Asking for It

Asking for It: Lilah Pace

Graduate student Vivienne Charles is afraid of her own desires—ashamed to admit that she fantasizes about being taken by force, by a man who will claim her completely and without mercy. When the magnetic, mysterious Jonah Marks learns her secret, he makes an offer that stuns her: they will remain near-strangers to each other, and meet in secret so that he can fulfill her fantasy.

Their arrangement is twisted. The sex is incredible. And—despite their attempts to stay apart—soon their emotions are bound together as tightly as the rope around Vivienne’s wrists. But the secrets in their pasts threaten to turn their affair even darker...

Reader Advisory: Asking for It deals explicitly with fantasies of non-consensual sex. Readers sensitive to portrayals of non-consensual sex should be advised. 

I'm not really sure what attracted me to this novel. I guess I wanted to see if it was a glorified 50 Shades of Grey. I was kind of indifferent to 50 Shades. I didn't really mind it but I thought it had some shoddy writing. Well, I ended up liking this book for the most part! While all erotica anymore reminds me of 50 Shades (I know that's wrong, don't yell at me) because that's really the only one I've ever read, I do think that this book is a lot better written. Maybe I will now occasionally try erotica. Occasionally. Key word: Occasionally 

The thing I liked most about Vivienne was that she wasn't a doormat. In most books with differing power dynamics, the woman is mostly portrayed as a doormat. I really was pleasantly surprised in this case. Vivienne had a totally separate life independent of Jonah and wasn't dependent on him for everything going on in her life. She went to school and had her own friends. I think another favorite part of mine about Vivienne was that she didn't ditch her friends when she started seeing Jonah. Do you know what I'm talking about? I hate when girls do that, example book: The DUFF. It just really shows poor character in the girl and makes them extremely dislikable, especially in the case of a main character.

"You should be more careful who you trust." 

Jonah wasn't my favorite character. I don't think they went deep enough into his past, which I would have liked to see. I don't know if maybe there will be a novella of sorts in his point of view, or what but I think that could work. So basically, I don't think that Jonah is my FAVORITE book boyfriend of all-time, but he was ok. Obviously both of them have deep rooted issues that go into why they like non-consensual sex, but I'm not going to go into that because it'll spoil it for you! 

"I want to tell you this now--tonight, while you're safe, and with your friends, and you know I'm not threatening you. 

What your ex said--if that's the fantasy you want, I can give it to you." 

The underlying topic is obviously non-consensual sex, however none of the sex that happens in the book is actually non-consensual. I actually think that the sex in this book is lighter than the sex in 50 Shades. So, basically if you like 50 Shades I think that you'll like this book too. Overall, if you'd like a NA book to gauge this too, I find that Ugly Love was a bit sexier than this book but again I think this power dynamic was heavier as well. Anyway, I know that this book is definitely not going to be the normal cup of tea for a lot of my followers but it was an easy read - so if you don't mind books like 50 Shades (just saying that as a baseline) then give it a try! 

- Jocelyn