Customer Reviews

Belladonna

5 star:		(25)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

BELLADONNA

I admit, I picked up this novel for the sex. I expected a light but juicy story about glamorous people and their hidden lives. What I found was much more compelling, much more provocative -- just more.

Belladonna has been promoted as "A Novel of Revenge." A beautiful and innocent young American woman is kidnapped by powerful European aristocrats, then held as a helpless sex slave. Later, she gets them back, and then some. All true, but it doesn't begin to cover the depth of Karen Moline's characters, or the bitter truth in their responses to whatever life throws at them. Instead of going for cliches, she goes for gritty reality, every time. Nothing on the dust jacket mentions the rich thematic layers she weaves into a hypnotic cloth: the power dynamic that operates under the surface of all relationships; or how imprisonment of the mind can be much stronger than any physical ties that bind. Heavy stuff, but Moline serves it up skillfully in a perfect literary souffle.

On a more tender note, she also explores how "family" is truly defined by unconditional acceptance and support, not by genetic connection. I love the way she takes a group of walking-wounded individuals and joins them together with more commitment to each other than you'd find in many birth families.

This writer knows the meaning of style. Her narrator, Tomassino, doesn't just tell the story, he confides it to you with gossipy delight, as witty and entertaining as your favorite gay hair stylist. I actually heard the abridged book on audio tape, read by actor Tim Curry, before I read the novel. Unlike so many audio books, where the reader drones on tediously, Curry brings the story to life, acting out every part with amazingly subtle changes in accent and tone. You always know which character is speaking. The only drawback of the tapes is their abridgment...more than half of the book's text is cut out. So of course, I had to read the book, too.

I'm not sure Belladonna is for everyone, but I can tell you this -- since I can't stop talking about it, several of my friends had to run out and buy it. They couldn't put it down either.

Like a Jackie Collins novel on acid, this baroque drag queen fantasy run amok will amuse any former reader of romance. Just when you think the plot could not possibly get any more ridiculous, it does, with delightful results. There is a dark theme, but the book is so over-the-top that it is impossible to take seriously. It reads as high camp. The perfect, by-the-pool page turner. As soon as I finished reading it, I bought a dozen copies to give to my friends. I have yet to hear a bad review from them. This book has no redeeming qualities whatsoever, but it's so much fun you won't care. Enjoy!

I read Belladonna as an accident and the results were a complete surprise. I picked it up as a "light" read for the summer (after a spring of slogging through dense academic text) and came away with an irresistable urge to concoct obsession-laced revenge plots, filled with beauty, deceit, and a checkered past.

As I read, it reminded me of the Count of Monte Cristo(which the plot of Belladonna borrows nicely)and some sinister works of Poe. Add to that exquisite sensuality... A perfect summer read with enough depth to keep you engaged through the final pages.

Once in a while you find a book that surprises you, captures you, and takes you on a trip of the imagination. Belladonna proves an excellent tour guide. Moline is a structured, sassy writer who knows how to tell a story and provides a story well told.

I'd just gone through a spate of books I could not sink my teeth into, then I picked up Belladonna and was hooked, read it over one long weekend. It's the kind of book that makes you glad your Saturday night date had to cancel: wonderfully twisted characters, great plot, amazing scenes. I can't wait for Moline's next one.

I am a voracious reader with varied but usually elevated tastes. However, I read this in one sitting on a flight from France and I have never read any book so compelling. It isn't art but it is the best that a novel as entertainment can be. I'm not sure if men would like it- they'd probably just read the kinky sex parts - which are genuinely disturbing when you realize the psychological damage done to the title character. I loved this book. The prose is sometimes clumsy but the story is fascinating, erotic, and also very moving. It's a rare combination and a lot of fun to read.

You HAVE to hear this audiobook, even if you don't usually listen to them. Tim Curry absolutely personifies Tomasino, the lead character, and his sultry, mischievous voice makes this book great. I don't think this is kinky, I think it's about revenge and possibly freedom from that anger. Belladonna is a colorful novel unlike anything you've ever read (or heard). It's fresh, it's new, and I can't wait to see what absorbing tale the author comes up with next!! A big 10!!

"Glossy cover, catch the eye/ Belladonna watch you buy." It looks above the average rank of romance by the promise of "A Novel of Revenge" on the cover - anticipating a modern-day version of "The Count of Monte Cristo", I bought it. But as I read it I saw no real evidence of the character's hardening or adopting the cruelty of her persecutors, as is surely the point with revenge novels. Instead what we see as the plot moves along is a pretty woman exploiting her cool beauty without becoming hardened herself - which will satisfy the romantics amongst you but leave everyone else vaguely annoyed. The plotline is glitzy, pacy and fairly glamorous (and the heroine gets the necessary multi-millions whilst still managing to retain her integrity!) but the only time I got any hint of the sexual psychology the book promises was the "Diary" section two-thirds of the way through. Moline is evidently a skilful erotic writer, and perhaps her mistake was trying to make her woman a triumphant dominatrix when she's better at presenting her as a victim. The above average review I give it is due to the erotic writing: buy it if you want a light read this summer, but if you do want a psychological study involving money, revenge and eunuchs try Durrenmatt's play "The Visit" instead.

Isabella Ariel Nickerson is kidnapped and auctioned for 1 million pounds in 1930s England. She finds herself the unwilling play thing of a club of men who get their kicks out of forcing sexual tortures on women. Isabella is actually purchased by a man she knows only as "His Lordship", a man she will dedicate the rest of her life to finding and destroying once she escapes her hell.

The story is narrated by a man named Tomasino, one of the few men that Belladonna truly trusts (along with his twin Matteo). They were castrated in the war, and therefore, Belladonna doesn't see them as a threat. Belladonna finds herself the heir of a large fortune, and she dedicates her money and time to Club Belladonna, a popular club, where she hopes to lure one of the members into her club. One member is all it will take to find the rest.

I went into this expecting that I wouldn't like it, and honestly, the very beginning, the chapter before the actual story of Belladonna begins, was quite dull. It had that same rambling, verbose, tedious style as Middlesex did in the beginning, which sort of throws me off for a second because I like to get immediately sucked into a book. After that first chapter though, I was thorougly engrossed with Belladonna's story.

Tomasino is a witty narrator. He loves to talk. He loves to gloat. He loves to be right. Honestly, I'm glad he was the one telling the story. It gives it a flair that I think would be missing if Belladonna, or even his brother Matteo, told the story. Belladonna's diary is also scattered throughout the book; the diary she kept while she was imprisoned. The diary format was an interesting one as well, as it was written in third person rather than first.

I think the concept of revenge appealed to me, as it would many people. How many people get the chance to get their revenge against someone who wrongs them? Many of us have wanted to, but we've never had the satisfaction of doing so. Sure, Belladonna's methods seem a little out there, but wouldn't we all go to great lengths, if we could, to get payback? You can't help but root for Belladonna.

So, while this book seems a little extreme, it is a good novel. I wasn't too satisfied with the ending. It seemed a little rushed, a real let down to the climatic events that were taking place before it. Still well worth the read.

This had to be the most sensual and seductive book I have ever had the fortune of reading. Even as a hardcore S/M enthusiast myself, this book did not fail to surprise, intrigue, capture and keep my attention, and absolutely take my breath away. This is definitely on my top five of all time book favorites. I could read it again and again. It's deliciously wicked. An exquisite read.

The cover caught my attention--red ruby lips and the blurb--"A Novel of Revenge". And that is exactly what Karen Moline delivers. No, it's not "War & Peace". More like a weaving seductive sampler of good little girl goes bad.

In 1935, a naive midwestern girl, Isabella Ariel Nickerson, visits London. Her invitation to a grand party with the elite did not mention her capture and entrance to a secret world of sexual slavery. Delving deeply into Domination and submission, Isabella learns well. She returns to New York as a dazzling, not so naive, "Belladonna". And vows to have her own way with her captors from England.

Some of this novel is slow, bogged down in details and dialougue. But, "Belladonna" is a passionate kinky poison treat of a read.

Thank you for your interest & comments--CDS