In The Pleasure Plan, sexual educator Laura Zam shares her story of the physical and emotional pain and dysfunction she experienced during sex and the steps she took to heal. Although some aspects of her story made me uncomfortable, I think it’s important that we have more open conversations about sex, and I commend the author for sharing so bravely and honestly.

I wish the author would have shared a little less about her problems and instead shared more about her healing process. She claims to have visited 15 healers and tried 30 methods to enhance pleasure, and we only get a few of those stories. But the stories we do get are fascinating. I appreciated reading about some of her experiences that I will likely never experience, such as her sexual healing session with a tantrika and a workshop with Betty Dodson.

The appendix includes helpful resources for creating your own pleasure plan. The ARC I reviewed also referred to additional resources on the author’s website, but I have been unable to locate those resources.

I thought this was an interesting memoir as well as a valuable guide to sexual healing. I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys reading memoirs and is curious about female sexual healing and empowerment. Note that there is discussion of childhood sexual abuse.

I was provided an unproofed ARC through NetGalley that I volunteered to review.

This is an okay book for anyone interested in the subject-matter.

Thanks to the publisher for the ARC and all the best to the author.

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. Thank you NetGalley!

This book definitely covered a very sensitive and common issue for women. Most of the time, we women suffer in silence out of embarrassment or feeing alone in it. It was great to see a woman be honest with herself and reach out for help.
The book was well-written for most of it. I did struggle to finish at some points honestly, but overall, a solid book.


I'd check out other books by the author.

Zam outlines and unpacks an issue that is not always given the attention it deserves in the mainstream. I found this book to be a very important perspective to share.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for making this available..

I found this to be very interesting, to see into a woman's life of struggling with her sex life and libido is very eye opening. It's feels amazing to see the author speaking up about her personal life and to show others that they're not alone and not broken.

At the same time, some of the book felt a bit too miserable and depressing but I guess that's what she was feeling going through that period.

This book about a woman's quest for healing and orgasm had my interest from cover to cover. Laura and her husband Kurt are very likeable and I was rooting for them. Although I have not suffered sexual trauma, the various modalities she explored were of interest to me. This book also has a lot of questions for self study. Not all were relevant to me but they were well thought out.

This is a very powerful book about Laura's journey to connecting to her sexuality, after experiencing a lifetime of low libido. After seeing a therapist who tells her that the best way to have sex is to just have sex, she seeks out all possible sources of enlightenment, learning, and education around her body image and sexuality. What results is an empowering story about working through inner-blocks, trauma, and shame to find pleasure and acceptance on the other side. It's beautiful to witness her transformation from beginning to end, especially in her marriage.

First off. Thank you to the publishers for this read; I’ve got an open mind and a love for booms regarding sexuality from a woman’s point of view. The Pleasure Plan not only lets us into Laura’s story and life; but it allows the reader a chance to follow/start their own pleasure journey. Finding out what they want for themselves, how their pleasure matters and what you can do if you’re dealing with sexual trauma or physical issues of your sex organs. Mostly, as women we don’t speak about this, our pleasure gets put on the back burner for our partners, Laura breaks down some of those barriers and allows the reader to know that pleasure can be many things.

Honest, humorous, and compelling. Laura Zam is an expert storyteller. This is a story about pleasure, power, healing, and intimacy. It's about writing your own story... a true heroine's journey.

CW: sexual assault

WOW, I really enjoyed this book. Laura Zam just took me on such a rollercoaster ride of emotions; it felt like I was truly along for the ride as she visited specialist after specialist seeking answers to her pain. Her mother was very anti-doctor, so Laura learned late in life what some probably consider basic reproductive health. I am so glad she shared these things; as someone who grew up in the evangelical church, I learned quite a bit from Laura's quest for healing. I also enjoyed the challenges that her end-of-chapter questions posed.

A very honest insight into the journey of female issues, well presented and understanding. I think this book would help people who have these issues as it has some helpful journal prompts, questions to answer for yourself. I also think it’s not something that people discuss, so for that reason, I think it would make you feel less alone and have more of understanding of which health professionals can help.

Thank you NetGalley for my complimentary copy in return for my honest review.

Wow. This book is a good read. I was not so sure in the beginning if I would enjoy it. To be honest it made me a little uncomfortable. Then I changed my mindset and realized that because it made me uncomfortable I should probably learn and embrace this book and I am sure glad I did. It is crazy the amount of pain and problems women go through with the health care system. I am so appreciative of the author sharing her journey. I learned some things and feel a little more comfortable with my sexuality. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

I think this book is good for a certain person, but doesn’t resonate with someone who isn’t struggling with pleasure. I think it’s helpful and thought provoking and has great facts and a great lesson to it.

I didn't really enjoy this book, it was a little too heavy with problems and misery. I was looking for the pleasure bit and was hoping for something a bit more fun and upbeat. It was quite padded out with background details too. However I couldn't relate to the author and her issues, and maybe for all the women who can this will be a brilliant read. Not really for me but I hope lots of other people enjoy it.