Exit to Eden

I can say that I definitely liked this book much, much, much better than the Sleeping Beauty novels by the same author. Seriously, Anne Rice should have made a trilogy out of this story instead. Here, we have slavery, but the slaves are willing adults who do so because they WANT to be dominated and so on.

In this book, while not entirely realistic, does show the world of BDSM better, and in a much more balanced way than the Sleeping Beauty novels. There are a few silly scenes, like the cinnamon and butter, but overall I found this book to be much more realistic and enjoyable, with characters that one could connect to, unlike Beauty. I liked how the characters of Eli and Lisa were illustrated, with their inner conflicts and show more self-discovery, the flashbacks also helped this story.

Overall I would say this is a decent book. Not Ms. Rice's best by any means, but I still give this book 3.5 out of 5 stars. show less

This is a book that, for me, marks just how much the passage of time and acquiring of experience can change how one thinks of a book.

When I first read this particular book, I was in my very early 20s, still fairly innocent in a 1980s sort of way, and curious about all this forbidden, taboo sex stuff. The book hit me like a lightening bolt, full of things I'd never yet considered. I devoured it and thought it a wonderful romantic yet kinky story. Five Stars, all the way.

Some years later, after many relationships, much more reading, getting married, and the general events that happen in a life, I thought it would be fun to read again. I think I made it in about 40 pages. Trite! Wooden dialog! Cardboard characters! Physically impossible show more descriptions! Seriously STUPID! The book was tossed against the wall as if it were drywall mud and quickly found its way into a box to the used book store.

What had changed? I had, for one. I'd read a lot more erotica by then, so much more superior erotica, stories that weren't just about the sex, but delved into how human lives warped, changed, grew or shrank because of sex and love and everything associated with it.

I should note that, by this time, I'd run into the same feelings concerning Rampling/Rice's other works. Only her first one, the now much maligned Interview..., can I look back on with any fondness. show less

This is the first Anne Rice book I've ever read, and I loved it! I was hooked from the beginning and was dying to know what happened at the end, but this was so beautifully written that I had to slow myself down in order to savor every word and sentiment.

The bits of erotica in here were hot, but the love story was even hotter. And if you try to read this book but get turned off by the sex, you're completely missing the point.

This is a story about self-discovery but also about deciphering your place in the world.

Rice brings up some valid issues beyond love and sex that pertain to just being human . Quite multi-dimensional for a novel that others may quickly dismiss as 'smut'.

Its depth comes from what Lisa and Elliott face during their show more processes of discovery:
-the role of slave vs the role of master
-surrendering vs controlling
-what is bad, what is good?
-what is normal, what is not? (and is there even such a thing?)
-wanting vs having
-liberation vs imprisonment
-hiding ourselves vs being vulnerable and exposed
-coming to terms with who and what we are

It aroused me physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually and I, therefore, had to give it a 5. show less

It took me a long time to read this, which shows how interested I was in it. It felt like RFice couldn't decide what sort of book this was. BDSM Erotica? Love Story? A psychological exploration of the BDSM lifestyle and love? Because of that, I found it hard to get into. I didn't like the characters much so I wasn't invested in them.

I think the story would have worked better as a love story with kinky bits and stuck to that arc. Instead, there were scenes of BDSM at the Club that I found did little to move the plot forward or help us learn anything about the characters.

I loved Interview with the Vampire and Rice's way of showing how seductive vampires are, how seductive wanting to be a vampire can be. I've read some of her other show more "erotic" books and found them much sexier than this one. show less

Where to begin with this beautiful story? Okay, so if you're not into the whole bondage and "pleasure island" stuff, forget about that for a second and consider how lovely the thought is - the very concept - of being loved for yourself, your good, bad, and ugly (or in this case, sickeningly gorgeous)for all the right reasons. I would consider this one of the most beautiful love stories I've ever read for exactly that reason. And yeah, true to the author's form, there are a fair share of spicy scenes, but if that's all that attracts you to this book, you're completely missing the point.

The surprise was to find that this novel is quite the anti ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’. In ‘Fifty Shades’, we go from an innocent main character to a more mature, adult, woman. Here, this is rather the opposite: the main character, Lisa, is a BDSM dominant who has it all: fortune, an exclusive BDSM resort and the management of it all. However, she ends up falling in love with one of the newly arrived ‘slaves’, Elliott.

So readers who are looking to get some ‘thrill’ from erotic scenes are going to be disappointed, because the main themes are rather the love story, the characters’ inner thoughts and developments throughout the novel. Basically, we go from a standard BDSM scene into vanilla sex.

I’ve found their show more characterization a bit stereotypical whereas some peripheral characters stand out better than them, for example, ‘the mentor’ Martin is better defined, he is easier to picture than Lisa or Elliott.

If you’re looking to read about a good love story, then this is the book for you. If you’re expecting more out of it, you’re going to be disappointed. It’s a leisurely read, nothing more. show less

I felt like I was watching a train wreck...you know something is going to happen but you just can't stop looking at it! wow...pretty good book, but not what I was expecting.