⭐️4
Anonymous memoir about life as a submissive within the BDSM community. The anonymity aspect is golden. It provides Sonnet a safe outlet, the freedom to share the tea with US, and I am here for it!

This account is unique-unlike anything I’ve read before now. Sonnet is brutally honest. She describes her various relationships while opening the curtains to her mind and emotions.

If you are like me, you may have a few preconceived ideas about the BDSM way of life. Her stories were shocking, and at times, I could not put this one down.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/6783017665

Pub date: September 17, 2024
Thank you NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This book is a remarkable testament to honesty, openness, and courage. The author’s willingness to candidly explore her experiences with sex and her personal kinks is both refreshing and commendable. Her bravery in sharing such intimate details is evident throughout, and her confident demeanor suggests a strong sense of self-assurance that contrasts with her earlier, more restrictive upbringing, as described in the book.

The narrative provides an insightful glimpse into the mind of a submissive, exploring the psychological and emotional aspects of her preferences. It delves into the origins of her interests and offers a nuanced understanding of why she finds fulfillment in her role. This book champions the idea that there is nothing inherently wrong with embracing one's sexual desires and understanding one's preferences. Overall, it serves as both an informative and empowering read for those interested in the complexities of sexual identity and exploration.

Feel extremely neutral - not something I was like obsessed with but an interesting read and something different from what I normally consume

Erotically charged and sex-positive!

Sonnet is the pseudonym of a businesswoman based in London and New York.

This book provided insight to a world I knew little to nothing about. One often cast in judgement and misunderstood by society. Sonnet recalls her earliest memories growing up in a religious family, and that even as a child she would fetishize the bible stories read to her. Consensual subservience, erotic pain, and punishment all became a part of her identity that she felt empowered by. The book is split into three sections, exploring her mental journey of unlocking the pleasure centers of her body, and bringing her deviant fantasies to life. The prose is graphic and extremely candid, leading the reader through different scenarios in Sonnet’s life including polyamorous exploits with various dominant partners, sex clubs, dungeons, and random public spaces where she explores her exhibitionist side. This memoir flowed seamlessly, it was intriguing, and I couldn’t put it down.

4/5⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
For readers who are curious about the BDSM world, and enjoy more of a shock factor.

this is incredibly well written and a lot of Sonnet's meditations on love, consent, and life in general were really well done. I feel like I learned a lot. However, many of the stories about Sonnet's experiences were quite overwhelming and I ended up having to skip a lot of them because they stressed me out. I know that everything was consensual and she really enjoyed it, but it was personally a lot to read about.

A fascinating memoir about being a part of the UK BDSM industry and the authors reasons for wanting to experience and live that lifestyle. An interesting read on such a taboo topic.

A memoir that manages incorporate education on the BDSM community, insight into the mindset needed and personal experience.

My thoughts were put best by Katie Naymon, this was "shameless in the most complimentary way".

{Thank you bunches to NetGalley, Sonnet and publisher for this eARC in exchange for my honest review!}

I have been a member of the BDSM community for ~15 years so I was thrilled to see a Big 5 publisher tackling this topic with such vulnerability and openness as through a memoir. There were parts of Sonnet's memoir that I resonated with. However I had strong distaste for her disdain at the separation between BDSM and sex. The separation is intentional - it creates a space for those who are asexual to still enjoy BDSM for one, but also makes BDSM spaces safer for women and marginalized groups. The lack of awareness for this critical separation discolored the rest of the memoir for me. [I similarly had issues with the race-centered story near the end of the book. Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the advance copy.

So, the premise of this book was immediately fascinating to me. I love the idea of someone writing under a pseudonym. I think it lends itself to a kind of immediate authenticity because fear of judgement and shame are removed (particularly given subject matter like this).

The world of kink is foreign to me and getting an insider sneak peek was illuminating. I loved all the discussion about consent, desire, and consensual non-monogamy. Sonnet seems very knowledgeable, and I reason that makes sense considering how long she has been involved in the kink community and the extensive research she's done.

However, where she began to lose me was the water sport retelling. I'm not going to yuck someone's yum, but that was a little off-putting. However, where things really escalated to ABSOLUTELY NOT and where I had a visceral reaction was the bestiality references. I'll leave it at that.

I will say I am shocked that such a graphic book is going to be released by a Big 5 publisher. I would have expected this to be indie or even self-published, which I guess speaks to my "vanilla sensibilities". So, good for you, Hachette for taking the risk with what could be such a controversial title.

What an empowering book. To begin with, the way she set the rules of her writing just shows how confident she is in her own body and in her life. No matter if you're into BDSM or not, this is a must read!

An absolutely fascinating look at one woman's experience of BDSM, this memoir is thought-provoking, shameless in the most complimentary way, and immersive. It's more than a memoir though, it's also a treatise on desire -- why do we want what we want, and how do we show up as our most authentic selves? One of the best parts of SUBMIT was what is probably its thesis: Isn't in lovely to live in a world where everyone wants different things?

The book is extremely graphic, so readers should be warned - but Sonnet's prose is also soft and sexy--sometimes very funny and often intellectual--which provides a nice counter to the explicit nature of what's on the page.

Thank you to Grand Central and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I was hooked from the start and stayed hooked until the end. Sonnet doesn't hold back a thing in this memoir and it's so raw and evocative that I couldn't put it down!

This book is almost too horny. Apparently, erotic memoirs are a thing now, and I’m here for it. I’m not sure who I’d rec this to, but I’m sure someone in my life will enjoy it.

I have always been intrigued by BDSM, so hearing it first hand, was amazing. This memoir was so raw and real. The author did an amazing job and the books flows so nicely.

I unfortunately really wasn't a fan of this book and honestly only finished because I was sent the digital arc. The book just felt flat without any sort of climax. The stories were interesting but not enough for me to stay engaged after 30%. I would have given the book 2 stars, but the screen at the end using race play was extremely uncomfortable as a Black reader.

I read this book, then read the reviews, and I feel like I may have read a different book than other people.

Submit was a great foray into the world of BDSM and LGBTQIA+, but I struggled so hard with some of Sonnet's stories. They felt like they'd edged out of reality and into hyperbole and just felt so unrealistic. You're having anal sex in a back alley? Your neighbor comes up for dinner in the middle of a pandemic after she's had COVID and just HAPPENS to want a threesome?

The overall vibe of this book felt like I was lesser than or would just NEVER understand true love/transcendence into another realm if I wasn't trying all the fun, kinky, interesting things that Sonnet was, and it felt like she looked down on those who didn't choose to partake in kink. I am 100000% all for kink, love it in theory and life, but this felt like I'd been told I wasn't cut out for the cheerleading squad because I wasn't "ethically nonmonogamous". This arrogance hits right off the bat with one of the first "intros" to the book being that Sonnet will REFUSE to refer to her vagina as ANYTHING other than "cunt", which is fine, refer to it however you want to, but don't say lines like "it's not a pussy or a vagina" because it actually is!

Again, I appreciated the diversity and interesting tales of BDSM, the openness, and the awareness brought about by this book but the author felt arrogant and entitled.

I am mostly strictly romance reader. I don’t tend to gravitate toward memoirs. After reading the description for this book I was intrigued and had to read it. It did not disappoint. This memoir reads like a novel. After reading so many romance books Submit was refreshing. In romance books BDSM is like a vampire. The writer can give it any rules they want to fit their story. Here it was honest ,raw and real. I loved it! Anyone who read books with BDSM should have to read this as a prerequisite.
Even being about BDSM this book wasn’t all about sex but guilt, private vs personal life, relationships and desire. I dislike when I read romance books that are just about the sex. But this memoir about BDSM was able to be a sexual nature but not be just sex scenes. Something some romance books can’t even do! Don’t get me wrong those scenes are in. However it’s not just mindless sex.

Read this book, you won’t regret it!

Submit is a fascinating and deeply personal memoir that takes readers on an intimate journey through a woman's life as a submissive. From her earliest fantasies to the complex dynamics of her adult relationships, it's a revealing and honest exploration of a side of human sexuality that's often misunderstood. The author's ability to stay true to herself is both inspiring and admirable, and I couldn't help but feel a bit envious of the incredible pleasure she experiences. Her writing is exceptionally talented, making the book not just provocative, but also a genuinely engaging read. While I’d recommend it to anyone, be prepared for some *very* spicy BDSM scenes! This memoir offers a unique perspective that broadens the understanding of diverse sexual lives, showing that there's no one "right" way to experience desire.

Where do I even begin with such an amazing book?! I've read so many romance/erotica books lately that masquerade as BDSM that it was absolutely REFRESHING to actually read sex scenes where consent is fully given, communication and trust exist, and where the main character truly adores her life as a sub.

It was empowering, raw, kinky, riveting and, I don't know, I'm just so happy she gets to live the life she wants! :)

Extra bonus points for all the in-between stories where she talks about the shift between private and personal life, the difference between being a full time sub slave versus 'whenever-the-timing-is-right' sub, the emphasis on her ordinary life (chores, board games...) with her boyfriend, what triggered her sub imagination as a little girl, how you don't have to have had trauma to want to experience BDSM, and more that I already forgot about.

Absolutely amazing. Highly recommend for anyone in the lifecycle or interested about it.

*Thank you NetGalley and Grand Central Publishing for giving me an advance reader copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.*

If you're not interested or curious about bdsm then well this isn't for you. Most people seem this thing that being a submissive in a role is weak or sad but people don't realize that the subs have all the power. This book gives you some insight to help better understand