THE DIARY OF A SUBMISSIVE by Sophie Morgan-a review

The Diary of a Submissive: A Modern True Tale of Sexual Awakening (Release date September 4, 2012)

NOTE:  Storyline content contains explicit BDSM and sexual content. Mature readers only.

Blurb from the back cover:

In Diary of a Submissive, Sophie Morgan candidly explains what exactly an independent, 21st century woman gets out of relinquishing her power and personal freedom in a submissive relationship with a dominant man for their mutual sexual pleasure.

In the wake of Fifty Shades of Grey, here is a memoir that offers the real story of what is means to be a submissive and follows Sophie’s story as she progresses from her early erotic experiences through to experimenting with her newfound awakened sexuality. From the endorphin rush of her first spanking right through to being collared, she explains in frank and explicit fashion her sexual explorations. But it isn’t until she meets James, a real life ‘Christian Grey,’ that her boundaries and sexual fetishism are really pushed. As her relationship with James travels into darker and darker places, the question becomes: Where will it end? Can Sophie reconcile her sexuality with the rest of her life, and is it possible for the perfect man to be perfectly cruel?

Daring, controversial, and sensual, Diary of a Submissive is filled with a captivating warmth and astounding honesty such that no one— man or woman—will be able to put Sophie’s story down.

(Review)

Sophie Morgan begins her story telling about her normal childhood in a working class family. There was no corporeal punishment in her home for her or her sister. No kind of abuse whatsoever. However, while watching the movie Robin Hood when she was a child of about 13 or 14, Sophie was drawn to Maid Marian’s character, and not in the way one would normally think. She was taken with the scenes where Maid Marian was captured by the Sheriff of Nottingham and held in a dungeon, tied or in chains. To quote Sophie, “that struck a chord with me, made my heart race”. The story moves forward with her going to university and having her first experience in submission, which involves her first spanking. And she likes it.

Once she graduates, she gets her first job in journalism in a town several hours from home and meets the man, Thomas, who will be her first true dom. As their relationship progresses, Sophie sorts through her feelings, which at several points, are confusing to her and to me as a reader. She finally reconciles that she is a submissive in every sense of the word when it comes to her sexuality. After three years at a job that she sees no future in, she accepts a job that is closer to home. Even though she and Thomas remain friends, they end their D/s relationship.

Sophie eventually meets James, and it doesn’t take either of them long to figure out that each is into the D/s lifestyle. As their relationship progresses, she finds herself falling in love with him. She truly wants to find someone to settle down with and have a family without giving up the D/s lifestyle, and he seems to be the one. He pushes her boundaries like no one else ever has.

This book is touted as being a cross between Bridget Jones’ Diary and 50 Shades of Grey. Both of those were love stories. I didn’t read this story that way. This is not a romance. This is a first person account of someone discovering her sexual boundaries, boundaries that, in my opinion, are very blurred. A lot of the Dom/sub story crosses the hard-line into true savagery. The humiliation and true, hard-core pain that she endures is overwhelming. It was obviously her choice to endure all of these things as she NEVER uses her safe word. Not in any relationship she was in. Her need to be truly submissive in every way astounded me. To say this book is not for everyone is an understatement. If anyone who reads this has been in an abusive relationship or had traumatic sexual experiences, this is DEFINITELY not for them. Is this a book I would have read if I hadn’t been asked to review it? No. Even though I truly do not understand the lifestyle, and find a lot of this story abusive, I have to hand it to Sophie for laying herself bare (no pun intended) for all to read. I truly hope that writing this story was a cathartic experience for her.

Copy supplied by publisher.

Reviewed by Vickie M.