Acts of Service

Lillian Fishman

2023-09-03

A queer woman in a seemingly stable, happy relationship begins a troubling affair with a powerful, rich, self-assured man and a painfully shy woman. At times this book did capture something truly interesting — but I found it lapsed too often into "the philosophical and feminist meaning of wanting a man to fuck you" for my tastes, and the latter half was more effective for Eve's growing into her comfortable discomfort. I found the sex scenes, particularly the earlier ones, evoked almost a body horror distaste and disgust in me, something I haven't experienced before with consensual sex in literature — and I wonder to what extent this feeling was intended by the author, to what extent my revulsion at the meaningless of male dominance being played out as erotic subversion.

I did not hate this book.