Sugar Walls, by Naughtia Marcano

Sugar Walls
Written by Naughtia Marcano

Initial disclaimer! This book is highly provocative and definitely rated R. It contains some pretty racy stuff. Please don't read my review if you think you may be offended.


I have to admit that when I put my name in for this Goodreads First Reads Giveaway, I did not realize what a racy novel this was supposed to be. The cover showed a little cleavage, and the description mentioned sex, but I assumed it was more of a chic lit thing than a wild and kinky sex thing. That being said, I was excited to win the book and I looked forward to reading it, even after I realized it wasn't my usual cup of tea.


Naughtia Marcano (perhaps the author's name should have been a clue, but sometimes these things are lost on me) is a new writer, and Sugar Walls (also a slang term I was unfamiliar with-I'll let you look that one up on your own if you are so inclined) was her first published book. While I thought the premise for the plot was a good one, if not totally original, in Sugar Walls it took a turn for the unrealistic and was very rushed. The characters just didn't seem believable to me because of the bizarre way they behaved and the nonsensical decisions they made. I can't give you an example without giving away the story, but I just found most of the storyline to be way over the top. I think if the book had been another 100 pages longer and/or taken place over a few months rather than a few weeks, it would have given me a chance to get to know the characters better and allowed me to see their stories progress at in a more reasonable and convincing way. Unfortunately, I did find the writing a bit amateurish. It wasn't bad by any means, but it wasn't as polished as it could have been.


All that being said, I enjoyed this book tremendously. There were a few unexpected plot twists and moments of wit that were quite entertaining. I think that Marcano definitely has the potential to be a great writer. In fact, her ability to write about sex in such a straightforward and unruffled way is amazing. Most people are afraid to approach sex scenes the way she does. She described these scenes with an honesty and fearlessness that usually takes writers a long time to accomplish.


The things that were less than ideal about her book are all things that can easily be remedied with time, more practice writing, and a great editor. But the thing she has, that can't be taught, is the ability to write a sex scene as steamy and unabashed as the ones she wrote for this book. I give her major props on that. I don't consider myself to be sexually repressed, but I don't know that I could write scenes like the ones she wrote for Sugar Walls.


If you aren't afraid of an honest and sometimes freaky sex scene, or ten, check out this book. I look forward to seeing Marcano progress as a writer. I truly think we will see more from her in the future and that she will continue to improve with each book she writes.