The Little Red Book by Melinda Barron

The Little Red Book by Melinda Barron

My rating: 2 of 5 stars



I loved the premise of The Little Red Book and was really looking forward to it. Unfortunately the book just didn’t work for me. I enjoyed Ms. Barron’s writing style and the ease with which the story flows, but I did not like Felix once he and Charlotte embarked on their D/s relationship.

I found it quite interesting that during the lunch at the café when he has Charlotte read a passage from the little red book, he tells her that unlike the Mr. Riddle from the book, he does care that his sub enjoys their activities. Yet throughout most of the book, to me his actions don’t line up with this. There were several times during the book that I felt that rather than pushing her limits, Felix was outright ignoring them and doing whatever pleased him. I was shocked that he took her to the playdate on their second official weekend together and refused to tell her what to expect. As their previous discussion regarding limits was woefully inadequate, I found his treatment of her appalling. His refusal to listen to her concerns about proposed acts and his “you’ll take what I want, how I want, and when I want” attitude was a major turn-off for me as it reeks of abusive rather than dominant. As did his withholding of forgiveness after a punishment spanking. The point of a punishment spanking is to absolve the sub of guilt and start with a clean slate, yet he only granted forgiveness a couple of times and actually said “perhaps” when she asked for forgiveness after one punishment spanking. And that he gave her instructions that were designed to make her fail and “earn” a punishment just pissed me off.

Equally irritating was that Charlotte believed that if she used her safe word then that not only ended the scene but the relationship. Whether it was true or not is irrelevant because it was how Charlotte felt and it influenced her decisions. That said, if it was true it merely shows how big of an arse Felix was, and if it wasn’t true, then it points at his failure to communicate with his sub. And this points to where my biggest issue lies – his failure to train Charlotte. While it is true that Charlotte had some experience in the lifestyle, Felix determines that she is not as well-trained as he would like, yet does little to train her outside of punishing her when she’s wrong. Granted, there were parts of their arrangement that Charlotte enjoyed, but his refusal to acknowledge or negotiate about new components being added to their relationship were problematic for me. Sadly The Little Red Book is just an okay read for me, thus the 2-star rating. This is one of those books that I recommend you check out for yourself because you may not have the issues with Felix that I did and Ms. Barron’s writing style is enjoyable to read even if the characters were not.

I received a complimentary copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.
Reviewed by Angela at Crystal's Many Reviewers!

Check out The Little Red Book by Melinda Barron blog post on Crystal's Many Reviewers.


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