ameschreiber's review against another edition
2.0
Review posted at TRRC Reading http://trrcreading.blogspot.com/2012/10/destined-to-play-bloome-review.html?m=1
DESTINED TO PLAY - Bloome Review
DESTINED TO PLAY
Indigo Bloome
Avon
ISBN: 0-06-224347
October 2012
Erotic Romance
In DESTINED TO PLAY, psychologist Alexandra Blake travels away from her family to deliver a series of lectures; when she reconnects with old flame Jeremy Quinn, Alexandra spirals into an exploration of sexuality that surprises her. Told in first person, the novel flashes between the present and the past, showing the reader the depths of Alexandra’s attraction to Jeremy.
I want to make it clear that I am a huge fan of the Erotic Romance genre, and the BDSM sub-genre in particular; check out my Goodreads page, and you’ll see I keep myself stocked in erotic romance! With that said, I had a very difficult time getting through DESTINED TO PLAY. I had some real problems with the text, from the adultry that the main character seemed to have planned before she ever left home to the BDSM-style elements that are in no way true to those who live in the lifestyle. The concepts of safe, sane, and consensual are thrown out the door with this book. I also felt that while there was plenty of sex, there was a lack of romance; I think the author intended the romance between Alexandra and Jeremy to pick up from where it left off years ago, despite the fact that Alexandra is a married mother of two. The scientific elements of the story did spark my interest, though they made the sex act a little more clinical than I prefer. It also seemed that Alexandra resolved the problems in her marriage just a little too easily. DESTINED TO PLAY is the first in a trilogy, so perhaps the next book addresses some of these issues.
Reviewed by Angela Etheridge
Rating: 2
DESTINED TO PLAY - Bloome Review
DESTINED TO PLAY
Indigo Bloome
Avon
ISBN: 0-06-224347
October 2012
Erotic Romance
In DESTINED TO PLAY, psychologist Alexandra Blake travels away from her family to deliver a series of lectures; when she reconnects with old flame Jeremy Quinn, Alexandra spirals into an exploration of sexuality that surprises her. Told in first person, the novel flashes between the present and the past, showing the reader the depths of Alexandra’s attraction to Jeremy.
I want to make it clear that I am a huge fan of the Erotic Romance genre, and the BDSM sub-genre in particular; check out my Goodreads page, and you’ll see I keep myself stocked in erotic romance! With that said, I had a very difficult time getting through DESTINED TO PLAY. I had some real problems with the text, from the adultry that the main character seemed to have planned before she ever left home to the BDSM-style elements that are in no way true to those who live in the lifestyle. The concepts of safe, sane, and consensual are thrown out the door with this book. I also felt that while there was plenty of sex, there was a lack of romance; I think the author intended the romance between Alexandra and Jeremy to pick up from where it left off years ago, despite the fact that Alexandra is a married mother of two. The scientific elements of the story did spark my interest, though they made the sex act a little more clinical than I prefer. It also seemed that Alexandra resolved the problems in her marriage just a little too easily. DESTINED TO PLAY is the first in a trilogy, so perhaps the next book addresses some of these issues.
Reviewed by Angela Etheridge
Rating: 2
geo_ix's review
DNF 25%
Okay so I'm rather pissed that I literally can't read this. I tried, I really did because I absolutely hate not finishing things, but this just kills me to read. Firstly, she's married, and from the sound of it, acts like her relationship is normal and not like they argue, it's just that she's in love with this twat from college, and settled for someone she didn't love because he didn't want to settle down.
First chance she gets, she's jumping on him and agreeing to anything he says.
It wasn't just the story to this point that got to me, is was the writing and characters. Everything seemed a bit too formal or something... I don't know, it was stiff and I couldn't connect. As for the characters, Alex shit me to tears, and she was so self involved, saying she cared about her children (not so much her husband I noticed) but one touch and she was like goo and didn't care anymore.
Okay so I'm rather pissed that I literally can't read this. I tried, I really did because I absolutely hate not finishing things, but this just kills me to read. Firstly, she's married, and from the sound of it, acts like her relationship is normal and not like they argue, it's just that she's in love with this twat from college, and settled for someone she didn't love because he didn't want to settle down.
First chance she gets, she's jumping on him and agreeing to anything he says.
It wasn't just the story to this point that got to me, is was the writing and characters. Everything seemed a bit too formal or something... I don't know, it was stiff and I couldn't connect. As for the characters, Alex shit me to tears, and she was so self involved, saying she cared about her children (not so much her husband I noticed) but one touch and she was like goo and didn't care anymore.
lisamh68's review against another edition
3.0
I had a hard time getting into this story. It was more of a manual than a story.
atlantisblauw's review against another edition
1.0
I won this book in a Firstreads giveaway.
-----------------------------
I used to think that a negative review said more about the person writing it than about the book. In this case, I'm having a hard time coming up with positive aspects of this book.
The only positive thing I can come up with is that writing about the relation between depression, sensory stimulation and sex is original. Other than that, there's nothing I can think of.
The style of writing is terrible. When the main character was said to "literally drown in stimulation" I couldn't help wishing that were true. Indigo Bloome seems to be missing the point of the word 'literally' and she has demonstrated this on more than one occasion. Other than that the language is far from original. It lacks nearly every form of creativity. Also she mixes clinical terms with sex scenes, which for me at least is a turn off.
Saying that the characters are flat characters would be a compliment. And I got really fed up with the repetitive monologues of Alexandra, about Jeremy knowing her better than she knows herself.
The part about her ending her marriage just makes me laugh, it's so bad. "Hi honey, how was your trip?" 'Oh, it was great, but I cheated on you' "No problem, I'm gay anyway, let's drink wine and pretend nothing happened and we'll just get a divorce and never mind the kids...". After 200 pages of 'how can I do this, I'm a mother', she suddenly seems to forget she even has children who might have feelings about their parents separating.
One thing that makes the characters so superficial is that you never learn anything about them or about the world they live in. Alexandra only describes her own sensations, she hardly ever mentions how other people look, what her surroundings look like or anything else, other than vague terms like 'delicious', 'beautiful', etc.
To be honest, I don't understand why this book was published. Maybe the writer shows some promise in her choice of subject, but she clearly hasn't developed a 'voice' and could benefit from studying narratology.
-----------------------------
I used to think that a negative review said more about the person writing it than about the book. In this case, I'm having a hard time coming up with positive aspects of this book.
The only positive thing I can come up with is that writing about the relation between depression, sensory stimulation and sex is original. Other than that, there's nothing I can think of.
The style of writing is terrible. When the main character was said to "literally drown in stimulation" I couldn't help wishing that were true. Indigo Bloome seems to be missing the point of the word 'literally' and she has demonstrated this on more than one occasion. Other than that the language is far from original. It lacks nearly every form of creativity. Also she mixes clinical terms with sex scenes, which for me at least is a turn off.
Saying that the characters are flat characters would be a compliment. And I got really fed up with the repetitive monologues of Alexandra, about Jeremy knowing her better than she knows herself.
The part about her ending her marriage just makes me laugh, it's so bad. "Hi honey, how was your trip?" 'Oh, it was great, but I cheated on you' "No problem, I'm gay anyway, let's drink wine and pretend nothing happened and we'll just get a divorce and never mind the kids...". After 200 pages of 'how can I do this, I'm a mother', she suddenly seems to forget she even has children who might have feelings about their parents separating.
One thing that makes the characters so superficial is that you never learn anything about them or about the world they live in. Alexandra only describes her own sensations, she hardly ever mentions how other people look, what her surroundings look like or anything else, other than vague terms like 'delicious', 'beautiful', etc.
To be honest, I don't understand why this book was published. Maybe the writer shows some promise in her choice of subject, but she clearly hasn't developed a 'voice' and could benefit from studying narratology.
mandybrox's review against another edition
3.0
No sé qué pensar de este libro.
Más de una vez he estado fuera de mi zona de confort...
Más de una vez he estado fuera de mi zona de confort...
ankaashp's review against another edition
1.0
Malísimo. No encuentro nada positivo que decir sobre este libro.