A review by lillyreads_08
Forced by D. Dove

challenging dark emotional medium-paced

5.0

Please heed all the warnings in this book. It's pretty much cover to cover non-con. The two aliens who do end up buying Lee really do care and love him, but they interpret his "No" as "Yes". 

This book is connected to Captured. Lee is an S-class Space Courier who is captured by pirates and later sold to The Dresht. We learn that they are an alien species that needs humans as hosts to complete their reproductive cycle. 

Lee is sold to Eral and Ronet, a mated pair. They do care for him greatly and treat him well. He's like a beloved pet to them. However, Lee wants his freedom. He's gagged, plugged and mitted and has almost no agency. Even when he voices his concerns, they are misinterpreted by the two Dresht. They view him in an almost childlike way, acting as if they know what is best for him. This is all due to information collected on humans, which they use as a manual - think of a  "How to Guide" for human pets. 

The irony is that they feel like they know him best, so even if he speaks for himself, they see him as a naive, innocent creature and willfully (or not) disregard his wants. He was also sexually assaulted before coming to them, so he has a lot of trauma and fear about what is to happen to him. 

Lee is being used as a vessel for their eggs; they need a third party, and humans seem to be the best hosts. They dote on him, shower him with care and love him, but it’s all pretty fucked up. 

Dove describes it as a “soft, loving non-con”, and I would agree; even Lee starts to accept the attention and affection he is showered upon slowly. He even questions his initial goals and motives for escape, doubting himself. So, there’s a heavy dose of Stockholm syndrome in this story. 

He may be their pet, but he was a precious one. One they seemed to care deeply about. Aside from giving him no choice in the matter, yesterday they’d been so gentle with him. They’d made him take so much, but then had pampered him, carried him around, stroked him and even taken the trappings off his hands–

 It had been just over a week, and despite the plan to comply for freedoms, Lee was beginning to get… worried about how vulnerable it made him. He wasn’t ignorant to the way his thoughts had started to drift toward the enjoyment of these pampered moments. How he’d stopped internally narrating his anger and protests to them fucking him. The routine made it all seem normal, it dampened down his ire. 

This story is told from Lee's POV, so we get a front-row seat to his experience. It can be hard to read since you're seeing his mental state, especially when the "season" happens, especially during the oviposition scenes - what Lee goes through mentally and physically is pretty rough. 

Overall I really enjoyed this book! I love dark stories like this - add Alien + eggpreg this book was just perfect for me. This story is not for everyone but if you enjoy reading noncon (once again no means yes to these aliens), humiliation and dark stories I recommend it. 

Forced does not have a happy ending and it ends in a cliffhanger but I'm looking forward to book two.