Customer Reviews

Behind Closed Doors

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4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

A few chapters were amusing, to say the least but in general this wasn't the raunchiest book in the world.
The writing was decent, which made it an easy read and the general idea of "opening my own doors" was somewhat fun and reminiscent of the "choose the page" books for children and teenagers.
I would recommend this book as a general read when you're looking for something not too serious, not too deep and not too complicated. I would not recommend it to those looking for either a love story or full blown erotica as this book falls weakly in the middle.

All right then, I think we're all agreed that this isn't the book to read if you're prowling for the psychological depths and serious tone Mme. Reyes laid out for us in "The Butcher". Having said this, however, I think the book stands well on its own merits. In a strictly technical sense, it can't be easy to design a novel that gives the reader two plot options at the end of every chapter and then rewrite the whole thing from the viewpoint of the opposite gender. (Which gender did she start out with first? One wonders.) And rest assured, not all the "doors" you open will lead to particularly pleasurable experiences. There's one chapter in particular involving a monstrously obese woman and chickens. (I'll leave it at that!)

But such bizzare, jarring interludes help to give the book a diverse, interesting texture and, conversely, I found some of the vignettes wonderfully playful and entertaining in a dreamy, surreal fashion. One has to admire the author for the fecundity of her imagination. There's this delightful, voyeuristic promenade beneath a transparent sidewalk, for instance. (As it turns out, not all those women up there chose to wear "knickers" beneath their dress.) Indeed, at its best, the book has the same refreshingly unusual tone of some of Fellini's more lighthearted cinematic romps. ("City Of Women" comes to mind)

The book is wonderful mind-candy, a tangy-sweet, undemanding french pastry of a read, perfect for unwinding at the begining of the weekend and, by all means, take the time to read at least parts of it out loud with some one you love. Who knows? Some interesting "doors" of your own might open.

My husband & I had 3 hours before our connecting flight left for our honeymoon. While checking the racks at the airport bookstore, I came across this very unique book. Hours have never passed so slowly, as we each took turns "opening doors" and discovering what turned the other on. Yes, so many parts of the book are cliche and just plain silly, but for us, it made it easier to read, laugh at and enjoy sharing with each other.

Alina Reyes has won the reputation of being a literary voice in erotic fiction. Her books are poetic and provocative at the same time. Having read The Butcher, I know that Reyes writes her sensuous stories with a touch of magical realism. She has done the same thing with Behind Closed Doors.

This book is broken into two sections. It is shown from the female and male perspective. You enter the Kingdom of Eros -- a labyrinth of erotic adventures that you experience by choosing which door to enter. There is no real plot in this novel, except that there are lots of quirky symbolism in the chapters -- or rather, doors. I particularly enjoyed "The Man at the Window." I love its symbolic message.

This is a great and entertaining book. You should not, however, take this book seriously. Despite the symbolism, Behind Closed Doors is meant to be a fun and sensuous read. Enjoy!

I didn't think that this book was too cutesy...actually, the 'choose your own adventure' style made it more feel more approachable to me. I enjoyed reading both the section for men and for women and found it intriguing, sexy, and fun. I lent it to a friend who was turned off by the mention of anal sex in the book, but I think it is pretty tame as far as sex stories and erotica go. I got it off the bargain shelf and it was totally worth the $...I paid for it.

Essentially boring and unimaginative. Though the proposal of reading the book through different pathways is interesting, it is let down by the succesion of clichés and very few surprises.

I really enjoyed "The Butcher" and I'm an erotic lit fan so I thought that this book would be a blast, filled with sexy little sizzling stories. What I got was something that a) had atrocious translation (in American English, a man's zipper is his "fly" not his "flies"--this brought out my Angry Copy Editor side), b) was chock-a-block full of cliches c) didn't really stick to the "circus" theme, when it really could have and d) most disturbingly, seemed to fall back a LOT on the idea of rape and coercion as "sexy."

Now, you can debate the role of so-called rape fantasies until you're blue in the face, but don't assume that it's a constant thread running through every fantasy that every woman has. And while you're at it, make the writing more interesting, and sexier. Maybe it was just bad translation, but the sex itself seemed clinical in its descriptions and the klunky writing style got in the way even more. It was almost like the opposite of a porn movie--odd little bits of actual slippery bits interspersed in a sea of transitional story material.

I would love to see the CONCEPT of this book taken and re-done by some of the American writers of the Herotica series as a collaborative work. I think the end result would be more fun and have more actual sex in it that appealed to more people.

Alina Reyes has won the reputation of being a literary voice in erotica. Her books are erotic and poetic at the same time. Having read The Butcher, I know that Reyes writes her kinky stories with a touch of magical realism. She has done the same thing with Behind Closed Doors.

This book is broken into two sections. It is shown from the female and male perspective. You decide which gender role to play. (I chose the woman, of course.) You enter the Kingdom of Eros -- a labyrinth of erotic adventures that you experience by choosing which door to enter. There is no real plot in this novel, except that there certainly is symbolism in almost every erotic adventure that you enter. I particularly enjoyed "The Man at the Window." It is very symbolic and hit very close to home.

This is a great and entertaining book. There are, however, things that could have been better. I think that some of the sexual scenes were done abruptly when they should have been more descriptive (after all, this is erotica) and the ending made absolutely no sense to me. But then again, there isn't a plot in the novel to begin with.

This is not a book to be taken seriously. Despite the symbolism, this book is meant to be a fun and sensuous read. Enjoy!

To start out, the book is cute .. cute .... I mean so cute I'm gonna absolutely vomit!

This is a two parter, one from the women's point of view, and, yup you guessed it, turn the book over and upside down and 'voila' you now have an erotic book from the ma's point of view... yeeeeeechhhh

If you have seen the animated movie Monsters Inc I would think this book must have been inspired by that film since it is full of doors, doors and more doors behind which a short erotic (so they say) happening occurs to the hero or heroine depending on which side you picked up the book ...

At the end of each chapter you are given a coice of continuing the read OR go to one of the other suggested doors(chapters) .... needless to say each chapter of course starts with the main character being chased or walking down a long corridor ...

sorry .... if some of the doors would have provide real erotic scenes I may have accepted the concept but the book left me dead and feeling pretty dumb for kicking out the cash .....