The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty review
An adult story of Sleeping Beauty as she is awakened by her Prince and taken to a sort of slave boarding school to learn to be a better Queen.Published: June 4, 2008
Pros:
Ann Rice is very descriptive in her explanation of scenes which lends to good mental visuals.
Cons:
The story does not engage concern for characters. Unrealistic torture. Flowery BDSM content.
"The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty" begins as an adult version of the childhood tale. But of course this tale is more about the sexual and psychological aspect of the relationship between Beauty and the Prince that brings her back to life. Beauty has a sexual awakening at the hands of her Prince.
Ann Rice writes this erotic tale under the name of A. N. Roquelaure. But it is filled with the flowery descriptions that make her books very similar. In some ways this makes the story more lush, but in other ways it brings the story to drag in certain areas and bring the reader to try and skip the descriptive paragraphs.
Beauty becomes a slave, brought to a system where Kings and Queens start out their lives as slaves. She is taught to bend to the Prince's hand in different exercises and interacts with other slaves in this perverse school.
While I found the book interesting and a fun read, I did not find it as erotic as I had hoped. The plot came across a little shaky to me and did not draw me in to actually care about the character of Beauty. I believe the torture and pain aspect of the slaves was not written in a realistic fashion.
Readers who are interested in light BDSM and pony play may enjoy this book as a nice little read.
I did go on to read the other books in this series. I thought each book as it went through the trilogy became more weak in it's story. If you wish to read just one of these three books, "The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty" would be your best bet.
I would recommend looking into "The Story of O" for a better BDSM related book. It is a great classic and much more interesting read in general.
Ann Rice writes this erotic tale under the name of A. N. Roquelaure. But it is filled with the flowery descriptions that make her books very similar. In some ways this makes the story more lush, but in other ways it brings the story to drag in certain areas and bring the reader to try and skip the descriptive paragraphs.
Beauty becomes a slave, brought to a system where Kings and Queens start out their lives as slaves. She is taught to bend to the Prince's hand in different exercises and interacts with other slaves in this perverse school.
While I found the book interesting and a fun read, I did not find it as erotic as I had hoped. The plot came across a little shaky to me and did not draw me in to actually care about the character of Beauty. I believe the torture and pain aspect of the slaves was not written in a realistic fashion.
Readers who are interested in light BDSM and pony play may enjoy this book as a nice little read.
I did go on to read the other books in this series. I thought each book as it went through the trilogy became more weak in it's story. If you wish to read just one of these three books, "The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty" would be your best bet.
I would recommend looking into "The Story of O" for a better BDSM related book. It is a great classic and much more interesting read in general.
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Does This Book Take on a More Negative Look of The Slave/Master Relationship or What?
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This book has been commented on as traumatic, and I think that she's more of a victim of rape and mental abuse than anything. I'm sorry to post this, for anyone who doesn't want to read about it, but I've been a victim of rape and don't want this kind of thing sold, personally, or read. What do you think of it? I don't like that this kind of fantasy exists, and I don't understand it. I don't mean to bring it up, it's just if that's the kind of meaning it has, I don't think it should be sold on EdenFantasys.
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The Sleeping Beauty Trilogy is a fantasy world based on BDSM interests. This isn't about the modern slave-trafficking; the characters live in a highly fetishized, stylized realm of casual bondage, servitude and lotsa kings and queens and princesses. I've read the trilogy and loved them. It was actually quite empowering for me to read, as both a survivor and a submissive. Elements did confuse me, of course, and some pages took longer pauses to pick back up from others. Overall, though, this is not a book about rape or violence; it is entirely about willing submission. Plain and simple, as the many many reviewers and commenters said: if you don't have interest in BDSM, you won't enjoy or understand these books.
I'm sorry that, if when reading this, it triggered personally traumatic memories for you. I understand why you would feel defensive and want to shun it, but that is not what these books are about. The Sleeping Beauty trilogy is a staple of BDSM literature--as much as you do not appreciate them, there are many others that do. -
Quote: This book has been commented on as traumatic, and I think that she's more of a victim of rape and mental abuse than anything. I'm sorry to post this, for anyone who doesn't want to read about it, but I've been a victim of rape and don't want this kind of thing sold, personally, or read. What do you think of it? I don't like that this kind of fantasy exists, and I don't understand it. I don't mean to bring it up, it's just if that's the kind of meaning it has, I don't think it should be sold on EdenFantasys.I don't like reading books about right-wing politics. I don't like horror films where masked men kill unsuspecting innocents. I really don't like ugly shoes because they traumatize my eyes.
Should all of these things be banned? Should they not be sold?
Extreme examples, yes.
How about a better one: should they not sell bondage gear on EF? Should EF not sell handcuffs or rope or blindfolds, because those can be used in a sexual assault?
I'm sorry that you found this book traumatic, but it IS a valuable piece of literature. That's why we have reviews, after all; to warn readers of the content and what to expect from such writings.
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While not the best erotica ever written, these are definitely classics and had a profound effect on my later sexual development during my college years. I agree with you that this is the best book of the series.
Wow, it's funny because I couldn't disagree more! It's great to have read the review on this book accroding to someone else's point of view. Great Review.
N.S.- what did you think of this book?
I know Annie Rice for her famous vampire chronicles, which are the best in its genre to my taste. As of her stunt into S&M, it is not her style.
I agree that this novel is very story like and doesn't go quickly into erotic scenes but the anticipation build up is wonderful. I also agree about the unrealistic-ness of the events in the book but I find that is what makes it so erotic and arousing to me. Finaly I found that as you progress from one novel to the next the stories become more and more obscene and very fantasy like. What I like about this is that as you read you are able to place yourself in the characters postion in a safe and healthy manner all the while being able to imagine and fantasise about the sensations they experience as being your own.
Also, not a lot of people know this but the characters Anne Rice uses in her erotica novels (which were published after her vampire chronicles) were used again with different names in her vamipre chronicles. If you take the time to analyze the personality types of the characters in both series it becomes apparent.
She used the name A.N. Roquelaure (apparently...I might be wrong) for her erotica triology in order for the novels to not be associated to her more popular name so as to avoid her parents knowing of her litterature in erotica.
I really quite enjoyed this series
thanks