This collection of stories by first-time author Lauren Holmes features both male and female characters in their twenties or sometimes a bit younger. Sex is a central theme: sexual pleasure, sexual identity, sexual narratives. The narrators speak in the first person, and it’s often playful and a little shocking. It’s never erotic, and occasionally it shows the dark or drab sides of sex, but mostly it’s on the humorous side. One of the stories, “I Will Crawl to Raleigh If I Have To,” is available online at Guernica Magazine. The unabridged audiobook is performed by Jorjeana Marie, who does a great job at combining energy and vulnerability with a jaded attitude.  The strength of these stories lies in their refreshing highlighting of modern sexuality and the mindset of a certain kind of youthful experience. The weakness is in the uniformity of tone and a focus on young people who have plenty of opportunity and not much life experience. But the writing features a lot of dialog which flows naturally.  You only really need to read a couple of these stories to get the idea. Yet it’s enjoyable to keep on going anyway.

© 2016 Christian Perring

Christian Perring, Professor of Philosophy, Dowling College, New York