Book Review
Title: The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty (Beauty #1)
Author: A.N. Roquelaure
Genre: Erotica/Retelling
Rating: *****
Review: Most people will already know that A. N. Roquelaure is a pseudonym of Anne Rice who wrote the Vampire Chronicles, but this is very different from her other works as this is an erotic retelling of the classic fairytale sleeping beauty. This opens with a young Prince attempting to free Beauty from her curse and even as he passes the skeletons of those who have tried before him he doesn’t believe in the curse until he sees the bodies of the courtiers frozen in time and eventually comes across Beauty herself and he is stunned by her beauty. Up until this point, it follows the same story as the fairytale, but he doesn’t wake Beauty with a kiss, he wakes her by taking her innocence. At that moment the Kingdom awakens and by the laws of this land Beauty now belongs to the Prince to do as he pleases with her and he intends to make her his Princess, which equals being his slave.
They have a few encounters before leaving her Kingdom before they travel back to his, but we do learn a lot about this world. In this world, sexual slaves are very common, and no one is stunned by the things the Prince commands of Beauty like being naked all the time and satisfying him whenever he demands it, but it seems built into the women of the land to be submissive to the men. We see the Prince punish Beauty on different occasions, some of these punishments are for her transgressions against the Prince’s rules and some are for the Prince’s own amusement. Beauty meanwhile doesn’t feel victimized or forced but rather she is becoming aware of her own desires and wants to please the Prince in any way she can although she is struggling to separate her old life from her new one but seems content with the life she has. The only issue she has with this new life she how to control the desire she is now feeling for the first time.
When they arrive at the Prince’s Kingdom Beauty sees for the first time how different this Kingdom is from her own as the Queen has many love slaves including the devastatingly handsome Prince Alexi who Beauty finds herself drawn too, especially his dignity in the face of his punishment. However, this is the more fearful experience Beauty has had since meeting the Prince and is overwhelmed by the experience but there is one Lord who teaches more about the life she is going to lead than she has learnt from the Prince in all the time they have been travelling together. So far I was engrossed in the writing even if the content is a little out there. Anne Rice certainly has a way with words and it definitely shines through in this novel. After she fails her first test after staring at the beautiful Prince Alexi, Beauty gets her worse punishment yet and thinks that it can’t get any worse but then she has to bear witness to Prince Alexi’s punishment. She sees that her punishment was light because she is new to this way of living but Prince Alexi was has been the Queen’s slave for two years is whipped and paddled until they draw blood and that isn’t the end of it. However, this punishment doesn’t have the desired effect on Beauty, rather than deterring her for looking at Alexi again, it only draws her to him more, his grace and calm even in the hardest parts of his punishment and his shy yet loving manner towards her make her feel something for him she has never felt with the Prince.
Beauty is introduced to her groom; Leon who job it is to serve her and keep her presentable at all time but through him, the only person she is allowed to speak freely with, she learns that in time she may be sent home but the Prince, much to her disappointment, isn’t the only one allowed to punish or use her anyone can as long as the Prince allows it which Beauty fears more than anything as she was under the impression she belonged solely to the Prince and her inner monologue is beautiful, sarcastic and witty while still maintaining that naivety and innocence that defines her. It is also worthy to note that this book was written in 1983 and it features many homosexual aspects and relationships which must have seemed very progressive for its time especially since the AIDS epidemic was only two years prior in 1981. Beauty is taken to the Halls of Pleasure and Punishment to witness what happens to both good and bad slaves and here she learns many things but there are three things to note; Beauty isn’t subject to these punishments as her disposition is innately suited to being a slave, she hears of the Bridle Path but we don’t know what it is yet and finally, she hears of the Village a place where slaves who can’t be trained are sent, to be effectively destroyed.
Beauty soon realises that she isn’t to belong to the Prince alone as the Queen ordered that she be treated like any other slave meaning she must sleep with the other slaves and not with the Prince and be open to being used by anyone, not just the Prince. The Queen also decrees that she is to take part in the Bridle Path the next day which seems to be an event for experienced slaves which Beauty is not, but she does have the seemingly kind Lady Juliana there to help her. Beauty despite her initial fear and anxiety performs wonderfully on the Bridle Path and has earned the attention of the Queen which some slaves work for years to do and the Queen has requested Beauty in her chambers the following evening to be her plaything alongside Prince Alexi. This frightens Beauty as she holds a very healthy dose of respect and fear for the Queen and is worried about what is to come the next night. Beauty spends most of the night being used, pleasured and punished by both the Queen and Lady Juliana and she is so conflicted about it, but she seems to be on a cliff edge of something important. When the Queen is finally done with her for the night, Alexi comes to her in secret and take her to a small room where they give in to the passion that has been building between them and he tries to explain how he achieved the calm he has now and Beauty listens intently.
Alexi tells his story from his capture, through his training and how he came to be the slave he is today while Beauty just listens and asks the occasional question. Alexi’s story really shows what this kingdom is, how it treats slaves and the status slaves have despite them being quite high born people themselves. Honestly what Beauty has been through since the Prince woke her up isn’t a fraction of what Alexi has endured and you can understand why she is drawn to him the way she is. After the night is over Beauty is returned to the Prince and treated in much the same way Alexi is by the Queen although the Prince seems to be quite cruel and sadistic in his punishments towards Beauty. For a few weeks, everything returns to normal until a group of slaves are sent off to the Village where we learn they will be auctioned off to the villagers, not just for sexual pleasures like they are in the castle but to work as well and many slaves who go to the Village return drastically different from when they left. Beauty is horrified at the display especially when one slave is being sent off not because his master has commanded it but because the Prince felt it was the right thing to do even though we can see the relationship between this master and slave almost borders on love, but we know that to love a slave in this Kingdom isn’t forbidden but it is heavily frowned upon which is why the slave might be being sent to the Village.
After witnessing Prince Tristan’s banishment to the Village something comes over Beauty and she realises that she has had a choice all along, it may not be a good one but there is one and that is all that matters. When the Prince calls for her Lord Gregory tells her she is infected with same poison as Alexi and instead of being afraid Beauty feels pride and when the Prince calls for her, she runs and fights with everything she has showing them that she wouldn’t submit to them just because they demand she does. This earns her a night of punishment and banishment to the Village along with Tristan. As she is thrown into the cart Beauty feels free despite not knowing where she is going on what going to happen to her and she indulges this freedom by taking pleasure in Tristan where pleasure has long since been denied to her. Overall, The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty was a wonderful erotic, slightly dark and charged retelling of the fairytale and I can’t wait to continue the series with Beauty’s Punishment very soon.
Buy it here:
Paperback/Hardcover: amazon.co.uk amazon.com
Kindle Edition: amazon.co.uk amazon.com
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