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Book Reviews of The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty (Sleeping Beauty, Bk 1)

The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty (Sleeping Beauty, Bk 1)
The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty - Sleeping Beauty, Bk 1
Author: Anne Rice, A. N. Roquelaure
ISBN: 37645
Publication Date: 1983
Pages: 253
Rating:
  • Currently 3.5/5 Stars.
 12

3.5 stars, based on 12 ratings
Publisher: Plume
Book Type: Paperback
Reviews: Write a Review

62 Book Reviews submitted by our Members...sorted by voted most helpful

reviewed The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty (Sleeping Beauty, Bk 1) on + 8 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 27
Well, if you like spankings, S&M, spankings, weird sex, spankings, bondage and spankings, this is the book for you. Did I mention there's a lot of spankings? Like, on every page, starting with, oh...page 2. It's erotic, it's a whole new take on an old fairy tale...it's got A LOT of spankings. Enjoy.
FosterAdopt avatar reviewed The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty (Sleeping Beauty, Bk 1) on
Helpful Score: 17
This was my first foray into Erotica and sorry to say I was a little disappointed. The premise seemed promising but there was very little (if any)character development. I really wanted to like it as I am a big fan of Ann Rice but I just couldn't finish it. MY TBR pile is too big to try and force myself to read this one.
reviewed The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty (Sleeping Beauty, Bk 1) on + 3 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 9
Well... if you like spanking, you'll like this book. About 75% of it is spanking! :) Very explicit sexual scenes and some homosexual activity as well.
reviewed The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty (Sleeping Beauty, Bk 1) on + 27 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 8
An interesting idea and very erotically written. But I do expect more character development and depth from this author.
Sarah13Rose avatar reviewed The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty (Sleeping Beauty, Bk 1) on + 35 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 6
erotic! sexy!
quick read
very good....just know that it is very explicit
reviewed The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty (Sleeping Beauty, Bk 1) on + 7 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 6
Very graphic. Do not request without knowing what it is first.
reviewed The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty (Sleeping Beauty, Bk 1) on + 69 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 6
Classic BDSM erotica. Please know before ordering this book that it deals heavily with adult themes such as sex, enslavement and power exchange.
crystaltro avatar reviewed The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty (Sleeping Beauty, Bk 1) on + 5 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 5
This book is a highly erotic book for mature readers. This book was wrote by A.N. Roquelaure but most commonly known as Anne Rice. She writes fabulously! Please note that this book is extremely explicit but a must read.
reviewed The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty (Sleeping Beauty, Bk 1) on + 34 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 4
Be forwarned... not a subject matter for the PG-13 or R rated, eye-opening in many ways... I like fairy tale fiction and was VERY surprised at this variation.
reviewed The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty (Sleeping Beauty, Bk 1) on + 30 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 3
Not for the faint-hearted. Heavy BDSM.
tamajinn avatar reviewed The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty (Sleeping Beauty, Bk 1) on + 64 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 3
I couldn't get very far into this at all... picked it up at a book sale thinking I'd try it since I never read anything by Anne Rice, but wow... it was just brutal and revolting. If you don't believe me, feel free to give it a go, but I warned ya!
reviewed The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty (Sleeping Beauty, Bk 1) on + 4 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 3
I used to enjoy Anne Rice's work. I really did. I've never been unable to finish a book of hers.

This book, however? This poorly research, barely thought-out rag of smut that distorts the world of S&M horrifically? I put it down with a third of the book to go.

Leaving aside the parts where the "punishments" would have been lethal within a day or so, such as being hung double by your wrists for the ceiling (Rice mentions the slaves are left this way for up to a week), and the way that slaves are forced into subjugation by threats such as being handed to the servants of the castle (where they will be subject to repeated rape, beatings, more rape, and more beatings)... no, not leaving that aside. That's what disgusted me about this book.

A true S&M relationship, a healthy one, is based on mutual consent and a terrifying amount of trust. If the slave is whipped, spanked, punshied, whatever, it is because the slave wants it and enjoys it. The slaves in this book do not want it, except as far as a severe case of Stockholm syndrome makes them.

Rice is propagating a damaging and sadly widespread view of S&M. I understand that it is, more or less, Rice's literary version of a wish fulfillment dream, but there are many people who already have a poor understanding of S&M who will read this book and believe it to be something like what she presents.
reviewed The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty (Sleeping Beauty, Bk 1) on + 16 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 3
I was thinking it would be a cheesey romance, but it really isn't. A little more S&M than I like, but overall a really good story line.
carefulove avatar reviewed The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty (Sleeping Beauty, Bk 1) on
Helpful Score: 2
What a Load of C...! Holy Cow, what a waste of time and effort! What on earth would make an author write something like this? and ever worse, what would make me waste my precious book credits on it? ugh.
This series was disgusting and a poor attempt to a BDSM story that turned out to be pure torture and a less than mediocre work.
TeddieBear avatar reviewed The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty (Sleeping Beauty, Bk 1) on
Helpful Score: 2
Artistically erotic or porno...you decide -
reviewed The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty (Sleeping Beauty, Bk 1) on + 27 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 2
I thought this book was beyond disappointing. The idea of the book is intriguing, and I like Anne Rice, but, most of the book was just beyond stupid. I finished it, just because I kept hoping there would be "more" . . .but I have no desire to waste my time with the rest of them.
reviewed The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty (Sleeping Beauty, Bk 1) on + 12 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 2
A little risque for my tastes, but would be good if you enjoyed that kind of thing.
reviewed The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty (Sleeping Beauty, Bk 1) on + 11 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
FROM THE PUBLISHER
In the traditional folktale of "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. It is an ancient story, one that originally emerged from and still deeply disturbs the mind's unconscious. Now 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. Here the Prince awakens Beauty, not with a kiss, but with sexual initiation. His reward for ending the hundred years of enchantment is Beauty's complete and total enslavement to him...as Anne Rice explores the world of erotic yearning and fantasy in a classic that becomes, with her skillful pen, a compelling experience.
te2012 avatar reviewed The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty (Sleeping Beauty, Bk 1) on + 5 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
I must say for an Anne Rice book, I was very disappointed. No, I was not bothered by the heavy spanking and what not...just the poor story plot in general.
reviewed The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty (Sleeping Beauty, Bk 1) on + 2 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
I enjoyed this book for the erotica BDSM aspect of it. But, some things I thought where too gruesome and too far fetched to be taken seriously.
reviewed The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty (Sleeping Beauty, Bk 1) on
Helpful Score: 1
Like everybody has already said: Lots of spankings. This is /not/ a romance novel!

At the beginning Beauty appears to be completely innocent. As her education continues though, she begins to feel things. Her confusion is what makes her endearing in a certain way. And just as she begins to think she understand things, something else happens.

Rice creates a weird culture here. One in which the people pay homage to the monarchy in more than just taxes. She has even included festivals and games. All of this culture we only learn through Beauty's experiences.

I'm looking forward to reading the next in the series, as the ending was a cliffhangar, and I'm still not completely sure why Beauty did what she did.
reviewed The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty (Sleeping Beauty, Bk 1) on
Helpful Score: 1
this book was definately unexpected! it was very risque but lacked depth in my opinion! a great book to share with your lover if youre needing an adult bed time story!
reviewed The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty (Sleeping Beauty, Bk 1) on + 38 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
Nice erotice for someone who likes bondage and pain. Not my cup of tea, though...
daredevilgirl013 avatar reviewed The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty (Sleeping Beauty, Bk 1) on + 746 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
This isn't Fifty Shades if that's what you're looking for. This starts out with a rape scene pretty much, and from there beauty goes into sex slavery where anyone and everyone can do whatever they please with her. A lot of S&M, spanking, graphic things, etc etc. Not for those who had difficulty reading Fifty. Though still a rather interesting story, I would have preferred some more character development and less sex or should I say less spanking scenes.
reviewed The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty (Sleeping Beauty, Bk 1) on
Helpful Score: 1
I needed a cigarette after reading this...and I don't even smoke!
read4fun avatar reviewed The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty (Sleeping Beauty, Bk 1) on + 30 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
This is the first erotica book I've ever read. A little shocking in the begining but not too bad. Kinda fun to read about what could have happened to a fairy tale character. Good enough to read the rest of the series.
reviewed The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty (Sleeping Beauty, Bk 1) on + 55 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
Very graphic depiction (almost sequel) of the story Sleeping Beauty. Starting from the time she awakes, Beauty becomes the sex slave of the Prince from another kingdom. I feel like this book has some underlying message that I was missing, and while I am not prudish, I was put off to an extent by the lewd, sexually obsessed point of view of the Prince and the court that he is a part of.
reviewed The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty (Sleeping Beauty, Bk 1) on + 22 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
This is one hot book! I put me on the road to erotica! Anne Rice's imagination is amazing.
CorsetKitten avatar reviewed The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty (Sleeping Beauty, Bk 1) on + 6 more book reviews
This is a very erotic book. XXX
dragonflies avatar reviewed The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty (Sleeping Beauty, Bk 1) on + 66 more book reviews
This is just not my thing. My book club did a year of genres and we enjoyed it, but erotica is not what I want to read, so my review might be skewed.
reviewed The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty (Sleeping Beauty, Bk 1) on + 9 more book reviews
i waited a very long time for this book on my wish list, and now I just want it to be over! Not erotic, no matter what the title says. I'm not a prude and enjoy more riske writing, but this..it's just revolting. Forced S&M, rape, treating people like animals, calling them slaves. Just because Beauty finds she likes it does not make it ok. I'm pretty disappointed.
reviewed The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty (Sleeping Beauty, Bk 1) on + 93 more book reviews
An erotic look at an old fairy tale.
reviewed The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty (Sleeping Beauty, Bk 1) on + 2 more book reviews
Extremely explicit, NOT for the faint of heart
stefanyo avatar reviewed The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty (Sleeping Beauty, Bk 1) on
It states on the cover, if you liked the Fifty Shades trilogy, you'll love the Sleeping Beauty trilogy. Not so much. This is a whole different kind of story. Fifty Shades was a love story involving some S&M this was just a girl who was forced to like being spanked!
reviewed The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty (Sleeping Beauty, Bk 1) on + 24 more book reviews
an interesting kind of sexy based around domination and power structures, have not read the rest of the series
reviewed The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty (Sleeping Beauty, Bk 1) on
If you are looking for a series that has lots of character development and plot, then this really isn't the book for you. This is definitely BDSM (heavy on the S&M) erotica. It is fantasy and some of the scenes in the series (not just this book) are unlikely but I enjoyed reading them anyway. I have the entire series in hardback and I really enjoy reading them from time to time.
hobbit10709 avatar reviewed The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty (Sleeping Beauty, Bk 1) on
This was a great book. I have read this series before and loved it and have now lent it to friends.
ashley949807 avatar reviewed The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty (Sleeping Beauty, Bk 1) on + 27 more book reviews
Great book! Because it's so graphic, this book lives at the very top of my bookshelf to make sure no kids get ahold of it. Definitely NOT for the easily embarrassed or sexually moralistic reader.
reviewed The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty (Sleeping Beauty, Bk 1) on
A Great Read!! The first erotic book I have read and it has left me wanting more. Anne Rice has done it again. The level of originality that has gone into this book is amazing. She opened my eyes to a whole new Genre!! I can't wait to read the other two in the series.
reviewed The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty (Sleeping Beauty, Bk 1) on
GREAT EROTIC BOOK VERY THRILLING
DavinaGenevieve avatar reviewed The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty (Sleeping Beauty, Bk 1) on + 3 more book reviews
Waste of time. This goes beyond trash. Basically XXX
missbookworm avatar reviewed The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty (Sleeping Beauty, Bk 1) on + 25 more book reviews
This is one book that I hid from people. It is so racy and sexy you have to be careful who you read it around too. A little too much spanking for my liking but if you want to read something to get you a all hot and bothered this is the book.
Apollyn avatar reviewed The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty (Sleeping Beauty, Bk 1) on + 26 more book reviews
This was my first dabbling into the erotic genre and I must say I wasn't too impressed. I had read that there are a lot of spanking's and overall just Beauty along receives 17+. If you counted everyone else's it would be well above 40. Nothing in the book really surprised me although some of the ways they punish the slaves are pretty creative. Overall I didn't enjoy the book, but I didn't hate it either so I gave it 2 and 1/2 stars.
brigita avatar reviewed The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty (Sleeping Beauty, Bk 1) on + 3 more book reviews
The first in the Sleeping Beauty Series, Rice takes you into the psyche of Princess Beauty after she is awakened by Prince Charming and taken away on what becomes a quest to discover her own sexuality and desires. Beautifully well written with careful detail shown to the acts being carried out, without being lurid or vulgar. We see that even in what begins as an unwilling B/D relationship, a love develops that nourishes the desire to please. Rice does a phenomenal job of rewriting this classic fairy tale.

The issue of Beauty's menstrual cycle arose in a review of book 2, to which I say this - suspension of disbelief. It is, after all, fantasy.

Not for the faint of heart or anyone not comfortable with their own sexuality or desires. Strongly suggested to read the books in their correct order.
reviewed The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty (Sleeping Beauty, Bk 1) on + 25 more book reviews
I loved this book. I couldnt put it down it was an easy read.Its very Erotic. It may offend some peeps. I cant wait for the second book in trilogy its enroute to me.
reviewed The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty (Sleeping Beauty, Bk 1) on
Not my cup of tea, will not read the other 2 in the series. Very graphic S&M.
reviewed The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty (Sleeping Beauty, Bk 1) on + 12 more book reviews
Anne usually writes such beautiful stories. I don't know what possessed her to write this. Definitely for the erotically, sado-masochistically minded.
reviewed The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty (Sleeping Beauty, Bk 1) on + 2 more book reviews
Not a fan of erotica but still tried to read it anyway. It's basically rape and torture sex for the ENTIRE span of the book. Overarching story is barely a story. Merely a vehicle to write about a lot of dirty rape/sex. Not recommended for someone just trying to read a bit of smut. It's completely vulgar and a book full of rape and trying to justify it.
reviewed The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty (Sleeping Beauty, Bk 1) on
Wish it was written with a little more class. Unmasqued (Colette Gale)is more erotic and hot.
reviewed The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty (Sleeping Beauty, Bk 1) on + 59 more book reviews
I just could not get into it. Not into s&m.
reviewed The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty (Sleeping Beauty, Bk 1) on + 612 more book reviews
This is a really good book I enjoyed it alot.
reviewed The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty (Sleeping Beauty, Bk 1) on + 292 more book reviews
This is written by Anne Rice. I think it is just poorly written and too far out for my tastes. Joalice
Yoni avatar reviewed The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty (Sleeping Beauty, Bk 1) on + 327 more book reviews
Erotica by Anne Rice. Not my cup of tea.
jenvalet avatar reviewed The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty (Sleeping Beauty, Bk 1) on + 47 more book reviews
Just couldn't get through it....not my type of reading...
nanaloves2read avatar reviewed The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty (Sleeping Beauty, Bk 1) on + 6 more book reviews
I really did not like this book. I love Anne Rice but this book was just not to my taste of books. If you like Laurel K., and her style of writting then you will not like this book.
reviewed The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty (Sleeping Beauty, Bk 1) on + 94 more book reviews
Great for any fan of Anne Rice.
reviewed The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty (Sleeping Beauty, Bk 1) on
Not my cup of tea.
pibblegrl avatar reviewed The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty (Sleeping Beauty, Bk 1) on + 64 more book reviews
LOVED IT!
reviewed The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty (Sleeping Beauty, Bk 1) on + 63 more book reviews
The first in the series
reviewed The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty (Sleeping Beauty, Bk 1) on + 23 more book reviews
In the traditional tale of Sleeping Breauty the spell cast upon a lovely princess and everyone in her castle can only be broken by the kiss of a prince. Now in Anne Rice's retelling of Beauty, the prince awakens her not with a kiss, but with sexual iniation. His reward for ending the hundred years of enchantment is Beauty's complete and total enslavement.
prosperedwoman avatar reviewed The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty (Sleeping Beauty, Bk 1) on + 92 more book reviews
In the traditional folk tale of "Sleeping Beauty," the spell case upon the lovely young princess and everyone in her castle can only be broken by the kiss of a Prince. Now Anne Rice's retalling of the Beauty story probes the unspoken implications of this lush, suggestive tale of exploring its undeniable connection to sexual desire. Here the Prince awakens Beauty, not with a kiss, but with sexual initiation. His reward for ending the hundred years of enchantment is Beauty's complete and total enslavement to him . . .
reviewed The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty (Sleeping Beauty, Bk 1) on + 13 more book reviews
My cover is different, a cream version with a rose on it.