Exodai by Elizabeth Hendrick | Blog Tour Book Review

[ad/gifted - I received a copy of this book for the purpose of this review. All thoughts and opinions are my own. This post contains affiliate links.]

Title & Author: Exodai by Elizabeth Hendrick 

Genre: Memoir

Publication date: 18th September 2023

My rating: 5/5

Blurb:

Tonight, I am going to be tortured for the woman I love …

Elizabeth’s drives and desires have always been unusual. Beginning in early childhood, her need for love and suffering took her from the prim surroundings of a Norfolk girls’ school to the secret, latex-clad, rope-bound, whip-lashed delights of the Tokyo role-playing scene.

For Elizabeth, torture was not about sexual gratification – it was about love. In this frank and open memoir, she tells the story of a remarkable personal journey. Attracted to other girls from an early age, Elizabeth struggled to come to terms with her sexuality. As a schoolgirl, her fantasies of torture – always for the benefit of whichever girl she was in love with – were rooted in her own inability to accept herself as a lesbian or reconcile her desires with her Christian beliefs. Before finally realising that connection, Elizabeth would go through years of emotional and physical pain.

Having experimented at university, Elizabeth discovered a whole new world when her career as a high-flying headhunter took her to Tokyo. There she was inducted into the Japanese fetish scene and learnt what real role-playing was all about. When she fell in love with a gorgeous Japanese dominatrix called Tomo and became her slave, she began a descent into hell. Tomo proved to be an irredeemable sadist who took torture far beyond the accepted limits. Elizabeth went to the brink of destruction for Tomo. Not for the faint-hearted, this gripping memoir describes what she experienced there and how she found her way back.

TRIGGER WARNING: this book contains graphic descriptions of real-life sadistic torture.

Review:

Whenever I read a memoir or non-fiction book, I tend to read them slower than fiction and I am probably not in the minority when I say this. However, when I started reading Exodai, all of a sudden it was 2 hours later and I was halfway through. This is probably one of my favourites.

This book follows Elizabeth's life as a Christian, coming to terms with her sexuality which didn't align with the Christian values. She then discovers the world of BDSM in Tokyo. The novel runs much deeper and at times my heart ached.

There is a lot of discovery, self-reflection, realisation and it felt very eye-opening to me. Elizabeth poses the question of, where is the line? When does BDSM stop being BDSM and be real torture and how to do you know if you are submitting for the right reasons? The relationship with Tomo was hard to read.

This is such a brutally honest memoir with a lot of thought provoking and emotional aspects. It takes a lot to share a story like this so openly and publicly, thank you for sharing it with us, Elizabeth.

•••

Thank you Literally PR for having me on the blog tour. You can find information about the other bloggers on the tour in the graphic below.

Sea Shaken by J.M. Simpson | Blog Tour Book Review

[ad/gifted - I received a eBook copy of this book for the purpose of this review. All thoughts and opinions are my own. This post contains affiliate links.]

Sea Shaken by J.M. Simpson

Star rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Publication date: 26th September 2022

Blurb:

Jesse Stevens lies in a coma after being pulled off a cliff by a psychopath who escaped from prison to find her.

He is in hiding, also hurt from the fall, but fuelled with rage. He needs to make sure she’s dead. If she isn’t, he’ll finish the job once and for all.

Military Intelligence Officer, Sam Jones, missing presumed dead, returns from Afghanistan after two years of brutal torture in captivity. Struggling to cope, Sam has no desire to carry on living, or return to family life, with his wife, Sophie, and son, Marcus. Sophie is desperate to help Sam recover and leans heavily on her friend and ex-forces soldier Foxy for support.

Castleby is plagued by a series of unexplained deaths among the elderly and that of a local fisherman. Inspector Steve Miller works closely with the new local GP, Kate Cooper, to try and find an explanation and they eventually uncover the sinister truth.

Review: 

If you have been a follower of mine for a while, you will know that I reviewed the previous two books in the Castleby series; Sea State and Sea Change. As soon as I heard there was a third installment, I jumped at the chance to read because I am so invested in these characters.

If you haven't read the other two books, a lot is caught up but I would definitely advise reading them first. In Sea Shaken, we are back at Castleby where we left off last time. Jesse is hospitalised and in a coma following an attack by her ex-boyfriend, Sophie's husband Sam has been found after being kidnapped and tortured whilst serving but is in a bad way and, like the other two books, we have the introduction of a new character, GP Kate Cooper. As well as the previous mafia storyline involving Jimmy, we also have some further goings-on that need solved. Elderly residents at a care home seem to be dying suddenly and it doesn't seem to just be due to old age...

I think this is probably my favourite of the three books in the Castleby series. I love how the fleshed out storylines continued on, I felt more of a connection to the characters and the chase was fantastic. The ending too - wow!

 

---

A massive thank you to Literally PR for having me on the blog tour. You can find the information about the other bloggers taking part in the tour in the graphic below.

Which Would You Rather? by Graeme Puckett | Blog Tour Book Review

[ad/gifted - I received a copy of this book for the purpose of this review. All thoughts and opinions are my own. This post contains affiliate links.]

Which Would You Rather? by Graeme Puckett

Star rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Publisher: Brown Dog Books 

Publication date: 29th June 2022

Blurb: 

A black comedy where the hero is an incompetent psychopath.

Brian is a troubled and easily irritated man with flexible morals. Passionate about film, he sees film references in everything. As an artist, a surrealist, his love of art, and colour in particular, tend to guide his judgements and decisions. Many of Brian's challenges in life are a result of an inept social awareness and some fairly politically incorrect ways of thinking. Consequently, these challenges usually lead to even greater dilemmas involving an array of new crimes and misdemeanours for him.

Killing three of his neighbours – albeit in record time, of which he is extremely proud – do nothing to help Brian's situation. Inclined to lie and cheat his way out of, and into, trouble, his options increase once he has become a killer and the murders have been committed. Now, in Brian's mind, any lesser crime has become acceptable and free to use in his bid to escape detection.

Review:

I love love books that surprise you and this book was crazy in the best way.

Our main character, 53 year old Brian has been planning to kill his neighbour Tony. He has it meticulously planned, in his head anyway, and is a bit obsessed with the Hollywood glamorisation of it. However, it turns into a bit of a comedy of errors when he accidentally becomes a triple murderer. He tries covering it up but it just snowballs in the funniest way.

As we read on, we discover just how unreliable Brian is. He becomes infatuated with the female police officer investigating his neighbour's murders, decides to try roofie-ing her, mutilates his face because he saw someone with a cool scar and wanted one.... The list goes on.

This book was super entertaining and whilst reading, I kept thinking about how the author's writing style reminded me of a mix of Chuck Palahniuk and Bret Easton Ellis. Chuck Palahniuk is one of my favourite authors so this bode well for me as a reader. I would definitely recommend this one if you like dark humour.

---

A massive thank you to Literally PR for having me on the blog tour. You can find information about the other bloggers taking part in the tour in the graphic below.

Urban Scarecrows by Jim Chambers | Blog Tour Book Review

[ad/gifted - I received a copy of this book for the purpose of this review. All thoughts and opinions are my own. This post contains affiliate links.]

Urban Scarecrows by Jim Chambers

Star rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Publisher: Silverwood Books

Publication date: 25th May 2022

Blurb:

The Labour Party election victory of 2019 ushers into power a radical socialist government which swiftly mutates to a British form of totalitarian Marxism in its quest for social justice and equality. Dominic Green, a Labour Party activist and celebrity chef, is caught up in the economic and social crisis as the country lurches towards civil war.

Taunted by the jibes of his volatile Spanish wife, Rosa, he moves from denial to acceptance to opposition and becomes a totemic media figure in the struggles. His marriage is in terminal decline; Rosa cannot forgive his philandering or his support of the government. His family falls apart as Rosa leaves him and one son is incarcerated, whilst the other attempts to liberate his sibling. Labelled a turncoat terrorist he is hunted by the brutal SNPS state police whose attempts to subjugate the population includes 'urban scarecrowing'.

Who can he trust as he goes on the run whilst assisting the resistance movement? Will Rosa forgive him as she tracks his public pronouncements and his efforts to free their son? Will Dominic escape the clutches of the SNPS as the net closes? Will international outrage translate into military intervention as sections of the armed forces rebel? And can Dominic survive and recover his relationship with Rosa and their surviving son?

Review:

This was sort of a new genre for me and I was very pleasantly surprised. Urban Scarecrows is a political thriller but I would probably also class it as dystopian fiction.

Set following the Labour Party's election win in 2019 and carrying through to 2027, celebrity chef and activist Dominic Green is caught up in the country's economic crisis. 

One son is imprisoned and sent to a rehabilitation centre that is run by the SNPS state police in order to either recruit young people into the SNPS or train them for other jobs in society. His other son is an activist and his relationship with his Spanish-born wife is on the rocks. Dominic himself is then painted as a terrorist.

This is a slow burner at the start but really kicks up a notch about halfway through. It is a good insight into how things are portrayed, how words can be twisted by the media and highlights what could happen if power is given to different parties with extreme views on how society should be run. 

I really enjoyed the thrill of this novel and like the author's writing style. 

---

A massive thank you to Literally PR for having me on the blog tour. You can find the information about the other bloggers taking part in the tour in the graphic below.

Sea Change by J. M. Simpson | Blog Tour Book Review

[ad/gifted - I received an ebook copy of this book for the purpose of this review. All thoughts and opinions are my own. This post contains affiliate links.]

Sea Change by J. M. Simpson

Star rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Publisher: Independently published

Publication date: 1st March 2022

Blurb:

Sinister undercurrents at are work in the seaside town Castleby. A young boy goes missing and another dies in suspicious circumstances.

Jesse Stevens believes she is safe after escaping from a madwoman who tried to kill her. But soon her worst nightmare returns. Her ex-partner has escaped from prison and is hunting her. She believes he will find her and kill her this time.

Ex-special forces soldier Rob Fox (Foxy) moves to Castleby to live a quiet life, cope with his grief and forget his past. He becomes friends with Sophie Jones who has returned to Castleby to look after her father, while she desperately waits for news about her soldier husband, who is missing in action. Sophie is unexpectedly attacked, unearthing a twenty-year-old unsolved murder.

Two local thieves steal from the local mafioso and pay the ultimate price, leaving the police with a rising body count and a missing boy to find.

Review:

I was so excited to be back in Castleby for the next installment in the series. This book can be read as a standalone as a lot of the main information about book one is included as a backstory but I would definitely recommend reading Sea State first as it is great!

I loved going back to old characters that I loved, namely Jesse and Doug and seeing how their relationship developed from the first book. As well as being reintroduced to our characters from Sea State, we also have some newcomers.

Rob "Foxy" Fox is ex-special forces and buys a closed climbing place in Castleby. Sophie Jones' husband Sam has been missing in action for two years and she holds out hope that he is still alive, despite all odds. She moves back to Castleby to look after her father who is ill.

J.M. Simpson is a fantastic writer and what I love most about the Castleby series is the sense of camaraderie with the residents there and the stories of what the RNLI do. Just like in our first book, we have a unknown narrator too who is watching one of our characters - but why? We have that twisty storyline too with a sense of chase. Very gripping and I can't wait for book three! 

--- 

A massive thank you to Literally PR for having me on the blog tour. You can find out more information about the other bloggers taking part in this tour in the graphic below.