Violet Blue is a sex blogger, sex writer, porn star, kinster, and activist. She's witty, intelligent, and I do regularly read her blog (Open Source Sex) which is generally fantastic, so I would say she's well qualified to cover this topic.

This book is wonderfully genderneutral (except for the erotica sections which are sadly all hetro) and very well and entertainingly written. Ms. Blue's style is warm and charming, and really demystifies and takes a lot of the "scary" out of fetish play. Personally as an experienced kinkster this book was less than useful to me as I've been playing with my kinks for years, but for a newbie, someone just beginning to come out about and explore their fetishes this book is absolutely ideal. The guide to talking to your partner about kinks is absolutely the best, most practical advice for talking about kink I've ever read. She's nonjudgmental, friendly and inviting. This is definitely a book to allay fears about fetish play, and encourage experimentation and fun. The erotica sections are well written, and although not erotic to me personally, are probably delightful for straight couples. It's also although not too in-depth about all fetishes, eminently practical, and beautifully sensible (two things lacking in a lot of books pertaining to fetishism).

Although it's not an ideal book for very experienced users, it still contained new and useful information for me and my partner, and made for most enjoyable and educational read. Ms. Blue knows how to inject a real humor into her style without losing informational value, and her style comes off almost as if one is talking to a trusted friend. Even if you're not interested in experimenting with fetish, Ms. Blue is so charming I'd recommend you read this book simply for the pleasure of her prose. Really, although I would like a sequel for those of us who want a more indepth study of various fetishes, this book is entertaining and highly informative and I cannot recommend it highly enough.

The format is easy to navigate, the language comprehensible and not technical, so no one should have any trouble getting full use out of this guide.

My only quibble is that Ms. Blue neglects to properly define the difference between BDSM and Fetishism, though the two often go together they are distinctly different things and should be defined as such.

This is a simply bound paper back, slightly better in terms of quality than say... your average Harlequin Romance, but not as nice as a leather bound volume of Dickens. The design is attractive, though unremarkable, it features no illustrations. It's well organized and the index is thorough and easy to navigate.