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A review by dadjumper
Ticket To Love by Donna Jay
2.0
This is a fun concept that ends up being a real missed opportunity.
The concept of "21 year old lesbian gets kicked out and moves to New Zealand to live with an older lesbian woman and seduces here (and by the way the older woman is a sub)" is pretty much my shit.
Unfortunately I think Jay could have done a lot more with the setting and with the couple's dynamic before they get together. Tara moving to New Zealand is basically done and dusted in chapter 1, and it just becomes the setting from there; but in a way that doesn't feel very authentically kiwi. We get some namedrops of places around Wellington (and later, Nelson and Picton) but there's nothing in the writing style or the characters that feels very Aotearoa at all. Even certain turns of phrase feel like they've been localized for an international audience (i've never met anyone who says "gooseflesh" irl).
Also, there's barely any back-and-forth of wondering if the other person is into BDSM. They flirt a little bit, but I think it could have gone a lot further and built a lot more tension before they figure that out.
Also, I have a real problem with how Jay seems to think "topping from the bottom" is a bad thing. Sex, and especially kinky sex, is about communication, and what she's referring to is really just a sub communicating their needs. It was really weird and jarring that it was basically used as a pejorative here.
Also kind of a nitpick but homophobia being a key plot point just isn't that fun to read.
Overall, the sex is a lot of fun but I think the whole book is a real missed opportunity for something a lot more exciting.
The concept of "21 year old lesbian gets kicked out and moves to New Zealand to live with an older lesbian woman and seduces here (and by the way the older woman is a sub)" is pretty much my shit.
Unfortunately I think Jay could have done a lot more with the setting and with the couple's dynamic before they get together. Tara moving to New Zealand is basically done and dusted in chapter 1, and it just becomes the setting from there; but in a way that doesn't feel very authentically kiwi. We get some namedrops of places around Wellington (and later, Nelson and Picton) but there's nothing in the writing style or the characters that feels very Aotearoa at all. Even certain turns of phrase feel like they've been localized for an international audience (i've never met anyone who says "gooseflesh" irl).
Also, there's barely any back-and-forth of wondering if the other person is into BDSM. They flirt a little bit, but I think it could have gone a lot further and built a lot more tension before they figure that out.
Also, I have a real problem with how Jay seems to think "topping from the bottom" is a bad thing. Sex, and especially kinky sex, is about communication, and what she's referring to is really just a sub communicating their needs. It was really weird and jarring that it was basically used as a pejorative here.
Also kind of a nitpick but homophobia being a key plot point just isn't that fun to read.
Overall, the sex is a lot of fun but I think the whole book is a real missed opportunity for something a lot more exciting.