My Pleasure

This book started off STRONG!! I was participating in the journal/questions sections, nodding my head in agreement, even verbally saying “yes!” in agreement to so many powerful statements Laura made during the first 2 chapters. If this book kept up this momentum and stayed on topic, I probably would’ve rated it a 5 and gotten so much more from it.

I’m sure Laura, and maybe most readers, would disagree and say she did keep on topic, that sex toys, masturbation, jealousy, sex with partners, porn- these topics, are all part of self-love and pleasure. I disagree in that these topics didn’t help with my self-esteem of body image issues.

I’ve been anywhere from a size 2-10, 125-175 lbs. I’ve suffered from abusive relationships, trauma, and shame related to religious guilt from my childhood. The powerful first 2 chapters spoke this aspect of my personality- the main reason I wanted to read “My Pleasure”- because to even begin to have said pleasure and be comfortable during sex again, I need to heal those parts of myself. I didn’t need a “how to masturbate or have sex” guide- I know all these things and have researched them quite well. I needed a guide on how to mentally feel like myself again, feel sexy, and want to be sexually adventurous again after years of pain and poor self image.

So for those reasons, I rated the book a 3/3.5- maybe many people will get much more from this book than I did, in fact I hope that’s the case! Very well written, but not as deep as it started off, and dwindled for me.

*thank you netgalley for an arc in exchange for a review.

This was such a good informational read. I haven’t ever read a book for helping my pleasure. As I get older I find I am still finding myself. I used to be embarrassed to talk about sex or to dress “sexy.” I’ve started to become more accepting of my body and learning pleasure is a very important part of our lives and happiness. Laura helps to teach pleasure is a way to self care. Such a wonderful self help guide. I would definitely buy this myself.

This was a decent self help guide with plenty of exercises to get you thinking. However, almost half of the book was just general “self care / love thyself” stuff about body size and how to bolster your ego. Yes - Emotional health definitely plays a part in how we see ourselves, and by extension how others see us, which can totally affect a woman sexually. However, the title and front cover blurb absolutely made me prepared for a lot more sexual-wellness and a lot less discussion about body size, etc.
However, let me add that the author has a very engaging style of writing so that it seems as if you were chatting with a friend over coffee. None of the typical boring self help doldrums here! I enjoyed the book as a result - and yes I think the lessons are super important and helpful. I just think maybe the title would be better suited to something like “Self” instead of “Pleasure” because I could see larges sections of the book being useful in a non-sexual way.

Laura Delarato has a lovely disposition and voice in this book. It's a short and sweet guide to finding self pleasure. All in all, I don't prefer the self check-in style of working through it but hey it's a sexual self help book for a reason!

The art in this book is phenomenal! It doesn't come off as garish or in your face and it would honestly be borderline appropriate to leave this out for guests to find!

While I love the book in it's execution, confidence, and concept - it came off as introductory for me. I would have accessed this better as a teenager or college student trying to make sense of sexuality for the first time. It doesn't mean that the book is written solely for younger audiences, anyone who is experiencing sexuality for the first time might find this guidebook helpful. It almost feels like talking with an experienced best friend about what to expect and how to figure yourself out.

It would be great for anyone just starting to explore not only their personal pleasure, but their personal boundaries.

I am a huge advocate for self pleasure and masturbation and having a satisfying sex life. So I thought this book was incredibly well done and definitely some thing I think everyone should read.

Not exactly sure what this was supposed to be really. It didn't work for me. The pictures looked like they were made from MS paint. And the narrative didn't really say anything new or innovative.
Someone somewhere may get something out of this.
I did not.

This book was different than I expected. It follows more along the lines of a self help book. I really appreciate the fact that the author prompts self love without shame and I know that many women feel that at times. This is a great read and will definitely be recommending it.

I've followed Delarato for a while on Instagram in an effort to see more body- and sex-positive influencers while I scroll, so I was excited to see that she had a new book coming out that I could get my hands on (thank you NetGalley!) My Pleasure was a really easy and quick self-help read that guided you through how to love your body and experience more pleasure in life. It talked about women's health, about how to have safe sex in and out of relationships, and how set boundaries in bed. I'm in total agreement that in the US, we need more information and less scare tactics in sex education, so this book is perfect for the adults and teens who want to understand more about their bodies, or learn how to discuss the "taboo" topics.

This book from body image advocate and sexual wellness expert Laura Delarato is like your best friend giving you a warm comforting hug (consensual, of course). The overarching message of the book is to love yourself, physically and mentally, because unless you love yourself how can you expect someone else to love you? Although to be clear you don’t need someone else to love you or validate you — you are enough all on your own ❤️

As far as the nitty-gritty goes, some of the items covered in the book are quieting your inner critic and embracing your body as it is, discovering what you like sexually, how to communicate your needs with a partner, etc. Each section has detailed questions for you, to help you formulate your needs and then meet them.

This is definitely not my first foray into sexual wellness books, and one thing I need to compliment the author on is her inclusivity. Whatever shape your body, whatever your desires, whatever your sexuality...all are welcome. And there is very little gender talk in the book. She generally just refers to the body parts and doesn’t assign a gender to the person with said parts. Very well done!

Thank you to NetGalley & Chronicle Books for this advanced reader copy. All opinions expressed in this review are my own.

Thank you Netgalley for this ARC for an exchange for an honest review.

Excellent, very interesting and informative.

I received this book for free for review purposes from NetGalley the the publishers. WOW!!! "My Pleasure" was absolutely fabulous. My highlights were all of the positive body image content woven in with sex positive content. As a plus-sized curvy lady, I deeply related to Delarato's life experiences. Books like "My Pleasure" should be taught as sex-ed material for high schoolers. It was informative, well-written, and also funny. We should be able to have fun when we talk about sex and our bodies. I also absolutely adored the list of resources and references at the end of "My Pleasure" and have a whole list of new books and other things to check out. I have already recommended this book to my friends. Thanks to Delarato for teaching me some new tricks and tips, especially related to sex-toy safety and lube safety. This novel is a winner.

This book did a great job talking about self-love, self-worth, body-positivity, self-care, etc. Warning if you are not comfortable with sex, your sexuality, or similar topics that you will not enjoy this book. I think it is worth a read.

This would be a great guide for young adults, or perhaps people who have had prescriptive ideas and standards about sex and pleasure forced on them for religious, cultural, or other reasons. It's a wonderfully sex-positive, life-affirming manifesto for how to live a life full of self-knowledge and self-care, both solo and with others. Explanations of complicated and "taboo" topics are clear and presented without judgment and there are lots of helpful exercises and scripts for readers to learn themselves and to practice communicating with others, especially on subjects that can be uncomfortable or fraught. It takes most people decades to learn these things, but perhaps a great book like this can help get people on the path to a happier, more fulfilled life of pleasure sooner!

Many thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review!

Reading this book was like chatting with a friend. Laura's approach to a subject that some might find uncomfortable was honest and informative. The message of living a pleasure filled life begins with loving your whole self. I thought there would be more focus on the sex aspect of self love as the title lead me to believe but I was not terribly disappointed. There are exercises and assignments you can work through or not. I love all the resources provided as well. From podcasts to explore to the best sex toy websites recommended by the author. She even included a glossary! The one disappointment for me were the illustrations. I just couldn't get into them.

This is a well thought out book covering many aspects of relationship to yourself and others. At its core is loving and respecting yourself and feeling safe to share yourself with others. It stresses making connections emotionally & physically and practicing meaningful communication. Thanks to NetGalley and Chronicle Books for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This book didn't really work for me. As much as I love all the positivity and advice and information, nothing really rang new. I usually love conversational pieces but this one I really had to force myself to read. I wish it hit home a little more. Art was nice but sometimes a little tacky.

I received an arc of this title from NetGalley for an honest review. This book really wasn't written for me and I didn't find that I gained anything from it.

I received this book for free for an honest review from netgalley #netgalley

Well .. this was enlightening.

My Pleasure was quite the different book that I was expecting to read. It was empowering to read. I am giving it four stars.

I loved the body-positive and gender/sexuality inclusive tone that the author set from page one. I strongly believe that self-confidence and the nature of one's relationship with their body play a huge role in the way they sexually express themselves. I really enjoyed the intro at the beginning of the book and I think it really helped me to understand at the very beginning what I could expect from the book and what headspace I needed to be in to get the most out of it as possible. I also appreciated the discreet cover design!

My only complaint with this galley was that the epub file I was sent was almost unreadable–the copyright banners on all of the pages made the formatting of the book severely disrupted and it crashed my Kindle twice trying to read it. I'll look forward to the finished version when it is released!

A interesting book and I enjoyed the layout of the book and enjoyed, too, the author's style . . . but, for myself, I found my interesting waning over time and lost interest a bit as I continued reading.

I think this is a fabulous book but perhaps just not a fabulous book for me. Still, it was well done and offered valuable tips not just sexually but also sound advice on living a fully integrated life.

Lots of great and informative practices in this book. The author guides you thru many exercises to increase your knowingness of your body. Explanations are easy to read and relatable. The new Joy of Sex for women.