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3.49 AVERAGE
3.49 AVERAGE
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Abandonment, Sexual harassment
Moderate: Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Blood, Murder, Alcohol
DARK.. REALLY DARK.. EXHAUSTING, WEIRD AND FULL OF AGONIZING ISSUES.
I just can't explain how I feel about this now.. or even how I finished it. Livvie had bad lucks in life... now it's a MAJOR BAD LUCK. At least to me, it was a major bad luck.. meeting Caleb can't really be a highlight of her life? can it? See? Now I'm even confused. I'm wondering what'll happen next after that very big cliffhanger, but I'm not sure if I want to read the next one right away.. hmm..
totally confused and still processing...
I just can't explain how I feel about this now.. or even how I finished it. Livvie had bad lucks in life... now it's a MAJOR BAD LUCK. At least to me, it was a major bad luck.. meeting Caleb can't really be a highlight of her life? can it? See? Now I'm even confused. I'm wondering what'll happen next after that very big cliffhanger, but I'm not sure if I want to read the next one right away.. hmm..
totally confused and still processing...
I am so shocked. Captive in the Dark by C.J. Roberts is a rape story. Caleb kidnapped Olivia to make her a sex slave. I don't even know what else I should summarize.
I received this book for free and I am so glad that I did not spend money on it. This book is worse than Fifty Shades of Grey. This book is about obvious rape. No sweet talking, but rape. You heard her say "No" several times. I don't even know what else to say. To be honest, I hoped that this book would be just like a very dark erotic novel. I am just so shocked. All I am thinking about is, how can someone write such a book. It romanticizes and plays down rape. Also, it shows potential rapists and/or kidnappers that all of this is okay. Which it is not!
This is probably a spoiler but, the most absurd part of this book was when Olivia escaped from Caleb and was nearly raped by someone else and Caleb went berserk, because no one is allowed to rape her. See the irony?! I mean, I don't know what else to say than WHY?! All of this just freaks me out.
Also, I picked out a few sentences or scenes that shocked me to the core: “She was a woman, how difficult could it be to pacify her?” No words need to be said here. “Tears had always been mystifying to him. He liked looking at them, tasting them. Truth be told, they made him hard.” This made me cringe.
All I am saying is I don't know what the hell was going on in this book. I am completely shocked and sad that such books are written. They do not help victims at all. I feel like rape was completely played down. I really can not recommend this book.
I received this book for free and I am so glad that I did not spend money on it. This book is worse than Fifty Shades of Grey. This book is about obvious rape. No sweet talking, but rape. You heard her say "No" several times. I don't even know what else to say. To be honest, I hoped that this book would be just like a very dark erotic novel. I am just so shocked. All I am thinking about is, how can someone write such a book. It romanticizes and plays down rape. Also, it shows potential rapists and/or kidnappers that all of this is okay. Which it is not!
This is probably a spoiler but, the most absurd part of this book was when Olivia escaped from Caleb and was nearly raped by someone else and Caleb went berserk, because no one is allowed to rape her. See the irony?! I mean, I don't know what else to say than WHY?! All of this just freaks me out.
Also, I picked out a few sentences or scenes that shocked me to the core: “She was a woman, how difficult could it be to pacify her?” No words need to be said here. “Tears had always been mystifying to him. He liked looking at them, tasting them. Truth be told, they made him hard.” This made me cringe.
All I am saying is I don't know what the hell was going on in this book. I am completely shocked and sad that such books are written. They do not help victims at all. I feel like rape was completely played down. I really can not recommend this book.
3 STARS◾️
This book messed with my mind countless times and I honestly have no clue how I feel about that. Nonetheless, the story was written very well and it was super intriguing.
Olivia is held as a captive in Mexico. She’s had a very rough past - with a difficult relationship with her mother, her life’s been tough. Although timid, she’s determined and doesn’t bow down easily.
Olivia’s captor, Caleb, has constant mood swings. Seriously. One minute, I absolutely love his character and how he cares for Olivia. The next minute, I despise how he treats her like trash. Like make up your mind... it was so frustrating.
Caleb has had a rough past as well, so he doesn’t know how he feels about Olivia. It’s clear that they are both attracted to each other - but they have no clue how to act on those feelings.
Caleb and Olivia’s time together is coming to an end. He is only supposed to be with her for six weeks, until she’s sent to someone else. Now that the end of those six weeks is approaching, what will happen to Olivia next?
Although this book left me wanting to pull my hair out, I’m still interested in reading the other books in the series to see what will happen between the two! x
This book messed with my mind countless times and I honestly have no clue how I feel about that. Nonetheless, the story was written very well and it was super intriguing.
Olivia is held as a captive in Mexico. She’s had a very rough past - with a difficult relationship with her mother, her life’s been tough. Although timid, she’s determined and doesn’t bow down easily.
Olivia’s captor, Caleb, has constant mood swings. Seriously. One minute, I absolutely love his character and how he cares for Olivia. The next minute, I despise how he treats her like trash. Like make up your mind... it was so frustrating.
Caleb has had a rough past as well, so he doesn’t know how he feels about Olivia. It’s clear that they are both attracted to each other - but they have no clue how to act on those feelings.
Caleb and Olivia’s time together is coming to an end. He is only supposed to be with her for six weeks, until she’s sent to someone else. Now that the end of those six weeks is approaching, what will happen to Olivia next?
Although this book left me wanting to pull my hair out, I’m still interested in reading the other books in the series to see what will happen between the two! x
“You’re not a damsel in distress and I’m not the handsome prince come to save you.’ No. He wasn’t. In real life you had to save yourself.”
I mean, wow. What an amazing emotional roller coaster of a read. I'm still a little flabbergasted by what I just hungrily consumed, I couldn't believe that I was reading and everything that happened to Livvie. Caleb, at first I thought was sick and twisted asshole that needs put in his place. The more you read the more you start to feel something for him more than hate, I think the author made a brilliant choice to go from Caleb POV to Livvie POV. You come to understand why things are happening and the story behind it. Livvie also grows a lot just from beginning to end. There is so much emotional conflict and passion in these pages. Hands down, this story blew me away and I'm not even done with it yet!
This is a dark read but a MUST read.
I mean, wow. What an amazing emotional roller coaster of a read. I'm still a little flabbergasted by what I just hungrily consumed, I couldn't believe that I was reading and everything that happened to Livvie. Caleb, at first I thought was sick and twisted asshole that needs put in his place. The more you read the more you start to feel something for him more than hate, I think the author made a brilliant choice to go from Caleb POV to Livvie POV. You come to understand why things are happening and the story behind it. Livvie also grows a lot just from beginning to end. There is so much emotional conflict and passion in these pages. Hands down, this story blew me away and I'm not even done with it yet!
This is a dark read but a MUST read.
I enjoy the dark and twisted. Seriously I do. I’m messed up that way. From the enthusiastic star rating and gushing endorsements (is that a gross adjective to use here?), I thought I would be able to get into this more than I did.
Dark and twisted is what came to mind when reading this one’s blurb. The artsy cover (love it), combined with the plot description, makes it promise to be something different, something daring. It probably would have worked better if I was a straight out erotica fan, but unfortunately, despite the brief stalking session and Caleb’s initial exploration, it jumps too quickly into action before I gave a damn about either of the characters or any eroticism that could result between them.
Stockholm Syndrome is never hot. Some may argue that is not what she has but she matches all of it to a T. She has no other reason to start getting emotion for him with how he treats her and what he plans to do with her. There is no great characteristic about this man that stands out and makes him shine in the dark he traps her in. For them to have bonded is because he made her completely psychologically dependent on him.
Yes, she’s a strong character for her situation, but that doesn’t mean she’s immune to this unfortunate side effect. She’s a vulnerable, unloved person with horrible self-esteem who wears baggy clothes that hide her body.
She’s kidnapped by a ‘slave trader’ who wants to break her, train her, and sell her off to an enemy for his own purposes. The story possibly could be exciting, could have worked in a twisted, off the wall way, but instead I find a broken “master” who is plagued by his own self-doubts and tragic past. A decently likeable heroine who had no logical rhyme or reason for feeling anything other than hatred and horror toward this man. The sexual stimulation makes little sense to me considering what’s going on.
The first half had what I suppose is found to be the troubling kink by the majority. After a scene or so the kink pretty much never happens again.
The pacing is relatively slow and Caleb’s reasoning behind what he’s doing seems too thin a motive to carry this story all the way through. Also is there a rule with this type of erotic fiction that the dominant male can only be abused and emotionally terrified of other people?
Writing style is actually decent. The author is able to convey desperation well. She also avoids melodrama, which is easy to lapse into with this type of tale. As a negative, some of the girl’s inner monologue is not believable with it’s phrasing later on.
Overall I grew bored quickly, not stimulated, found the emotional background of Caleb cliché, and had no empathy for the heroine being able to develop realistic attraction and emotions. This story is in no way filled with kink and experimentation after the first half, but instead sinks into woes and angst. It is dark, it is risky, but it doesn’t make a good story or anything erotic.
Dark and twisted is what came to mind when reading this one’s blurb. The artsy cover (love it), combined with the plot description, makes it promise to be something different, something daring. It probably would have worked better if I was a straight out erotica fan, but unfortunately, despite the brief stalking session and Caleb’s initial exploration, it jumps too quickly into action before I gave a damn about either of the characters or any eroticism that could result between them.
Stockholm Syndrome is never hot. Some may argue that is not what she has but she matches all of it to a T. She has no other reason to start getting emotion for him with how he treats her and what he plans to do with her. There is no great characteristic about this man that stands out and makes him shine in the dark he traps her in. For them to have bonded is because he made her completely psychologically dependent on him.
Yes, she’s a strong character for her situation, but that doesn’t mean she’s immune to this unfortunate side effect. She’s a vulnerable, unloved person with horrible self-esteem who wears baggy clothes that hide her body.
She’s kidnapped by a ‘slave trader’ who wants to break her, train her, and sell her off to an enemy for his own purposes. The story possibly could be exciting, could have worked in a twisted, off the wall way, but instead I find a broken “master” who is plagued by his own self-doubts and tragic past. A decently likeable heroine who had no logical rhyme or reason for feeling anything other than hatred and horror toward this man. The sexual stimulation makes little sense to me considering what’s going on.
The first half had what I suppose is found to be the troubling kink by the majority. After a scene or so the kink pretty much never happens again.
The pacing is relatively slow and Caleb’s reasoning behind what he’s doing seems too thin a motive to carry this story all the way through. Also is there a rule with this type of erotic fiction that the dominant male can only be abused and emotionally terrified of other people?
Writing style is actually decent. The author is able to convey desperation well. She also avoids melodrama, which is easy to lapse into with this type of tale. As a negative, some of the girl’s inner monologue is not believable with it’s phrasing later on.
Overall I grew bored quickly, not stimulated, found the emotional background of Caleb cliché, and had no empathy for the heroine being able to develop realistic attraction and emotions. This story is in no way filled with kink and experimentation after the first half, but instead sinks into woes and angst. It is dark, it is risky, but it doesn’t make a good story or anything erotic.
dark
tense
fast-paced
I could not finish this. I got a little over halfway and had to stop. It was too hard to get through. I was going to just skim read the rest but I don't have the stomach to do even that.
Caleb and Olivia from Love Me With Lies are probably my favorite couple in all of the world of romance and that's mostly why I picked this up.
But this Caleb and Olivia scared me.
I don't think this book is for everyone.. it was definitely not for me.
Caleb and Olivia from Love Me With Lies are probably my favorite couple in all of the world of romance and that's mostly why I picked this up.
But this Caleb and Olivia scared me.
I don't think this book is for everyone.. it was definitely not for me.
This book was very dark. It was a bit too dark for even me, with kidnapping and the "training." I just can't bring myself to read the next book.
I'm sure there will be plenty of people that loved this book but there are parts that were just a bit too much for me.
I'm sure there will be plenty of people that loved this book but there are parts that were just a bit too much for me.
This is a VERY dark book. But, I appreciate reading something that's out of my comfort zone and makes me think. Good read and I liked how it's written from two different perspectives. Will definitely read the next installment.