Self's Blossom by David Russell

Published: March 15th 2010 by Devine Destinies
Read Date: July 14th 2017
Stars: 3/5

Blurb (in my words)-

Selene is reserved, idealistic, workaholic woman. Unhappy by past relationships and irritated by her roommate, Jenice, leads her to extreme need of vacation and reckless erotic adventure.  On arriving to exotic beach destination in America, she meets Hudson- handsome mature sociologist and explorer. And him she finds her sensual destiny that she was dreaming till now. How this vacation and experience will change Selene and her ideals?
My view:
 
This is quite a difficult book to understand ‘for me’. I am not the best person to write anything about this book. I know I’m giving a strong statement in the beginning of the review but that is what I feel.
What I expected from the blurb was an erotic romance story. However, there is more of Erotic literary descriptions than a story. It revolves around Selene, her life and her perception towards relationships and love. In short, more about character’s thoughts.
My favorite line from the book:

“The most beautiful plants have lethal stings.”

Characters– I liked Hudson in the book more than Selene. He was smart and reasonable person. Selene was quite a complex character. I’m still thinking what she wanted exactly!
What I liked? First of all writing was very good. It gave the feel of classic literature. Literature students would love to read and analyze this type of writing. Descriptions of the places and the dreamy thoughts of Selene were well described. Past life of Selene in between her present life gave the better idea of character. Author showed a very detailed picture of Selene. I could see how much time was incorporated on this character. Selene’s insecurities and consciousness and cautions regarding Hudson was reasonable, if she has not thought such things I would have hate this character. Conversation between Selene and Hudson was very clear and mature. I like their open thoughts and conversation in the book. It showed a maturity level of both characters. However, this part was very less than I expected. If there is more of such thing in the book and more of the story I would have enjoyed it.
Another thing I liked was the writing of sensual scenes. It was not at all dirty. It was smooth and slow just like dreamy thoughts of character. Time spent with Hudson brought little change in Selene at the end of the book which I liked the best.
Why 3 stars? This book requires a particular audience. Not everyone can digest it. And I couldn’t. It was hard to follow and jumpy at some place. First I couldn’t feel Selene. She was kind of “ME” person- my ideals, my body, my knowledge and thoughts. The way she criticized her friend Janice, I didn’t feel anything wrong about that poor friend. Selene lacked seeing world from different perception. Another thing when you are ready to explore unknown place and have experiences with unknown person, having insecurities sounds unreasonable. I know this counters my earlier statement but this was my first thought. Unbelievable relationship. Of course this is fiction so I don’t want to judge any more. Book was too descriptive. A little story or drama would have made it more interesting.
Overall, It’s sexy descriptive literature. Not my cup of tea. If you like this kind of writing go ahead.

Who should read it? If you are Literary person who would like to read this genre from different angle, this book is for you.

Author: David Russell

About the Author:
Born UK, 1940. David has been writing erotica since the mid-1980s. Published extensively in magazines and anthologies along with several books, poetry and prose, he also recorded and is the singer-songwriter of a vinyl album, Bricolage recorded by Billy Childish for Hangman Records 1992, CD albums Bacteria Shrapnel and The Burglars of Britain—1998. He also has a short story, Explorations. He has several reviews on the Internet.

*** Note: I received review copy of this book from author, in exchange for an honest review. I am glad I got a chance to read this book. ***

What do you think about the book and my review? Share your thoughts in the comment-box below.
Happy Reading! 🙂

–BT&R