Are you just curious about BDSM or a BDSM baby? 

 

I don’t subscribe to telling people what to read, but if you think Submit is your next go-to book on how to be a submissive or what to look for in a submissive, then you’re going to want to look for another book. This is not that. 

 

However, if you’ve always been curious about how one, singular submissive’s mind works, along with some interesting anecdotes, facts, scientific studies, quotes, and statistics surrounding sexuality and other matters that you may not even think play a part in kink, then Submit might actually be a book that would interest you a great deal. 

 

There are two caveats I have for you, though: Keep in mind this memoir is about one submissive’s experiences and therefore do not reflect the experiences or practices of other submissives, and please PLEASE be aware this book contains material that could be potentially triggering to those that may be more sensitive. Your mental health matters, always. 

 

Submit is separated into three sections: Mind, Body, and Soul. I found I enjoyed the first section the most. Sonnet is overall a very talented writer. She has a very clever and seamless way of switching from her “show” sections of the text to the more “tell” sections and then back again. The same is applicable to switching topics. In my opinion this is best employed in the “Mind” section, though she comes back and does it almost as well in the “Soul” section. The “Body” section is easily the most uneven and awkwardly written section of the book, which makes sense to me given that Sonnet isn’t a doctor, scientist, or mental health professional. 

 

I have many issues concerning the fact Sonnet doesn’t bother to distinguish between a submissive and a masochist, and the fact it seems she doesn’t take the matter of safewords as seriously as I would hope any BDSM practitioner would. I also have a tremendous issue with the fact there were no content warnings included in the book (it should be mentioned they may be included in the final copy and just were not included in my eARC). While I personally didn’t find them necessary, there are a great many people who may pick up this book and unwittingly be triggered by material inside. Content warnings can give potential readers time to gather themselves before plunging into a book that may trigger them. That’s an important issue in a book that boldly deals with BDSM topics. 

 

I hope this book finds fans and shelves to belong on. It’s not a bad book. It’s just an uneven one that doesn’t quite meet up with what I would hope to read in a book that presumes to take BDSM and submission seriously. 

 

I was provided a copy of this title by the publishers and author via Netgalley. All thoughts, opinions, views, and ideas expressed herein are mine and mine alone. Thank you. 

 

File Under: Memoir/Nonfiction