Review: BDSM TPE is never easy to read for me
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 10 24, 2011
The writing is, as always, excellent. I am a big fan of Annabel's work. This one was a little different than some others - a slave scenario. Kudos to Annabel for not writing it with the slave saying "this slave" or otherwise referring to herself as third person - I cannot read those. I always feel like there is grave personal trauma or issues with the slave who talks this way. I've met some online and every interaction disturbs me.Anyway I thought Club Mephisto was good. A couple of things didn't quite add up - such as the fact she had a college degree and was quite intelligent. I really had a hard time buying that she would willingly chose this. I sensed an undercurrent that she thought she deserved it - but that is a far cry from wanting (and enjoying) it. That's probably where it kind of faltered a bit - there was so much here that she didn't want -- and I had a harder time with understanding and relating to that. For a submissive/slave that didn't seem to enjoy pain she sure got a lot of it - but noticeably absent were other things like humiliation via language (which I thought she'd of preferred).I thought the iron incident was out of place - not because it couldn't have happened (it could and clearly her confidence in herself was non existent) but because if her Master loved her so much why was his only real specification that she not have any scars or permanent damage? I felt like the focus was really on the physical and not the mental - and she was much more fragile than she ought to have been. Even Mephisto couldn't believe she did nothing at all in her life except live for her master -- he certainly notes that he did not expect their relationship to turn out that way!You could see glimpses of who she might have been but not enough to really form an attachment to her. I like to be attached - but if it seems someone has mental issues I just cannot attach to them. Healthy and likes things way kinky? Yep. Unhealthy and says so and likes it kinky? Yep. But unhealthy and trying to annihilate self under the guise of being a good slave? Not so much. It really all goes back to her motivation for becoming a slave - and we don't really ever get that. The only thing you get is this (what I read it as anyway) strong thread of some sort of atonement or deserving of this type of life by her. I just didn't understand it. And I've read a lot of TPE and BDSM so it is not like my exposure is limited.I quite liked Mephisto in some ways. Unapologetic - he acted like she was just another responsibility (and she was) which was in character. I wouldn't want to be with him - but he was consistent.The descriptive BDSM elements here are fantastic - really enjoyed how they were written. Annabel has a gift that allows this to come alive and its very visceral to me. I think if the slave had a bit more personality and seemed a little less IDK damaged (?) it would have been even more enjoyable.In the end I did a lot of thinking about this one - reflection, trying to figure things out, wondering and theorizing. Internal dissonance is not the most comfortable of things to experience.