Review by Kitkat3 -- Lara's Journal by A. Gavazzoni
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Kitkat3
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Review by Kitkat3 -- Lara's Journal by A. Gavazzoni
[Following is a volunteer review of "Lara's Journal" by A. Gavazzoni.]
3 out of 4 stars
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Lara’s Journal by A. Gavazzoni is the second book in the Hidden Motives Series. One of my favorite parts of the first book Behind the Door was the mystery in Simone’s part of the story. Unfortunately the author gives away the ending of the first book in the beginning of this one, so I would definitely recommend reading them in order.
In the first book, Simone is reading the man’s (Mark’s) diary, but in this book, we get Lara’s side of the story. Lara suffered horrible sexual and emotional abuse as a young child, and the pain manifests itself in dangerous sex acts later in life. She pulls Mark into these same behaviors, and she dies during erotic asphyxiation. Simone is a psychologist that specializes in deviant sexual behaviors. She struggles with her personal life and is fearful that her captor from Behind The Door will be able to torment her again.
The author has a straightforward, easy to read writing style that I appreciate. I enjoyed the first and second book, and I will continue to read the series when a third book is released. It is not for the faint of heart as most of the book is sexually explicit content. This book also describes rape, physical, and mental abuse as this is a large part of Lara’s story and what made her the person she is. I love the mysteries in Simone’s part of the story, and this makes the breaks from Lara’s journal more enjoyable to read.
There were a couple of typos in this book. For instance I noticed ‘cloths’ instead of ‘clothes’ a few times. Even though I really enjoyed reading the book, I found some parts of it to not be as believable as I would have liked. Simone seems to put masochism, sadomasochism, homosexuality, threesomes, and any unconventional sex act in the same category. This does not make Simone a very convincing psychologist. I also find her character to be extremely annoying at times, because she is very judgmental for little reason.
There are other erotic novels that have elements of BDSM or unconventional sex in them, and it is normally portrayed in a negative light. They suggest that these behaviors are always a result of trauma or abuse earlier in life, and the people that enjoy it are mentally ill. I was hoping that this book would deviate from the norm, but unfortunately it did not. I do like that in the first book, Lara is the experienced and kinky one as normally the male takes that role in these types of books. However, in Lara’s Journal, the reader sees that Lara was originally the innocent person and was corrupted by a male pedophile.
For these reasons, I give Lara’s Journal 3 out of 4 stars. I feel like more could have been done with this book to make it really stand out compared to other erotic fiction. However, most of the book is very enjoyable, and the story kept me engaged. The book does end with a major cliffhanger, and some readers will not enjoy this especially since the next book does not appear to have been released yet.
******
Lara's Journal
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3 out of 4 stars
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Lara’s Journal by A. Gavazzoni is the second book in the Hidden Motives Series. One of my favorite parts of the first book Behind the Door was the mystery in Simone’s part of the story. Unfortunately the author gives away the ending of the first book in the beginning of this one, so I would definitely recommend reading them in order.
In the first book, Simone is reading the man’s (Mark’s) diary, but in this book, we get Lara’s side of the story. Lara suffered horrible sexual and emotional abuse as a young child, and the pain manifests itself in dangerous sex acts later in life. She pulls Mark into these same behaviors, and she dies during erotic asphyxiation. Simone is a psychologist that specializes in deviant sexual behaviors. She struggles with her personal life and is fearful that her captor from Behind The Door will be able to torment her again.
The author has a straightforward, easy to read writing style that I appreciate. I enjoyed the first and second book, and I will continue to read the series when a third book is released. It is not for the faint of heart as most of the book is sexually explicit content. This book also describes rape, physical, and mental abuse as this is a large part of Lara’s story and what made her the person she is. I love the mysteries in Simone’s part of the story, and this makes the breaks from Lara’s journal more enjoyable to read.
There were a couple of typos in this book. For instance I noticed ‘cloths’ instead of ‘clothes’ a few times. Even though I really enjoyed reading the book, I found some parts of it to not be as believable as I would have liked. Simone seems to put masochism, sadomasochism, homosexuality, threesomes, and any unconventional sex act in the same category. This does not make Simone a very convincing psychologist. I also find her character to be extremely annoying at times, because she is very judgmental for little reason.
There are other erotic novels that have elements of BDSM or unconventional sex in them, and it is normally portrayed in a negative light. They suggest that these behaviors are always a result of trauma or abuse earlier in life, and the people that enjoy it are mentally ill. I was hoping that this book would deviate from the norm, but unfortunately it did not. I do like that in the first book, Lara is the experienced and kinky one as normally the male takes that role in these types of books. However, in Lara’s Journal, the reader sees that Lara was originally the innocent person and was corrupted by a male pedophile.
For these reasons, I give Lara’s Journal 3 out of 4 stars. I feel like more could have been done with this book to make it really stand out compared to other erotic fiction. However, most of the book is very enjoyable, and the story kept me engaged. The book does end with a major cliffhanger, and some readers will not enjoy this especially since the next book does not appear to have been released yet.
******
Lara's Journal
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Like Kitkat3's review? Post a comment saying so!
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