I was kind of disappointed in this anthology. It gets high marks for representation but the sexual aspects were sort of just part of the story and the focus seemed to be on the literary aspects rather than making it actually erotic. If you want to read short stories about people who have very diverse sex lives, this will be a fantastic collection. If you want to actually get aroused by them, it might not be the best.

This is a collection of fourteen erotic short stories with a common theme of asymmetric power dynamics. [That’s an excessively syllabic way of saying Dominant / submissive, top / bottom, or Sadist / masochist relationships.] As is common with anthologies, a meaningful overall rating isn’t really possible. I found a couple of the included stories to be highly evocative or engaging, many were good, while others were just okay – plagued by the usual suspects that impair erotica such as characters without depth / intrigue or thin story. That said, none of the stories were poorly written.

It's worth saying that a broadly appealing erotica collection is a tall order. For one thing, erotica is the most idiosyncratic of genres. Like Horror, if it’s too tame for one’s tastes, it’s boring; if it’s too wild, it grosses one out -- or otherwise become unreadable. [I suspect few (if any) readers will have the latter problem with this collection; some might have the former. (That is, given the likely readership demographic.) If you are picking up a book on kinky erotica, you are unlikely to be triggered or otherwise shocked or offended by anything contained herein.] In addition to the varied levels of intensity readers look for in erotica, there is the question of whether varied sexual orientations and identities are of interest to a given reader. This book covers a lot of ground in this regard, including heterosexual, homosexual, bisexual, and transgender characters.

Because the anthology is so qualitatively and topically varied, I’ll say a little about each story.

1.) “The Cure” by Melissa Febos: I found this to be a strange choice for the collection and – particularly – for opening the collection. It’s about a lesbian who decides to have sex with straight men because she’s having trouble in her customary dating pool, but since she likes sex, she decides to pursue it in the form least laden with complication. So far, it could be fine, but it devolves into a laundry list of what she finds disgusting about intimacy with men. Now, one would expect a lesbian to find having sex with a man unappealing; just as anyone might when having sex outside their preferred orientation. However, it does raise the question: Why am I supposed to enjoy reading about this in a book of erotica? I think it’s fair to say that reading about people enjoying having sex is more erotic than hearing about people who aren’t enjoying their experience.

2.) “Best Friendster Date Ever” by Alexander Chee: This is a story about a hookup between two gay men who meet via a dating site, and who find themselves in a mutually appealing top / bottom sexual experience. While it’s not a story with a great deal of depth, it would have made a better opening because at least if features two people who are having intercourse because they like having sex with each other [as opposed to because there’s nothing on Netflix and each is the best the other can do on short notice.]

3.) “Trust” by Larissa Pham: As the name suggests, this story revolves around the issue of trust and the challenges that subject presents in a relationship of dominance and submission. When the couple goes on a getaway, the story mirrors the experience of trust-building in sexual encounters with the non-sexual circumstance of the male (dominant) driving off for the day without telling the female (submissive) that he’s leaving -- or when / if he’ll be back. There’s some interesting insight into submissive psychology to be seen in this story.

4.) “Safeword” by R.O. Kwon: In this story, we see an issue that was touched upon in the previous on (and which later recurs,) which is what happens when one member of an intimate relationship is more into the kinky aspect than is the other. In this case, it’s a sadomasochistic relationship in which the female masochist is more desirous of the sadomasochistic aspect of the relation than is her male partner. The couple goes to a dominatrix so that the masochist can get what she desires and the man can learn to better pleasure [i.e. pain-ify?] his partner.

5.) “Canada” by Callum Angus: This atmospheric piece describes a girl’s relationship with a female to male transgender. It’s one of the shorter pieces, and – as the title suggests – it plays heavily on the setting, Canada, to create ambiance.

6.) “Oh, Youth” by Brandon Taylor: The story centers on an attractive young man named Grisha, and the appeal he has for some middle-aged people – particularly the infatuation that develops between the husband in a married couple that he is staying with temporarily during a college break.

7.) “Impact Play” by Peter Mountford: A recently divorced man enters into a serious relationship with the woman he was having an affair with when his marriage ended. He and this woman share an interest in kink and fetish sexuality that his previous wife apparently did not. We don’t learn much about his ex-wife, but we do learn quite a bit about his cousin, Betsy, whom he treats as a confidant and with whom he has a special relationship.

8.) “Mirror, Mirror” by Vanessa Clark: Diary entry of a well-endowed transgender escort. The story explores the fetishized nature of the main character’s occupation.

9.) “Reach” by Roxane Gay: A man and wife enjoy the former tormenting the latter with a steady stream of indignities as a fetish in their romantic life. It’s one of the more sensual pieces of writing in the anthology.

10.) “Gospodar” by Garth Greenwell: I would rate this as one of the two strongest entries in terms of story. It’s not the typical erotica in which the character comes out the other side of the story completely unchanged except for being momentarily spent. A submissive gay man meets up with a dominant in Romania that he learned about through the internet. The interaction starts off swimmingly, but it takes a hard turn south. The story is quite visceral, but provokes thought on the nature of consent where power dynamics are in play.

11.) “Scissors” by Kim Fu: This story is set amid a stage show in which sharp objects are used to undress a performer in motion. Attendees aren’t just after the prurient appeal of the striptease, but the vicarious visceral fear.

12.) “The Lost Performance of the High Priestess of the Temple of Horror” by Carman Maria Machado: This story has some superficial commonalities with the previous one – i.e. it largely takes place in a theater in which frightening shows are put on that feature a damsel-esque central character. However, it’s also quite distinct from the previous story. It’s the longest story and is the other entry that I consider strongest in terms of narrative qualities. The central character is a young girl [called “Bess” though that isn’t her real name] who becomes the protégé of the main character of the aforementioned horror show. The story is all about the changing nature of their relationship as the protégé grows from girl to woman.

13.) “Retouch / Switch” by Cara Hoffman: This ethereal piece is about fluctuation in sexuality and identity. It’s one of the shorter pieces, and features a dreamlike quality.

14.) “Emotional Technologies” by Chris Kraus: This piece frames the dominant / submissive relationship in artistic and philosophical terms. It’s erudite and among the most thought-provoking pieces in the collection. In particular, it discusses the role of an acting “technology” (most people would call it a
“method”) that uses somewhat cruel and savage tactics to achieve the desired outcome. Because I’m a nerd who likes thinking about things that are “out there,” I really enjoyed this story. Others may find that the erotic adventure is undone by the philosophizing.

If you’re intrigued by what you’ve read so far, you should definitely give this one a read. While it won’t be everyone’s cup of tea, it’s well-written and has broad appeal. It takes chances in some ways, but stays inside the lines of most readers.

If you are looking for the bare minimum of "kink" and love purple prose, this is the book for you. It seems like the writers are trying to be literary, but instead it comes across as written by overly earnest creative writing students. The so-called kink is barely there.

This book is FASCINATING. Each of the authors (many of my favorites) shares a story about kink that explores sexuality + the human condition. Some of these stories moved me to tears (looking at you Melissa Febos + Brandon Taylor), some of them were exciting, some of them were absolutely foreign to me but felt like a glimpse into a stranger's psyche and bedroom. I would highly recommend this book to anyone unoffended by graphic descriptions and interested in people's most private lives.

Kink is hard to give a star rating to because, like most collections, I was a fan of some stories and not a fan of others. Overall it is a worthwhile read because the variety and diversity is wide enough to appeal to many kind of readers.

What I loved: The representation! So much queer, trans, nonwhite experience in this collection! I was especially a fan of Machado’s contribution. I love the honesty of the pieces, they’re not interested in watering the kink world down to make it more palatable and several of the stories don’t shy from showing the unpleasant aspects of the kink world. I learned it is a lifestyle that requires tremendous trust and trust can be easily betrayed.

What I didn’t love: the lines of consent were crossed in one story. I’m not a fan of violence but I try not to let that color my review of a BDSM collection... as long as it’s consensual. I’d recommend a trigger warning for general violence in the intro, and possibly a separate warning for assault on Gospodar.

Generally this collection is beautifully written and savagely honest. I’m grateful to have read the arc.

I hand no expectations coming into this book. I have always been curious about the natural desires of the human body an the wants of others. I really enjoyed how this books explored the various forms of desire and how that are different in everyone. I like that it wasn't afraid to talk about a sexual subject and i never felt the like stores went overboard. I enjoyed reading all of the stories, some more than others but i highly recommend this book an i will definitely be purchasing a hard copy of this when it comes out for my bookshelves.
#kinkbook #netgalley

An intense and riveting collection of works boldly exploring all manner of desire. The talented writers featured here are a force to be reckoned with.

I think the blurb for this book is wholly inaccurate. What I got and what I expected were two different things. Although, at its core, this was a great book. I think this should be in every kinkster's library, as well as handed out to newbies at every munch. The stories told in this book are not the romanticized version of BDSM. It is gritty, raw, and if you've ever thought of entering this world, you should read it so you can avoid the pitfalls. This book is about asking for more than you bargained for and putting yourself in situations that are less about BDSM and more about violence. It shows how easily those lines get blurred and the predators that lurk in the shadows of this world. I loved this book in the sense that it takes you on a very accurate portrayal of the lifestyle, while still giving you the kink and all that comes with it. It explores a variety of kinks, some mainstream, some not.

Oof, anthologies are hard to review. Carmen Maria Machado shines as always. Other authors need to investigate where their definitions of non-consensual sex, sexual harassment and mutually consensual kink begin and end. I was really disappointed by this collection as well as the deeply arrogant framing of the intro essay of wanting to write a book about sex one could encounter at McDowell. How tired is this discussion of respectability politics in depicting sex, sexuality or sex work? I can’t recommend this collection to anyone and I was really excited when I was approved for this ARC. This is my first critical review and I hope the publisher, editors and authors understand my point of view.

Kink intrigued me. The idea of a short story collection centered on kink and sexuality was interesting in itself and I was excited to see what a host of notable authors could do. Sadly, this collection left me with more questions than answers. It's almost as if, in trying to get the reader to understand the intense differences in the character's lives, sexual orientations, identifications and stories, Kink was okay with taking the risk that the reader may get lost. I'm sure there was a larger understanding to be had from this book. At times the writing felt pedantic and frustrating, like the editors were trying so hard to hit the reader over the head with some lightbulb moment that I, a cisgendered Caucasian woman was simply not enlightened enough to see.

ARC generously provided by NetGalley and Simon & Schuster!

This is an anthology that collects a range of stories ranging from genres such as literary fiction, romance, erotica, and horror, all with a unifying theme of “kink”, hence the title. I was interested in reading this due to recognizing several of the authors whose works are contained within and having a more-than-passing interest in the subject, and it did not disappoint. The stories for the most part contain well written characters in interesting settings that are very compelling to read, with many of the stories being fairly short (the longest is Carmen Maria Machado’s, clocking in at around 16% of the total collection), which lends itself to the readability of the book.

It’s interesting to me that the thematic overtone of the anthology is as broad a subject as “kink”, as it leads to interesting discrepancies amongst the stories within, due to the meaning of “kink” shifting so wildly between the authors/stories. I will say that, if you’re looking for a book of straight-up erotica, this is probably not the anthology for you; while it does have some fairly explicit scenes, I would describe it more as a literary fiction style, where the characters are the focus rather than the sex.

Unfortunately, as with most collections and anthologies, there were a few stories contained within that I was not a huge fan of (and one or two that I felt didn’t even fit the theme of the book), though that is not a huge issue as you can just get on to the next story fairly quickly. Overall, a well rounded collection that I am glad to have read!

Favorite stories: “Trust” by Larissa Pham; “Safeword” by R.O. Kwon; “Oh, Youth” by Brandon Taylor; “The Lost Performance…” by Carmen Maria Machado

I picked this one because I like a good kink read. I went into this one a little afraid. Many because even though I like reading kink, my thoughts on kink normally is different to those who write it.

This anthology has kink in all forms. Some of it wasn't to my taste while other were. I knew going in this wasn't only going to be FF kink and sorta wish it only was. Not saying that I didn't enjoy some of the MM kink, it wasn't just what I prefer and a couple of the story were for sure a little more extreme than my tastes in reading kink.

Overall if you like kink and don't care if it MM or FF then you might want to grab this.

3 stars.

This arc was provided by the publisher for an honest review.

Any anthology is bound to have some standout stories and some that are less suited to any individual reader's tastes, and Kink is not an exception, but the standouts really do make the entire collection worth reading. I particularly enjoyed the included story by Zeyn Joukhadar.

It's really hard to rate anthologies like this. Some of the stories were beautifully written but did not seem to fit the theme. There were a few that I thought were perfect for this collection. While there is a note at the beginning of the book regarding some potential subjects, I think including trigger warnings may be helpful in some cases.

Kink: Stories edited by R.O. Kwon and Garth Greenwell is a collection of short stories from impressive writers such as Roxanne Gay, Alexander Chee and Vanessa Clark. It's about you guessed it, various kinks. While this collection of stories isn't my kind of book I'd usually pick up, I can appreciate it for challenging norms and allowing me to step outside of my comfort zone. I still managed to read it in two days, riveted by the characters filling its pages. The stories range in characters, relationships, and locations and often are not more than 10 pages in length allowing a reader to get a taste of every story and kink at its core.

I'd recommend this book to those looking to expand their thinking of kink, and those looking for just a little escape. Thanks to R.O. Kwon, Garth Greenwell, the roster of fantastic writers that fill Kink's pages, Simon & Schuster, and NetGalley for allowing me to read an ARC.

Erotica is valuable, and inclusive erotica is very important. This however, was boring. The personalities within this book weren't likeable and certainly not f$%&able. It's quite possible this is due to my age (45), but the characters felt shallow.

Kink is a wonderful collection of short stories that plays on BDSM, sexual intimacy, and possessing a kink. Each story is written by a different author, many of them are very intriguing, and I was expecting to learn more about the roles of BDSM participants, but I was surprised to find myself actually drawn into the stories themselves. The stories are told with such elegance yet such grit, I found myself admiring how each author was able to portray such emotion and human characteristics, reminding us that we are all human and we all have such desires. Most of these stories were enjoyable, there were a few that I didn't quite understand but overall I enjoyed this collection of short stories.

I know the title of the book is "Kink" but it could easily have been Desire. The book explores desire across the sexual spectrum in a thought-provoking and engaging manner that is very satisfying. I would actually recommend this book to anyone looking to deepen their relationship with themselves. Not all stories will resonate with everyone but I do think that the entire book is worth a read. It would also make for a great book club pick.

Great collection of BDSM stories. Great collection and highly recommend to anyone who loves the kink life.

Thank you to the publishers & Netgalley for this book.
I wanted to love this, I wanted this to be a book that would let me discover something new.
Unfortunately this wasn’t it.

Kink is a collection of short stories from several different authors and in each one the narrator has some kind of sexual “kink”. Some of the stories I actually enjoyed while others I felt we’re lacking.

I definitely thought it would be dirtier, and I guess I wanted it to be kinkier? It felt very light in that regard.
If you’re looking for a quick read with some (lightly) kinky stories, then I’d recommend this book. If you’re well versed in different kinks and are looking for some dirty stories, you won’t find this any different than reading fifty shades of grey.

Overall quick, easy, interesting read.