I chose to review a lot of stories dealing with different types of sexual proclivities because I'm always curious about how these types of dynamics are portrayed in media. BDSM (relationship dynamics revolving around bondage, discipline, dominance, submission, sadism, etc.) in particular has not had the best mainstream representation. As a practicing dominant in real life, this is very important to me. Dominant and submissive dynamics are all about trust and emotional vulnerability. Yet oftentimes they are portrayed in a way where it almost feels like we're glorifying the idea of taking advantage of that vulnerability. I say this because it genuinely makes me happy when I come across a story that treats those dynamics with the type of reverence that they deserve and Praise Me When I'm a Good Boy falls into that camp.

Praise Me tells the story of a stressed office worker in desperate need of relief. However, that relief is primarily emotional and social before physical. Don't get me wrong, there are a lot of moments of physical intimacy throughout this book, and it is titillating. However, I appreciate Praise Me for its willingness to dive into the psychological aspects of what it means to be dominant and submissive through the leads. It emphasizes different types of dominant and submissive people out there, it stresses the idea that compatibility is important, it separates the dynamic on an emotional level from a physical level, and it even builds up the insecurities that come with being dominant or submissive.

When you're dominant, a lot of pressure is put on you. Sometimes you're not equipped to give people specifically what they want. This could lead to communication issues, which can leave you feeling insecure. On the opposite side, a submissive could be very insecure about the idea of being someone who seeks out a pampered lifestyle. The latter desire is especially daunting when you are a traditional Japanese businessman, and the book goes to great lengths to highlight those insecurities. The book starts with our main lead losing a fiancé after he came out and was honest about his desires, which only ends up creating a situation where he pushes himself more to show that he doesn't need somebody, which builds up his emotional stress. There's an excellent argument about how this book could almost act as an introductory course to people curious about the dominant and submissive lifestyle.

Unfortunately, we have to get over the uncomfortable elements of the initial premise. To force our two leads together, we ironically need to introduce a plot point that almost goes against the very nature of a dominant and submissive dynamic. It's so weird that there are a lot of conversations about not overstepping boundaries in this book when the main thing keeping our two leads together for more than half of it is a threat of blackmail. For a story that's so thoughtful, that felt like a forced character moment. Given the nature of our leads' relationship, there could've been a more thoughtful way of going about that.

I have to give a lot of credit to the lettering of the volume and how it distinguishes between normal speech and dominant speech. When a character makes an order using a more dominant tone, the text is bolder and more prominent. This isn't a super visually distinct book as even the sex scenes, while titillating, aren't anything you haven't seen before if you read other boys' love stories. But I did find that creative choice particularly striking. It's taking advantage of the medium. A lot of dominant people will tell you that there is a tone shift sometimes in how they order around their submissive.

This book was a pleasant surprise. I have been burned by a lot of stories that are either overly complicated or put no thought or care into the idea of crafting a BDSM relationship. Praise Me is very solid in the way that it establishes our characters, their insecurities, and how that ties into their positions as a dominant and submissive couple. While I think that some of the writing setup was a bit counterintuitive, there is a lot for people who are particularly interested in exploring a BDSM lifestyle. Do you have a lot of stress and are unsure or insecure about how you wanna be treated? There's a chance that this might give you some insight into what exactly you want from some of your more intimate relationships.