I loved this book and could not bear to put it down! Violet is a wonderful character, she is not perfect but she is bold and brave. She is likable. She values the friendships she makes. Viggo is a man with an unfortunate past and an equally likeable character. Lee is probably the only character that I did not care for at all in this book....his characterization seemed sort of 'BLAH' to me. I think he could have been fleshed out more...I mean Violet is married to him but they barely have any interaction in the book, seemed like a missed chance in my opinion. I read this book in less than 24 hours, mainly because it's easy to digest, short and also because I ended up skipping the boring bits (I do this a lot with books - anything that's irrelevant to the storyline, you bet I'll skim right over). That's not to say this book wasn't somewhat entertaining - I did enjoy it to a point but I believe it has too many flaws and is too un-polished to receive any more than 2.5 stars. Gender, orientation, inclusivity, pairings, kinks, fetishes: ~ Gay all the way ~ with narrative choices in terms of sexual positions, partners, and kinks. Bella Forrest is a published author of fiction. She says her life being a writer truly first started at the age of five. That is when she would be under the table in the kitchen making picture books. But abiding by rules has never been Violet's strong suit and she's tired of playing a game she didn't agree to.

BRILLIANT. I consider myself an avid reader of quite a few genres so it's easy for me to get cynical about storylines, originality and (if I make it far enough) the ending. A storyline dealing with, at first glance, such a hot topic as gender expectations is extraordinarily risky but I'm thrilled and proud to say that the author exceeded my expectations by not only rising to the challenge but soaring over it. From the first word to the final word I was gripped. This is an intelligent book that I will happily reread. UPDATE: Aug. 12, 2020, 3:12 p.m. PDT This article has been updated to correct an error in Zsuzsa James' last name. The main character makes a lot of random decisions just to add conflict to the novel. I don't believe her actions were logical or believable. Opens minds, breaks down myths and vaporises prejudice - I loved it!' - Rebecca Root, star of Boy Meets Girl

A Note From the Publisher

That is how the lands of Patrus and Matrus were created and they give each gender the chance to run their own region without interference. Violet never thought that the world could run any different, but now she is finding that her old beliefs may have to be challenged. The boys who are deemed unworthy....well....they claim they send them to the mines...but who can really be sure? This book totally lives up to its unique premise! Bella Forrest, known for her A Shade of Vampire series, truly delivers a complex and interesting new microcosm in the form of a society completely divided into matriarchal and patriarchal “countries”. Her foray into young adult proves fruitful with a debut that is both refreshing and thought provoking. Playing on the stereotypes of the sexes, while also looking deeper into the character traits that separate them, Ms. Forrest creates a completely believable society that debases itself by dividing itself.

Gender, orientation, pairings, kinks, fetishes: Primarily trans women lesbian sex scenes with a bend toward sci-fi kinks. I would highly recommend this book to readers of dystopian fiction. There is a little romance in this book, but none of it is cheesy, everything is quite organic. The plot is unique and the world is definitely fun to read about....definitely different from anything I have read in a long while. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this. It's one of those books which is a series, but by the end of book one, it hasn't answered the necessary questions hence you need to read the other (seven?!) books in the series to actually reach a satisfactory conclusion. But...I knew that I had become a different kind of passenger. The kind of passenger to leap from a runaway train. The kind who would not wait until the end.

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Some plot points seemed really convenient, also. The book seems like it was 100% designed to capitalize on The Hunger Games and similar successful books. Several times characters would do stuff where it didn’t seem logical, like it didn’t match what we’d read so far about that character, and it would seem a little…off. And it tries too hard to hit all the desired tropes in the plot. Though I don’t know that this is a true “cliffhanger” ending, I felt the ending was abrupt. Important questions are not answered and we really don’t get any “closure”. I hate to feel that way, but I do. I realize that in a series, we have to want more in the next book, but as a seasoned reviewer and blogger, I can say that it doesn’t need to be this way. In truth, it feels very much like this was all written together and then broken into multiple books. Early cover art has the title “The Gender Games” and she noted it was the longest book she’s written, so I think this is very possible. That being said, if Ms. Forrest keeps her insanely-fast production schedule as she has with the ASoV series, it probably will have very little bearing. I lost sleep over this book. When I wasn't reading it, I thought about it. I was rooting for Violet. I wanted to read when I couldn't get to my Kindle. This book kept me going, thirsting for more. Thank you Bella Forrest! Lee was absolutely 2D. I mean, there were even things he said and did which contradicted his own behaviour. It was like the author couldn't be bothered giving him the time of day or letting him have the chance to establish his own motives or personality. He was just an accessory to Vi.

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As a child, Violet fought to save her brother from the cruelty of Matrus in a thwarted attempt to smuggle him across the river to Patrus. Her punishment, a prison type environment that will leave her hardened, bitter and yearning for a sense of freedom neither side can provide. Her latest crime will leave her scheduled for death until she is offered the opportunity to play spy as the wife of a Matrus sympathizer in Patrus. All is not as it seems as she navigates the stifling world of Patrus and the one man she should fear the most is the one man who steals her heart, and yet, she must betray him, but for what?

The whole storyline was flat. The twists were obvious and the story was a little shallow for my liking. It started off strong though and I wished it had continued as such. I will be honest and say I didn’t like Violet. I found her really immature and impulsive and easily swayed. Oh and let’s not forget selfish! I guess I can understand that since she’s lived most of her life fending for herself, but still, you want to like the main character right? The setting needed more attention. For example, each city is ruled by a monarch who lives in a palace and has courtiers, but everything works more like a democracy. And it was difficult to place it in a time period - it could've been futuristic, or an alternate modern America, but it had echoes of the 1950s in terms of fashion, and a medieval twist with the whole monarchy/sexist themes. I wanted to know how these societies came to this point. What caused the final break. How it could be decided at a government level that something as big as a national gender division should take place. I wanted to see how the mindset of the people was different. The effects of male-chauvinism on men. The effects of feminism on women. How it would isolate them from each other. The resulting disillusion and strain. How it would effect different occupations. Education. Science. Art. The political and economic situation. But none of these issues were examined. While you can spend the days pursuing votes in the popularity competition while dodging suspicion to maintain your cover, you'll also be pursuing sex. No matter what happens during each day, when the sun goes down you choose one of two characters to share a room with—one dominant and the other submissive. Ladykiller in a Bind is an introduction to BDSM, and a great one. If you thought "subspace" was where Optimus Prime keeps his trailer you're gonna learn some stuff. I wasn't sure what to expect from this book, but I really enjoyed it. Don't expect a really deep look at gender issues, as this is more a light teen book. But that said I whizzed through it and found myself bummed when it ended.Porn video games come with a lot of stigma, and understandably so. But if you push through all that, you'll find there actually are some really good, very NSFW adult games out there. What it is: Ghosthug Games’ beloved Hardcoded is not only the height of queer visual novel erotica, but also showcases the power of adult games as more intimate and exploratory porn. Valens described the game as being centered around “an android trans girl who runs away from her oppressive life serving human needs and becomes friends with a group of queers living in a cyberpunk dystopian city. There's some sort of virus going around making everyone really, really horny. The game is part cyberpunk adventure, part trans girl story, and part queer porn game. It's really kinky and hot and fun and there's a little bit for every girl in it, although it's best enjoyed by queer trans women I think.” This is the first book I’ve read by Bella Forrest, and I’m looking forward to the rest of the series! This is a dystopian Young Adult series that should appeal to readers of The Hunger Games and Divergent and similar books.