Scan barcode
A review by kanha
Silk Threads: Three Tales of Passionate Japan by Cecilia Tan, Laura Antoniou, Midori
2.0
I got this book through Netgalley for reviewing purposes, all thoughts and opinions are my own.
Silk Threads contains three erotic BDSM stories set in Japan in the past, the present and the future. And the reason that I decided to read this is simply because it's about Asian women, and I enjoy that representation. So I went into this with no real expectations, because I didn't even read the book description before reading the book.
I have say that it is best to already know of some Japanese terms and perhaps mythology since there is no glossary, and you might have to search up some of the words used to better understand the stories, but it is not a must. I'm sure that you will still be able to understand everything that is going on without any prior knowledge about Japanese culture and words.
It's also nice how all stories incorporates/mentions some of the things that happened in the previous stories, which made the overall book fit together more nicely in my opinion.
My review will be a short description to each of the stories, so that you know a little of what you are going into. I will write my opinion and a rating for each short story.
Overall rating 2 stars, the book wasn't for me, but if you are interested in soft BDSM themes, and female empowerment, then I do think that you would enjoy this book.
The Way of Heaven by Laury Antoniou - 2,5 stars
A female general is the dom to a prince. She chooses his future wife and teaches her how to perfectly dominate and please the prince. The General also helps Umiko(the wife) find and accept her inner power.
I like the writing style, it feels very eloquent, but some places the writing did confuse me a little. I do enjoy the historical aspect, and I'm pleased that there is no love triangle, but mutual love between the main characters.
The sexual content wasn't too explicit, and the BDSM was quiet soft, nothing remarkable about it.
There are also some paranormal themes, which I did not expect, but I didn't mind it either. Since the setting is historical thus I do find it normal for Japanese mythical creatures to also be a part of the story. If I had to place the era the story is set in, I would think that it is the Edo Period, as far as my knowledge goes, samurais where part of that period.
Overall I liked the writing style, but found the story slightly boring.
The Secret of Silk by Midori - 1,5 stars (this review contains spoilers)
A female doctor has a clinic in a small village, and she becomes sexually attracted to one of the villagers. But the villager isn't like any other man.
The first sexual encounter starts of quiet weird, at first it made me unsure if it was consensual or not. Everything escalates really quickly, the first sex scene goes from 0-100, which caught me so of guard. Honestly the writing for that scene was so weird that I couldn't even wrap my head around what was happening.
There is a ton of foreshadowing in this story, in regards to the whole tengu thing.
I also noticed that there's quiet a lot of voyeurism in this story, but it's specifically crows "watching" the main characters having sexual interactions, I found that weird.
Again the sexual content in this story isn't too explicit, but it does get detailed at times, and it is very soft BDSM, a little bondage (tying hands together) and some spanking.
And the guy, kind of turns into a large bird (tengu) when he reaches peak arousal/orgasm, which in my opinion kind of turns it into bestiality... so that is pretty weird..
The male lead kind of gaslights the female lead which, doesn't sit well with me, no matter his reasons for it. It's not really gasligting per se, because the male lead is not doing it out of ill will, but Ami the female lead, starts to think that she is going crazy, hallucinating things, which really scares her, so I didn't like how he was lying, and keeping pretty big, important things from the female lead.
I thought that I was safe and would never have to read a sex scene in the sky ever again after ACOFAS, but sadly The Secret of Silk failed me. My eyes and mind are deeply scarred for life. RIP me.
I found this story too weird and off for me, I was really not a fan. This might be one of the weirdest stories I have ever read in my life, at least that one scene where he shape shifts. If you read this story then you know what I mean.
The Bond of Love by Cecilia Tan - 1 star
The story starts of in Nagasaki in 1945, and the main character Jiro ponders if he should follow his heart, or his families wishes. Jiro finds a cat that time travels him 102 years into the future. Tokyo, year 2047 the soon to be empress, princess Ami visits a hospital where she meets Jiro, whom has been in a coma for a month.
This story is more explicit than the other two, and contains elements of bondage, lots of it actually. The story is actually just about a bondage kink and how two people the feels misunderstood, gets to share their kink with each other, and how similar their life situations are to each other.
The way the bondage scenes are written, feels quite sensual at times, which helps with the overall mood.
There is non-con and intent of rape in this story.
I don't have much to say, other than I found this story too boring, it didn't carry the depth that the other stories did.
Silk Threads contains three erotic BDSM stories set in Japan in the past, the present and the future. And the reason that I decided to read this is simply because it's about Asian women, and I enjoy that representation. So I went into this with no real expectations, because I didn't even read the book description before reading the book.
I have say that it is best to already know of some Japanese terms and perhaps mythology since there is no glossary, and you might have to search up some of the words used to better understand the stories, but it is not a must. I'm sure that you will still be able to understand everything that is going on without any prior knowledge about Japanese culture and words.
It's also nice how all stories incorporates/mentions some of the things that happened in the previous stories, which made the overall book fit together more nicely in my opinion.
My review will be a short description to each of the stories, so that you know a little of what you are going into. I will write my opinion and a rating for each short story.
Overall rating 2 stars, the book wasn't for me, but if you are interested in soft BDSM themes, and female empowerment, then I do think that you would enjoy this book.
The Way of Heaven by Laury Antoniou - 2,5 stars
A female general is the dom to a prince. She chooses his future wife and teaches her how to perfectly dominate and please the prince. The General also helps Umiko(the wife) find and accept her inner power.
I like the writing style, it feels very eloquent, but some places the writing did confuse me a little. I do enjoy the historical aspect, and I'm pleased that there is no love triangle, but mutual love between the main characters.
The sexual content wasn't too explicit, and the BDSM was quiet soft, nothing remarkable about it.
There are also some paranormal themes, which I did not expect, but I didn't mind it either. Since the setting is historical thus I do find it normal for Japanese mythical creatures to also be a part of the story. If I had to place the era the story is set in, I would think that it is the Edo Period, as far as my knowledge goes, samurais where part of that period.
Overall I liked the writing style, but found the story slightly boring.
The Secret of Silk by Midori - 1,5 stars (this review contains spoilers)
A female doctor has a clinic in a small village, and she becomes sexually attracted to one of the villagers. But the villager isn't like any other man.
The first sexual encounter starts of quiet weird, at first it made me unsure if it was consensual or not. Everything escalates really quickly, the first sex scene goes from 0-100, which caught me so of guard. Honestly the writing for that scene was so weird that I couldn't even wrap my head around what was happening.
There is a ton of foreshadowing in this story, in regards to the whole tengu thing.
I also noticed that there's quiet a lot of voyeurism in this story, but it's specifically crows "watching" the main characters having sexual interactions, I found that weird.
Again the sexual content in this story isn't too explicit, but it does get detailed at times, and it is very soft BDSM, a little bondage (tying hands together) and some spanking.
And the guy, kind of turns into a large bird (tengu) when he reaches peak arousal/orgasm, which in my opinion kind of turns it into bestiality... so that is pretty weird..
The male lead kind of gaslights the female lead which, doesn't sit well with me, no matter his reasons for it. It's not really gasligting per se, because the male lead is not doing it out of ill will, but Ami the female lead, starts to think that she is going crazy, hallucinating things, which really scares her, so I didn't like how he was lying, and keeping pretty big, important things from the female lead.
I thought that I was safe and would never have to read a sex scene in the sky ever again after ACOFAS, but sadly The Secret of Silk failed me. My eyes and mind are deeply scarred for life. RIP me.
I found this story too weird and off for me, I was really not a fan. This might be one of the weirdest stories I have ever read in my life, at least that one scene where he shape shifts. If you read this story then you know what I mean.
The Bond of Love by Cecilia Tan - 1 star
The story starts of in Nagasaki in 1945, and the main character Jiro ponders if he should follow his heart, or his families wishes. Jiro finds a cat that time travels him 102 years into the future. Tokyo, year 2047 the soon to be empress, princess Ami visits a hospital where she meets Jiro, whom has been in a coma for a month.
This story is more explicit than the other two, and contains elements of bondage, lots of it actually. The story is actually just about a bondage kink and how two people the feels misunderstood, gets to share their kink with each other, and how similar their life situations are to each other.
The way the bondage scenes are written, feels quite sensual at times, which helps with the overall mood.
There is non-con and intent of rape in this story.
I don't have much to say, other than I found this story too boring, it didn't carry the depth that the other stories did.