture and then we have to read a lengthy description about it. Like, do one or the other, not both. It was several examples of this over-explaining that really made it difficult for me to pay attention to. After trying to trudge my way through this one for 2 and a half weeks, I'm glad I finally gave myself permission to give up!