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Book Review: The Control Book

The Control Book
by Peter Masters

This book digs very deeply into control, and especially how to take and maintain control. It argues that most dominants have a natural ability to control, but a conscious understanding of the process can help us to improve and optimize our technique.

I immediately connected with the book. I enjoyed the clear and deliberate style of the author, and found the natural progression of the content and level of detail to be perfect. My excitement started to deteriorate in the last half; it was all thoughtful and still useful content, but it felt a bit too forced to keep the conversation going. I also want to say that this is, to date, the best quality BDSM book I've read, though this is hardly a high bar to meet.

A key theme of the book is understanding and appreciating the difference between conscious, subconscious, and unconscious effects. Effectively using all three types of reactions in ourselves and in our submissives will maximize your ability as a dominant. It's also helpful to adjust your response to issues based which of these levels you are working against.

Another part of the book I found interesting was a very practical discussion about sub space. The author warns us that a submissive can have a reduced capacity to understand complicated instructions or sarcasm when deeply submerged. It also reminds us to allow sufficient time for a submissive to come out of this state, and has some advice about doing so for various lengths of engagement.

I am glad I read the book. I have come away with a better understanding of my natural tendencies, and I feel better empowered to wield control in my future endeavours.

Recommendation

I would recommend this book to any dominant with an interest in the psychology of BDSM. I would also recommend it to any dominant who wants or has a long term relationship with power exchange as a central theme.

I'm not sure if I would recommend it to someone that was having problems with a particular sub. The content is a bit more theoretical, which is certainly valuable, but it lacks specific how-to guides for solving urgent problems.

I don't know that it would be useful to a very new dominant either. I think you'd need a bit of practical experience to really connect with the material.

I wouldn't recommend this book to a submissive. There wouldn't be any harm in reading it, I don't think it would spoil the trick or anything, but I also don't think it would be helpful or interesting to most.

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