Review by zabeishumanish - Praise

zabeishumanish 's review for:

Praise by Sara Cate

3.0

challenging fast-paced

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Five stars for the sex scenes, but I didn't like much else about this book. I typically really like daddy kink (which this book doesn't have) and boyfriend's dad-type relationships, but this one felt wrong to me. Wrong in a way I can't verbalize well, it just felt as if Charlie was being driven by the need for outside validation rather than being driven by openness and empowerment. Praise kink is often incredibly hot and can be done in a very healthy way, but in this book, Charlie's driving need for praise felt bad. While I don't think Emerson ever manipulated or took advantage of Charlie in the story, he easily could have. And despite the auction scene where Emerson tries to convince Charlie of her worth, I don't think at any point he actually helped improve Charlie's mental state. The book constantly pushes the narrative that Charlie is happier with Emerson than she has been in years, but the book did nothing to convince me that that happiness is the result of anything more than regular orgasms. This is a book couple that I don't think should be together.

While I don't think Emerson ever actually did anything wrong the power that he had over Charlie (outside of their dom/sub relationship) triggered me in a way even hardcore dark romances haven't before. I'd highly recommend checking the trigger warnings in this book and reflecting deeply before reading.

Content Warnings