[Book Review] Bared to You by Sylvia Day

1.5 STARS

This is going to be a harsh review, because I really disliked this book. So if you really like this book or series and do not want to read a negative review I am giving you the warning now.

So is consent not sexy anymore? Is everyone really into women saying "I am not interested" and "no" and then the guy ignores what she's clearly saying and keeps on pushing himself at her because he thinks he knows what is best for her? Even if they literally just met? Then finally after saying no he wears her down. How sexy.



This book is basically Fifty Shades of Grey without the BDSM for most of the book. I was expecting romance with characters my age, sex scenes sprinkled within the romance, and probably some sort of conflict. Instead it was a lot of weird drama almost from the beginning, instalove, and bad/boring sex scenes. Our main character, Eva, comes off strong at first but she's so easily persuaded by him because of his looks. Even if the things he's doing are either abusive or creepy. Or both. Gideon comes off controlling, manipulative, creepy, and possessive.. He was basically Christian Grey. I cannot think of a defining difference between them. Good looking, rich, creepy, possessive, dark past, etc. He doesn't take no for an answer, he looks her up and finds out a bunch of information about her instead of getting to know her like a normal human being, he limits who she can talk to because he's jealous and doesn't want her talking to other good looking men. Eva's personality was different than Anastasia that I didn't see the correlation as much other than them being the female main character and them being pushovers. Eva and Gideon seemed like such an awful fit for each other. They both never trusted each other the whole book. They were fighting over small stuff that could easily be fixed with communication but they were dramatic instead so there was a reason to have boring make up sex. The unnecessary drama seemed over the top and unrealistic. It was also boring and didn't hold my interest and I found myself skimming and rolling my eyes. Or gagging every time Gideon used the word "cunt" when talking about Eva's vagina. How is that sexy?

The only positive things about this book I can think of are Eva's roommate, Cary, and her boss Mark. I actually didn't mind Eva when she was around them, she was only infuriating when she was around Gideon. Also, the fact that the writing wasn't terrible is a positive trait about the book. The writing wasn't great. But it was fine and I didn't find myself having any problems with it. I am not ashamed to admit I would easily read a book about Cary and the events that were going on between him and his love interests in the background of this book. Or even a book about Mark and his partner because they seemed adorable. I cared more about Cary and Mark than I did about our two characters.

I am not one to hate on erotica, just bad erotica. I don't mind the genre and I think erotica books can be fun easy reads. I am not too experiences with it, I have only read a handful of them, but I have no problem giving books I see are popular a try. I read Fifty Shades of Gray and wasn't a fan. The lack of consent was alarming, even more so than in Bared to You. I have also read a few Colleen Hoover books and I wasn't a fan of those either. Maybe New Adult or erotica fiction just isn't for me. I wanted romance with characters I care about and swoon worthy sex scenes. But this wasn't that.

Thanks for reading.

Have you read Bared to You? Do you have a New Adult or erotica recommendation that may fit me better? I'd love to know.