Warning: this review is explicit. Obviously.

First of all, this book makes '50 Shades of Grey' read 'Pride and Prejudice'. If the back cover hadn’t revealed who Sasha Grey was, I certainly would have sussed it out after reading just a few pages: the dialogue may as well have been taken straight out of a porn movie. “Your hard cock feels so good in my tight little mouth. It tastes so good. It feels so fucking good, doesn’t it?” This confused me, as I was under the impression that the protagonist was a college student called Catherine, not a porn star called Sasha. I guess I was wrong.

The plot summary seems intriguing enough: a college student finds herself immersed in a secret sex society for the elite which allows them to indulge their darkest fantasies and fetishes. And, sure enough, this element of the story held my interest. It's just a shame that I had to read HALF the book before actually being allowed access to the elusive Juliette Society. First, I had to endure over 200 pages filled with accounts of Catherine's (lack of a) sex life with her workaholic boyfriend Jack: he's not interested, she responds by masturbating furiously to fantasies of, er, having sex with her boyfriend Jack. Oh, and her best friend having sex with her boyfriend Jack. And having sex in a closet with her college professor. You know, the usual.

Another thing the plot summary fails to mention is that, as well as giving us an insight into the erotic rituals of the rich and famous, Grey also confronts us with the exploitative underworld of sex: porn websites, seedy sex clubs and a charming man named Bundy who enjoys snapping compromising pictures of his drunken one night stands, uploading them onto websites and, as it turns out, demanding money for their removal.

Let's move on to writing style. Grey's no-nonsense descriptions seem almost clinical: “Pulls up and slides the head up the pussy”. The pussy? Is this Gray’s Anatomy? I hope that's just a typo. It all sounds almost the stage directions on the script for a porn film (do porn films have scripts?) “He pushes into me. I push a finger into me. And moan.” To be fair, such descriptions do capture the dreary sense of routine faced by Catherine and her reluctant boyfriend, if that was Grey’s intention.

Grey often puts the story on hold in order to philosophize about the role of sex in film, literature and society as a whole. At times this almost works, but mostly it just ruins the flow of the story: it all feels a little clunky and fragmented. Even more odd is a comparison made between William Blake and - believe it or not - ejaculation: “You know that line by William Blake about ‘the world in a grain of sand?’ Well, I can see the universe in a grain of Jack’s come.” That awkward analogy may just have ruined one of my favourite poems.

I've given this book two stars rather than one because, on the plus side, the second half is better than the first, and it's also provided me with my new favourite euphemism: during a night of reignited passion with boyfriend Jack, Sasha (I mean Catherine – I honestly just wrote ‘Sasha’ without realising!) finds herself sitting on a spice rack: her ass, now ‘marinating in its own juices’, accidentally ‘snorts’ some hot chilli while Jack readies himself to ‘leave his yeast in my oven’. Incredible! 84 s Jacqui758 44

Sasha Grey writes, "Plot is always subservient to character." Too bad she didn't listen to her own advice.
The Juliette Society is by no means about a secret sex club called The Juliette Society. It is basically a series of diary- paragraphs from a woman named Catherine, who constantly daydreams about sex, with anyone, anywhere but isn't getting any from her boring boyfriend who I would have dumped by now. The club in question is only mentioned about six or seven chapters in, and is quite frankly, a fizzle. Catherine wants sex, but chickens out at the last minute. She attends sex parties but refuses particular sex positions to keep them 'special' for the boyfriend who doesn't give her the time of day. This book could have been improved greatly if it had been told from the perspective of Anna, Catherine's sexually liberated school friend who introduces her to these clubs and parties, but unfortunately does not have enough air time. I struggled to get to the end of this book, with its endless blow jobs and detailed descriptions of Catherine's ideas about ejaculation. From a book written by a former porn star, I was expecting a hell of a lot more.hate-hate-hate59 s Unai949 54

La curiosidad mató al gato y con tanta publicidad que le están haciendo a Sahsa Grey, tenia curiosidad por ver si se le da bien esto de escribir, o solo domina la oratoria. Como actriz “convencional” solo me ha convenido de momento en la temporada de Entourage que sale y mas que nada porque hace de si misma. Pero como escritora el suspenso es total y es que hablando mal y pronto, menuda puta mierda de libro que ha colado.
No es que esté yo muy al día de literatura erótica, por no decir nada al día, pero al menos creo que puedo distinguir donde hay una persona contando una historia y donde hay alguien sacándose unos cuartos de manera rápida y fácil. Y es que Sasha Grey no cuenta prácticamente nada que no sea escena tras escena de sexo, en su mayor parte imaginario, pero salpicado de una pretenciosidad de cinéfila coñazo, por ser su protagonista estudiante de cine, que no hay quien aguante.

Pretende contarte algo de una sociedad secreta de follarines a lo Eyes Wide Shut, referenciando y mencionando Kubrick unas cuantas veces. Pero es una excusa para vender el libro por la sinopsis. Apenas hay rastro de dicha trama en todo el libro y casi todo queda en las fantasías eróticas de una universitaria muy, muy odiosa, que pasa un bache con su novio y que aburre a partes iguales tanto describiendo como se lo haría a fulanito o menganito, como hablando de Godard.

Vamos que una puta mierda de libro, como podría ser de esperar, sin una idea clara de como contar una historia y eso si al menos hubiera una historia que contar. Al menos es cortito, pero he tenido que echarle voluntad para acabarlo.39 s1 comment Nicolas25 2

The Juliette Society, straight from its Sade's reference in its title, is the work of someone who knows literature as much as she knows what she's talking about when she's talking about sex and it's hard not to think about a few authors such as Chuck Palahniuk, Bret Easton Ellis and of course Sade himself, when reading chapters in which, for instance, Grey brings her character into some bizarre places where power, sex and violence merge into one. Unfortunately, Grey never manages to take her distance from those writers in order to develop her own style which is not uncommon for a first novel. Clearly, The Juliette Society lacks confidence and even the numerous movie and book references seems to be the author wanting to prove to us, and to herself, how smart she is. It feels Sasha Grey wanted to write a book that could be read as literature and not just as cheap erotica (and the sexual description, repetitive and poor in style are definitely not her forte), and yet it's unclear what kind of book she exactly wanted to write. As much as she keeps quoting her favorite authors and movie director, she also keeps switching genre and themes: Thriller, Satire, Reflection about women's sexuality, etc. The novel is so imprisoned in its references that it forgets to built its own identity. Ultimately it's a big mess.27 s AleJandra836 413

2 STARS
DNF 63%



En varias ocasiones he tratado de terminar este libro, pero simplemente no lo logro.

Si la primicia y planteamiento del libro son muy interesantes, pero el desarrollo de la historia no logra engancharme y lo peor, la protagonista me aburre demasiado.

Pase la mitad del libro leyendo a detalle sus fantasías sexuales pero justo cuando tiene la oportunidad de realizarlas le da miedo y huye, Pffff.adult-contemporary erotico no-terminados28 s Pilar ?194 172

What the fuck did I just read? adult contemporary erotica ...more28 s Blair1,864 5,288

The Juliette Society is the debut novel of Sasha Grey, a former porn star. For this reason alone it's attracting plenty of attention, although a lot of the I've read (on Goodreads and Amazon) seem to be negative. The story itself is an intriguing proposition: it's about a film student called Catherine, who pursues a friendship with Anna, a classmate who fascinates her; and in turn, Anna introduces her to a secret underground organisation known as the Juliette Society. Catherine is frustrated by the lack of sex she's having with her boyfriend Jack, who seems more interested in work than her, and in Anna she sees a lack of inhibition that thrills her. The enigmatic Juliette Society turns out to be a sex club for the rich and powerful, and as Catherine is drawn further into this world, she faces the prospect of being forced to chose between two very different paths.

There is part of me that really loved this book, and I wish I could give it more than three stars, but on balance I just don't think I can: the plot is kind of daft, in parts actually kind of nonexistent, and despite the title, the story isn't really about the Juliette Society at all. It's more about Catherine and Jack's relationship, and I didn't Jack much - he was a boring character and I couldn't see why Catherine, who was both very intelligent and very sexual, would be bothered about being with him. However, there is still a hell of a lot to enjoy about this book. It's been marketed as, and is presented as, an erotic novel - no surprise given who it's written by. However, while it's inevitably full of sex, I would argue there is much more to it than that. Grey has given her heroine a smart, inquisitive voice, and the narrative is punctuated by Catherine's musings on film, literature, philosophy and the history of sexuality. It was this that really made the story enjoyable for me, and it was a welcome surprise given that books written by 'celebrities' of some sort are usually pretty terrible. And the sex scenes? They do venture into cringeworthy territory at times - when is someone going to tell the publishing world that no real-life woman has EVER referred to her vagina as 'my sex'? - but they're much better than anything in Monsieur, for example, or any of the hundreds of Fifty Shades extracts I've seen all over the internet in the past year.

In conclusion: imperfect, but definitely recommended. Give it a try and you might, me, be pleasantly surprised.2013-release contemporary first-novels ...more20 s Miniikaty 623 128

El libro no me ha gustado nada de nada.16 s Abbie Adair3 1 follower

"I'm marinating in my own juices and my ass is ready to be cooked, but I come multiple times before he's ready to leave his yeast in my oven. And as I come, my asshole puckers and snorts a pinch of chili."16 s RobertAuthor 11 books432

Since this is the closest I’ll ever come to making love with a porn star, I wanted to take full advantage of the situation, having been introduced to Sasha Grey through the marketing and promotional campaign of The Girlfriend Experience—although full disclosure I never did see the movie. Thank you Steven Soderbergh. And if I can still remember her name years later…well, that probably gives you some indication of why I read so many novels a year. So continuing on in my current erotica experiment, which has grown into something resembling an expedition, and is probably on the brink of turning into a full-blown epidemic, I bring you THE JULIETTE SOCIETY for your whispering pleasure.

This novel blew my mind. Literally. With periods so intense I thought I might blackout, it’s safe to say Ms. Grey writes as well as she fucks. The lucky bastard who marries her might pass out on a nightly basis from sheer ecstasy and pure bliss, find himself in a sex-induced coma, and hooked up to an oxygen tank and sucking pineapple juice through a straw. I’d to go into explicit detail on the sex scenes, as I convey my state of erotic involvement, but I feel this might somehow cheapen the whole affair. And this novel wasn’t cheap for me. It was intense and weird and thoroughly entertaining.

The Fuck Factory really doesn’t need much more of an introduction. And the women. Holy. Hell. I need some Crisco. Stat. Anna—round ass, big tits, voluptuous, pale, and curvy in all the right places—was so completely in tune with her sexuality and uninhibited, I could practically feel the pages vibrating whenever she stepped between the white space. And Catherine in many ways the zin to Anna’s zang was considerably more of a minx than she first appeared. And I sucked it all up a Slurpee.

It was raw and powerful and emotional and disjointed and invigorating and fulfilling and wonderful and sensual. As for me, I was stimulated and lubricated and aroused and satiated and turned on faster than a drilldo. And I devoured all of it greedily and lustfully, finishing it in two days’ time.

I think it’s safe to say Sasha Grey can write (even her less than enthusiastic reviewers have acknowledged as much). She writes with passion and an animalistic intensity, baring her soul with a powerful mindfuck that opened my eyes wider than a chasm. I found myself pondering questions I had never pondered before. where did her writing come from? And did she work on her soliloquies and monologues and diction and dialogue as she was getting pounded in the ass?

If Ms. Grey is anything her debut novel, she’s not the most conventional individual. And that’s why this story spoke to me. With plenty of flashbacks and storytelling within the story, spending a lot of time in Catherine’s head, and more than a few cinematic references, this novel was executed with haphazard precision.

Her name sold me on the first book, but I’ll be coming back for more some lust-induced bunny, especially if she takes another stab at the erotica genre. A professional fucker who writes about fucking. What more could you possibly ask for?

I received this book for free through NetGalley.

Cross-posted at Robert's Readsbook-smut netgalley robert-s-reads14 s La-Lionne484 809

What can I say, curiousity got the best of me. I'm all about people turning their life around for the better. A porn star giving a go at being a writer. Why not? Go for it!

I couldn't tell you what this book was about. It was all over the place. I gave up at 50%.
So basicly this book is about a heroine who is not satisfied with her sex life. Sure, her boyfriend is great, if only he would spank her once in a while. It doesn't read as an actual book. It's more a bunch of diary entries, with tons of heroine's monologues where she is fantasizing about kink. There is no desent story line, no character development. Sure, I've read only half of it, but by this point, there should've have been some sign that the story was going somewhere. I was bored out of my fucking mind. A lot of whining, complaining and a lot of bellow mediocre sex. That is all that was to this book.

I read a review where it was said "If you want to read a porno movie, this is the book for you." Or something amongst these words. I agree. I know erotica is porn with a plot. However, this book had no latter. badly-written could-not-finish just-blah ...more13 s Cat120 37

I stumbled upon this book by total chance. I was in Tesco (fellow speed readers from the UK. If you run out of stuff to read go to Tescos.. 3 books for £7 and you can get some pretty good ones on the UK topsellers list!)

Anyway,I had 2 novels picked out,was in a rush and needed another so I thought i'd play a game I never usually play and pick one that had a pretty cover and an intriguing name. So I picked up this. And I got home and it was my day off, and I've read the whole thing in 2 hours.

I didn't know it was erotic fiction.(Not that I'm not down with that, its just '50 shades of Grey' bored me to tears) However, as far as erotic fiction goes I thought it was pretty good. It has a bit of a baseline plot to it un most erotica, which was what I enjoyed about it, and i wanted to find out what happened with Catherine and Jack so i kept reading. Some scenes made me go 'ooohhh' and blush but apart from that it just had a good, basic, easy plot that was believeable, which is what frustrates me with most erotica. You can't imagine it happening in real life, its too far fetched *cough*50shadesofgrey *cough* Whereas this, with Catherine, and her friend, and her boyfriend? Yeah. Believeable. It's just a fun read. Not a "wow this changed my life" book or a "wow this got me off" book. Just fun, and easy and quick. Which sometimes is all you need *wink* 12 s Valerija2

The worst book I ever read in my life. I thoght that I'll never finish this shit. Now when it's done I can finally live again. So stupid, boring and poorly writen. read-201411 s Beatriz366 162

Otra vez vuelvo a llevarle la contraria a Goodreads y al mundo porque a mí este libro sí me ha gustado.

A ver, no me ha encantado ya que me esperaba una castaña pornográfica importante y ha resultado ser una novela interesante (e inquietante a veces). Podría decir que me ha sorprendido positivamente.

La verdad es que, por las reseñas que había leído antes, me esperaba un "50 sombras de Grey" (es decir, una mierda superultrahipermegamachista) escrito por una actriz porno, pero no. El libro es... extraño. De aquella manera. Quiere ir de profundo pero no llega (no puedes tirarte un capítulo entero reflexionando sobre el semen e ir de profunda). Me da la impresión de que se queda a medio gas. Aún así... Me ha gustado.

Eso sí, he acabado del cine clásico y de Hitchcock hasta el copete (no sé si conseguiré ver alguna película de este señor entera después de esto, o si le cogeré más asco a las rubias).10 s Metodi Markov1,487 363

????????? ?? ???? ????? ?? ?????????? ?????? ?? ? ???? ???? ????????????? ????!

?? ???? ???? ? ? ???? ?? ?? ????? ?? ???????. :)dnf trash-bin10 s Marleen671 67

I received my copy from Sphere through Nudge and rated it 3.5 stars.

Every now and again I finish a book and find that I don’t know how I feel about it or what rating to give it. This is one of those books.

A few weeks ago I read an article about Sasha Grey and she fascinated me. She started a career in adult films shortly after turning 18 and turned herself into one of the world’s most successful porn actresses only to shoot her last pornographic movie when she was 21. Not surprising, when somebody with her history decides to write an erotic story it more than arouses my curiosity. And the description of The Juliette Society only made my curiosity stronger:

“A secret club where the world’s most powerful people meet to explore their deepest, often darkest sexual fantasies.”

It sounded absolutely fascinating and potentially quite dark; I couldn’t wait to get my hands on this book.

And then I read it. And, if I’m honest I have to admit that this is indeed a fascinating book. However, it is not a book about a society named Juliette; not really. Certainly, that society features and is as sinister as the description on the back of the book suggests but it doesn’t really play a large part in the book. Because this is a story about Catherine, a film student with a long-term boyfriend and a strong infatuation for one of her teachers. She is also a girl who enjoys sex, is adventurous in that department and has very vivid and explicit, even dark, erotic fantasies.

When Catherine hooks up with fellow student Anna she slowly finds herself descending into the world of kink. It is with Anna that she visits The Fuck Factory:

“A pansexual laboratory of carnal pleasure where anything and everything goes. There are things going on in here that, hard as it is to believe, you won’t even find on the internet.”

And it is Anna who will introduce Catherine to the Juliette Society:

“A people united by one idea, a shared philosophy, all dedicated to the pursuit of sublime pleasures. We have common interests, shared goals and unlimited means.”
And although the Juliette society will give Catherine the opportunity to live out one of her more extreme fantasies, it also makes her vividly aware of what she really wants and values in her life and how easily she might lose it.

So I d the sound of this story before I started the book and when I re-read the description I’ve just given of this book, I still the sound of it. However, strange as it may sound, that description doesn’t really tell you what this book was about. And, if I’m perfectly honest, I’m a bit at a loss trying to figure out what this book was about exactly. At times it read almost a sex manual. At other times it felt more a lecture about movies. Most of the time however this was a story about a girl who seems to have everything her heart could possibly desire yet is determined to throw it all away for no good reason I could determine. In fact, this book felt more an opportunity for the author to share her thoughts, feelings and experiences with sex, than a balanced story. Another thing that bugged me a bit was that the actual story seemed to play second fiddle to the vivid and very kinky fantasies the main character has to such an extent that at times it was almost impossible to distinguish between fact and fantasy. Finally I have to add that for a book with this much sex in it, the story was surprisingly non-erotic.

On the other hand, this book was well written, the story at times fascinating, and I did find myself caught up in the narrative. Yes, I’m conflicted about this book but maybe the only thing we can accuse this author of is that she took the advice “write what you know” a bit too much to heart. The (porn) actress wrote a book about sex and movies, two subjects she obviously knows a lot about. She wrote about them in an engaging and at times funny way but didn’t manage to include enough story. And that is a shame. The idea behind this book was and is absolutely fascinating and I can’t help feeling that this book could have been a whole lot more.
erotica9 s Mika442 9

If you're ever interested in reading a porn movie, this is the book

I thought I was heading into a world of Juliette by Marquis de Sade. The title sounded interesting, some kind of a secret underworld club where sophisticated and other important members of the society meet to have unrestrained sex. Perhaps some cultivated type of perverted sex. Instead I met this Catherine, struggling to get shagged by her hard-working boyfriend and sets up for a journey of sexual encounters and fantasies, but wants to save her rear-end to her boyfriend (deeply philosophical).

The bad news: It’s written in an inner voice-stylish manner with never ending speeches about actually nothing of importance. The author really manages to turn a sex-story into a long yawn.

The good news: If you’re not into reading at all, this book is also available in audible. There might even be some moaning in it, but definitely dirty words and variety of gooey sex. If you're still not interested in reading, please ignore this review and return to your x-rated movie.9 s Shawna HunterAuthor 21 books137

***Review based on audiobook***

Let me break from tradition a bit and start with the narration instead of the story/plot. Sasha wrote this novel and, presumably, she cared about it but none of that comes through in her narration. She's dull, robotic and clinical except when she does a character. When she speaks the words of a character she seems almost mocking...although that may just be her accent.

Now onto the "plot" such as it is. The character (who's name doesn't matter as I'll explain in a moment) goes out of her way to say "plot is subservient to character" well in this case that character is a pretentious film student with a pornstar's blase attitude to sex. She's entirely unbelievable as a college student, insufferable as an armchair philosopher/psychologist and generally unlikable as a human being. She pursues sex vicariously through a slutty friend because her boyfriend isn't giving her what she "needs" and ends up in a few (literally 1 or 2) unfortunate situations as a result. That's it, the rest is daydreams. The sex is un-inventive (except for one scene with crisco) and lacking in sensuality or eroticism. This is why I say that the character's name doesn't matter. She's not the character. She's Sasha Grey speaking as though her name was...whatever it was. It's Sasha Grey's view on sex which (sorry Sasha) is not typical of your average college student. When it takes electro BDSM torture porn gangbangs to even begin to shock you it's probably best to take yourself out of it when describing a sex scene. Otherwise you end up with this bland in-and-out description of the act. This isn't a naughty thrill for the author, it's the 9-5, and she conveys it as such causing the entire story to fall flat.

As to the titular Juliette society which you may think I forgot in this review...well there's a reason for that. The author forgot it to. They meet the society, briefly, but it's a one off party in one of the chapters that has little to do with anything. The pervy guy who lead them there gets more of a plot arc than the very club the book is titled after. A better title for this book would be A Series of Sexual Events...in college.

This book is unfocused, unsexy and overall underwhelming. I learned more about Sasha Grey than I did about the characters and I found myself not really caring to learn more. By the last third I was carrying on simply for completion's sake...and I forgot it was playing for about 20 minutes while I started clicking around on Facebook. There is a slight twist at the end that could lead to a sequel...I just stopped caring long before it came up. If you want to know more about Sasha Grey then maybe you'll this, anything could happen, but I'd recommend the erotica of a lonely housewife over a pornstar. Sex is better from those who still want it. Here we have what happens when someone has lot their passion for sex but has found themselves type-caste. The writing needs work but that hardly matters to me because the only shred of hope I have after reading this is that writing could become a new passion for an woman who seems to have lost hers. 7 s Melisa Müller178 50

Como algunxs sabrán, la literatura erótica no me va nada. De por si trato de esquivar los libros románticos y de la misma manera me ocurre con los eróticos. Solamente no es mi género. Si tengo ganas de leer algo picantito simplemente me leo un relato erótico y no me como un tocón de hojas queriendo meterle una trama (casi todas iguales) a varias escenas de sexo.

En base a esto, viene desde luego mi opinión. Éste libro, es obra de Sasha Grey, una actriz porno que ahora al parecer es escritora, cantante y nose cuantas cosas mas dejadas a medias. La historia nos lleva a la vida de Catherine, una universitaria con una vida normalita pero insatisfecha con su vida sexual, y es que secretamente necesita salirse un poco de la regla para disfrutar, eso sí y cómo no, con su pareja no puede vivirlo pues están en un párate monótono de su vida diaria.

A parte en la sinopsis nos quieren pintar una especie de misterio de una sociedad secreta para que el libro tenga ese toque desconocido. Plan que fracasa estrepitosamente a lo largo del libro. Y es que es un libro con casi nada de trama, a pesar de lo que nos promete. Simplemente es la protagonista descubriendo una nueva amiga a la que le va a el sexo duro y en grupos y la cual la arrastra por toda la ciudad en distintos tipos de clubes sexuales. La autora (pongamosle) haciendo gala de su anterior trabajo, emplea un vocabulario fuerte y sin tapujos para contarnos lo que hace, lo que le gusta, lo que la pone, incluso llegando a demostrar que tiene un máster a la hora de narrar como le gusta el semen de los hombres.

En fin, no quiero explayarme mas, siento que esta novela nunca debería haber visto la luz del día y haber pasado del relato erótico al libro erótico. Si no me creen lo malo que es (porque claro, a mi la erótica no me va) les recomiendo ver sus 2 estrellas y medias en Goodreads
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