Harem Girl: A Harem Girl?s Journal by M. Saalih
|
List Price: Our Price: $16.79 You Save: $3.16 (16%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Category: Book See more book details and other editions |
|---|
Book Reviews of Harem Girl: A Harem Girl?s Journal
Book Review: Sexually Suggestive!
Summary: 3 Stars
This is one of my favorite books. It is very sexual and in good taste. There is much to be learned about the human desires and how to stir them up! I have read this book 3 times and will definately read it again!Book Review: OK book, but not recommended
Summary: 2 Stars
"Harem Girl" was an easy read and some of the details of the harem life were interesting (ie- how the women come to desire their "master" and dress/act/pose in ways to attract his attention; the piercing ritual; the punishments and rules of the harem), however the story of how the author came to be in the Harem was so contrived and unrealistic, as was the master's sudden desire to set all his slaves free towards the middle of the book- such a complete role reversal and ideological shift simply could not take place in a matter of a few weeks. Additionally, the author tried way too hard to make the book overtly sexual and it just didn't work.
If you have an interest in what Harem life may have been like I would recommend Debbie Taylor's "The Fourth Queen" which is much less contrived and much more realistic.
Book Review: Submission/Domination Erotica Mislabeled as "Literature"
Summary: 1 Stars
Harem Girl / 0-595-31300-0
There's nothing wrong with erotica. But erotica shouldn't be labeled and marketed as straight-up literature or real-life memoirs. The book description and author present this as a realistic memoir and some buyers will deeply upset to find that, no, this is just an erotic fantasy novel.
Mariyah El-Abiad is a bored housewife. She's educated, respected, beautiful, and barren. Despite her barrenness, her husband loves her, respects her, caters to her whims as much as possible, but she wants some excitement in her life. She contrives a complicated and incredibly implausible plan to smuggle herself into a harem so that she can enjoy the wonders of being a slave to a potentially cruel and capricious master whom she has never met. After four months of this, she will be smuggled back out, and her husband will never be the wiser - unless he thinks to ask why she ground her teeth smooth, waxed her bikini area, and sustained whip marks on her back for a simple job tutoring a young girl in French (her cover story).
Mariyah El-Abiad is supremely confident that life in the harem will go swimmingly, and she fantasizes about crawling on her hands and knees and pleasuring her master. Fortunately for Mariyah, harem life is exactly like she suspects - the slaves girls all love their master and love to please him and be pleased by him. There is an exotic torture room for disgusting slaves who accidentally pass wind in front of the master or burp at the dinner table, with the added erotic enticement that a slave can be sent there for almost any reason, but Mariyah is safe and confident in the belief that all punishment is gently and lovingly administered. Mariyah, you see, loves her master immediately because he dominates her in a way that her boring husband would not, and he is driven insanely mad with desire for her and her fellow love slaves (but mostly her, because she oh-so-special!) and she loves what he does to her - everything she experiences in her new life is instantly easy, pleasurable, and satisfying.
This novel is nothing other than escapist erotica. Again, there's nothing wrong with that, but this is marketed as a straight-up "historical" memoir as far as I can see, and it simply is not. Everyone lazes around happily all day, waiting for the night entertainment. The master has no interest in fathering children, which is highly unusual for his culture and his age. The women are vapid - droolingly happy to be slaves, always "reaching their pleasure" and never in pain (even the virgin bum girls!) because this is a fantasy, and not a reality. If you want a harem-themed erotica novel, this has length and stamina, with an interlude almost every page, but if you want something with plot and realism, look elsewhere.
~ Ana Mardoll
Book Review: Definitely Pass on This One
Summary: 1 Stars
All in all the book was interesting enough to keep me reading it but I wouldn't recommend it as either literature or erotica. The storyline was very predictable and did not have any real suspense. A huge opportunity was missed in the lack of description that led to Maryiha's decision to enter a harem. She was unhappy with her marriage because the second wife was providing the children that she was not and was feeling displaced but to make the decision to be a slave girl (with no rights) seemed pretty far-fetched. Luckily, she ends up in Ali's Harem which is basically an unrealistic sexual playground where all of the girls and the Eunchs are happy and content. Her encounter with someone she finds repulsive in the middle of the book definitely begs the question of what her fate might have been had she not been in Ali's Harem.
A huge opportunity was missed when describing the other women of the harem and how they came to be slave girls. We are only offered a couple pages of description that remind me of character outlines I used to write in college for creative writing classes. The sexual situations were not written erotically and the sexual act given the most description is oral sex which was definitely not erotic, more mechanical. It was definitely a quick and easy read but I wouldn't recommend it because it lacks the real meat of the story and Mariyah's character was not fully developed.
On page 76, Sapphira (Mariyah's Harem Name) describes a mutual encounter as "gentle rape." Stating that Ali's strength and domination led her to complete acceptance and enjoyment. I think I can skip the thesis on why that is offensive.