Never has erotica disappointed me so deeply. Story after story I searched for redeeming arousal and nowhere - absolutely nowhere - was there a smidgen of erotic allure to be found. What I did find was snazzy writing (don't get me wrong), and a number of facts about the origins of popular fairy tale stories.

But no *sexy*.

In Sleeping Beauty's Bed is structured to appeal to the mind as well as the sexual psyche - each perverted fairy tale is prefaced with a small essay on the probable origins, evolution, and known variations on the tale itself. Being a 'myth geek' in my undergrad years (I got a minor, no joke), I ate this up like you wouldn't believe - but I cannot help but wonder how appealing it would be to the average person going to this book for erotica. While interesting, it's kind of distracting - I mean...when you want erotica, do you want a lesson in myth as a preamble to your smut? Probably not.

The erotic fairy tales themselves are...vague. The language used is highly metaphorical, and pretends to be 'innocent' whilst describing adult concepts, erotic or not. The metaphors Mitzi Szereto uses come across as a little dark and grity, or just somehow jarring. It's a little difficult to explain, exactly, but her metaphors just aren't right. The eroticism that appears comes up as a curiosity or oddity, with no buildup leading to its appearance, and it's unsettling more than anything else.

When eroticism does appear in these stories, seemingly random fetishes pour in from all angles to fill in the story in some sort of poorly orchestrated grand finale. Casual references to heavy sadism, bestiality, shoe fetishism (and more banal diversions like cock worship and the fetishizing of long pubic hair) are tossed in like they're going out of style. Its a little hard to get into the 'mood' of things when the story reads like some sort of randomly generated "choose your next fetish adventure".

In short, "In Sleeping Beauty's Bed" is a disappointment. What a shame - the idea of erotic fairy tales is truly delicious and ripe with potential...