Open Me

by Lisa Locascio

Roxana Olsen has always dreamed of going to Paris, and after high school graduation finally plans to travel there on a study abroad program--a welcome reprieve from the bruising fallout of her parents' divorce. But a logistical mix-up brings Roxana to Copenhagen instead, where she's picked up at the airport by Soren, a twenty-eight year old guide who is meant to be her steward. Instantly drawn to one another, Roxana and Soren's relationship turns romantic, and when he asks Roxana to accompany him to a small town in the north of Denmark for the rest of the summer, she doesn't hesitate to accept. There, Roxana's world narrows and opens as she experiences fantasy, ritual, and the pleasures of her body, a thrilling realm of erotic and domestic bliss. But as their relationship deepens, Soren's temperament darkens, and Roxana finds herself increasingly drawn to a mysterious local outsider whom she learns is a refugee from the Balkan War.

An erotic coming-of-age like no other, from a magnetic new voice in fiction, Open Me is a daringly original and darkly compelling portrait of a young woman discovering her power, her sex, and her voice; and an incisive examination of xenophobia, migration, and what it means to belong.

Genres: Fiction, Romance, Literary Fiction, Contemporary, Coming Of Age, Denmark, Literature

Paperback

First published August 7, 2018

About the author

Lisa Locascio was born in Chicago and raised in River Forest, Illinois. Her debut novel, Open Me, will be published by Grove Atlantic in August 2018. She is the editor of the anthology Golden State 2017: The Best New Writing from California​ (Outpost19), co-publisher of the regional fiction magazine Joyland, and editor of the ekphrastic collaboration magazine 7x7. Lisa is the first Anglophone writer to be granted an interview with Roberto Bolaño's widow Carolina López. Her writing about Bolaño has appeared in The Believer, Salon, and The Los Angeles Review of Books, and has received mention in The New Yorker and The Los Angeles Times.

Reviews

[Emily May · Rating 3 out of 5]

"In the north, summer days are very long."

This was WEEEIIIRRRDDD.

That's not to say I didn't like some parts. In fact, for a while I thought this would be at least a 4 star, maybe a 5 star book. It does a lot of fascinating things and a lot of strange things, and I'm not sure how well they all fit together.

Open Me begins with Roxana Olsen planning a trip to Paris after graduation, along with her best friend Sylvie. However, a mix-up with the tour company means that Roxana is bumped from the Paris trip and offered a trip to Copenhagen instead. There, she meets the older and enigmatic Søren, whom she quickly begins a relationship with.

When Søren invites her to rural Denmark with him, Roxana accepts, but their intense sexual relationship quickly darkens, then sours, once they arrive there. Søren becomes distant and unpleasant, and Roxana retreats inside of her own head, exploring her mind and body during the long days when she is left alone in Søren's apartment.

There are multiple levels to the story. Through flashbacks (that gradually decrease in frequency), we learn about the intensity of Roxana's friendship with Sylvie. It's a complicated relationship, rife with jealousy, and I am always fascinated by messed up female friendships.

Then, on another level, the novel explores racism and xenophobia through Søren, especially looking at how the "happiest country on Earth" still has more than its fair share of racist ideology. Denmark's socialist government makes some native Danes suspicious of immigrants who may want to reap the nation's benefits without putting in the work. This part is interesting. Roxana is forced to acknowledge her own naive beliefs about racism and how the world has not moved past it.

The first Thanksgiving and Anne Frank and the Underground Railroad and the melting pot and cotton plantations and Japanese internment camps and the Trail of Tears and Aushwitz. After all that history, what else could a person think other than that it was obviously better to be good than bad to other people?

Thirdly, Open Me is a book about a woman exploring her body and sexuality in a frank (and occasionally gross) way. Some might call this an erotic novel, but it didn't do anything for me personally. I found it to be a honest and graphic depiction of sexuality and bodily functions, right down to the "yellowy mucus" that "clung in ropes". I'm glad someone is talking about this, but also YUCK.

There is a fairly large chunk of the book that consists of Roxana wandering around Soren's apartment, watching porn, masturbating, not bathing, and enjoying her own ripe aroma. Her fantasies and descriptions are shocking enough, and the writing is poetic enough (The space between my legs became the center of everything, opened like a peeled grapefruit), to stop this from being a total bore, but it's not my usual cup of tea.

Open Me is definitely a strange book. To describe it in a sentence, I would say: It's a discomfiting literary novel about sex, sexuality and racism. It will make people uncomfortable, for sure, but I can't deny there's something quite addictively fascinating about it.

CW: Racism, xenophobia, Islamophobia, ableism, drug use, rape (dream).

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[Elyse Walters · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Welcome to Denmark”......

Roxana Olsen, American, 18 year old single while female....plans on being a University student in the fall. She just graduated High School.
Summer time plans ahead....off to experience a new country - while just learning that her parents were getting a divorce.

Roxana finds herself in the ‘study-abroad- program’ - a late addition - in Denmark - because of a crazy insane transfer from the ‘Paris’ summer ‘study-abroad-program’ that she was originally registered for - plane ticket bought and all. She was deeply disappointed that her friend didn’t get bumped from the Paris-program, but she did.

From the start of this novel — I had concerns for Roxana’s general state of well being. Her self esteem was on the low end. She was self critical of herself - compared her self worth against her best friend and others.
She thought her breasts were too big. She noticed pimples. She didn’t have a big house- or a closet filled with clothes - or the perfect cozy-giving mom. Her mom took her shopping twice a year at thrift stores......which separated Roxana from other girls into the latest fashions at school.
Kids at school were mean and excluded her. Yet, Roxana wished to be liked and popular with them. You could feel how distraught Roxane was with herself...jealous....and angry.
She didn’t understand why most kids didn’t like her —other than Sylvie
Elmaleh- her one friend - being the sole exception. Kids at school adored Sylvie but ostracized Roxana.
So — everything Roxana did - she seemed to compare herself next to Sylvie. Almost a love/hate relationship with her best friend.

Roxana seemed haunted by her mother’s critical voice inside her too. Roxana never felt ‘good enough’ with her mom or with friends.
She spent effort trying to be a good girl - tried to avoid making her mother mad. Her efforts were focused on trying to be pretty, sexy, lovable, likable, desired, and wanted.
Roxane was a young unhappy girl —desperately wanting to fit in - tried to please others - be noticed - be liked. Although always polite- we could feel her anger, sadness, and judgment against others.

Sooooooo.......
I knew there was a good chance Roxana was going to take her problems with her to Denmark.
“Open Me” is a very fitting title to this debut novel by Lisa Locascio. THIS NOVEL MAKES FOR INTERESTING DISCUSSIONS.

Roxana was traveling to a country- alone - that she knew nothing about - who was vulnerable- insecure with herself - and very inexperienced with men, sex, love, and global cultural differences.

At the airport- Roxana is greeted by Soren Holmgaard, her tour guide. Soren is 28 years old - a graduate student in literature, African Studies, working on his thesis. He’s a Palestinian- who is very ‘proud’ of the fact that he doesn’t take assistance from the government.
Within a couple of days - Roxana is living with Soren - having dropped out of the ‘study-abroad- program’ before she even started it. THIS RELATIONSHIP IS CREEPY — but we cannot stop turning the pages to see what the F&$#K is going to happen!!!!
Roxana is not the only character we question...WE WORRY FOR HER....
We question Soren for different reasons. HE IS ONE SCARY guy....lonely - controlling. He found the perfect girl to control and fulfill his fantasies. Roxana is ‘mostly’ a willing partner to ‘please’ this man.
She is also sex starve and sex obsessed. Her marbles about sex and sexuality are a little screwy —-in my humble opinion —-but to each their own.....

All this time, Roxana’s parents still think she is in Paris with Sylvie being her roommate.
Through emails - Roxana lies to her parents about her days - her studies in *Paris*.
NOBODY BACK HOME ....knows where Roxana is.
ON THE EDGE FRIGHTENING! A PARENTS NIGHTMARE......( but that’s a different story & discussion for another day)......

Roxana is living off the grid -
Soren has taken Roxana to live in his uncles apt. ( while his uncle is away in Norway)—to NOWHERE-LAND....*JUTLAND*...in a place called FARSO.
She thinks to herself:
“Having sex with someone you had known for two days was rarely the start of a long term relationship”. Ya think??? What was this girl doing???? Would you die if your daughter took off with a strange man in a foreign country she knew 2 days?
I should talk... I took off with a guy from England to India - that I met in Greece - traveled overland with him - after having only known him a couple of weeks - at the same age as Roxana. I was 17.

Soren takes ‘the liberty’ in making Roxana’s choices... [ scary ].....
oh....but - we should feel sorry for him. - ha -
He tells Roxana he had been miserable and sad for a long time. Roxana thinks she is Soren’s antidote to his sadness —HE WANTED HER ...( oh god, we smell trouble)....
Roxana wanted to make Soren happy! Good luck with that....as they say!

This is a very interesting book - I COULD NOT PUT IT DOWN.....( some readers will). The graphic sex scenes were on the edge —too much for my taste — but gives us a deeper look at just how complex a person can be.....
The sex scenes might be enough for some readers to toss this book out the window —- but—- if one can get pass the sexual descriptive discomfort —( should discomfort arise)— it’s worth reading to the end.
This novel is a self discovery journey- not an easy journey- but it’s Roxana’s story of how she begins to find her own voice - her own sense of self.
Roxana will meet another man named Geden.....ie Zlatan......during this awakening stage of her life while in Farso, too.
During the day she would sneak out to meet Zlaton —-Soren had the only key to their apt. and expected her to stay locked in all day while he was away working on his thesis.
A different type of relationship developed with Roxana & Zlaton.....a little more ‘rounded ‘ with emotions and feelings - She began to understand the ‘wholeness’ of relationships.

DURING.....the Denmark adventures....I learned about some of the foods I hope never to eat: Leverpostej is a pate made of pork and lard. It’s often a spread for sandwich’s on grainy rye bread with slice cucumbers.
None of the traditional Danish food sounds good to me. My daughter has been in Denmark and Norway - ( I haven’t ) - but while reading this book - I called her and asked — “how did you like the food in Denmark?”
“Not much”, she said. She liked the beer though.

I enjoyed this book. It’s creepy - sure! Roxana and Soren were often stoned at night watching Danish TV or having sex. Soren’s moods seemed to me like somebody- perhaps with Bipolar disorder....( but who knows)....He was filled with fury one minute- verbally abusive - sad and pathetic the next minute.

Here are two excerpts ....from the voice of Roxana:
1... “The Summer air carried Jutland to me a hallucination, the bright sun and grassy smell muted, gauzy. One breath, and everything would disappear”.

2... “His way of taking my body fit a fantasy. Mine. Ours. A young, unsure girl led astray by unsavory older man. The fantasy drew us together, made the words he whispered in my ear real, gave his hands an edge as they moved outside and inside my body”.


Thank You Grove Atlantic and Netgalley ...for the many years of I’ve participated in the read/review exchange program.
This is my last “Grove Atlantic” book I have as an ARC. I won’t be requesting more books to read from Netgalley - or any ARC program - or accept books to review any longer. A few more books still to read & review that I committed to - then I’m complete.
I’m retiring from review commitments and required due dates. I need a break.... medical needs.
GROVE ATLANTIC was nice to me from the very start....when I was a ‘green-newbie’ book reviewer ....a somewhat new passionate reader to boot.
A few of you know - I had my ‘first ever’ crush with PUBLISHING COMPANY- GROVE ATLANTIC. Mostly ....I was and am thankful. I’ve loved reading so many of the books they publish.

Time to read the old fashion way - buy my own books or get them from the library. I’d feel to guilty to request to read a free book if I didn’t feel up to writing a review - for medical or whatever reason.

Thank You to Lisa Locascio. I enjoyed your book....BOLD & IMPRESSIONISTIC Congratulations on it being your first! I look forward to reading more of your work in the future.

[Vanessa · Rating 3 out of 5]

A strange coming of age tale, a girls very intimate discovery of her body and her sexuality. All told in excruciating detail.

The story revolves around Roxana a young girl who’s intention is to travel to Paris with her best friend for a study abroad program but ends up in Denmark due to a logistical mix up and for some unknown reason quickly becomes involved with Søren her intended travel guide a man she barely knows and who Roxana nonchalantly succumbs to being enslaved as his domestic hostage, a man who also happens to have deep seated Xenophobic issues, a controlling loner who basically loses his starry eyed appeal quite abruptly. Her uncomfortabilty becomes stronger the more his irrational anger comes to the fore and she starts to fantasise about escaping...right into the arms of another man! A man with his own deep seated issues. This part of the story feels like it got weirder and weirder. The author bringing to light racism and cultural estrangement but it felt a little too staged for my liking.

Honest and daring but ultimately I felt manipulated into buying into the complicated love story, I had trouble connecting with the two male characters. Roxana at least felt real with her many complex issues of self doubt, her jealousies and inadequacies, her lack of assertiveness and naïveté, some of the things I would have liked to see better explored.

The story was meant to make you feel uncomfortable but unfortunately for all the wrong reasons. What I first thought was a sexual awakening story took a strange detour that sadly derailed my enjoyment of the story. It was disturbingly fascinating but not flawlessly executed.

Thanks to NetGalley and Grove Atlantic for my advanced review copy. Pub date 17/8/18

[Subashini · Rating 3 out of 5]

Somewhere between 3 and 3.5 stars.

This is a coming-of-age story of eighteen-year-old Roxana, an American who due to a logistical mix-up of some sort, finds herself on a student abroad programme in Denmark instead of France. I was intrigued and captivated by the parts of the book that others might find too much or excessive－the sexual awakening that focuses intimately on Roxana’s body, and her body’s responsiveness to other bodies. Roxana is a woman of deep, unquenchable appetite for connection, and it’s rare to read novels about this where a woman’s appetite is presented for what it is, instead of a problem to be solved. In this respect, I think Locascio portrays Roxana with sensitivity and intelligence, and I found the character very likeable, even if I wanted to protect her from some of the situations she was walking into.

She is only eighteen, and reading this as an adult it’s easy to forget how foolish we once were not because we were dumb (or not only because of that!) but because we were still learning about the world and people－and because we still are. Show me a grown-ass adult who is never surprised that some person turned out to be not who they expected them to be. To not be surprised, or to always have the upper hand in knowing how someone is going to treat you, requires shutting off a part of yourself in some way. Roxana has a pure quality that can be irritating to an adult and also immensely precious: she wants to be open to others, always. I get the sense that because Roxana is a young woman, and because this is a book by a woman about a straight young girl’s experiments in sex that see her making impractical, downright dangerous personal choices, many people might judgmentally write off Roxana as “stupid”.

What I think Locascio showed with delicacy and empathy is the fact that if a young woman wishes to open herself up to men, physically and emotionally, then she’s going to meet some men who are going to exploit that. Roxana finds herself entangled with a melancholic Dane with a cruel streak, Søren. The early sections of the book that focus on her relationship with him are intriguing because you can see that Roxana is developing a sense of self and honing her own instincts; but being a young girl in this awful world, she hasn’t yet learned to trust her own instincts. And really, doesn’t a well-honed instinct come from having made mistakes and fucking up on a grand scale?

The second half of the book sees Roxana making a connection with a Bosnian asylum-holder, Zlatan. Zlatan throws Søren’s xenophobia and racism into relief; if Roxana never knew how to counter Søren’s hateful latent fascism, it’s because, once again, Locascio depicts how one’s politics and ethics, especially as a young person, is also formed through a negotiation of values in the real world. Lusting for Søren is not enough when Søren reveals himself to be racist as well as a controlling misogynist. He knows how to make Roxana awaken to the beauty of her own body, and he also knows how to take that away from her.

But it’s this second section’s fusing of erotics and politics in the figure of Zlatan that rang hollow to me. Roxana and Zlatan’s connection felt too convenient; Zlatan was too obviously a foil to the civilised-on-the-outside yet seething-with-fascist-fury-on-the-inside Søren, and as such Zlatan simply comes off a mouthpiece for multiculturalism and open borders. He is the good Muslim that the Western liberal elite loves when they’re making a case for immigration: he comes from a family that drank alcohol and knew how to throw a good party, and now in Denmark he maintains a lovely home and cooks delicious food. The point is that Søren is wrong; his hatred of the other is all-encompassing. I get that. But to create a foil to Søren in the figure of the Muslim immigrant who also reopens Roxana to the world, and to her body, felt too convenient.

I was quite fascinated with Zlatan as a character, but would have liked to see him from a different angle, not merely as the counterpoint to anti-immigrant hatred. From the beginning till the end, Zlatan was there reciting his life story to “open up” Roxana’s mind and her imagination. I understand what Locascio was trying to achieve, but I don’t think it worked in a way that allowed me to buy into the fiction I was reading.

It’s hard to say if I “enjoyed” this book when so much of it was raw and unsettling, but I do appreciate Locascio’s writing. I loved the feel of the prolonged fantasy of the book, the state of a heightened dream, where Roxana is mostly inside in a claustrophobic setting, deeply attuned to her body, or in state of drunken or lustful stupor in the green spaces of the city. There were moments of clarity and insight where I’d just stop and highlight certain sentences for how it captured ambivalence and messiness perfectly. I will definitely keep an eye out for Locascio’s next book.

[Diana Arterian · Rating 5 out of 5]

This fresh debut novel dips freely into modes of gothic, fairy tale, and bildungsroman, while also remaining grounded with compelling figures and locations that draw you in. "Open Me" tackles issues of misogyny and bigotry while giving us access to a woman's sexual explorations that give her access to new pleasure and encounters, understanding of herself. The positive repercussions of these encounters are deeply complicated by the emotionally abusive man who precipitates them, but Locascio clearly does not shy away from holding both these realities at once. Her ability to recognize that difficulty, while still honoring careful politics and the feminist protagonist's character, is nothing short of spinning many plates with graceful ease.

I'm simultaneously surprised and unsurprised by the volume of reviews that categorize this novel as "YA" and "erotic fiction"—and the mislabeling is not the fault of the text. If the main character were a young man, or if this book were written by a man, I think the the impulse to describe with these particular labels would be very different. This is not to diminish the YA and erotic texts out there, yet the general snobbery surrounding the genres often feels gendered, too. The main character is eighteen—is Holden Caulfield's story a "YA" novel? He's younger than Locascio's protagonist, who I found to be as complex, flawed, bold, and interesting (and often more likable). Yes, there is a good deal of sex in the book—but it does not read as paperback erotic fiction to this reader. The images are never tired or cliché, or even close to it. Locascio takes on the impossible task of describing the impact of sexual pleasure on all the senses, one that she handles with acumen. I don't think I have ever encountered descriptions as singular, amorphous, yet simultaneously accurate as what I found in these pages.

"Open Me" captures the feeling of being in a foreign place, the experience of late-teen thought and impulses, the projection of the interior state onto the world around you. This book is charged with an energy that propels you forward through its pages. Its politics left me grateful for an author so willing to work through the complicated messiness of sex, depression, chauvinism, self-love, and beyond.

[Lolly K Dandeneau · Rating 3 out of 5]

via my blog: https://bookstalkerblog.wordpress.com/
'Inside I felt sloppy.'

In Open Me, Roxana Olsen, is a young American whose original plan to summer in Paris with her best friend Slyvie falls apart. If she has sharp pangs of want, Sylvie’s life is filled with everything she’ll never have. Due to administrative errors, she learns the day after graduation that she will not be going to Paris with her best friend through a work study program after all. There is an oppurtunity though, she has been booked for a trip to Copenhagen, because there are low numbers of students who applied to the Hoogah Danmark program. The program runs the same amount of time as the one she was originally signed up for. When Sylvia doesn’t seem all that crushed by the prospect of Roxana’s absence, and doesn’t offer her a place to stay with her Aunt in Paris, Roxana decides she’s on her own and a flight to copenhagen is better than being stuck, sifting through the wreckage of her parents recent divorce and working a crappy summer job. She doesn’t inform her parents that Paris is no longer an option, and keeps up the farce that she is in Paris via emails. Once she reaches Copenhagen, she meets Søren and so begins a sexual exploration of her body, a sexual awakening that flirts with danger.

To say that Roxana is naive is an understatement.She soon finds herself wrapped up in the charms of Søren, everything that is foreign about him is exciting. He purposes a plan, a romantic idea to go home with him to Farsø, and after a night of passion and release, she decides to live in the moment. Søren is older, wiser about love and relationships. Recklessly she rushes into a domestic arrangement of sorts with him, lets her life take a new shape, but it distorts. No one knows where she is, she is free to be reborn. It’s shocking that she plunges into such a plan with someone, who was only hours ago a stranger, but it is also exciting. As an older jaded woman (and a mother of a 20-year-old daughter) I just thought, this is what the damage of romantic movies does to common sense. The older you get, the more you look into what is waiting at the bottom of the cliff you’re about to jump off and the less you believe a mysterious stranger will be the answer to your every dream but likely to off you.

In his town he becomes more formal, strange. Maybe it’s just cultural differences, maybe his aloof behavior is a Denmark thing. If whatever this is between her and Søren becomes too intense or sours, well she can always figure something out, right? Soon she is more a kept woman waiting for her lover’s return as he is free to come and go as he pleases. Without a key ( for most of this it sounds like imprisonment, for him it’s more an erotic dream and convenience) she finds ways to escape their love den. It’s not a torture story folks. On her little jaunts outside, she meets Zlaten whom she had an embarrassing moment with already. Here we get a taste of racism, class differences in another country because America isn’t the only country full of Xenophobia. What she experiences with Zlaten is completely different, and in many ways Zlaten is far more worldly than what she imagined Søren to be initially. There is tenderness, not just electric hot attraction between them. As to the erotica, I’ve read my fair share and I’m too old to find anything shocking. There is passion and then there is something meaty, deeper, full of meaning. Roxana is sheltered when she meets Søren, and looking for a great love story, or at least a grand passion, God knows what her head is filled with but Søren’s goal is to disabuse her of the ideal of perfect love. If Søren is detached passion, and raw pleasure then Zlaten is euphoric desire, heart, connection. Some of the sex scenes may be too graphic for some readers, but it serves it’s purpose I think. We are all animals in moments of passion, and it’s not always born out of love, but lust. Uncomfortable, exciting, whose to say what is passion for one person or the next that’s sex for you.

I have to mention the very beginning while not as stimulating as erotica it still bears importance and that is the difference between Roxana and her best friend, how much easier life is for Sylvie with her pretty looks and money. This seems the driving force for Roxana wanting to feed the pangs of desire, to not always be the one left longing for things that seem off-limits. As she disconnects from the dream of Paris, she wants a grand adventure of her own, at any cost. Some light is shed when the anger that her friend doesn’t even bother to message her once she’s off on her own Parisian trip comes to the surface. It seems like such a small thing, but I think it fed into her throwing caution to the wind. A sort of ‘screw her, this is my time to shine!’ It’s hard to watch her throwing herself all over the place, just winging it. How painful youth and growth is! I am a little disappointed in Søren as a character. It felt a little rushed, which of course is the point, but sometimes he didn’t feel real. I think he was a believable hook at the start and then fizzled out as a person, I think there could have been more time spent on him. Zlaten was wonderfully fleshed out though. Short of telling you what she does, who she ends up with I will say this, she does behave sloppy and a little stupid in the way youth allows us, if we’re lucky and not in danger of say, a predator. Danger comes in many forms, usually she is more a danger to herself with her rash decisions but to be fair, without that fearlessness she wouldn’t have experienced this maddening passion. It’s much more sexual liberation than growing up. Traveling all this way she spends more time between the sheets, so don’t expect a ton of sightseeing or bumping shoulders with the locals. She is confused, wet behind the ears, desperate to quench that bottomless hunger that haunts not just the young, but the old. Does she come to some profund epiphany, well… she certainly understands the desires of the body vs the heart.

Is this just an erotic adventure before college or a meaningful lesson in love?

Publication Date: August 14, 2018

Grove Press

[Bookworm · Rating 3 out of 5]

I can honestly say I've never read a book quite like this one...A mix of coming-of-age, erotica and women's fiction with fascinating details about Danish and Bosnian cultures. It was a hodgepodge of genres. I'm still trying to digest my impressions.

Roxanna is 18 years old and has inadvertently ended up in Denmark for a summer abroad program. Recently graduated from high school, she has never had a boyfriend. While in Denmark, she meets a 28 year old Dane who works for the program and they hit it off. The plot delves into an erotic component as Roxanna discovers her sexuality with this man.

I'm not sure exactly how to describe the alternating scenes between sex and culture and coming-of-age naivete except to say it was odd. In deconstructing the plot elements, i would say the cultural parts were fascinating and the scenes involving Denmark's immigration and racism issues were eye-opening. I'm not one who reads erotica so that aspect was lost on me. The coming-of-age story was okay but I think would appeal more to a younger reader than myself.

Readers that like this blend of fiction, will probably love this book. It's an interesting mix and worth the read if you're looking for something outside of the box.

A thank you to Grove Atlantic and Lisa Locascio for an ARC.

[Sammie Reads]

DNF so no rating. This book is weird and gross, guess I’m too mainstream for this…

[Peaches · Rating 1 out of 5]

***Spoilers included***
I wish I’d known Locascio has a doctorate in Creative Writing before beginning so I could’ve immediately dropped this book. I’ve found recent publications of people with doctorates, and sometimes MFAs, in Creative Writing to rely on cheap, base tactics for “sensationalism”: racism and masturbation. Is racism cheap or base when done well in fiction? Absolutely not, but when xenophobia and displaced refugee stories are sprinkled in a text to add some sort of appeal amidst a story of a girl chronically masturbating, lying to her parents, and wasting an abroad experience to be with a morose balding old dude, it’s clearly a writer attempting to seem more woke in order to sell more books. Locascio is no Toni Morrison.
I always have issue with an author making a young female protagonist graphically sexed in a failed attempt to make it a “coming of age” tale of “female power” (which is what an NPR article attested). Yes, young women can enjoy sex, masturbation, whatever the hell else turns her on such as college girl porn (yep, that happens) fine, but in the “honest” (i.e. explicitly vile) descriptions, it objectifies her to the reader. As we read about Roxana humping pillows and licking them, thoroughly enjoying her regular morning shits, and fondling herself five times a day while Soren (sorry, can’t figure out how to type that correctly) is gone, every function is on display for the reader, used as a way to shock/normalize the female body, or apparently fetishize it, as this book is horrifically described as “erotic” in more than one place I’ve read. I’d love to read an interview from Locascio about who the intended audience was and what she wanted to accomplish with these disgusting descriptions of Roxanna not bathing for days and comparing her smells/playing with her different discharges, etc. Sure, she’s “learning” herself…I guess, but have we really come to a point in reading culture where there was a need for this kind of plot?!
I didn’t find this book interesting in the slightest and would have quit if I hadn’t desired to write a full review and sadly paid money for this book. By the time that Soren’s xenophobia and Zlatan’s story of displacement were part of the plot, I was so bored that I began to skim. Still, I hoped that the book would improve. With all of the flashbacks to Sylvie, yet barely any actual details of their friendship (and no textual evidence to support anything such as when Roxanna said Sylvie was jealous…), I thought maybe they had a same sex encounter and then Sylvie got her removed from the trip…Nope! I thought Soren would kill Roxanna a la The Shinning when she sees his blank pages of his thesis and he tells her he erased it all…Nope! I thought Roxanna would have skipped out on college to be with Zlatan…Nope! In essence, it’s a poorly-written version of an American going and screwing in another culture because she wants something to anchor and filter her experience. Denmark was too much for Roxanna to handle, so she found men that would happily limit her scope, taking away her choices and need to decide on anything, except how often she masturbated I guess. This statement brings me to the title: How can this book be about female power when there are constant references to the title, Open Me? Roxanna, even by the end, is just waiting for something to open her; she can never do it herself!!!!
I’m embarrassed to say I read this, and would be even more embarrassed if I had written it and my name was tied to it forever! Not only was is disconnected, disappointing, and disjointed, but it’s offensive that Locascio both took ideas of female empowerment and racial intolerance and created this mess to “showcase” them!

[Linda Hutchinson · Rating 1 out of 5]

O.M.G. ⭐️ This book may hit a new low for me. No…that still belongs to “Fashion Victim.” This is super close though. Warning ~ Rated “R” review. .
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A young awkward and socially challenged 18-year old girl takes a summer trip to Paris but is diverted to Denmark where she meets a chaperone who is going to reconnect her with the tour group. What could go wrong? Fate intervenes and the 28-year old man (who she instantly falls in love with) talks her into going with him to a remote Danish village to participate in lots of sex which is shared in exhaustive detail with the reader. Her “lover” requires that she stay in their apartment, never leaving while he works on his doctoral thesis at a library in the village. She will agree to anything just to have lots of nighttime sex and never questions his motives. It is difficult to figure out what is going on with “crazy girl” or any of the other characters because they are NEVER developed. She only escapes the apartment to find another lover (she wears out guy #1) and supposedly discovers her inner self worth in this sex-quest. She eats, sleeps, and drinks sex 24/7. Oh, and she doesn’t bathe. This is Lolita on lots of drinks, hash, and self satisfactory playtime. The lead protagonist is an idiot. She equates love with sex and sex with love. She hates herself and only feels worthwhile when someone is doing the nasty to her. Hence the vaguely metaphorical title to the book. Please don’t buy this. I’m begging you. If my review sounds gross, I cut a lot of comments because it is even more revolting than what I have described. For real! #book #badbook #bad #stupidity #awful #bad #stillbad #lame #bad didISayBad? #booksbooksbooks #openme #justawful

[Sarah Perchikoff · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am shocked, SHOCKED that this is the first review I've done on an erotic fiction book. Anyone who has seen my browser history of smutty fanfiction would be astonished. I love the way erotic fiction and fanfiction can allow women to express their sexuality. This genre may be mocked, but those people (I used to be one of them) don't know what the hell they're talking about and that couldn't be clearer than in Lisa Locascio's Open Me. Let's get to the review!

Roxana Olsen is a complicated character in so many ways. She's just found out her parents are getting divorced, her best friend, Sylvie is kind of terrible, she finds out she is not going to Paris abroad like she thought, she is going to Copenhagen on her own and if that wasn't enough, she lies to her parents and says she is still going to Paris. #itscomplicated

And while her trip to Copenhagen starts off a little rocky, it, unfortunately, gets much worse. Roxana is definitely a naive girl when it comes to relationships. She is more than happy to leave the sad place she's staying in to go off with Soren, her guide from the study abroad program, and she even agrees to live with him in his flat.

I felt like I was watching a horror movie during this section, yelling at her to get back to her room, to get away from the dude she just met that wants her to move in. Even if I hadn't read the synopsis, it was clear this was going to end badly. But that is not to say that anything that Roxana goes through is her fault. It's not! That is all on Soren. He is a controlling, insecure, manipulative asshole. His moods are all over the place and he puts most of his own shit onto Roxana.

He never gives her a key to his flat, so she can never leave. She is, for all intents and purposes, in a prison. And while she eventually finds ways to get out of the apartment (thank god), she still has to deal with the unpredictability of Soren's moods. It is genuinely hard to read some of the stuff Roxana goes through. I would call it emotional and mental abuse. And once she gets out of there, it is a weight off her (and the reader's) shoulders.

And that's how we really get to meet Zlatan. *heart eyes* Roxana first notices Zlatan because she is standing in front of the window of Soren's apartment naked, pressing herself against the cool glass. Zlatan notices her standing there (most people would) and stares at her, making Roxana move away.

But eventually, they do meet in person and with clothes on! One day, Roxana is out walking through town when she is "supposed" to be cooped up in Soren's apartment and she comes across Zlaten in the park. They almost immediately connect. Roxana is obviously looking for any kind of affection after having to deal with Soren. But their relationship doesn't get physical until much later.

At first, Zlatan takes her to an American restaurant for cheeseburgers and talks to her about her life and the situation she has found herself in. He actually tries to get to know her before all the other stuff happens (who would have thought?!). Once Roxana decides she can't survive another day with Soren, Zlaten is there to pick her up and take her to his cabin. He is the ideal guy! He is like a Mr. Darcy who knows how to cook amazing food!

He also tells his life story to Roxana and it is one of the most fascinating parts of the story. He has had a rough life. When Roxana's time is up and she has to return to the US, I was crying. Even though they hadn't known each other long, Roxana had been through such hell that the relief that Zlatan brought felt like it should last forever. Sure, she had to go to college and she was quite a bit younger than him, but it was pure relief after reading the shit storm of Soren.

Now, let's talk about the sex!

Ok, I don't really have much to say about it other than one observation. The amount of description during the sex scenes differs greatly throughout the book. I think this is intentional but I'm not entirely sure. The sex scenes with Soren are graphic. Almost everything is described (positions, movements, etc.). But the sex scenes with Zlatan are much more about what Roxana is feeling. Sure, we get to read about what Zlatan looks like naked but actions during those scenes are barely described. It is more about how Zlatan makes her feel.

Obviously, I don't know the intention of the author, but it felt like because Roxana's relationship with Soren was not much more than sex that the sex needed to be shown with the same amount of detail that emotions are usually given. And because her relationship with Zlatan was about much more than just sex, her emotions are described more than any of the acts during the sex scenes.

And of course, sadly, Roxana eventually must go home to the US. And while I said that I wanted her to stay with Zlatan forever (or maybe I do), the book could not have ended at a better spot than to show Roxana returning to her life with her new experiences and her new perspective. I wonder if her parents will notice a difference in her or if Sylvie will. I'd like to think Roxana will not have any time for college boy bullshit now that she knows what it feels like to be treated properly by a man and what it feels to be treated like shit. I definitely wanted a little more story when I finished Open Me, but the end didn't make me angry. I like a little mystery so I can imagine my own ending for the characters.

This book definitely took me on a journey. I thought I knew the rating I was going to give it when I was halfway through, but that completely changed once I got to the end. I am giving Open Me by Lisa Locascio 4 out of 5 stars. While I would like to punch Soren in the throat, Zlatan and the joy he showed Roxana really made me fall in love with this book.

Open Me comes out August 14, 2018

Thank you, NetGalley and Grove Atlantic Press for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

[Jerrie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book presents a straightforward look at sexual desire and frustration. The story is about a young woman just out of high school who goes to Denmark for the summer before college. There she has an intense relationship with a lonely, depressed older man. This is 3 instead of 4 stars for me because the narrative was muddied a bit by the inclusion of issues around refugees and nationalism. It seemed a little shoe-horned into the story.

[Himanish Prabhakar · Rating 4 out of 5]

*** Thank you, Lisa, for the ARC, I really enjoyed this book and desperate to read upcoming books from you ***

My review is 4.45 stars.

This is debut book for the author. But it didn't feel like, this is the debut book. Full credits to the author for that. I'm not the one who give spoilers so let's talk about the author and her book in a different way. When I started reading this book, it started with the Airport scene. Now, this is the point where Author left an impact on me. Starting book from the scene of Airport, it tells you so much about the character or it may raise so many questions about the character. All these assumptions can be answered when you'll read this book & in my honest opinion, you must read this one.

You'll never feel that you are reading a debut book by a new author. The choice of words, all the phrases were so good & I'll say very bold. I really loved the author's style of writing. The way she described the characters, wow that's amazing. I really felt a connection with all the characters of the story, especially with Rox & Soren, I guess. This book is all about finding or you may say discovering yourself, finding your own voice amongst the people.

The plot of the story so good, the characters of the story are very strong and the story built around the plot is really very, very beautiful. The way author scripted down the whole story; wrote all the scenes, was amazing. The author holds me from the start of the book, until the end and in the between I never feel the let go feeling for a second.

"Totally Mesmerizing".

I really loved the book in every way. While I was reading this book, I went so deep that it took me days to write the perfect review, so that I can do justice, with the book.

I do love to recommend this book to everyone because it's strong, beautiful, mesmerizing & it left me in complete awe. Wow!!!

[Katyak79 · Rating 2 out of 5]

When I read the description of this book, I got very excited. I love a good coming of age story, especially if it is set abroad, however, this novel missed the mark for me. Roxanna is 18 years old and travelling abroad for the first time. Her intent was to go to Paris with her best friend, however, due to a mishap, she ends up in Denmark. Roxanna promptly meets a man, then bangs him and naturally does what any idiotic 18 year old would do, and abandons the reason she's in Denmark to follow random older man to his hometown without telling anyone where she is. If I had an 18 year old, she'd be locked in my basement after reading this. Part of my problem with this book was because of the main character's behavior. Roxanna is so painfully immature, and just makes inexplicable decisions throughout the story which frustrated me. Even worse, she doesn't seem to really mature or grow as a character from any of her experiences. The girl that gets on the plane seems no different than the girl who got off (minus the lucky to not be dead in a ditch bit). In this book, the prose was indeed beautiful, but to me it felt like the focus should have been less on prose and more on plot. So much time is spent on descriptions, that the locations that the story takes place in are lost. You never really get a feel for Denmark, partially because Roxanna is so damn passive and spends two thirds of the book diddling herself in someone's apartment. The story would have felt much richer if more time was spent on making Denmark come alive.
Thank you to Netgalley and the author for the opportunity to read this.

[Michelle Scalia · Rating 5 out of 5]

A poignant, heart wrenching coming of age story like no other. The author finds herself in Denmark on an international trip abroad gone wrong. She soon discovers an older, morose man who allows her to explore her sexuality by night while keeping her locked up during the day. The author explores racism, what it means to belong, friendship and her own sexual awakening in a raw powerful way that will haunt you long after the last page has been turned. Brilliant!!!

[Michelle · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars. For a “young girl irresponsibly fucks her summer through Europe” story this was shockingly boring. And then surprisingly about ... Balkan refugees and racism?

[Zarina · Rating 2 out of 5]

"I felt Soren's erection. He was not a little boy." ???????
"I fell into the thick meatiness of my orgasm" ....????????

this sex scene was so abominable i almost threw the whole book away

[Jessica Sullivan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a compelling story about a young American woman’s coming of age and sexual awakening while abroad in Denmark.

When she first arrives, Roxana meets Soren, an older Danish man who is assigned to be her guide for a study abroad program. After spending a night with him, Roxana impulsively decides to ditch her program and accompany Soren to his remote hometown.

As Soren’s demeanor becomes gradually moody and erratic, Roxana is torn between her carnal desire for him and her increasing repulsion. Soren reveals his xenophobia and Islamophobia, expressing disdain for the immigrants that live in Denmark. He’s condescending and distant with Roxana, who remains desperate for his attention in spite of herself.

Growing further apart from Soren, Roxana finds herself drawn to Zlatan, a Muslim refugee who lives on the outskirts of the small town.

Between her encounters with these two men, she opens up inside in ways she never could have imagined.

This novel did a really good job dealing with the complicated emotions that accompany the early phases of sexual awakening for women. I liked that it delved into deeper political topics, though the parts with Zlatan did feel forced at times as he divulged essentially his entire life story in monologue form.

As Roxana navigates these new experiences, she discovers a nascent sense of power and self through Locascio’s visceral first-person prose. Her internal conflicts are where the novel shines the most.

[Miriam Kumaradoss-Hohauser · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sex is hard to write, but then again Lisa Locascio is kind of a genius, so even when the descriptions of sexuality didn't quite work for me, everything else always did. There's a deep sadness here that gives over to a deep wisdom, and if that sounds hokey, well, it's because I'm not half as good at writing these things as Lisa Locascio. Also, I'm always here for fiction that brushes up against the realm of the fairytale, and I think this is a very fine example of that.

So, like, read it. It's so very worth it.

[Read By RodKelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

A young American, abroad for a summer in Denmark, experiences a sexual and moral awakening via graphic escapades with two older foreigners: one a native Danishman, racist and consumed with false patriotic pride, the other a Bosnian immigrant, still trying to integrate himself into a society unwilling to accept him.

[Barbara · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was erotica wrapped in a coverlet of race relations. I mean a duvet. (Because it takes place in Denmark). Get it??? It was written by a professor of creative writing at UCLA. She should have stayed home. Me, too. And in penance, I shall now read Middlemarch, War and Peace, and Moby Dick. In Danish.

[Allie · Rating 3 out of 5]

As many of the readers of this book have written in their own reviews, this is an odd book. A complete hodge podge of complex themes seen through the eyes of an 18 year old girl. To the readers who have written it’s disgusting, read a book about sex positivity and young women. The only theme that is truly disgusting in the book is the light touch given to the themes of racism, refugees and nationalism. But perhaps that’s a microcosm of the world.

[Laila · Rating 1 out of 5]

This read to me as really juvenile, more like a young adult book in its characters and dialogue, but minus the graphic sex. No real storyline, poorly developed characters, lots of dangling details. Unrealistic. What 18 year old in a new country is content to sit in an apartment all day and do nothing?

[camilla · Rating 3 out of 5]

An uncomfortable read. The writing is brilliant and honest, the author is not afraid to investigate the erotic and sometimes shameful ways people think about sex and human bodies. I say uncomfortable because at times this novel is like watching a slow motion movie of mistakes I made, or could easily have made, as a young woman. So eager to be an adult that I swallowed objections to racist, prejudice opinions or let men treat me in ways I knew were not right. It's uncomfortable to watch someone yearn for love so much that they disappear under the brutal heavy handedness of male entitlement and selfishness. I devoured this book even when it made me squirm, the honest depiction of a woman figuring out her body and craving someone else to know it, as well as the silent desires deep in her mind, were refreshing and illuminating. It's a book I'm going to have to sit with for awhile, let it spin around my head until I decide where it really falls. It made an impression, and sometimes that's all I can ask of novels.

[Autumn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Roxana Olsen was supposed to be spending the summer wandering the streets of Paris with her best friend. Instead, she ended up in Copenhagen – alone.

Her first taste of real freedom is blinding and she finds herself inexplicably attracted to her intense and much older Danish host.

But the more time that she spends with the mysterious Søren, the more she catches a glimpse at the darkness that lies behind his glacial eyes.

“I’m scared that love isn’t real.”
“I felt that way, once. I remember. The feeling is not that love is not real, but that it is impossible.” His eyes were kind, his hand was warm and dry under my chin.
“Yes,” I whispered.
“I am older than you,” Søren said, stroking my face. “I offer you what I have learned. Love is real. But it can end. That is what makes it precious.”

Set on a path of discovery – both of herself and of the world around her – Roxana finds an unlikely friend in the village outcast.

Zlatan is the man that teaches her about war, about discrimination and about heartbreak. And it is the lesson that changes her life forever.

“I have to tell you—” I almost said it then, the sound already on my tongue.
Zlatan drew me closer. “Don’t.”
“Why?”
“What you want to say doesn’t mean what you think it means.”
“I know what I feel.”
He shook his head sadly. For the first time he looked older than me. “The love you feel is for yourself, Roxana. It is your freedom speaking its joy to you.”

Open Me is a brutally honest look at what it’s really like to come of age in the modern world. Lisa’s hard-hitting and poignant prose lays bare such vast injustices like sexism and immigration. It’s graphic, it’s unsettling and incredibly beautiful.

This book will open your mind and make you realize that we aren’t so different from each other after all…

[Adia Mott · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was definitely weird but we really get to see the true naivety of a young girl but also all of the thoughts and insecurities and self discovery that she gets to experience as well. She shows shyness and also boldness in other instances. I found Søren’s character deceitful in the beginning. Which i think is something he find he hates about himself. He hates cruelty but perpetuates it. I liked the events of finding Søren i’d a racist and then touching on immigration and how people are treated who need asylum from their war stricken land. It’s a reality that most countries are living with. Zlatan was the perfect opposite of Søren. He thought he knew everything and ultimately knew nothing. While Zlatan didnt claim to know everything and knew a lot, the world, humanness, vulnerbility. The quote that sticks with me is “You feel love, Roxana, a terrible openness, so open that iy injures you. The pain that tells us we are alive, that we have not yet gone into the earth”. made me cry honestly.

[Raquel · Rating 4 out of 5]

A weird, grittily honest book laced with beautiful, honest writing that intentionally unsettles. So much of this story is so uncomfortable, yet I couldn't tear myself away.

This story follows an 18-year-old who is adrift and feeling tempestuous. Despite her age, this is not YA. Nor is it erotica, despite all the sex. It is instead a frank look at a young woman getting to know herself.

Roxana has low self-worth and is thus willing to put up with people treating her badly, until finally she isn't. She makes the kind of terrible choices that people who only value themselves when others value them do. She endures abusive behavior and stays quiet in the face of bigotry and xenophobia because she is so overwhelmed by and afraid of her wants and needs.

I found myself wanting to see more of Roxana grappling with her complicated relationship with her best friend Sylvie, and the subplot about her parents revealing big news right before she left wasn't plumbed as much as it could have for its emotional impact. But I was impressed by how atmospheric and poetic this novel was.

[Eva · Rating 5 out of 5]

Roxana is 18 years old, unsure of herself and feels denied of recognition and pleasure; alone for the first time, she reinvents herself in a racy, stifling fugue of playing house with an older man. Her decisions may seem illogical, yet she resolutely throws herself into a rash submission she experiences as freedom, and emerges with a newfound sense of her own power. Ultimately this is an exploration of female desire and sexual agency, almost transgressive in its unflinching portrayal of a girl's appetites and acts of love. A bare drama at times allegorical of a female condition of being bound to a man's will, with sex the only arena for transcendence. Set against a backdrop of present-day Denmark grappling with an immigration influx, the story's few characters are treated lovingly and with humor. Roxana is a character who will stay with me for a long time.

[Amy Smolcic · Rating 4 out of 5]

Open Me by Lisa Locascio is an intriguing coming-of-age novel that combines elements of erotica, and the result will leave you eagerly awaiting to see what’s on the next page. The book focuses its narrative on new high school graduate Roxana, who has been anticipating her escape to Paris with her best friend on a student-abroad trip. The organisers mix-up her trip, and she’s instead sent-off to Copenhagen. Her parents are in the middle of a divorce, so though she isn’t visiting her ideal city of choice, she’s eager to escape to Copenhagen to get away from the messy situation occurring at home.

When she arrives in Copenhagen, she is greeted by 28-year-old Soren, who is an academic researcher and mentor in the student program she’s in. The two embark on a fast-paced passionate relationship that turns creepy. Soren encourages her to withdraw (or more like, withdraws for her) from her student program and whisks her away to a small town to fulfil his fantasy of having a lover locked in his apartment like a slave.

The relationship between Roxana and Soren is eerie, yet intriguing. With approximately ten years separating them, they’re at different stages of their life. Despite Soren’s age, he appears extremely immature. Roxana also seems to have low self-esteem, which explains why she seemed willing to be drawn to someone like Soren. The construction of Roxana’s character was incredible and it was interesting witnessing her head-space and how she was drawn into a world Soren attempted to dominate. Much to my pleasure, Locascio didn’t romanticize the creepy relationship between the pair and clearly presented the problems associated with a romantic relationship between someone lacking confidence like Roxana and a controlling-type like Soren. Their relationship felt real without the fantasy usually depicted in such relationships.

The novel expands from being solely a work of erotic fiction or a coming-of-age novel, especially with its discussions of xenophobia and race-relations with foreigners in Denmark. Soren’s character appears to have a disdain for foreigners who have sought refuge in Denmark. Soren’s feelings of race appear to paint a bigger picture of the real challenges foreigners endure when attempting to assimilate into a new home. I didn’t expect the book to dive into this issue, but doing so gave it much more depth.

Open Me is a compelling story, entrenched in heart and a captivating storyline.

[Lisa]

Overall I liked this quite a bit - I was impressed at the mix of the realistic portrayal of female puberty and friendship (this has the best description of a mother showing a daughter how to remove blood from clothes I’ve read), told in flashbacks, and the equally realistic horror story of emotional mistreatment that emerged. I don’t think I understood the final relationship/ending but it was satisfying nonetheless.