Praise

Praise, and indeed the Salacious Players’ Club series as a whole, explores the tension between personal sexual freedom and the societal judgment faced by those who defy conventional sexual norms. Emerson and his friends open a sex club that caters to kink practitioners, and the club’s origins lie in the ostracization that they often encounter because they engage in kink practices. For instance, in the Prologue, Emerson humorously recounts an anecdote about how a potential partner reacted poorly when he tried to introduce kink into their dynamic. He and his friends, who are all involved in the kink lifestyle, complain about how they feel compelled to hide their preferences because they want to avoid judgment. They decide to create the club so that they can have a space to express themselves without hiding, and in doing so, Emerson and his friends decide to “come out” publicly as kink practitioners. The novel frames this as a personally liberating choice, though it does not shield them from the burden of others’ disdain and judgment.

One of the primary obstacles that Emerson faces in the novel is the disapproval of his son, Beau, who considers his father’s participation in the club to be morally repugnant. Charlie is also uncertain about kink when she first encounters it: Her initial discomfort with kink stems from ingrained societal notions about what is acceptable or normal sexual behavior. However, as she learns more, she comes to see kink as an emotionally rich and valid expression of intimacy. The novel portrays acceptance as the ability to move past any preconceived notions about kink and sex, and the lack of this quality differentiates the antagonists from the protagonists. For example, Beau, when he is against his father, is presented as a minor antagonist. Once he and Emerson reconcile, however, he becomes an ally to both Charlie and Emerson.

The novel explores the connections between sexual identity and self-expression through the subplot involving Charlie’s young sister, Sophie, who is transgender. When Jimmy, Charlie and Sophie’s father, returns at the end of the novel, he speaks hatefully about both his daughters. He attempts to shame Charlie for being involved with a sex club, criticizing her sexuality. In Sophie’s case, his hatred is rooted in anti-trans bias. His judgment about both his daughters is rooted in rigid societal ideas.

The club offers a contrast to Jimmy’s anti-sex and anti-LGTBQ+ rhetoric by indicating that being truly sex positive means embracing all consenting interactions, regardless of number of partners, their genders, or their preferred way of engaging in sex. This attitude further liberates Charlie to explore her attraction to Madame Kink in an atmosphere that feels safe to her.

When Beau and Emerson reconcile at the end of the novel, Emerson succinctly summarizes the novel’s ethos regarding accepting diverse sexual practices: “There will always be people who react [negatively toward my work.] Who see things one way and refuse to open their minds to anything else. I’d rather be someone people deem as depraved or sinful than being narrow-minded or hateful” (296). Praise argues for open-mindedness and inclusiveness over judgment and repression.