Reviews

Docile by K.M. Szpara

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It's really all about sex. I don't have any particular objections to porn-as-plot, but this was false advertising. I wanted to read "a science fiction parable about love and sex, wealth and debt, abuse and power, a challenging tour de force that at turns seduces and startles." Instead I got porn.

Would have been nice to know that before I bought it on my mom's amazon prime account. Tbh I probably wouldn't have bought it at all.

abnormal_shadow's review

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idk how to explain it but the characters piss me off so bad, the dad, yes, he is wrong and very much so but i also don't like the MLI of the MC both piss me off so bad. The plot however is pretty alright, more sexual than I thought it was going to be which annoyed me slightly. The MLI is stuck and nasty and is a bitch and the MC is spineless and timid which is fine not good not bad but the Male Love Interest just (forgive me for my white speak) really grinds my gears😠

sirazum's review

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1.0

i absolutely hate this book with burning passion.

elbell1012's review

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1.0

(CW sexual assault)
-I’ll begin by saying that this was genuinely an interesting book. I will follow that by saying that this is also one of the worst books I’ve ever read. To people who are picking up this book and hoping for a true critique on capitalism and consumerism, this is not the book for you. If you are looking for an lgbt erotic bdsm fan fiction however, this might be one you might want to pick up, but I would also suggest you save your money and head to Wattpad.
Several aspects of this books were problematic (uh- one of the few black characters being named Onyx and the entire premise of the book being slavery while the history of slavery in the United States was never addressed). There’s also this strange feeling that the author truly believes that Alex (and his company) can essentially enslave people, abuse and brainwash them, and proceed to come out the other side as better people. While it’s true that Alex does experience growth in his character, it almost feels as if the effect of his previous actions are erased completely. (Major spoiler warning here) this is very evident at the end of the novel when Elisha, even after realizing he had been raped and brainwashed by this man, sought him out to not only forgive him him but to also suggest that they eventually have a relationship together again. Despite Alex leaving the company and Elisha no longer being a docile- the power imbalance in the history of these two and also their societal status poses the question of whether or not Elisha is truly consenting now or in the future. He admits himself he is still figuring out what is him or what is Alex within his head.
- one thing I did enjoy about this book was the dual perspectives from both Alex and Elisha. This did lead to confusion during the first few moments where Elisha is SA’d. How could he in his first few sexual encounters with Alex be so accepting already of his situation. There are no internal negative thoughts really about Alex and this book reads more as a BDSM fan fiction than a novel of substance critiquing capitalism. So much time is spent on these encounters that it is distracting from any point trying to be made about wealth inequality in the United States.

dembury's review

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4.0

I went a bit out of my reading comfort zone with this one, but ultimately I’m glad I did! “Docile” is a thought-provoking novel that took me by surprise with its look at capitalism, power, and the manipulation of both. This very much a sexy AND smart book; there are plenty of 50 Shades scenes for the erotica fan, but those scenes also make the reader question what is happening on a deeper level (pun intended).

I think the pacing was off for this novel though. The whole second half of the novel is full of legal scenes, courtroom drama, and inner-turmoil-type moments, and this second half could have been cleaned up nicer. I would have loved to see Alex and Elisha spend more than just the 6-9ish months that the novel takes up, which would have made the rest of the novel more dramatic and high-stakes. The ending felt a bit too easy and sudden, especially after so much angst.

All in all, an engaging book and I’d definitely be willing to read more by Szpara! I’m also happy to support a local Maryland author

scribicide's review

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4.0

Man, I'm not sure how to feel about this one. I listened to the audiobook, so I spent a whopping sixteen and a half hours with it. It executes what it sets out to do: illustrate the 'no consent under capitalism' theme. It's well written and gripping, made me gasp and feel things a couple times. It's good! I just didn't find it particularly fun, and I'm not sure it offered me anything novel or really worthwhile to make up for that. There may be readers for whom it does. I guess I spend a significant amount of time personally and professionally thinking about the dehumanizing nature of capitalism, and I was hoping this story would offer me a sort of scintillating catharsis a la Captive Prince or like any never-to-be-discussed-in-the-light-of-day dub con or non con erotic fantasy that helps me process screwed up power dynamics and my experiences of objectification and violation in real life. I figured out pretty quickly that Docile was going to be different than I expected and tried to approach it with an open mind.

Docile is not a genre romance novel, but it's structured enough like one (especially with the alternating POVs) and seems also to be marketed as, if not a romance per se, then romance adjacent, a kind of sexy BDSM dystopian critique of capitalism. I think this is where the book runs into trouble for me. It was hard to approach it first and foremost as dystopian sci-fi when it was structured so much like a romance. But then it doesn't really work as a romance. The story truly believes that the dystopian conditions of the main characters' romance make it impossible for them to really be in love and have a functioning, equal, healthy relationship, and further, it's really clear that a healthy relationship is what they should have, that no gray or problematic arrangement is going to cut it - it wants to leave Alex and Elisha totally in the moral clear. So if it's a romance, it's a romance where the author doesn't really want the characters to get together and feels kinda squicked about the idea of them being together, to the point where the whole final part of the book is filled with Alex and Elisha thinking and saying how messed up and inappropriate their murky feelings for each other are. Ditto for the sex: there's a decent amount of it, and it's explicit like its supposed to be erotic, but I was so hyperaware of how problematic the narrative felt the sex was that I ended up feeling nonplussed and frustrated by those scenes. (I think you could have told a different story where the main characters were less naive about the dystopian nature of their society and circumstances and were illicitly finding pleasure in each other - ? But again, Docile is not that!)

Where does that leave the reader? Seems like either a) you want Alex and Elisha to somehow transcend or subvert the socially-dictated unequal conditions of their relationship, to find a way to be together, and you feel bad about this because the book is telling you that them being together is morally wrong. Bummer! Or b) you accept that it's not possible for Alex and Elisha to be together in a healthy way, you don't want them to be together, and you're...just slogging through a story about a probably-doomed relationship you find objectionable...? Bummer! (I guess the book sorta delivers in a meta way if you're into being kinkshamed for your enjoyment of the dub con fantasy?) To add to the pain, in the last ~fourth of the book,

Spoiler

the story becomes a sort of court room drama - all angsty depositions and dramatic testimony - so the reader has to rehash all the events of the story, as they're reported by the main characters' to various lawyers. Argh. We do eventually wind up at a HFN of sorts. (The characters, like, loudly repeat that they can't be in a relationship because it would be so messed up! But they want to start a nonprofit clinic together to make their community a better place! And they literally say that they're going to be dating the clinic instead of each other for the time being!) At this point I was exhausted and counting down the remaining minutes of the audiobook.

Kudos to the author though for writing a solid, interesting book. Unfortunately, it wasn't a good fit for me as a reader, dragging myself to the end of finish line of 2020; I was hoping to come away from it with something more than weariness and 'yep, capitalism blows! :)))' I wish the author had trusted us readers a little more: I think it would have been more powerful to sit with how troubling Elisha and Alex's story was if the narrative had let the sexy bits be sexy, without worrying so hard about being misinterpreted as condoning the relationship's power imbalance.

madisonagoodwin's review

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challenging dark emotional reflective tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This book has a permeant spot on my "6 star reads". I was absolutely enthralled in the plot of this story & the creativity of the author. Creating a dystopian society that has not already been overdone is a brilliant experience for me & the messages portrayed in this story turned my thinkers on. Think modern dark romance that borderlines controversy & scifi giving to the whole "fuck the patriarchy" idea. I would recommend this book to almost anyone who could stomach it physically & mentally.