Exactly how steamy is this story?
R
Sex is a vital part of the novel, as everyone is undergoing a sexual awakening. Cecilia responds to puberty by killing herself, while Lux seeks out sex with Trip, himself quite experienced in the ways of the flesh. After she and Trip have sex and he ignores her, she begins meeting up with a stream of random strangers, as though sex could somehow heal her hurting heart. The narrators, meanwhile, are fascinated and probably a little bit frightened by sex. They're all virgins and are obsessed with any hints of womanly sexuality—tampons, bras, baths. The sex scenes here are pretty graphic, so we give it an R.