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3.49 AVERAGE
3.49 AVERAGE
3 stelle!
Il libro è carino, ma niente di speciale.
Sinceramente credo che sarebbe stato più bello se tutti i capitoli o più di quelli che sono veramente fossero stati raccontati dal punto di vista di Caleb.
Livvie è una noia, i suoi capito mi facevano venire sonno, mentre quelli di Caleb erano più interessanti ed era meglio se il libro era tutto dal suo punto di vista.
Leggerò il seguito, perché spero che questi due ragazzi trovino l'amore l'uno nell'altro.
Il libro è carino, ma niente di speciale.
Sinceramente credo che sarebbe stato più bello se tutti i capitoli o più di quelli che sono veramente fossero stati raccontati dal punto di vista di Caleb.
Livvie è una noia, i suoi capito mi facevano venire sonno, mentre quelli di Caleb erano più interessanti ed era meglio se il libro era tutto dal suo punto di vista.
Leggerò il seguito, perché spero che questi due ragazzi trovino l'amore l'uno nell'altro.
I thought this book was great, something a bit different. You want to hate Caleb but you actually find yourself liking him. Can't wait for the next one.
Wow, such a dark book and what a cliff hanger ending. Every emotion described just seems to make sense. I love how the narrative changes from Livvie to Caleb every so often and it has made me really intrigued as to what is going to happen in book 2.
There are some people who view the line between consent and non-consent, between sex and rape, as blurry. There are some people who would gladly place blame for rape on that drunk girl in the short skirt who was "asking for it". There are some people who would view flirting and dancing suggestively as an invitation that should be followed through no matter what, it's not the other person's fault for holding the suggestive dancer down and raping them, afterall, it's not really rape if they were flirting first. There are some people who think rape is erotic. And there are some people who think serial killers are sexy.
I am not one of those people.
But I am going to tell you a few things about me. For one, I am not a prude. I like reading books about sex. Sometimes I like reading books about kinky sex. I don't mind reading books that push the boundaries with kinky sex into just plain old weird sex. People have their odd kinks and who am I to judge? You want to go home, tie each other up and urinate on one another? You have my full blessing. But there is a line. And that line is drawn, for me, at consent. It isn't a blurry line, it's a straight, permanent marker type line. No non-consensual sex. No sex with those who are not in a position to give consent which, in case you were wondering, includes the mentally unstable, children and animals.
This book isn't a love story.
This book is about a rape victim and a rapist.
This book is not BDSM.
This book is about abuse.
This book is about rape.
Now, people do bad things. No argument there. And I don't mind when authors show that. Even when they show it graphically, sometimes I think you need to be graphic about it to emphasise the seriousness of the bad that people do. And Stockholm Syndrome is a serious thing that many people have suffered from. I'm not disputing any of this. The issue I take is with the portrayal of this bad as maybe not being so bad, as maybe even being erotic and sexy. My problem is not with the idea that abuse begets abuse (as this story tells us). My problem is when said abuse is used as wank material. Because Olivia is a victim of rape and severe abuse. There are no blurred lines of consent here. She is kidnapped, raped, beaten, humiliated and dehumanised and we are supposed to find it sexy. Even Reage's nameless "O" participates of her own free will.
I'm sure there will be readers ready to point out the sexual responsiveness of Olivia in this book. She likes it! It's fine! Except it's been widely-reported that some rape victims have to endure the additional shame of their bodies responding to the stimuli that they are biologically programmed to. Some can even experience orgasm from rape. This doesn't make it any less serious or any more consensual. It does not make me feel better in this book when Olivia's body responds to the sexual abuse. I felt like I was watching a dancing bear being tortured into a humiliating performance. It doesn't dance because it wants to.
Caleb is supposed to gain our pity because of his abusive past. And maybe I could have pitied him on some level, maybe I would have found it in my heart to see him like I see Heathcliff - the abused abuser. Maybe I could offer understanding, if not forgiveness. But I cannot offer acknowledgement of his supposed sexiness. A man who does this-- again, WITHOUT CONSENT is not hot:
- he beats her with a belt
- he washes her and hits her when she won't open her legs so he can clean her genitals.
- he thoroughly enjoys beating her into submission and humiliating her
- he gets aroused by her fear and distress
There is also a disturbing link being made here between gender and roles of dominance and submission. This doesn't exist in BDSM. BDSM relationships can be M/F, F/M, M/M, F/F and anything in between. [b:Captive in the Dark|12513614|Captive in the Dark (The Dark Duet, #1)|C.J. Roberts|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1315343569l/12513614._SX50_.jpg|17499464] suggests that the dominance and submission between Olivia and Caleb is natural because she's a woman and he's a man.
"He was a man, and I? I was nothing but a girl, not even a woman. I was meant to fall at his feet and worship at the alter of his masculinity, grateful that he'd deigned to acknowledge me."
"Male and female, masculine and feminine, hard and soft, predator and prey."
It made me nauseous.
I'm sure someone will come tell me I didn't get it. That I'm too narrow-minded to appreciate the complexity of some people's sexual tastes. Well, yes, fine. If you think it makes me narrow-minded to find the kidnapping, beating and raping of a girl unacceptable and not remotely erotic... then yes, I am narrow-minded. I'll drink to that.
I am not one of those people.
But I am going to tell you a few things about me. For one, I am not a prude. I like reading books about sex. Sometimes I like reading books about kinky sex. I don't mind reading books that push the boundaries with kinky sex into just plain old weird sex. People have their odd kinks and who am I to judge? You want to go home, tie each other up and urinate on one another? You have my full blessing. But there is a line. And that line is drawn, for me, at consent. It isn't a blurry line, it's a straight, permanent marker type line. No non-consensual sex. No sex with those who are not in a position to give consent which, in case you were wondering, includes the mentally unstable, children and animals.
This book isn't a love story.
This book is about a rape victim and a rapist.
This book is not BDSM.
This book is about abuse.
This book is about rape.
Now, people do bad things. No argument there. And I don't mind when authors show that. Even when they show it graphically, sometimes I think you need to be graphic about it to emphasise the seriousness of the bad that people do. And Stockholm Syndrome is a serious thing that many people have suffered from. I'm not disputing any of this. The issue I take is with the portrayal of this bad as maybe not being so bad, as maybe even being erotic and sexy. My problem is not with the idea that abuse begets abuse (as this story tells us). My problem is when said abuse is used as wank material. Because Olivia is a victim of rape and severe abuse. There are no blurred lines of consent here. She is kidnapped, raped, beaten, humiliated and dehumanised and we are supposed to find it sexy. Even Reage's nameless "O" participates of her own free will.
I'm sure there will be readers ready to point out the sexual responsiveness of Olivia in this book. She likes it! It's fine! Except it's been widely-reported that some rape victims have to endure the additional shame of their bodies responding to the stimuli that they are biologically programmed to. Some can even experience orgasm from rape. This doesn't make it any less serious or any more consensual. It does not make me feel better in this book when Olivia's body responds to the sexual abuse. I felt like I was watching a dancing bear being tortured into a humiliating performance. It doesn't dance because it wants to.
Caleb is supposed to gain our pity because of his abusive past. And maybe I could have pitied him on some level, maybe I would have found it in my heart to see him like I see Heathcliff - the abused abuser. Maybe I could offer understanding, if not forgiveness. But I cannot offer acknowledgement of his supposed sexiness. A man who does this-- again, WITHOUT CONSENT is not hot:
- he beats her with a belt
- he washes her and hits her when she won't open her legs so he can clean her genitals.
- he thoroughly enjoys beating her into submission and humiliating her
- he gets aroused by her fear and distress
There is also a disturbing link being made here between gender and roles of dominance and submission. This doesn't exist in BDSM. BDSM relationships can be M/F, F/M, M/M, F/F and anything in between. [b:Captive in the Dark|12513614|Captive in the Dark (The Dark Duet, #1)|C.J. Roberts|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1315343569l/12513614._SX50_.jpg|17499464] suggests that the dominance and submission between Olivia and Caleb is natural because she's a woman and he's a man.
"He was a man, and I? I was nothing but a girl, not even a woman. I was meant to fall at his feet and worship at the alter of his masculinity, grateful that he'd deigned to acknowledge me."
"Male and female, masculine and feminine, hard and soft, predator and prey."
It made me nauseous.
I'm sure someone will come tell me I didn't get it. That I'm too narrow-minded to appreciate the complexity of some people's sexual tastes. Well, yes, fine. If you think it makes me narrow-minded to find the kidnapping, beating and raping of a girl unacceptable and not remotely erotic... then yes, I am narrow-minded. I'll drink to that.
Meh. 2.5. Not good, not bad. Enough grammatical errors to make your head spin though. I get why some people were enraged but I wasn't offended or upset by it. It didn't feel like enough of a steamy story to cast the events in a desirable light, so it didn't feel problematic, but that just might be me. I felt pretty indifferent throughout most of it except for the ending, which was awful and dropped off unexpectedly.
I honestly don't have the words to express all the different emotions that this book stirred in me. Wow...just wow.
I don't even know what I just read. Everybody rated This book at five stars. There were parts I enjoyed but yet there were also parts that made me cringe. Parts that were so effed up, Stockholm syndrome. Yes your life was no walk in the park, but let's not forget WHY you are there!
Then all of a sudden mutual feelings... where did that come from??? Yes my lady parts were confused... but I just don't know with this one...
Then all of a sudden mutual feelings... where did that come from??? Yes my lady parts were confused... but I just don't know with this one...
Dark and twisted, but I liked it! I actually liked it much more than I though I would :) It doesn't have as much sex in it as you would think, but it does have some graphic scenes that aren't for everybody.
I don't know how Roberts does it, but she made me kind of like the 'bad guy', Caleb. I would have probably given a higher rating if the story had some kind of conclusion ... but I have to read the next book for that :)
I don't know how Roberts does it, but she made me kind of like the 'bad guy', Caleb. I would have probably given a higher rating if the story had some kind of conclusion ... but I have to read the next book for that :)
This was pretty good but disturbing! I couldn’t put it down. I’ll definitely have to read the next book sometime soon because of the cliffhanger 😅