Rating: 
Summary: Wow! Intoxicating
Review: I have never read a book that goes straight to the point to it's erotica. To anybody who loves reading bdsm genre of erotic should not miss out in reading this book. It's an alternate world of Sleeping Beauty, where instead of a sweet young Prince to wake her up from her century of sleep but a handsome domainant Prince ends her little curse of torment.
Rating: 
Summary: The meaning of 'happily ever after'
Review: Never would we imagine what the expression 'happily ever after' used in the ending of fairy tales means something so naughty. Anne Rice --writing as A. N. Roquelaure-- wrote a whole trilogy showing to us that the 'ever after' includes a lot of sex --actually sex, spanking and sex again. Writing an erotic novel was a clever move of Rice, thinking of fairy tales for grown ups. The novel begins with the last scene of the original story, but instead of awakening the Beauty with a kiss, the Price uses all his manhood. After that, the beautiful princess is taken to his kingdom where she becomes a sexual slave --not only his, but also many to people. At an early point she is introduced to BDSM and is humiliated and [warped]as many ways as possible. And so the novel goes, with all the possible humiliation and some sexual games. Nothing other than this. There isn't enough plot to fill in a book, let alone a trilogy. One starts wondering what Anne Rice has done with the two other books. 'The Claming of Sleeping Beauty' is reduced to a lot of spaking, and not so much sex. Of course, there is a 'love story' between Beauty and another slave who also happens to be a prince, but it is not near enough to grab the avarege reader's attention. I guess one must have some interest in BDSM to keep interested and read the whole book --the others will feel bored after a hundred pages. It could have been a more interesting book, would it have dealt with some issues like womem freedom and sexual behaviour. But the way it is, it is very simple and doen't have a wide appeal. Moreover, it could have, say, 50 pages less, because the novel is too repetitive. It has a good start, a good idea, but it goes bad, unfortunatelly. At some point, the prince Alexi --who Beauty truly loves-- starts telling his story. And, alas, it is very very similar to what we have read thus far. If his his story could be told in 30 pages, why does Beauty's need 200? All in all, 'The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty' is a clever spin off, but it can't keep its interest for too much time, unfortunatelly. Maybe one has to read the whole trylogy to understand it, but why three books if something could be told in only one?
Rating: 
Summary: A Decent,Well Not that "Decent" Erotic Novel.
Review: When I read this book I was amazed that Anne Rice could write this kind of stuff and make it interesting and graaphic,I had previously read two of her previous novel in the Vampire Chronicles and I was surprised that Anne Rice could write porn.
The book is basically a complete opposite from Walt Disney's classic.Instead of the prince kissing her and making her his princess,it is quite a turn around.Instead he has intercourse with her and makes her his slave.Beating her,raping her,and doing everything except brutally murdering her.The book is a decent in the way it was written but the story is different it is not decent however it is quite far from it.So to mothers and fathers with little tykes,this isn't the bedtime story you want to read your kids.
Rating:
Summary: The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty
Review: This is a must read. From page one you will not be able to put it down. One warning this book is so addictive that you will want to buy the next two in the series.
Rating: 
Summary: A Fairy Tale Gone Bad.........................
Review: In order to enjoy this fairy tale turned nightmare you have to remove your self from what is our societies reality. Consent, Freedom, Love as we accept it does not exist in the Adult Realm of Anne Rices vision of Sleeping Beauty. Beauty is awakened from her sleep to find her kingdom weakened and herself claimed by a Powerful Prince very different from herself. She is not his fairy tale love but simply a slave to his sexual perversion and the perversion his kingdom celebrates and exploits. This book showcases BDSM in its purist form and this tale is not for everyone, not even an avid consumer of erotica. Anne Rice unveils her very sexually dark imagination and sets the stage for a tale that will arouse, shock, question, and make you draw lines with in your nature you choose not to cross. As for the writing, I can not begin to tell you my disappointment. I expected her usually beautiful descriptives and more depth in her characters all of which this book lacked. There is no indepth knowledge of the characters, no beautiful prosaic, and no plot. I found this book simply written to describe horrendous acts of debauchery and depravity in a world where the word consent does not exist. If you enjoy fantasy BDSM you might enjoy this but if your sensibilities are more reality based this might not be for you. In so many ways I found this book to be pornographic and shocking. I could not give this book higher than two stars due to my great disappointment in the writing style and lack of depth in the characters. I found that I didn't care for any of the characters at the end of the book.
Rating:
Summary: Master and Slave - who really is in charge?
Review: This book is a wonderful, erotic, adult version of the fairy tale. It gives the reader insight into the world of BDSM and the dom/sub life style. It will make you blush in places, even if you are an avid reader of erotica, like I am. It will satisfy your sexual curiosity and your romantic nature. Ultimately, it will take you on a wild emotion, sexual ride, and, much like a roller coaster ride, it will leave you panting and begging for more.
Rating:
Summary: great book
Review: from the minute i started to read this book, i did not want to put it down. within the first three pages i feel like calling my boyfriend and having some good naughty[physical activity]...the book is very descriptive and very erotic. i can picture myself there feeling all the pain and ... pleasue she is feeling...even though i was not into being tied up...i might try it now... the story is based on the sleeping beauty story, but in my opinion, i like this version better. i finished the book in 2 days...can't wait to read the other 2 books...
Rating:
Summary: For the Sick at Heart
Review: I really didn't know what to expect with this book. I read it cover to cover in a couple of days. It's a pornographic tale of Sleeping Beauty awoken into a nightmare (unless your a masochist) of sexual torture, rape, and beatings, by a perverted Prince. In fact the entire kingdom or fantasy world that Anne Rice has created is where perversion, and sickness are the norm. Anne Rice tells the story much like the telling of the classic childrens tale, Sleeping Beauty, meaning in a real elementary way. There are no complex, detailed analyses of the main characters, or any deep character development. There is just a child-like tale that lacks real depth, with a shallow plot, in which one lame sex scene after another, strung together make up the book. It's a superficial plot like one would read in a children's book, except with mature content. There is no detailed narrative of what's going on in each character's mind. To me, this causes the characters to not appear as real people. Rice just describes the story, telling what happens by saying, so and so did this, and then so and so did this, and then "beauty's sex became hot". A theme that repeats itself...oh, about every single page in boring, repetitive fashion. There isn't any background on the kingdom in which the story takes place, and not enough background on the main characters. Which leaves alot of unanswered questions. I found the plot to be bland, unremarkable, and did I mention perverted? The plot can be summed up like so...Beauty is awakened by the Prince by him having sex with her while she's unconscious of course, and in return he gets to keep her for a few years of rape, torture, and molestations. Good stuff eh? Kidnapped by a sadistic prince who derives sexual pleasure from the pain of others, Beauty learns to accept her fate. For the uninitiated, sexual-sadism is the same disorder which afflicts serial killers and rapists across America. These are SEXUAL DISORDERS not something to be glorified. HELLO! But somehow this twisted writer tries to make the type of behavior we lock criminals up for, seem appropriate, and even glorified. At the same time this sick prince is suppose to "love" Beauty (more like lust), and shows a perverse alternating softness, and then pleasure in her torment. The Prince's mother (the Queen) and several Lords and Ladies reside in the castle where Beauty is taken. Once inside the castle, the story describes the torture of Beauty and her fellow slaves who are there for a certain period of time, serving out their terms for some grievance or another. The story of what goes on inside the castle is boring, with no exciting plot developments, just random mind games the slaves are put to. To further thicken (I mean sicken) the plot the Prince's mother enjoys sexually torturing Beauty as well. So here we have Beauty being raped, beaten, tortured, molested by various characters, including a Mother and Son team. Can it get any sicker? The whole time reading, "The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty," I could feel nothing but disgust for Beauty's perpetrators, and sadness for Beauty herself. Beauty's reaction to her predicament is not normal. Instead of developing some serious psychological problems, like many young girls who have endured such torture in real life, Beauty comes to accept her torture as 'ok', and even comes to enjoy her daily rapes, beating, and molestations as something somehow 'good', or some kind of nonsensical enlightenment. I never realized that the violation of normal human rights, and boundaries is translated by some into 'englightenment' (heavy sarcasm). I suppose victims of police brutality, and other crimes are on their way to becoming enlightened too? Probably not, just traumatized. At no time in the story are the torturers made to look like the bad guys. They are glorified even. Another nonsensical part of the story is that after several days of being raped and tortured, Beauty still finds comparatively smaller things worth crying over, like having her privates exposed to a stranger. After being raped and flogged for a few days in succession, one would become emotionally numb, and having your privates exposed to a stranger would not immediately bring tears. So then we have Beauty supposedly crying over something that shouldn't seem like such a big deal anymore, and then we have at the same time Beauty starting to like her torture. There is the feeling when reading this book that the reader is supposed to believe that all of this sick torture, by these perverts, is suppose to be somehow 'good', and 'ok'. For example, the slaves, when released from their daily rituals of rape, torture and molestation are supposed to go back to their normal lives much improved for having experienced such things. I am beginning to wonder what was going on in the mind of Anne Rice, and if she really believes that such things are ok. Neither is it believable that Beauty's father would just sit back and let the Prince and his fellow perverts do what they wish with his daughter, especially since Beauty's father is a powerful King with honor, and dignity. The Prince in exchange for Beauty, is said to have restored the King's lands, and all his former allegiences. The King might agree to the arrangement at first, but eventually would gather all the men at his disposal and raid the twisted Prince's castle, saving his daughter in the process. Now that would be believable. I can't see why anyone would find this book pleasurable. Neither can I see how she didn't get tired of writing the repetitive sex scenes that comprise almost the entirety of the book over and over and over again, with no exciting twists and turns, just page after page, after page, of one lame sex scene after another.
One would have to have some kind of sexual disorder themselves in order relate to any of these characters, including Beauty who it seems has went from a perfectly normal person before she met the Prince, to a pain loving masochist in no time. I can't help but believe that Anne Rice doesn't actually approve of non-consensual sex, and instead has checked her social conscience at the door in exchange for monetary rewards. I might add that this material has the flavor of something the Marquise De Sade would write, who was locked up for insanity most of his life. He also had paranoid delusions...go figure.
Rating:
Summary: Beauty is a Bad Girl
Review: Yes, the Vampire lady can teach us new tricks. These were published under a pseudonym for some reason - Rice insists she was not ashamed or trying to hide or any of the usual culprits one usually associates with works of this kind. We are dealing with yet another Fairy Tale though it is a tad different than the Disney version. Sleeping Beauty is rescued by the evil prince who falls in love with punishing the poor wench. This gal must have shed enough tears to fill the moat of her castle. But not only is the prince a character but Queenie is one of those Mom who feel equally at home wining and dingin at the palace or punishing an errant slave. After a while you want to shout, "OK Ok, we get the message". Still, it's a torrid read and enough soul searching to satisfy Freud.
Rating:
Summary: Sexual abuse and brainwashing
Review: 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.
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