The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty (Sleeping Beauty)

The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty (Sleeping Beauty) Rice writing as A. N. Roquelaure.

In the traditional folk tale "Sleeping Beauty," the spell cast upon the lovely young princess and everyone in her castle can only be broken by the kiss of a Prince. Anne Rice's retelling of the Beauty story probes the unspoken implications of this lush, suggestive tale by exploring its undeniable connection to sexual desire.
Customer Review: No sort of erotica here
Alright I'll admit this. I was a little unkowing of much BDSM when I picked up this book. Someone had recomended it to me to read since I liked Rice's vampire cronicles so much.

I was horribly disapointed when I read this. There is little character development what so ever and the amount of sheer humilitaion for Beauty is digusting. It seemed to be everyone's highlight in every village and in the queen's castle. This book contained nothing except spanking and spanking and raping and more spanking. I had to force myself to finish this.

We meet Prince Alexi a few chapters into the story and after only a few days of seeing him, Beauty becomes obessed with the prince, and he with her. You don't get to see much of the Prince who claimed her until the end, where he becomes a weak character. Then for two chapters we only get to hear about Prince Alexi and the exploits in the kitchen. Again it was just the same thing page after page.

At the end we meet Tristian who Beauty had only seen the day before and when they are put into the cart to go to the village, he mounts her and she's fine with it. She appears to have forgotten Alexi all together. And why is she going to the village!?

Overall I'm very disapointed with Rice here. Because of this I'm not reading the next two in the series.
Customer Review: More disturbing than erotic
I looked forward to a retelling of the Sleeping Beauty fable for adults. The premise I read was that, in this version, she awakens not just with a kiss but through sexual desire. However, "rape" is a more accurate depiction: her so-called prince cuts her dress off with his sword, fondles her, and mounts her while she is still in her coma-like sleep. Upon her awakening, he repeatedly degrades her, forcing her to sit at the dinner table naked in front of her father, eat only if it pleases him, allow him to do whatever he wishes. All the while, the author describes the tears in her eyes and the shame in her face. Rather than pure desire, the prince's actions seem born of a domineering arrogance. When he forced her to ride naked before everyone on the way to his kingdom, I put the book down. It's disturbing to see a dynamic like this portrayed as erotic. If you want to read an account in which a young woman overcomes her inhibitions (with a male protagonist who, as in Roquelaure's novel, takes great pleasure in gazing at her body), try William Kotzwinkle's Jewel of the Moon.