Reviews with content warning for Sexual harassment - Stuffed

Reviews tagging 'Sexual harassment'

Stuffed by Sylvia Morrow

4 reviews

sophiereadsstories's review against another edition

dark funny medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

I'm no stranger to the weird, wacky, WTF world of books with very weird MMCs - Yes I've read the potato book. Yes I've read the door book. I've read a dinosaur shifter polyamorous book; a Ginger Cookie man book and a a guy/racoon who can ejaculate whatever you wish for.

Suffice to say I'm no stranger to reading something and going WTF? every few seconds, so a sentient pillow book is not going to gross me out, ok.

Stuffed has some wonderfully funny moments - the part about the phoenix and the goose? His

Spoiler

body fluids being feathers and when they had to build his ... <i>disco stick</i>

Then the book takes a darker turn, than I am used to such a short book (85pg) and also, was not expecting-

Spoiler

Ori gaining his life force by sucking the life out of live beings - first insects, then Anne's creepy co-worker, some creepy teenagers that harass her on the street, and the supervisor of her flat. And he does this with zero guilt or remorse. Because he loves her and why would he feel guilty? He's a pillow!

I did think that Ori's devotion and need to please Anne was a bit weird, especially as, by the end of the book, he had no other interests outside of being what Anna needed and wanted.

All in all, I really enjoyed Stuffed for what it is: an erotic MF living pillow romance. If you expected anything else, or were weirded out by the premise - that sounds like a you problem, the synopsis and CWs are quite clear.

<b>A note on Anne's (possible) OCD</b>

It's also clear from the start (to me at least), but not explicitly stated in the CW or book itself, that Anne probably has obsessive compulsive disorder, with germ OCD being one of her biggest obsessions and avoidance (of any and all physical contact with people) and overly cleaning herself being her biggest compulsion.

I am always wary when authors include OCD as a plot point, or part of a character, because it can easily be used flippantly or to make a caricature out of the person who has it. I don't think Sylvia did this - while not focusing on Anne's OCD as part of the plot, it does play a HUGE part in way she avoids contact with people and the book does show how much time and mental energy it takes to live with feeling unclean all the time.

Manifesting a sentient pillow to avoid human touch? That might go a bit too far, or I might be reading too much into it.

Content Warnings