Blog Tour Stop: Caroline & West/Deeper

This month marks the UK release of the hotly anticipated New Adult book, Deeper, the first in a set of books focusing on Caroline & West. This is a book that has had absolute rave reviews and almost non-stop praise from world-wide fans already, so it's definitely one of, if not the New Adult book to look out for.  

For my part in the blog tour, I'll be sharing my review of Deeper with you.

Here it is - enjoy!

Deeper by Robin York

Paperback, 400 Pages

Expected Publication 6th March 2014 by Piatkus

Shelves: arc-or-review, contemporary, drink-and-drugs, erotica, new-adult, read, read-in-2014, realistic-fiction, series-or-companions

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Description via Goodreads:

When Caroline Piasecki's ex-boyfriend posts their sex pictures on the Internet, it destroys her reputation as a nice college girl. Suddenly her once-promising future doesn't look so bright. Caroline tries to make the pictures disappear; hoping time will bury her shame. Then a guy she barely knows rises to her defence and punches her ex to the ground.

West Leavitt is the last person Caroline needs in her life. Everyone knows he's shady. Still, Caroline is drawn to his confidence and swagger - even after promising her dad she'll keep her distance. On late, sleepless nights, Caroline starts wandering into the bakery where West works.

They hang out, they talk, they listen. Though Caroline and West tell each other they're 'just friends,' their feelings intensify until it becomes impossible to pretend. The more complicated her relationship with West gets, the harder Caroline has to struggle to discover what she wants for herself - and the easier it becomes to find the courage she needs to fight back against the people who would judge her.

When all seems lost, sometimes the only place to go is deeper.

Deeper is a book that has had a lot of really rave reviews and as someone wanting to check out the offerings in the recently highly popular New Adult genre, I knew that this would have to be one of those definite to-reads for me. Deeper is a book that deals with and portrays what seems to be a real problem today, an issue known as 'Revenge Porn'. 

Deeper explores the life of Caroline, a college girl who has had sexual pictures of herself posted all over the internet, thanks to her ex-boyfriend, Nate. This behaviour is known as 'Revenge Porn'. I've never read any books on this subject before, but it seems like a very modern issue that we really should be reading about - it's certainly not something that is rare in our technology-obsessed society. I can't say that I've ever thought about the issue of revenge porn, but this book really brings to life how it easily it can happen and how easily things are shared amongst people. Caroline finds all of her life has been negatively affected by the photos, and we see how near-impossible it is to remove one post from the internet. I think that the author, York, has done a fantastic thing by bringing this topic to life and writing it realistically. 

As you'd expect, Caroline isn't having the best time at college, but things start to change after she sees a guy she doesn't know all that well, West Leavitt punching Nate. Despite his shady reputation, Caroline is intrigued by West and begins to spend time with him, their chemistry building each time they meet. We learn more about West, and it's easy to see why Caroline is so attracted. We find out that West is from a poor, unstable background and works his hardest to ensure his young sister is safe and cared for, he is absolutely devoted to her, their relationship feeling more like one between a father and daughter. When West is at college, working on making a better life for his sister, he makes bread during the night and sells home-grown weed with freshly baked muffins. West is absolutely irresistible, both physically and personality-wise throughout this book and it's completely understandable why Caroline is so attracted to him. We get to read from West's POV throughout the book, which I found equally as interesting as Caroline's POV, if not more. 

As for Caroline herself, I neither loved nor disliked her, she was a character that seemed like an average girl of her age - I don't think that she had any extreme personality traits or eccentricities, but I think that this actually benefits the way that the issue of revenge porn - it was easy to connect with her and imagine her situation. I did admire the fact that she was proactive and did something about her situation, and didn't just shy away from reality. I liked her to-the-point contributions.

I have to say, there were a few things that I had to adjust to in this book - I can't deny that I found some of the phrases/sentences quite cringe-inducing at points, but after adjusting to the book and York's writing, it didn't bother me so much. Naturally, being a new adult book, the book is full of sexual tension and well, the rest, and I really don't think anybody will be disappointed in that aspect - York really has excelled herself there! Again, some of the phrases felt a little crude which put me off, but I did adjust to the writing. 

Overall, I can see why Deeper is already globally popular and I for one have certainly been left wanting more West! I admire York for both tackling such a big issue and creating a story that I could really engage with. I will be looking forward to learning more about Caroline and West and sharing their new experiences in the next book!

I hope that you enjoyed my review and that it's made you interested in this book! Below is a list of the previous and upcoming spots in the UK blog tour for Deeper.

Thank you to Piaktus for providing the material for me to participate in this tour!

The Diary of a Submissive

The Diary of a Submissive by Sophie Morgan

Paperback, 320 pages

Published 30th August 2012 by Penguin

My shelves: arc-or-review, books-i-own, currently-reading, disliked, erotica, memoirs-biographies-etc, non-fiction, read-in-2012

My rating: 1.5 of 5 stars

Description via Goodreads:

Sophie Morgan is an independent woman in her thirties with a successful journalism career. Intelligent, witty and sarcastic, she could be the girl next door. Except that Sophie is a submissive; in the bedroom she likes to relinquish her power and personal freedom to a dominant man for their mutual pleasure.

In the wake of Fifty Shades of Grey, here is a memoir that offers the real story of what it means to be a submissive. From the endorphin rush of her first spanking right through to punishments the likes of which she couldn't begin to imagine, she explains in frank and explicit fashion the road she travels. But it isn't until she meets James that her boundaries are really pushed. As her relationship with him travels into darker and darker places the question becomes: where will it end? Can she reconcile her sexuality with the rest of her life and is it possible for the perfect man to also be perfectly cruel?

Racy, controversial, but always warm, fun and astoundingly honest this is a fascinating and thought provoking look at a seemingly paradoxical side to human nature and sexuality that no man or woman will be able to put down.

Buy this book:

The Book Depository / Amazon (US/INT) / Amazon UK

My thanks go to Penguin for sending me this book in exchange for an honest review.

Okay, I'll admit that I feel bad for giving a book such a low rating, but I don't do it unless I really don't like the book, and this was one of these books. I'm not a prudish person, I'm quite open and taboo subjects don't put me off, they interest and intrigue me. However, something about this book didn't feel right to me.

I went into this book with an open mind - in fact, I was excited to read it and to see what it was like. After the roaring success of Fifty Shades of Grey, I am sure that a lot of people will want to see what the BDSM lifestyle is really like. Sophie Morgan gives us a look into her life in this memoir, describing her life as a submissive.

The book opens with a very vivid description of the author and her partner on a street, with someone watching them. The scene is obviously meant to look very abusive, and it's successful in that way - it did seem abusive and to be honest, it did make me feel a little disgusted, there was certainly nothing appealing about  the situation to me, anyway. I understand that this was probably the point, but after reading that small section, I already wanted to put the book down. A lot of people do simply see this lifestyle as abusive and if you do, I really don't think this is a book that will change your mind. I do not find the thought of BDSM abusive, but I have to say that I did feel that at points in this book, Morgan was in a somewhat abusive situation.

Some people will enjoy this book and the insight that it gives you into BDSM relationships and lifestyles, but to be honest, I didn't learn anything new from this book. It's not to say I know a lot about BDSM, just the things that most people know. I was hoping to really get behind some of the thoughts and emotions, some of the issues behind this somewhat taboo subject and I was glad to see that Morgan was recognising some of the emotional issues related to acting as a submissive and acknowledging them, but I still would've liked to explore this further. Of course, to please those who are simply reading it for the sex scenes, there are lots of those - similar situations with a few different men. 

One of my main problems was that I simply couldn't bring myself to care much about Sophie. She is very defensive and full of contradictions which really infuriated me. Her insistence on labelling herself a feminist and grammar fascist were grinding - especially when on the next page the wrong your was used! I certainly didn't hate her, but the problem was that I didn't like her either - I couldn't connect with her in any way as I felt she was always trying to make herself appear to be above others, living some elitist lifestyle, which ironically she is making appear quite common.

Despite Morgan being a journalist, I wasn't impressed with the writing in this book and some of the language that she used in this book was anything but sexy - instead quite crude. As you may be able to tell, this isn't a book that I enjoyed nor was it one that I would particularly recommend. I don't regret reading this book, but it's not a book that will stay with me for any of the right reasons.

Fifty Shades Darker (Fifty Shades #2)

Fifty Shades Darker by E.L. James

Paperback, 532 pages

Published 26th April 2012 by Arrow 

(First published 5th September 2011)

My shelves: abuse, books-i-own, currently-reading, erotica, read-in-2012, realistic-fiction, series-or-companions, too-much-hype

My rating: 2.5 of 5 stars

Description via Goodreads:

Daunted by the singular tastes and dark secrets of the beautiful, tormented young entrepreneur Christian Grey, Anastasia Steele has broken off their relationship to start a new career with a Seattle publishing house.
But desire for Christian still dominates her every waking thought, and when he proposes a new arrangement, Anastasia cannot resist. They rekindle their searing sensual affair, and Anastasia learns more about the harrowing past of her damaged, driven and demanding Fifty Shades.
While Christian wrestles with his inner demons, Anastasia must confront the anger and envy of the women who came before her, and make the most important decision of her life.

Buy this book:

The Book Depository / Amazon (US/INT) / Amazon UK

Okay... I wasn't going to read this. After reading the first few chapters of the first book, Fifty Shades of Grey, I told myself that I wouldn't continue the trilogy.  Obviously I lied to myself - I went out and bought the second and third book only days after finishing the first. I'm not sure why, but I can't help but want more - maybe it's because I've never read anything like this before - it is something new.

At the beginning of this book, I was absolutely cringing. Not because of the sex scenes, but because of the writing. Some of the phrases used in this book are seriously cringe-inducing and I found myself grimacing when our main character, Ana, was talking about her 'inner goddess'. However, once I had adjusted to the writing and just concentrated on what was actually going on, I did find myself getting lost in the story again, flicking through pages at top speed. This book certainly had more of a plot than the first one - rather than just sex scene upon sex scene, there was actually an alright story behind it too. We get to learn a lot more about Christian's past in this book which was all quite predictable but still quite interesting. There were certainly more serious issues addressed in this book. There is actually so much packed into this one that it'd be hard to mention everything. I do think that some of the issues/situations should have been explored more as I felt a few felt casually dismissed.

I think that although the relationships and actions of the characters aren't entirely realistic, they are somewhat interesting. Once again, both Ana and Christian had their faults and certainly weren't totally likeable characters. Like many others, I do find Ana to be quite pathetic at points, her actions sometimes childish. To be honest, I can live with her though - she may be a pushover, but I'd imagine that a lot of people in her situation would react the same way. Christian is ...Christian. He's still charming, mysterious, seductive and attractive despite his sometimes scary attitude. He doesn't seem to be as controlled by his 'sadist' feelings, but they are clearly still there. I thought it was good to see him work through his psychological problems - it was nice to actually have more of a focus in this book rather than just all of the sex scenes. Of course there was plenty of steamy sex scenes again and more visits to Christian's playroom.

I am giving this two and a half stars because that's simply what I feel that it deserves overall. The writing is certainly not great and I'm not a fan of the whiny main character. Despite that, it has still managed to get me hooked. Some people will be charmed by Christian and some will find him simply abusive. Some people will find reading about a BDSM relationship uncomfortable. Like all books, some people will like it and some people just won't. I have mixed feelings yet I still want to read more...

Fifty Shades of Grey (Fifty Shades #1)

Fifty Shades of Grey (Fifty Shades #1) by E.L. James

Paperback, 514 pages

Published 12th April 2012 by Arrow Books

My shelves: adult-fiction, books-i-own, erotica, imm, not-for-me, read-in-2012, realistic-fiction, series-or-companions

My rating: 2.5 of 5 stars

Description via Goodreads:

When literature student Anastasia Steele interviews successful entrepreneur Christian Grey, she finds him very attractive and deeply intimidating. Convinced that their meeting went badly, she tries to put him out of her mind - until he turns up at the store where she works part-time, and invites her out. Unworldly and innocent, Ana is shocked to find she wants this man. And, when he warns her to keep her distance, it only makes her want him more. But Grey is tormented by inner demons, and consumed by the need to control. As they embark on a passionate love affair, Ana discovers more about her own desires, as well as the dark secrets Grey keeps hidden away from public view...

 Please note that this book is classified as Erotica. If you're under 18, or likely to be offended by sexual themes, it is recommended that you do not read this review.

I probably would have never have picked this book up if it there hadn't been such fuss made over it in the book blogosphere and the news that it was going to be made into a film (What kind of film it will be, I really don't know...). All I knew about it when I picked it up was that it was once fan fiction and had erotic themes. I also knew that there must be something about it that made it so controversial.

I'll admit that I was a bit nervous when I was starting the book. I haven't read erotica before (unless you count that scene in Tipping the Velvet) and whilst I am certainly not a prude, the thought of reading a load of BDSM sex scenes did, for some reason, unnerve me. Thankfully, when I got used to it, it didn't really bother me at all. There are some pretty strong images, a lot (expectedly) involving sexual restraints, sexual torture and the like, so if you're not comfortable with those ideas, you're really not going to be comfortable with the book. There are no holds barred with the descriptions of the sex scenes, apart from when our protagonist, Ana, mentions her 'sex' or 'down there' - for some reason, she can't give it a proper name, which I found strange and a little immature, considering what she was doing. Though I don't have any other experience with erotica to compare it to, it did sound quite amateur because of the writing.

Speaking of Ana, I thought that she was so frustrating and frankly, at times, downright stupid. She couldn't seem to make her mind up about anything at all. I understand that accepting a contract to be a sex slave would be a very big decision, but it wasn't only that that she couldn't agree to or decline. She didn't seem know what she wanted and so a lot of her behaviour made her look really hypocritical. At some moments, she was sure that she didn't want to be dominated, but her actions really didn't reflect that. Her relationship with Christian Grey was just, in general, disturbing. I don't mean that by the fact that they're indulging in BDSM sex, but rather because although they both claim to want to avoid it, they are constantly mentally manipulating each other.

I can understand why people find Christian Grey attractive (and hey, if he's played by Ian Somerhalder in the movie, I probably would too), but I, personally, find his lifestyle to be degrading to his sexual partners and I found him to be disgustingly controlling (not just in his 'Red Room of Pain'). I will admit that I did like his joking in his e-mails and his slight charm, but I can't really excuse his mood swings just because he had a certain cheeky humour. It's certainly up for debate and I am sure that a lot of people will think 'he's messed up, has issues and it's not his fault', but I can't buy in to that - there's still no excuse to act the way that he does with Ana.

So why the two and a half stars? Despite being really quite irritated by the ever mood-changing characters, I still managed to get hooked into the book and found it to be quite addicting, probably because (once I had read a few chapters), I found it easy to read. If you don't look too deeply into it, it's not completely terrible - I think that this is something that you've got to be quite open-minded to read and enjoy. If you push some things aside, it's easy to get engrossed. As a reviewer, I thought that the quality of writing was rather poor and I just didn't like or connect with the characters. I didn't hate this book, though and I certainly don't regret picking this up as I did need to make my own decision about it. Do pick it up to make your own decision, but this book is not for the easily embarrassed or the overly critical.