Book Review: The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty by Anne Rice

Synopses from Goodreads:

From bestselling author Anne Rice, writing as A.N. Roquleaure. 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 reawakens 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.

★★★★★ What I thought:

I'll admit, I was debating whether to actually admit that I had read this book... The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty is pure smut... And if you're into that-you may like it. It's also heavily D/s (Dominant/submissive)related-so it's not much of a "Romance novel", and it does have both gay and straight stories within that, but I'm pretty sure 50 Shades of Gray must have pulled some of it's inspiration from this. My friend talked me into purchasing a signed copy from Target so he could borrow it after I finished.

It's a quick read, as I finished it in a matter of hours-and despite thinking it was "meh" and plotless, call it morbid curiosity, but I am kind of intrigued to find out what happens to the character in the next book. I probably wont buy anymore of them, but it's possible I would read them if I were to find them at the library or borrow from a friend.