I knew, when I started Shinobi, that I didn't care for erotica or BDSM, and so I mostly skimmed those scenes. I did enjoy the story and the characters, and I suspect that many of the things I would highlight as flaws in this book are the result of genre constraints and not the abilities of the writer. (I would've liked more focus on the story and less on the sex, for instance, and I wish the paranormal aspects and the use of ki had more prominence and definition. :)Shinobi also left me with no doubts about Sessha's ability as a writer or storyteller, and I secretly hope (or not so secretly, I guess) that she turns her hand to mainstream fiction at some point. Caveat: this book is pretty dark; Yoshi (the main character) is brutally and explicitly raped early on, and several characters share a background of childhood sexual abuse. (To be clear, there is *no* graphic abuse of children depicted in the book, but this is a trauma several of the characters continue to deal with, so the subject comes up several times.)
