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A review by caffeinatedbibliophile
Sleeping Beauty and the Demon by Marina Myles
2.0
Sleeping Beauty and the Demon isn't so much a retelling of a classic fairytale as it is a story greatly influenced by the story of Sleeping Beauty. This (at times erotic) romance tells the story of Dragomir Starkov, an illusionist with a dark secret, and Rose Carlisle, a young woman cursed by her aunt Morvina to die on her 21st birthday.
Rose meets Drago on the night of her 20th birthday while attending one of his shows with a friend. She's immediately drawn to him, but is it because he has her in his thrall? Drago knows about Rose's curse, and he's determined to change the outcome, no matter what the cost. As they begin a whirlwind romance and Drago introduces Rose to carnal pleasures, things are looking up. If only Rose can convince her adoptive family that Drago isn't the demon prophesied to end her life, evade her evil aunt Morvina, and somehow keep an intrusive reporter from ruining Drago's reputation and career, they might get their happily ever after.
I'm having a difficult time reviewing and rating this book. On the one hand, I really liked the concept of the story. Sleeping Beauty for adults? Yes, please! I love retellings (particularly erotic ones) of my favorite fairytales and other stories. However, Sleeping Beauty and the Demon just didn't deliver in my opinion. My copy was an ARC, so (hopefully) changes will be made before publication in August, because it needs a lot of work. I'm not a professional editor or anything like that, but there were quite a few problems with the book that detracted from the story.
The writing was rough and the dialogue could use some work. Repetition was a bit of a problem in this story (for example, some form of the word "folds" in reference to Rose's genitals was used nine times) and I found it difficult to stay focused. Also, the author used "vertigo" to describe Rose's fear of heights (which is actually called acrophobia), and it was repeated ad nauseam. There were a few other issues (typos, a character being in one place then suddenly in another and I have no idea how that happened, etc.), most of which I could deal with. But, if they were corrected, I think the story would be much better.
I really liked Drago, but Rose annoyed me. I just didn't find her likeable at all. Drago was interesting, though, and I found his story intriguing, but a bit sad. I might have had more empathy for Rose and the things she went through, if she hadn't irritated me so much. That's a personal thing, though.
The sex was kind of hot one minute, then I felt like I was reading something from a biology textbook (a couple of examples "...he ejaculated. And ejaculated." "...she pressed the tips of her breasts against his pectoral muscles. Drago nearly spilled his semen right then.") I have no problem with using anatomically correct terms ("penis," "vagina," etc.), but those made me cringe and killed the sexy mood.
I haven't read any of the other Cursed Princes books, but I will probably check them out in the future. I didn't hate this book, but the there were too many issues for me to love it.
I think I would give the story concept 3.5 stars, but the execution was only 2 stars for me. The problems I had with it knock that down to 1.5 stars for me. I might come back after the book is published and change my review and rating, if I find that the story has been edited.
My rating: 2.5 stars
*This was an ARC received from Netgalley.*
Rose meets Drago on the night of her 20th birthday while attending one of his shows with a friend. She's immediately drawn to him, but is it because he has her in his thrall? Drago knows about Rose's curse, and he's determined to change the outcome, no matter what the cost. As they begin a whirlwind romance and Drago introduces Rose to carnal pleasures, things are looking up. If only Rose can convince her adoptive family that Drago isn't the demon prophesied to end her life, evade her evil aunt Morvina, and somehow keep an intrusive reporter from ruining Drago's reputation and career, they might get their happily ever after.
I'm having a difficult time reviewing and rating this book. On the one hand, I really liked the concept of the story. Sleeping Beauty for adults? Yes, please! I love retellings (particularly erotic ones) of my favorite fairytales and other stories. However, Sleeping Beauty and the Demon just didn't deliver in my opinion. My copy was an ARC, so (hopefully) changes will be made before publication in August, because it needs a lot of work. I'm not a professional editor or anything like that, but there were quite a few problems with the book that detracted from the story.
The writing was rough and the dialogue could use some work. Repetition was a bit of a problem in this story (for example, some form of the word "folds" in reference to Rose's genitals was used nine times) and I found it difficult to stay focused. Also, the author used "vertigo" to describe Rose's fear of heights (which is actually called acrophobia), and it was repeated ad nauseam. There were a few other issues (typos, a character being in one place then suddenly in another and I have no idea how that happened, etc.), most of which I could deal with. But, if they were corrected, I think the story would be much better.
I really liked Drago, but Rose annoyed me. I just didn't find her likeable at all. Drago was interesting, though, and I found his story intriguing, but a bit sad. I might have had more empathy for Rose and the things she went through, if she hadn't irritated me so much. That's a personal thing, though.
The sex was kind of hot one minute, then I felt like I was reading something from a biology textbook (a couple of examples "...he ejaculated. And ejaculated." "...she pressed the tips of her breasts against his pectoral muscles. Drago nearly spilled his semen right then.") I have no problem with using anatomically correct terms ("penis," "vagina," etc.), but those made me cringe and killed the sexy mood.
I haven't read any of the other Cursed Princes books, but I will probably check them out in the future. I didn't hate this book, but the there were too many issues for me to love it.
I think I would give the story concept 3.5 stars, but the execution was only 2 stars for me. The problems I had with it knock that down to 1.5 stars for me. I might come back after the book is published and change my review and rating, if I find that the story has been edited.
My rating: 2.5 stars
*This was an ARC received from Netgalley.*