Scan barcode
mochipanda's review
1.0
It was well written enough that I finished it. But given that it thematically centers around extreme hedonism often achieved through sexual violence - both consensual and otherwise - it’s not really something I care for and rather wish I hadn’t read.
lochnessvhs's review against another edition
0.5
I received this book as an Early Reviewer through LibraryThing's program. When I requested a copy it was based on the presentation being a 'spin-off' of the Picture of Dorian Gray (one of my favorite books). I thought, well I will give this a try because I love Oscar Wilde's work and perhaps Szereto has an interesting spin on this character!
No.
I fully understand that if I'd done any research before I started reading I would have found out this book was erotica - I just wish that it had been advertised that way in the Early Reviewer program. And honestly, I do not have a problem with erotica, but this book just went beyond the pale.
Even if we put aside the extremely problematic use as violence as sexual device, there is so much abject harassment and rape in this book that it actually made me sick at times. It could be argued that this was the point, for us to see how horrible Dorian has become, except that this is an erotica novel - not literary fiction - and therefore it's purpose is to arouse and excite. If I had any such power I would strip the title 'erotica' or 'erotic romance' from any published book that includes rape.
Even looking beyond all of the problematic sexual violence in this book, one finds that it is purely coincidental that the name of the character is Dorian Gray. The author clearly had a desire to write a few debased "erotic" short stories set in multiple time periods and used the literary character of Dorian Gray as a plot device to connect them all together. While discussion of the events of Oscar Wilde's book do occur, they have little to do with the storyline until the very last page, where we are left with one of the laziest and most disappointing endings ever conceived.
I do not recommend this book to anyone, but least of all anyone with sexual violence triggers and lovers of Wilde's original work.
No.
I fully understand that if I'd done any research before I started reading I would have found out this book was erotica - I just wish that it had been advertised that way in the Early Reviewer program. And honestly, I do not have a problem with erotica, but this book just went beyond the pale.
Even if we put aside the extremely problematic use as violence as sexual device, there is so much abject harassment and rape in this book that it actually made me sick at times. It could be argued that this was the point, for us to see how horrible Dorian has become, except that this is an erotica novel - not literary fiction - and therefore it's purpose is to arouse and excite. If I had any such power I would strip the title 'erotica' or 'erotic romance' from any published book that includes rape.
Even looking beyond all of the problematic sexual violence in this book, one finds that it is purely coincidental that the name of the character is Dorian Gray. The author clearly had a desire to write a few debased "erotic" short stories set in multiple time periods and used the literary character of Dorian Gray as a plot device to connect them all together. While discussion of the events of Oscar Wilde's book do occur, they have little to do with the storyline until the very last page, where we are left with one of the laziest and most disappointing endings ever conceived.
I do not recommend this book to anyone, but least of all anyone with sexual violence triggers and lovers of Wilde's original work.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual violence, Physical abuse, Violence, Rape, and Sexual assault
erin_oriordan_is_reading_again's review against another edition
4.0
One caveat: I never read [b:The Picture of Dorian Gray|5297|The Picture of Dorian Gray|Oscar Wilde|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1320467562s/5297.jpg|1858012]. I knew the basic plot, perhaps because I did a unit on Oscar Wilde in middle school and read one of his shorter works - I don't remember exactly. Before I started reading this book, I thought it was going to be a mash-up of the original with some of Szereto's original thoughts added in, like her [b:Pride and Prejudice: Hidden Lusts|9845759|Pride and Prejudice Hidden Lusts|Mitzi Szereto|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1328748552s/9845759.jpg|14736618]. At first I was a little disappointed, since I really enjoyed that Austen parody. However, as I read on, I was glad to discover it was a wholly original tale crafted from the "what if" of Dorian becoming an immortal - or at least very long-lived - being.
Because I didn't read the original, I don't know how true Szereto wrote Dorian Gray to the way Wilde wrote the character, but that didn't matter as I read this. Szereto's Gray gets into some very imaginative scenarios, starting with a run-in with some very famous expatriate American writers in Paris. This chapter is fun. The tale becomes quick a bit darker in the next setting, and the darkness continues as Gray spirals downward into total depravity.
Dorian is a b*stard, but it's a fantastically well-told story. Still, even Dorian Gray has some hope for redemption, and the ending of this novel is very fitting.
In the past I've enjoyed Szereto's signature blend of erotica and humor, so this novel is a definite change of pace from what I'm used to from this author. I like it. It confirms once and for all that Szereto is a well-rounded and talented novelist.
Because I didn't read the original, I don't know how true Szereto wrote Dorian Gray to the way Wilde wrote the character, but that didn't matter as I read this. Szereto's Gray gets into some very imaginative scenarios, starting with a run-in with some very famous expatriate American writers in Paris. This chapter is fun. The tale becomes quick a bit darker in the next setting, and the darkness continues as Gray spirals downward into total depravity.
Dorian is a b*stard, but it's a fantastically well-told story. Still, even Dorian Gray has some hope for redemption, and the ending of this novel is very fitting.
In the past I've enjoyed Szereto's signature blend of erotica and humor, so this novel is a definite change of pace from what I'm used to from this author. I like it. It confirms once and for all that Szereto is a well-rounded and talented novelist.
the_novel_approach's review against another edition
3.0
This is erotica, nothing more, nothing less, for the purpose of provoking and titillating. If you can look at it as a character study, however, it does work a bit better. In the author’s interpretation of Wilde’s iconic character, there is only one way Dorian Gray could progress through time after submerging himself in the hedonism of which he’d only dabbled in The Picture of Dorian Gray: his entire person becomes corrupted by it, embracing an increasingly more aggressive sexual depravity as he wanders through the decades, stagnated physically, stunted emotionally, and needing more psychologically to satisfy his insatiable appetites.
Full review can be found at The Novel Approach
Full review can be found at The Novel Approach
More...