What did I just read? This is like Japanese Hentai in literary form. Actually, I've seen Hentai even LESS extreme than this! I'm getting Bible Black vibes from this for some reason.

Oddly enough I MIGHT actually continue if only to see how Anne Rice could possibly top this level of perversion. Don't come here for story or anything hott. There's none. This is just pure shock value.

One piece of Erotica which shall forever hold a special place in my naughty little heart...

n  n    This was the real world then - Beauty and I free to have each other and all the others gone. Just the two of us in my bedchamber, where I should envelop her naked soul in rituals and ordeals beyond our past experiences, our dreams. No one to save her from me. No one to save me from her. My slave, my poor helpless slave...n  n

I suppose I should preface this review with a bit of a confession...
This was one of the very first pieces of Erotica I ever read, and I read it at an age which (in hindsight) was wholly inappropriate for my level of sexual awareness...

Due to this fact, I was completely overwhelmed with what I read in the pages of this book.

I was completely sucked-in and transfixed by the elaborate (and oftentimes absurd) fantasy world full of debauchery within. This tiny paperback, pages now yellowed, spine cracked and flaking, was once tucked away under my mattress like a playboy...

Now it sits proudly - though tattered with love - on my bookshelf...

Because if it weren't for finding this book in my youth, I might never have become a professional Reader of Erotica. You might never have read a book review by Shurrn...

So as I said, it holds a special place for me.

That being said... This is a ridiculous book filled with absurdity and it lies closer to the line of satire and farce than it does to the modern erotic. Many readers are going to find this book - and the whole series - to be unreadable for it's over-the-top nature in every scene and character...

I can't fault them for that...

I've often felt that this book was the literary equivalent of The Aristocrats
bit swapped between comedians... Where the story teller attempts to inject as much vile/offensive/taboo material into their tale as possible.

For all that, this book is still special to me, regardless of the overall quality.

So please feel free to take this review with a grain of salt...

WARNING: THIS IS NOT A WHOLESOME BOOK REVIEW SO DON'T READ IT IF YOUR UNDER 18 YEARS OLD OR BETTER YET DON'T READ THE BOOK IF YOUR UNDER 18... DON'T SAY I DIDN'T WARN YOU
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n   not all knight in shining armor can make your dreams come true,he's not quite as charming as he may seemn

so okay. we all know about the story of sleeping beauty right? the princess who accidentally pricked her finger on a spinning wheel and suffred an eternity of sleep we all grew up thinking that she was kissed by a prince and lived happily ever after!! *weeee* well here is another version of the story but this time she wasn't awakened by a kiss but she was raped. and she didn't live as a princess but she lived as a love slave.. *sheesh*

this is my first erotica book.call me conservative,call me stupid,call me dumb, call me foolish.. but i didn't know that such book genre exist, i don't know how will i appreciate this book, i don't even know how people appreciate this kind book, i mean the first scene of this book is a rape scene! Beauty was in her clothes and Prince come and rescue her so instead of kissing her he took her clothes of and mind you, he didn't use his hand to get her clothes off. he ripped it off using his sword (talk about diabolical!) my reaction to that is like *HOLY SMOKES! OMG! WTH! WTF! (closes e-book)* so that was my first attempt to read this book, so i read it again and this time i skimmed some parts enable for me to move on... and i have done a lot of skimming and scanning enable for me to finish the book.

the prince in the book is always described as being handsome and regal but he is a monster,ok. he is a sadist he made beauty do a lot of awful things like

*making her walk naked
*showcase beauty to commoners naked and her hands are tied
*making beauty kiss/lick his shoes
*spanking,spanking and oh yeah some more spanking
*making her eat the spilled food on the floor
*tying her on a bed
*letting beauty strip his clothes using beauty's mouth

those are just SOME of the things that the prince made her do, if i enumerate them all i may be banned from goodreads forever! XD

as i'm reading i can't help but ask why? why is the prince so sadistic? it turns out that their kingdom. sex slavery is normal they abduct,kidnnaped commoners or even royals to become their sex slaves or love slaves as they call it.

as for beauty i can't help but to feel sorry for her. she is a princess for crying out loud! but she get to experience a lot of awful things that the prince has coerced her to do and by that she find herself wanting those things she became hmmmm how do i say this. she became H****. she finds herself wanting to have sex, she became conscious of her actions and trying her best to pleasure the prince.

so why 2 stars?
it seems like i'm so horrified and traumatized when i read this book
but i gave credit to the writing style, the words are carefully chosen and in my opinion i find it hard to write something that tackles with this kind of subject. but regarding to the plot i don't appreciate it. let's just say i'll stick with the idea that beauty was kissed and awkened and she lived happily ever after with her prince.

n  n

I'll be honest, this series was very difficult to read for me and that's saying much by one who usually enjoys most elements that makes a BDSM/Kink/OTT book non-friendly. It was not the rape that got to me seeing I'm basically a rape fiction fan according to all the dubious consent and non-consent books I've read. I really can't put my finger on what it was that disturbed me in a horrific way with this series.

I don't know if it was because I did have a hard time with how severe the slaves were tortured. I don't know if it was the women with the dead eyes from not having any hope or sliver of happiness. Maybe it was the hierarchy of the classes. I really don't know because I loved the only other book I can compare to this one which is really not a comparison at all. It's, n  n which had some of the same elements as The Claiming.....

This series was actually a 1.5 for me. I could hardly stomach parts of this series and I feel like a Hypocrite seeing that I loved 19's book. However 19's book didn't leave me feeling dirty, numb, and like I needed a mental scrub. The world Ann Rice created was unbelievably horrific.

I guess the bottom line is that it only take minor well done details to make the difference on a story like this. I felt sick reading this series and could not finish the last book.

DNF at 50%. My first one star and my first dnf of the year. This is just foul. Beauty is only 15.

Amusing or arousing?

This is what I call light reading. It is easy, predictable and comedic. It's the sort of book I could read from end to end during a short flight. For me, it was not too arousing, unless you are a girl who likes being spanked! I am not!

There is really not too much depth to the story, but that doesn’t spoil it at all, just as long as you read it in the right spirit. I don’t think that the author ever intended it to be serious. The whole book is dedicated to sado-masochism.

There is a slight reversal of society, as the Princes and Princesses from surrounding kingdoms become sex slaves to the Queen, her Crown Prince and the Lords and Ladies of the land. The slaves are kept naked, and are continually beaten, and punished in many other ways, for the amusement of the Lords and Ladies. There are strict rules to stop the beatings short of the drawing of blood or the burning of skin. There is plenty of bondage, and much agony is imposed on the slaves by bringing them close to sexual satisfaction, but refusing to allow them that final climax.

It is a lot of fun, and I am left full of anticipation to discover how the commoners of this land conduct themselves and how they interact with the slaves, who are, when all is said and done, foreign royalty.

Personally, I did not find the story very arousing, but it is clear that some readers did. I found it amusing, and it is a good, light read. For you, it could be amusing or arousing, or both. It takes no effort to read this book, so I recommend that you make the effort, and decide for yourself.

Esta novela la podría equiparar a esos relatos porno que aparecen en páginas web de relatos eróticos. Un argumento burdo, retorcido, basado en el cuento de la bella durmiente.
Para empezar, no la despierta con un beso sino con otra cosa.
Y no es el final del cuento sino el principio en donde Bella es conducida a un reino en donde prima el esclavismo sexual y la humillación.
Y es una trilogía, no termina.
Si les erotizan los escritos de Sade, quizá les guste.

Ok.

This was one of the books picked for me as part of a challenge, and after reading some of the reviews, I decided to go ahead with this one. Now I am not normally a reader/fan of pure erotica, or erotica in general. But what the heck, I've read a couple of erotic romances that weren't terrible, so how bad could this one be, right?

Wrong.

It was bad. Horrendously bad. The writing is, like other people have said, insanely juvenile; it is also atrocious. There was no plot, no nothing: it just flitted on to one idiotically improbable situation after another. I didn't even get the erotic part of it - my mind's eye just could not see any of these scenarios at all. So I was stuck reading a book that was just bad. Painfully bad

In what universe do most people consider
"Beauty could see his scrotum between his legs, dark, hairy and mysterious"

a. good writing
b. erotic in any way, shape, or form?

The mind boggles, I tell ya.

I spent the book in horrified snorts. Spankings abound. Why, I don't know and I can't tell. Nakedness abounds, to what end, I don't know. Every single character is stupid beyond comprehension, especially Beauty. And oh, yes, did I mention there was absolutely no plot?

I know I complain quite often abut books being written badly, but this is truly one of the worst I've come across.

I can never recover the brain cells nor the time I lost reading this book.

But I can't say I wasn't warned. Dina's review alone shoulda steered me clear.

Whoooooh. I'm so glad it's over. I was inclined to give this book a one star rating, but decided to go ahead and give it two...ok, maybe 1.5.

Ugh.

Here's the deal:
This was a monthly read for one of my groups. It sounded interesting, I was all for it...until I got to page 3. By page 17 I was in an uproar. As I progressed, I wanted to shut my eyes and just make it all go away. But, alas, I wanted to finish what I started.

The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty has been described as Erotica/BDSM. I just don't see how/why/who. Sorry, I don't. But perhaps I do not understand BDSM. And that's fine with me!!!!

This book is about sex slaves in the most awful sense of the word. Eeeeek, I wanted to stick a fork in my eye. None of this is new to me though. I've read a lot, I've watched movies, etc etc. Not all of them are pretty and happily ever after. But, I really want to make the memories of this book go away!

With all that out of the way Story/Plot aside: Anne Rice's writing was well done and saved this book from a 1 star rating. She knows how to write! She knows how to draw you in and make you want to keep reading even though that fork in your kitchen is calling your name and wants to help you make it all go away. Damn you!!!

My only gripe with the actual writing/story...ok, fine, ANOTHER gripe about the story is that it lagged and got repetitive and boring. The words read like "yada, yada, yada" at some points. And then? And then? I was ready for it all to be over. Go the village. Enjoy yourself, psycho.

Sooooooo.... it's just not that good. Plus, the Prince has sex with Beauty while she is still asleep. And I guess that we are supposed to be ok with her being 15 when she fell asleep because she's been asleep for 100 years... but. No. Plus... it's just not that good. If there is an erotic scene and I'm confused about how the lips can reach the part they are kissing based on the position they are in, editing is lacking! Like I'm facing you and you lick the back of my neck? That's not comfortable. And the ending... like... whut? If you like plot-less erotica with non-consensual sex masquerading as BDSM, then this is the book for you. At least it's quick.

Re-reading this classic today. RIP Anne

A bdsm fairytale of Anne Rice, in which she expectingly used a pseudonym as it was released well before the time these issues were accepted. This fairytale character of the book allows the author to leave her imagination free and to write without the limitations of the need for realism. As a result, much of the book has the bdsm's violent sensuality but is included in a more mild atmosphere without much psychological analysis. This point I can say is that I particularly liked as, having been accustomed to such readings, these images of measured violent sensuality did not bother me but, on the contrary, were very enjoyable to me and created in my mind a very sensual atmosphere. Part of the enjoyment is naturally due to the very nice writing of the book, which, despite the erotic theme, never turns to vulgarity. But, from one point onwards, this atmosphere becomes darker, as these images of violent sensuality are gradually being replaced by images of physical and psychological abuse that definitely upset the reader and completely destroy this sensual atmosphere of the book. So in the end I'm not sure what conclusion I have to make out of what I read. It's a delightfully sensual book on the one hand and annoying on the other, so I have to rate it in the middle, but something pushes me to put something more.

Ένα bdsm παραμύθι από την Anne Rice που αναμενόμενα χρησιμοποίησε ψευδώνυμο καθώς κυκλοφόρησε πολύ πριν από την εποχή που αυτά τα θέματα έγιναν αποδεκτά. Αυτός ο παραμυθένιος χαρακτήρας του βιβλίου επιτρέπει στη συγγραφέα να αφήσει τη φαντασία της ελεύθερη και να γράψει χωρίς τους περιορισμούς της ανάγκης για ρεαλισμό. Αυτό έχει ως αποτέλεσμα σε μεγάλο μέρος του βιβλίου να υπάρχει ο βίαιος αισθησιασμός του bdsm αλλά να εντάσσεται σε μία περισσότερο ελαφριά ατμόσφαιρα, χωρίς πολλές ψυχολογικές αναλύσεις. Αυτό το σημείο μπορώ να πω ότι μου άρεσε ιδιαίτερα καθώς έχοντας συνηθίσει σε ανάλογα αναγνώσματα αυτές οι εικόνες μετρημένου βίαιου αισθησιασμού δεν με ενόχλησαν αλλά, αντιθέτως, μου ήταν ιδιαίτερα απολαυστικές και δημιούργησαν στο μυαλό μου μία ιδιαίτερα αισθησιακή ατμόσφαιρα. Μέρος της απόλαυσης οφείλεται φυσικά στην πολύ ωραία γραφή του βιβλίου, που, παρά το ερωτικό θέμα, δεν στρέφεται ποτέ προς τη χυδαιότητα. Βέβαια από ένα σημείο και μετά αυτή η ατμόσφαιρα γίνεται πιο σκοτεινή, καθώς αυτές οι εικόνες βίαιου αισθησιασμού αντικαθιστώνται σταδιακά με εικόνες σωματικής και ψυχολογικής κακοποίησης που σίγουρα ταράζουν τον αναγνώστη και καταστρέφουν εντελώς αυτήν την αισθησιακή ατμόσφαιρα του βιβλίου. Οπότε στο τέλος δεν είμαι σίγουρος τι συμπέρασμα πρέπει να βγάλω από αυτό που διάβασα. Είναι ένα βιβλίο απολαυστικά αισθησιακό από τη μία και ενοχλητικό από την άλλη, για αυτό πρέπει να το βαθμολογήσω στη μέση, κάτι με σπρώχνει, όμως, να βάλω κάτι παραπάνω.