Cassandra Reads

The audiobook of this one I read is available for free at LibriVox. 

This book wasn't quite as bad as I expected it to be, but I'm still stuck on the idea that this book was published in the 1700s.  I can see why it's a banned book, but I have read more graphic books than this.  Although that isn't really a good thing, since those more graphic books were erotica novels written now, but still.  

The writing, specifically of the sex scenes, was way too flowery.  Way too many euphemisms used during those scenes.   It would have been okay if the author had picked one and only used that one, but he used machine, tool and other such euphemisms for a penis.  Couldn't he have just used that one?  I tend to hate euphemisms in books in general, but that was too much.  Just use the same word each time!  

The romance (what little there was of it) was completely love at first sight and also completely unbelievable.  If they'd spent more time together after they 'fell in love' I would have been okay with it.  But they get together and he gets packed off onto a ship shortly after and they don't see each other again until the last chapter of the book. I know it's more an erotica novel than a romance, but the idea fell flat for me.  I'm not much on love at first sight anyway.  

I'm not even going to get into the issues I had with the sex scenes in general.  Several of them were dubious consent at best and rape at worst.  In some of them Fanny was completely willing: she seduced a few men after all.  

Listening to this, instead of reading it wasn't awkward as I expected it to be.  I wasn't sure how graphic the erotica part of this was and I tend to not like listening to sex scenes but the reading of this was well done.

Beyond that, I really have nothing else to say. I'm not even sure that this review makes any sense whatsoever.  Oh well.