The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty
by Anne Rice
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Book Reviews of The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty
Book Review: Not as good as it wants to be, not as bad as I wanted it
Summary: 2 Stars
First off, let's be clear: this book is erotica. Not fiction, not an adult fairy tale. It's porn. And there's certainly not anything wrong with that, but let's not try to dress this book up and pretend it's more significant or "respectable" than it is. It's certainly not an exploration of the metaphor of Sleeping Beauty's awakening as a sexual initiation, as the jacket blurb ludicrously describes it. Nor does it offer any particular insight into the inner workings and psychology of BDSM, at least none that couldn't be found in the Usenet postings of any amateur erotica writer.
It's erotica. Reasonably well-written, but often monotonous and frequently more silly than sexy. Maybe that's just my taste; I've never been particularly turned on by long, protracted spanking sequences, nor by the gleeful depiction of the various humiliations visited upon Beauty. Some people are, and if that's your cup of tea you're going to love this book.
For my money, if I'm going to read erotic fiction I'm going to stick with Laurell K. Hamilton, or with the sublime Jacqueline Carey. Carey's "Kushiel" series is so much better, both as fiction and as erotica, than the "Beauty" series that I feel guilty even comparing them. "The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty" has its moments, and the plain black cover means I don't have to hide it when the in-laws stop in for coffee. But chances are it's not going to have a prominent position on my nightstand anyway.
Book Review: This is not for the closed (or weak) minded...
Summary: 5 Stars
If you are a fan of Anne Rice, well welcome to the dark side...as any Anne Rice fan knows, Anne Rice is known for delving you into a world of pure fantasy and making the fantasy seem like a crudely viable alternative. What if Medievil Europe was encumbered with sex slaves? We know there were slaves and the Romans are well accounted for their social acceptance of homosexuality and incest to a point of seeming "normalcy". We also know that the facts of history are also softened and the darker side or things that are harsh are omitted to protect the perceived images of the period or those involved, (i.e., if everyone knew the real Columbus would we really have a Columbus Day? I think not, it would be unthinkable to celebrate a man who tortured and killed women and children but, he did and we do.) In the same sense Anne Rice takes us to a Europe that is as harsh and brutal as it may well have been, if you let yourself open to the possibility. Although not always pretty and rather shocking at times, this is Anne Rice in exquisite form. If you are easily disturbed or would rather wear blinders to these possibilities then this is NOT a book that you would enjoy. There are depictions of pain, humiliation, pedophilia, BDSM, rape, and yes..a lot of spanking but again this is medievil europe where people eat with their fingers, women and children are property, and social influence is limited to the kingdoms whim.Book Review: Sexual abuse and brainwashing
Summary: 3 Stars
I know very little about BDSM, but I'm far from sexually conservative and enjoy reading many kinds of erotica. While I enjoyed the writing and careful attention to character development in this novel, I found myself turned off by the pervasive themes of coercion. My acquaintances who enjoy BDSM have always told me that an important element of that kind of sexual play is that all parties enter into it of their own free will, even if the play itself involves coercion. The fact that Beauty and the other slaves are taken into service against their will, and then undergo sexual practices that in our culture easily qualify as sexual abuse, was not appealing to me. Though the novel advertises itself as one "of cruelty and tenderness," for me it was a novel of sexual abuse and brainwashing. I also couldn't really banish my psychological knowledge from my mind as I read -- it's one thing to engage in BDSM play willingly, and hand over your will, but in real life when people are tortured and broken the way these characters are, it does not generally produce a strange form of enlightenment (as in the novel), but rather neurosis, tremendous self-esteem problems, and afterwards, post-traumatic stress disorder.I won't condemn this book completely. It -is- a fantasy, and that's emphasized by the fairy-tale setting. But for me, the suspension of disbelief required to enjoy the novel was just too great.
Book Review: This is Not erotic, it is depraved
Summary: 1 Stars
Once upon a time there was a beauty that was put under an evil witches spell, for 100 years Beauty slept, her pristine petal soft untouched lips awaited the kiss of her prince charming. Well get over that fairytale, In this book Beauty's Prince Charming is a degenerate, he awakens her by raping her, and from that point on he uses, abuses and controls her has his slave, he and others degrade Beauty in various methods throughout the book. Yes I am being sarcastic, but unfortunately this is how this tale goes, it is redundantly twisted and perverted page after page. It is beyond my imagination as to why a publishing house would find enough merer in this storyline to publish a single book with this content, but why kill innocent trees to make it into a series. In short I found it a huge pile of manure, so would suggest reading it in the bathroom.
My happy ending was when I decided to skim through the rest of the book to see there was no happily ever after, I found this book so repugnant I won't bother with the others.
I have read other books written by Anne Rice and was prepared for some unusual content, but this was more then I could tolerate and think the publisher should have higher standards of quality writing.
I would suggest ...
To Kill a Mockingbird
Book Review: Do I have to give a star?
Summary: 1 Stars
If you are interested in reading a deeply intelligent, sensual and erotic story, then make sure you don't buy this book...
First of all, I have to say this: S. C. Mitchell (previous person to leave a review for this book over a year ago), I love you man! I have never read or heard anyone express my feelings about this book as well as you.
I was quite interested in reading this book and purchased the whole set at once, it sounded interesting. Bored to tears and completely disgusted doesn't even start to describe how I felt reading it. The whole book is senseless and meaningless sexuality and S&M, page after page. Talking about something completely pointless... It was like I was reading a cheap porn movie.
By the way, just to clarify, I am not a sexually repressed individual. The book didn't disgust me because of the sexual content, it is just a crappy book.
The Beauty series is so terrible that, after buying a set with whatever number of books, I didn't even manage to finish the first one. I will usually read a book to the end, even if it doesn't quite grab my interest, just to find out how it ends. In this case, I was glad to give up my curiosity and move on to more interesting and entertaining reading material by the time I had read about two thirds of the first book.
What a waste of money and time!