I appreciate you trying book one of the Society at New Heights series as well as taking the time to write out a detailed and critical review. This title was the first book I have ever written, and in my attempt to build out a thorough world I absolutely went down a lot of paths. It was a sincere effort to provide a richer, more immersive story, but I also understand how it took away from the main storyline for readers.
It is true that the vast majority of the female characters are very attractive, feminine, stylish, wealthy, and tend to be cougarish, but that’s because the Society at New Heights series isn’t a Sociology dissertation on what life will be like for all classes of the future American Matriarchy. This series is focused almost exclusively on the elite top 1%, the only members of the Matriarchy with the wealth, connections, and leisure to be able to purchase (“adopt” is the preferred nomenclature), provide for, and “enjoy” adult babies. Realism dictates that they MUST be immensely wealthy for any of it to make sense. So, in a women-dominated Matriarchy of chasmic wealth inequality, it seemed only natural to me that the female apex predators of such a society would be the fittest, wealthiest, and best-looking women. And frankly, I don’t see what’s so bad or unrealistic about that.
I DID make attempts along the way to offer glimpses into what life is like for those NOT in the top 1%. A number of indentureds have backstories of more modest lifestyles and upbringings which led to them committing crimes and being sentenced to indentured servitude, (Baby) Chris is a handsome young man struggling in a few dead-end jobs before his own back-alley adoption by Karen, and we also see Karen’s ascendency from middle-class to the elite, though even she can never touch the level of the female clients she serves in the regression clinic. This was meant to provide contrast and highlight the severity of how structured and hierarchical the Matriarchy is likely to be, and… looking around today at tech billionaires and where our own society is headed, I’m starting to think I was more accurate than I’d hoped.
There are PLENTY of non-blonde characters throughout the series, though it is true that the trio of main female characters (Madeline Becker, Karen Holliday, and Baby Bella) are all blonde. This was done to connect those three with a physical attribute despite their very different positions in life, as Madeline represents the idealized Matriarch, Karen, her protégé she is grooming to safeguard and continue her legacy, and Baby Bella, her long-desired adult baby girl. It made sense for Madeline to want a blonde adult baby girl to match her own hair color, as though she were her own daughter, and to seek a younger (blonde) version of herself to run her regression clinic. Why are they not brunette? Well, like some other writers, I inserted myself into the story as a sort of safety blanket in the form of Karen, and I put my hubby-baby in there in the form of (Baby) Chris. And, as the book covers show, I am blonde. So, I made them blonde as well.
I also must confess I am not sure why you felt that alcohol had no impact on my characters’ faculties. They absolutely do get intoxicated, with book two opening with a recurring (and NON-blonde) character returning drunk to her mansion and forcefully and sloppily molesting her adult baby girl. The over-indulgence on alcohol is meant to dovetail with the broader themes of decadence and decline, these wealthy and privileged elite women growing increasingly reckless as they go deeper into their glasses in their attempts to achieve pleasure. It’s possible I did not highlight their intoxication as much in book one, but book four opens with a character dying of a pill and alcohol-induced overdose, so… I feel I corrected this later on.
As for the “Silence of the Lambs” comparison, while this series is meant to have darker aspects to it, I must say that I have personally read multiple ABDL stories that are CONSIDERABLY darker than my own (body modification, actual torture, etc). I personally do not enjoy that at all and I purposefully stopped short of crossing those lines. I deployed psychological mechanisms, to where the Mommies manipulate their adult babies into grudgingly accepting their roles, as well as plenty of modest bondage and conventional punishments/discipline, but in no way shape or form have I written a series like “Saw” or “Hostel” with diapers. I am not sure why Baby Bella’s coerced babyfied life inside her comfy, oversized, baby girl’s nursery in her beautiful Mommy’s mansion reminded you of a disgusting well in a creepy man’s basement. That is shockingly jarring to me.
Nevertheless, I take your criticism earnestly, and I have long intended to revise and re-edit book one to condense it and make it more focused for readers.
For those interested in a more focused, faster-paced, slightly less dark, and, perhaps most importantly, less blonde ABDL book in a Female-dominated Matriarchy, I recommend trying book one of my Countess series which I am proud to say is also available in audiobook form on Audible, narrated by a real female voice actress.
I appreciate you trying book one of the Society at New Heights series as well as taking the time to write out a detailed and critical review. This title was the first book I have ever written, and in my attempt to build out a thorough world I absolutely went down a lot of paths. It was a sincere effort to provide a richer, more immersive story, but I also understand how it took away from the main storyline for readers.
It is true that the vast majority of the female characters are very attractive, feminine, stylish, wealthy, and tend to be cougarish, but that’s because the Society at New Heights series isn’t a Sociology dissertation on what life will be like for all classes of the future American Matriarchy. This series is focused almost exclusively on the elite top 1%, the only members of the Matriarchy with the wealth, connections, and leisure to be able to purchase (“adopt” is the preferred nomenclature), provide for, and “enjoy” adult babies. Realism dictates that they MUST be immensely wealthy for any of it to make sense. So, in a women-dominated Matriarchy of chasmic wealth inequality, it seemed only natural to me that the female apex predators of such a society would be the fittest, wealthiest, and best-looking women. And frankly, I don’t see what’s so bad or unrealistic about that.
I DID make attempts along the way to offer glimpses into what life is like for those NOT in the top 1%. A number of indentureds have backstories of more modest lifestyles and upbringings which led to them committing crimes and being sentenced to indentured servitude, (Baby) Chris is a handsome young man struggling in a few dead-end jobs before his own back-alley adoption by Karen, and we also see Karen’s ascendency from middle-class to the elite, though even she can never touch the level of the female clients she serves in the regression clinic. This was meant to provide contrast and highlight the severity of how structured and hierarchical the Matriarchy is likely to be, and… looking around today at tech billionaires and where our own society is headed, I’m starting to think I was more accurate than I’d hoped.
There are PLENTY of non-blonde characters throughout the series, though it is true that the trio of main female characters (Madeline Becker, Karen Holliday, and Baby Bella) are all blonde. This was done to connect those three with a physical attribute despite their very different positions in life, as Madeline represents the idealized Matriarch, Karen, her protégé she is grooming to safeguard and continue her legacy, and Baby Bella, her long-desired adult baby girl. It made sense for Madeline to want a blonde adult baby girl to match her own hair color, as though she were her own daughter, and to seek a younger (blonde) version of herself to run her regression clinic. Why are they not brunette? Well, like some other writers, I inserted myself into the story as a sort of safety blanket in the form of Karen, and I put my hubby-baby in there in the form of (Baby) Chris. And, as the book covers show, I am blonde. So, I made them blonde as well.
I also must confess I am not sure why you felt that alcohol had no impact on my characters’ faculties. They absolutely do get intoxicated, with book two opening with a recurring (and NON-blonde) character returning drunk to her mansion and forcefully and sloppily molesting her adult baby girl. The over-indulgence on alcohol is meant to dovetail with the broader themes of decadence and decline, these wealthy and privileged elite women growing increasingly reckless as they go deeper into their glasses in their attempts to achieve pleasure. It’s possible I did not highlight their intoxication as much in book one, but book four opens with a character dying of a pill and alcohol-induced overdose, so… I feel I corrected this later on.
As for the “Silence of the Lambs” comparison, while this series is meant to have darker aspects to it, I must say that I have personally read multiple ABDL stories that are CONSIDERABLY darker than my own (body modification, actual torture, etc). I personally do not enjoy that at all and I purposefully stopped short of crossing those lines. I deployed psychological mechanisms, to where the Mommies manipulate their adult babies into grudgingly accepting their roles, as well as plenty of modest bondage and conventional punishments/discipline, but in no way shape or form have I written a series like “Saw” or “Hostel” with diapers. I am not sure why Baby Bella’s coerced babyfied life inside her comfy, oversized, baby girl’s nursery in her beautiful Mommy’s mansion reminded you of a disgusting well in a creepy man’s basement. That is shockingly jarring to me.
Nevertheless, I take your criticism earnestly, and I have long intended to revise and re-edit book one to condense it and make it more focused for readers.
For those interested in a more focused, faster-paced, slightly less dark, and, perhaps most importantly, less blonde ABDL book in a Female-dominated Matriarchy, I recommend trying book one of my Countess series which I am proud to say is also available in audiobook form on Audible, narrated by a real female voice actress.
The Countess Book One- https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...
Best wishes, darling,
Miss Julia