Kinky Karrot Presents: Off The Beaten Path

by Marie Sann, Yann Krehl

Sex and relationships are the last thing Lizzy is thinking about when she moves to the big city. She is completely focused on starting her studies, looking for a job, and living with her sarcastic, older roommate Elva, which is still unfamiliar. She is also still reeling from the breakup with her long-term boyfriend.

When she visits a sex shop for the first time out of curiosity, Lizzy begins to explore her own sexuality and discovers a whole new side of herself. An exciting side. From dating apps to sex toys to bondage, she tries out lots of things and slowly discovers her interest in the kinkier side of sex.

However, this journey is not without challenges: she must deal with the uncertainties of modern dating, financial worries and the question of how she wants to shape her relationships and sex life in the future. Lizzy faces great challenges that offer great opportunities - anything but frivolous!

Genres: Graphic Novels, Comics, Romance

136 pages, Hardcover

Published July 1, 2025

Reviews

[Alexander Peterhans · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's sexy sex time! The main character is out on a mission to discover herself sexually, and it's presented in an open, non-porny manner (sadly, depending on your personal preference), but it also regularly is a bit too didactic, which comes across kind of.. dry..?

The main character is inhumanly candid, sometimes to an irritating degree. This is a woman who, when her sex partner professes to want to try some anal play, decides to introduce him into it with a gigantic, butternut squash-sized sex toy. This doesn't go down well (figuratively, not literally).

Overall the book all feels like it's missing a real central drive, and then suddenly it's over.

The art is quite explicit, but quite tasteful, never trying to be porn. This style of art does tend to remind me a bit too much of mobile game art.

Still no idea who or what a Kinky Karrot is.

(Picked up a review copy through Edelweiss)

[Alex Sarll]

An ARC picked up from Edelweiss principally for that cover –as with Lore Olympus, the sudden reappearance among younger creators of an art style recalling Jack Cole's Playboy illustrations has been one of the more unexpected developments of recent years. Meaning I was immediately disappointed when the interiors turned out to look very different; I want to namecheck Sierra and Disney, Bluth and Bakshi, except I like all of those, and none of them quite gets across the slick, cartoony feel of this. It contributes to a faint air of insubstantiality which runs through the storytelling too, where a young woman called Lizzy moves to the city for university and then gets very into kinky sex, and that's pretty much it. It undoubtedly means well, and gods know the news this week has already been a reminder of the importance of consent, communication &c in BDSM. But if something presents itself as a story, rather than an educational brochure, I prefer that wrapped in more than a faint sheen of character and plot – something like Sunstone, which absolutely doubles as a primer, but is also an involving romance with an engaging cast of human beings who each have their own charms, foibles and flaws. Here, on the other hand, with the exception of one heavily signposted and somewhat implausible blind spot from which the only real drama proceeds, it's all perfectly adjusted individuals having clear, open and generally exemplary conversations about their wants and needs. I'm making it sound more earnest than it is; there is humour, especially around Lizzy's (plot-necessary) tendency to overshare, but...oh, I sometimes wish there were a simple shorthand for that thing where someone does a knowingly terrible joke, but even though they know it's terrible, they don't appreciate that on quite enough levels, so if anything it comes across slightly worse than if they'd just deployed it straight. Case in point, the scene here where Lizzy says "I mean, I was today years old when I learned how different vulvas can look. And they're all beautiful and unique!" While both characters in the scene look straight to camera. Similarly, though I can of course see the appeal of a utopian remix of everyday life, because I too live in the 2020s, there's a gliding over the practicalities that can verge on glibness; lip service is paid to money worries, but someone who struggles to keep a job as a waitress can still buy one of everything from the adult shop down the road, and nobody seems to struggle for a never-ending stream of new partners of their preferred gender/s. A few one-pagers at the back, while still light, seem more engaged with potential problems than the main story, and I think I would have been more into something with a little more of that grit. But that just brings home the overall sense that, while there is definitely an audience for this, it ain't me. Really, my only criticism to which I'd want to lend objective weight is that if something is intended to be educational, it's probably best it not use the spelling 'testicals'.

[Frank Chillura (OhYouRead) · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is what I will imagine when I hear about the secret vault at Disney from now on.

[Maxie Froelicher · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received a copy of this through Edelweiss+, thank you!
I picked this up cause I was intrigued. I'm fairly kinky in my free time and it looked cute. And it was, for the most part anyway. I liked the art style, and the beginning, but after about like, half the book, the plot disappeared and just jumped from one scene to another, which I didn't really mind but it kinda just came out of nowhere. I'm also not sure I got a finished copy because it seemed to just. End. And only had 102 pages when Goodreads says it's 136, but that's neither here nor there. I'm not sure I would recommend this one to anyone though, as the main character is kind of annoying and has zero boundaries/tramples her roommates boundaries occasionally which isn't the best when the whole thing is supposed to be learning about healthy sexual relationships.

[Online Eccentric Librarian · Rating 4 out of 5]

More reviews (and no fluff) on the blog http://surrealtalvi.wordpress.com/

This is a very sweet and upbeat graphic novel: think sexually empowered modernized Disney Princess (the main character is a pink version of The Little Mermaid, for sure). The art is clean, the sex isn't smutty, and the main character is your usual manic pixie dream girl, just less annoying.

Story: Lizzy has just broken up with her boyfriend right as she moves to the city to attend college. Finding and keeping a job has been difficult and her new roommate is quirky, to say the least. When she decides to visit the sex shoppe across the street, she finds that it isn't the seedy place she thought it would be and instead enjoys exploring sex. Along the way, she learns more about herself and finds she really doesn't want to be tied down long term.

So yes, all the characters are interesting in their uniqueness. Lizzy herself feels like someone ripped Ariel straight from Disney's Little Mermaid and put her in a modern setting and gave her a modern Tiana from The Frog Princess as a roommate. The book is about Lizzy exploring life and finding new pleasures. So yes, this is an empowerment story and the main characters are all strong women who know themselves.

The art is clean, colorful, and the sex is pleasant to look at rather than pornographic. It's some of the few times that I didn't feel like cringing when those scenes popped up. There is also a joie de vivre throughout that makes for a great atmosphere and really fun read.

In all, very enjoyable. Reviewed from an advance reader copy provided by the publisher.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

So cute! I loved the artist's illustration style-- bright and sweet but not cartoony.

This story is explicit but not lewd. It focuses only on one aspect of the MC's life and interests, so I wish we had a slightly more rounded picture of her as a person. This does take place over the course of 6 (-9? or nearly 12?) ish months and we do get some details about her life-- mostly limited to quasi-jokes about her inability to hold a job for long, a little bit about her college classes, and then about taking time away from school before switching majors.

It's not definitively stated that the MC is supposed to be ND, but a case could be made for counting her as ADHD-- hyperfocus, oversharing, and interrupting are commented on by several other characters, sometimes repeatedly.

Recommended for readers who like New Adult romance/erotica. I received digital copy of this book from the publisher, as part of LibraryCon Live! 2024.

[Chad · Rating 3 out of 5]

A young woman goes off to the big city for college where she finds a sex shop and explores her sex life extensively. The art and her character makes her something of an x-rated Disney princess. A lot of the book seems to be educational. One of her caveats is that she overshares but everyone else is well-adjusted and so it's always OK. I know they added all this stuff about how she can't keep a job to make it more humorous, but living in a big city is ridiculously expensive and she never at all struggles even though she's buying expensive stuff for the bedroom left and right. What story there is is kind of all over the place.

[Lys · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you to the publisher for the eARC.

This was more like 2.5 stars for me -- engaging, informative, and funny, but at times it oscillates from didactic to "that could use a little more context." The art style is really fun though!

[Leslie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun and funny, sexy and sex positive, beautiful art and a message of female empowerment that doesn’t feel preachy but validating. (Strictly NSFW though)

[Adam Fisher · Rating 5 out of 5]

Graphic content for sure, but this is kink done right. Must for readers and practitioners of kinky activities.

Review submitted to Diamond Bookshelf for potential professional publication.

[Javier Campos · Rating 3 out of 5]

interesante perspectiva

[Mehsi · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received this book from edelweiss in exchange for a honest review.


🥵 Before we start, this one is superspicy! If that is not your thing, be warned. I know the cover is pretty suggestive, but I have read some other stuff and not all of them are graphic even when bondage/bdsm came around.

😍 I loved seeing our MC discover her sexuality and see her experiment left and right and discover what she likes/what works for her. I loved seeing her grow in that aspect but that she didn’t just go for sex toys, but also went to courses, talked to people, tried out being a dom, and more.
😍 In that regards, that she liked both women and men.
😍 The sexy scenes were spicy, sexy, and fun. OK, maybe a bit much at times for me, haha. Maybe also because I hadn’t expected it to go that graphic. XD But no worries, I still enjoyed it and it was fun seeing our MC try out all sorts of things. Not one sex scene was the same.
😍 The art was stunning!
😍 That couple that work in the sex shop were just the sweetest and I love their banter. I wouldn’t mind a whole book with just them.
😍 Reading about various aspects of the BDSM/more kinky sex stuff. Plus, seeing her visit workshops (and figuring out that when being tied up… go to the toilet before that, ouch).
😍 I loved Elva and Sam. They were such fun and positive characters and I loved seeing them do what they did best. Sam telling people about vulvas and making art. Elva trying to get her line of lingerie (which I would wear in a heartbeat if it really existed).
😍 How body positive and sex positive it was.
😍 I loved the chapter pages with a word or two to sum things up + a sex item.
😍 Seeing regular life next to sexy times. It was a nice blend and you could really see some character growth. Even in the wishy-washy that was Elva (see my meh parts) I could see some growth and I loved that she slowly figured out things and matured. Sure, she has a LONG way to go, but I am hopeful that maybe she will get somewhere.

😕 The MC was so wishy-washy and it annoyed me to no end. She cannot hold a job because other things are just more interesting (at times it felt she didn’t even try). But somehow despite her having a lack of funds because of no job, she still manages to magically pay her part of the rent (or maybe she never did, I wouldn’t be surprised) and get a ton of sex toys and BDSM stuff (which isn’t cheap at all). In the meantime they have to add a third roommate to actually be able to pay the rent. This is by no fault the other roommate’s fault because she is actually working just has had some rough times but she is dedicated to making it work, but yeah, freelancer/working on her own is not working out immediately.
😕 How our MC treated Theo. Instead of just talking to him about things, setting some borders, she hurts his feelings. It took a while before she finally talked.
😕 Our MC was so naïve about everything in life. And she had some really dumb reasons not to like something. Or how things worked. I was at times surprised she was able to go to school or do normal things.
😕 The MC constantly calling her roomie/friend old or make jokes about her age. Like, what the actual fuck? I don’t know what the difference is between the two women, but I am sure it is not that much.
😕 The ending was very abrupt, did my review copy miss some pages or is something else going on?
😕 Plus, at times it felt like I was missing pages. We would go from one event to the other without a good transition. It would just be them thinking of something and boom, next day or next week. Very confusing.

But all in all, I am very happy I got to try this one, it was a lot of fun and I liked the spiciness. Plus, the art! I would recommend this one if you are looking for some spice + sex positivity in your life~

Review first posted at https://twirlingbookprincess.com/