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BDSM Mastery - Basics: your guide to play, parties, and scene protocols
This is not a book that explains what BDSM is, this is a book that explains what BDSM is all about. This is a book for people who are considering stepping into real time BDSM, and it is also a book for people who have been involved in the community for a while. This book treats the world of BDSM as a culture unto itself and goes a long way to explaining the expectations, rules, and words that are common to this culture. This book does not tell you how to use any implements (floggers, canes, etc), but it does explain why in the world you'd want to use such implements. This is a must-have resource book for your kink library.
- GenresBDSM
238 pages, Paperback
First published December 17, 2014
4 people are currently reading
45 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
September 30, 2025
I contemplated over whether I should give this book 4 stars or 5 stars.
4 stars because, at times, the book can feel a little jumbled and unfocused. There are distinct chapters of course and a bit of a flow, but I feel like there were many times where points and ideas went back and forth. There's nothing wrong with referencing prior chapters and ideas, but sometimes he would then elaborate for paragraphs. There were also a fair bit of typos/misspellings that were distracting.
But overall, the information is great. This is a 5 star read for a newbie and it would make a wonderful foray into BDSM non-fiction. I can definitely see myself recommending this to the plethora of folks on reddit asking where to start with learning about their newfound desires!
It covers a lot of great basics including a glossary of terms, discussions of attending your first munch or play party, general community guidelines, and gives a lot of great advice on what is and is not ok within a new dynamic (hint: if it's not something that you'd be ok with in a vanilla relationship, it's probably not ok in a kink relationship either!).
It's relatively 101 while still being a fantastic resource for even experienced players. The way that Dr Bob phrased some common pitfalls and issues gave me some enlightenment myself that I feel like I can take back to my own community.
This is absolutely worth the read!
4 stars because, at times, the book can feel a little jumbled and unfocused. There are distinct chapters of course and a bit of a flow, but I feel like there were many times where points and ideas went back and forth. There's nothing wrong with referencing prior chapters and ideas, but sometimes he would then elaborate for paragraphs. There were also a fair bit of typos/misspellings that were distracting.
But overall, the information is great. This is a 5 star read for a newbie and it would make a wonderful foray into BDSM non-fiction. I can definitely see myself recommending this to the plethora of folks on reddit asking where to start with learning about their newfound desires!
It covers a lot of great basics including a glossary of terms, discussions of attending your first munch or play party, general community guidelines, and gives a lot of great advice on what is and is not ok within a new dynamic (hint: if it's not something that you'd be ok with in a vanilla relationship, it's probably not ok in a kink relationship either!).
It's relatively 101 while still being a fantastic resource for even experienced players. The way that Dr Bob phrased some common pitfalls and issues gave me some enlightenment myself that I feel like I can take back to my own community.
This is absolutely worth the read!
October 20, 2025
I think this is my new favorite learn to kink book. Covers all the basics and points people in a direction to get started.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews