R.P. Lauer Reviews: Sl*ts and Wh*res by C.E. Hoffman

The following is primarily a backup of the review I left on Goodreads and Amazon for the book, Sluts and Whores by C.E. Hoffman.

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Blurb from the author:



Sluts and Whores is the debut by C.E. Hoffman, and is a collection of poems and short stories, most of which center around themes of sex, sexuality, sexual preference and discovery, gender/gender identity, taboo, and the stigmas associated with a woman embracing sexuality. They also delve into the darker sides of life, exploring the acts of and fallout from various forms of sexual abuse. There are also tales and cries of pain from addiction, mental health, and a series of toxic relationships; be it parental, lover, friend, colleague, or even a complete stranger.

The range from story to story and poem to poem is staggering, with some feeling more straightforward while others dive headfirst into realms of surrealism. Each reader will probably leave these stories/poems with vastly different feelings and interpretations, more so in my opinion than your traditional stories; all literature has a certain amount of individual interpretation after all.

Overall, this is definitely not for the faint of heart, nor the strongly closed-minded; though most likely anyone that will be truly offended by what is contained within will have already shut it out due to the title alone. However, I feel this will resonate with many people, and will serve as a sort of comfort blanket to those desperate to know that they are not alone in the feelings, emotions, and experiences expressed throughout.

One story stood out to me by far, and I do feel bad for putting this one up so high on a pedestal, simply because it is probably the furthest removed from the overall themes and messages of the rest of the book. But the simple fact is that this story is right up my ally and hearkens back to what was in my opinion, a fantastic era of storytelling for tales of this kind. The story "Fun Farm", which also happens to be one of the longest stories, has a plot and feel in line with old Twilight Zone episodes, or even movies such as Logan's Run or Soylent Green. It also reminds me a lot of an old story I read in high school which I can only vaguely remember; in a not too distant future, driving tests were done through a sort of virtual reality (like Total Recall level of implanted memories) and it was designed in such a way that everyone was destined to fail no matter what they did.

In "Fun Farm" it's more of a not too distant future where a specific 'app' has spread far and wide, and there is a certain cult-like obsession with it. I won't say anything else because too much detail will absolutely ruin it! Now, I have to be honest here, and again I feel bad because it's almost going to seem dismissive to the rest of this fantastic set of stories and poems, but for me personally, this one story alone was worth the $0.99 for the digital version.

Of course, one way to look at this is that for about a buck (US), there are at least two different audiences that WILL get their money's worth; those interested in what could almost be a lost episode of the Twilight Zone, and those looking for a gritty and emotional experience, exploring sex and abuse through the eyes of a woman trying to make sense of such tragedies life can offer.

My only complaints are going to be in the way of editing and a certain level of consistency. I believe this piece as a whole could have used a bit more time with editing/proofreading, due to some typos and a few sentence structure issues (though this could be a difference in perception and style). There's also a strange inconsistency with censorship; some stories changed vowels to asterisks in curse words, while other stories left the vowels intact for the full glory of their vulgarity (for which there is a lot through and through).

(EDIT: I appear to have made a mistake in the paragraph above. In flipping back through the book, it would seem that only one story had the curse words censored, ironically enough the one I loved the most; Fun Farm. And the censorship is actually in line with the story itself and makes perfect sense. There are other instances of asterisks replacing letters, but the context is completely different, almost like censoring a person's name, for example, and makes sense in, well, context. I'm leaving the error in for transparency's sake, but wanted it pointed out here. I apologize to the author.)

At the end of the day, regardless of my own personal criticisms, this is a fantastic read, though extremely difficult at times; I would urge caution to anyone who may not be strong enough to endure what this book has to offer. As the recipient of past abuses myself - mental, verbal, physical, as well as sexual - abuses of which don't come close to comparing to the scars worn by so many others - I cannot imagine how difficult this could be for some. But I do believe a certain type of catharsis and comfort could also accompany any pain or discomfort.

This is an easy, fairly short, and ultimately very quick read. As someone that sucks at reading, specifically in the area of speed, this only took about a day (24 hours) to get through. But it is absolutely well worth your time and money, so long as what you've read here so far does not put you off.

One last thing of note; this is probably going to be best read by a younger adult audience, as there is a ton of newer acronyms, slang and other terminologies that will most likely go over the head of older generations. I myself am probably close to that edge of almost being too old for some of the lingo, but you see, I'm cool; I'm hip; so I totally followed!

Please check out C.E. Hoffman on her Homepage, Amazon Page, Goodreads, Publisher Page, or Twitter