Reviewed by inlibrisveritas on
Oh how I wanted this to be the pinnacle of all erotica...I mean I adore Anne Rice. I've devoted so much time to her books and after holding off fo so long I finally decided to 'treat' myself to her erotic novels. So many people recommended them to me, and told me they were brilliant. And i find myself shocked to say that I really didn't like this...
The story itself held promise, I do love re-tellings...but it kind of just feel flat after awhile. Much of the 'erotic' scenes felt very repeated and unoriginal after about the fourth time. Only some instances were even remotely steamy. I will say that the beginning immediately put me in a bad mood, I don't like actual rape. It's not sexy, it's down right cruel. That being sad I think this was far too much BDSM for my taste, and my tolerance for it is fairly high. It's so constant that it looses it's spice and just comes off as people being completely jerks all the time. I mean a little here and there is what keeps it sexy, but all the time? I would call that being beaten. I can't even tell you how many times I read the word "spanked", but I can tell you that I'm utterly sick of it.
I was surprised at the lack of true creativity in this story, sure there are some things that made me raise an eyebrow or two, but overall it's just a repeat of the same things in different combinations. I was even more surprised at what others have called "elegant prose", to me it was simple and forced. The details that she's famous for are there but not with the same elegance that I'm use to. I know there is some depth when it comes to how this lifestyle affects Beauty, but after awhile I just didn't care anymore.
I truly struggled to get through this. If you enjoy hardcore BDSM then you might like this, also if you like there to be a psychological factor involved.
Reading updates
- Started reading
- 29 December, 2011: Finished reading
- 29 December, 2011: Reviewed