Briar Rose

The prince may or may not be a rapist. The father, as well. And Sleeping Beauty/Briar Rose may or may not have a hundred children or still be dreaming or be awake and faking sleep or be a fairy tale character or be real or what have you. This book is disturbing and confusing, in other words. I find it fascinating, though.

The character of the prince is of a young man who thinks that he has it all together. He embarked on this quest to gain a reward, not for any psychological awakening or growth of courage. It seems immature to me that he is going through all the trouble of finding this abandoned castle and trying to secure this maiden that so many others have failed to awaken just because he wants to have sex with her. I would say that we have an unsympathetic protagonist on our hands, but that's also the motivation of every other suitor who has come after Briar Rose. All she wants is her true love and an end to her pain, but even this new prince who we're following now isn't going to be any different from the ones who came before. Unless he has a change of heart, the plot isn't going anywhere.