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Acts of Service
Acts of Service: A Novel | Lillian Fishman
4 posts | 5 read | 2 to read
A provocative debut of sex and sexualitydepicting the liquid frequencies of need and power with a thoughtful, savage eye (Raven Leilani)as a twentysomething New Yorker pursues a sexual freedom that follows no other lines than her own desire. If sex is a truth-teller, Evea young, queer woman in Brooklynis looking for answers. On an evening when she is feeling particularly impulsive, she posts some nude photos of herself online. This is how Eve meets Olivia, and through Olivia, the charismatic Nathanand soon the three begin a relationship that disturbs Eve as much as it delights her. As each act of the affair unfolds, Eve is left to ask: to whom is she responsible? And to what extent do our desires determine who we are? In the way that only great fiction can, Acts of Service takes between its teeth the contradictions written all over our ideas of sex and sexuality. As incisive as it is exhilarating, this novel asks us to face our ideas about desire and power: what sex means to us, the forces that shape it, and how we findor loseourselves in intimacy. At once juicy and intellectually challenging, sacred and profane, it might be the most thought-provoking book you read all year.
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review
VRM1975
Acts of Service: A Novel | Lillian Fishman
Mehso-so

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review
MicheleinPhilly
Acts of Service: A Novel | Lillian Fishman
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Bailedbailed

Yeah, that‘s gonna be a “No” from me, dog.

Good lord, what pretentious trash.

TrishB The reviews of this read well 😁 1y
Megabooks 💯 agree! I panned this and gave it 1⭐️, which was generous imo. 1y
MicheleinPhilly @Megabooks I can‘t believe you read the whole thing. I should have listened to you, Meg! 1y
52 likes3 comments
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kera_11
Acts of Service: A Novel | Lillian Fishman
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no.
she thinks she‘s telling a queer story but by the end is a story about heterosexuality. bi/pan erasure abounds. not sure how 2 women submitting all aspects of their life to a man who doesn‘t believe in safe words bc he just knows what women want &uses their jealousy of each other against them as foreplay is feminist. congrats to the author, this book made me feel awful which I think was the point. I‘m happy it‘s over & will never be revisiting

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Megabooks
Acts of Service: A Novel | Lillian Fishman
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Panpan

Nathan‘s got that Big D energy, and he knows what the ladies want - ALL of them, in the entire book, magically. 🙄🙄 Just like 50 Shades is abuse masquerading as BDSM; Acts is abuse masquerading as a “consensual” cuckholding relationship. AND imagine that every emotion, every sex act is microscopically, tediously overwritten. Worst book of the year! Avoid! Hate read only made possible because of Rebecca Lowman‘s golden voice!! 0.5⭐️ is generous ⬇️

Megabooks I want to say more, but it‘s nsfw, so I‘m going to put it in a spoiler tag. ⬇️ 2y
Megabooks So Eve is a lesbian in a committed relationship with a very nice woman, but she‘s vaguely bored and posts some nude selfies online. When another woman (Olivia) contacts her, she‘s immediately down, they meet and she‘s all, “whoops, here‘s my boyfriend (Nathan) too!” Well, suddenly Eve just goes from 💯 lesbian to I must have Nathan all the time. And he has the magic D, the magic psychopathy (lol) that he knows how every woman 2y
Megabooks Wants to be treated and F-ed (badly and superhumanly well…in that order). All the time, to make it more “literary” Eve is worried about how Olivia is being treated in the cuckhold. Just the whole thing was super annoying. Just make it smut like 50 Shades was. Half of why this sucked was the author‘s halfhearted attempt to make it literary in the vein of Eve Babitz, who is referenced several times. 2y
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5feet.of.fury Ugh 😩 nooooo sounds like the author fed into the fantasy of “lesbian just hasn‘t found the right D”. sounds terrible. 2y
Megabooks @5feet.of.fury yes, that frustrated me as well. I don‘t know the author‘s orientation, but it does feed into that negative stereotype. I understand there are different types of relationships and attractions, but abuse is abuse and feeding into negative stereotypes of marginalized groups is a no go. 2y
tpixie I‘m glad to finally hear someone say the Shades series glorified sexual abuse - what a step back. Thanks 😊 2y
Megabooks @tpixie Shades was 💯💯💯 abuse! Nothing is sexy about abuse. And neither book truly explores what it means for these women under the thumb of this abuse. That would‘ve made it better, but neither book acknowledged it. 2y
Megabooks @tpixie and I think a lot of the abuse in Shades was mental. Not allowing her any escape from him…I mean he even bought her workplace and spied on her from a helicopter if I‘m remembering correctly. 🙅🏻‍♀️ 2y
tpixie @Megabooks 😩 I wonder how many young women accepted abuse after reading this and thinking their abuse was what love should be (edited) 2y
sarahbarnes WOW. Taking this off my list. 2y
Cinfhen Such a great review for what sounds like a horrible book. Shocking what gets published. Wasn‘t on my radar and now it‘s on the #NoThankYouList 2y
mdemanatee Ooof gonna take this one back to the library then as this kind of confirms my reservations thank you 2y
KT1432 Wow, it seems only fitting that there‘s a blurb for this book from Raven Leilani, author of Luster, which I loathed lol. Definitely staying far, far away from this one if it‘s in the same vein as that book. 🥴 2y
TheLudicReader Haha. “ hate read”. I do that too. 2y
Megabooks @TheLudicReader I don‘t do it often, but unfortunately I own this 💩, so I finished it. 👎🏻👎🏻👎🏻👎🏻 (edited) 2y
Megabooks @lele1432 yeah, I wasn‘t a fan of Luster either so yeah…probably should‘ve stayed away from this! 2y
Megabooks @mdemanatee yeah, I‘d definitely avoid this one. Better books out there!! 2y
Megabooks @Cinfhen thanks! I wouldn‘t recommend this one for sure!! It was on the #CampLitsy longlist and was my first real miss from it. 2y
Megabooks @sarahbarnes GOOD IDEA!! 2y
squirrelbrain I was just about to say that this was on the #camplitsy long list Meg; good job it didn‘t get voted for! 2y
Megabooks @squirrelbrain I‘m definitely glad this didn‘t make the final cut! 2y
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