Scan barcode
spicy_knightreader's review against another edition
4.0
I’m confident I shouldn’t have liked this book as much as I did. I can’t say it’s the darkest I’ve read, but it’s up there. Even during the darkest moments, I was absolutely enthralled. I devoured this book in less than a day.
We follow Ophelia who’s home life isn’t great to put it mildly. She’s got an alcoholic abusive father and she’s working at a diner to make ends meet. She meets Alex and his brother while working and she has no idea that she’s going to be taken from one hell and thrown into another.
I truly feel like Alex grew on me the way he grew on Ophelia. I found myself growing to like him, just to be thrown back a few steps when something happened. I struggled with my feelings towards Alex as an MMC like Ophelia struggled with her feelings of desire and love for Alex despite the circumstances.
I highly recommend heading trigger warnings here. This book is not for the faint of heart and has some graphic and possibly triggering things. If you are okay with the TWs, you absolutely need to pick this book up. It’s a phenomenal dark romance read that will leave you questioning your own moral compass by the end.
We follow Ophelia who’s home life isn’t great to put it mildly. She’s got an alcoholic abusive father and she’s working at a diner to make ends meet. She meets Alex and his brother while working and she has no idea that she’s going to be taken from one hell and thrown into another.
I truly feel like Alex grew on me the way he grew on Ophelia. I found myself growing to like him, just to be thrown back a few steps when something happened. I struggled with my feelings towards Alex as an MMC like Ophelia struggled with her feelings of desire and love for Alex despite the circumstances.
I highly recommend heading trigger warnings here. This book is not for the faint of heart and has some graphic and possibly triggering things. If you are okay with the TWs, you absolutely need to pick this book up. It’s a phenomenal dark romance read that will leave you questioning your own moral compass by the end.
jay_sy's review against another edition
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Loveable characters? No
3.0
I found Captured by Lauren Biel on a list when I was looking for more romantic/erotic horror, rather than the usual dark romance. Horror is one of my favourite genres so I'm fine with reading about very dark themes.
I DNF pretty frequently, so the story was definitely interesting enough for me to finish the whole thing. But I also feel like it didn't quite hit the mark in terms of horror.
When it comes to horror, there's a lot of different kinds, and I feel like this book focuses more heavily on the disgust factor. But I feel like disgust or creative ways to be cruel don't necessarily make a story more interesting or impactful. Gunnir might be extremely gross and sadistic, but he's more of villain that repulses me, rather that a character I hate. Having a hateful villain is way more emotionally engrossing than an unrepentantly nasty one, but I've noticed that properly hateful characters are almost as hard to find as lovable ones.
For example, there's a manga called Kedamonotachi no Jikan that has similar themes (a girl gets abducted, and also has a similar backstory with a father that commits SA), but the psychological impact of Kedamonotachi no Jikan is so much more intense because of how it delves into the psychology of the characters and what happens once the FMC is free. It might not have as many disgusting things happen, but it hits way harder. The FMC's father in Captured disgusts me, but I absolutely hate the father in Kedamonotachi no Jikan. That said, for those wanting to check out Kedamonotachi no Jikan, some of the things that happened are significantly more messed up than what happens in Captured so if you decide to read it, be mindful that it's extremely dark.
I also felt like the ending was a little too neat. It's what pushed this story to feel more like romance than horror, when I was craving more horror. And it's not that I want the characters to suffer more. That's not necessarily what I want out of horror. I just like seeing the details of how it plays out in their lives. I like the messiness of it all.
So, for being entertaining, I'd give it a 3 out of 5, but I wish there would have been more depth to the horror.
I DNF pretty frequently, so the story was definitely interesting enough for me to finish the whole thing. But I also feel like it didn't quite hit the mark in terms of horror.
When it comes to horror, there's a lot of different kinds, and I feel like this book focuses more heavily on the disgust factor. But I feel like disgust or creative ways to be cruel don't necessarily make a story more interesting or impactful. Gunnir might be extremely gross and sadistic, but he's more of villain that repulses me, rather that a character I hate. Having a hateful villain is way more emotionally engrossing than an unrepentantly nasty one, but I've noticed that properly hateful characters are almost as hard to find as lovable ones.
For example, there's a manga called Kedamonotachi no Jikan that has similar themes (a girl gets abducted, and also has a similar backstory with a father that commits SA), but the psychological impact of Kedamonotachi no Jikan is so much more intense because of how it delves into the psychology of the characters and what happens once the FMC is free. It might not have as many disgusting things happen, but it hits way harder. The FMC's father in Captured disgusts me, but I absolutely hate the father in Kedamonotachi no Jikan. That said, for those wanting to check out Kedamonotachi no Jikan, some of the things that happened are significantly more messed up than what happens in Captured so if you decide to read it, be mindful that it's extremely dark.
So, for being entertaining, I'd give it a 3 out of 5, but I wish there would have been more depth to the horror.
izadora_bc's review against another edition
challenging
dark
tense
medium-paced
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual violence, Kidnapping, Sexual content, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, and Death of parent
Moderate: Stalking, Pedophilia, and Vomit
damontorrancebaby's review against another edition
informative
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
1/5. disgusting book. just disgusting and i feel sick reading it. he practically raped her. its not even cnc atp. i don't know why i was gonna even finish it to discuss it with someone. this author is sick
75_sweetestbook's review against another edition
5.0
This book isn't for the faint of heart. This is a very dark psychological thriller. This a family were the boys grow up with no school and training on intensely of how a woman is used. The Bruggar family that is twisted and immoral grow up and use their skills to capture their woman and use as please.
Review ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Spice
Review ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Spice
alliecat1915's review against another edition
dark
fast-paced
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
1.0
lalalauletta's review
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
bsenter's review against another edition
3.0
This was so dark and disturbing, but also good? Like...it made me feel gross, but I kept thinking about it and wanting to read more.
hot_moms's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0