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A review by lucyamar
Owned by M. Never
2.0
I've read and enjoyed dark romance, including non-con. It's a difficult subject on which to write well. So why did I have issues with this particular story?
I think it was mainly the main male character, Kayne. I can appreciate a "bad" alpha male lead, but don't try to convince me that actually he's a good person and he just had no other choice but to do what he did to Ellie. That Javier is the bad guy (that part isn't debatable) and Kayne's just the hero protecting the world from the bad guy.
Speaking of Kayne and Javier, why did the narrator have to keep talking about Javier eating tortillas and having rice and beans (oh noes international foods!) in his kitchen?? There were just constant references to Javier being Mexican and to tortillas in particular ("that tortilla-eating motherfucker"), like it's one thing to mention it as part of the character's identity and another thing to keep calling him Mexican alongside other insulting words (an actual quote: "Just what we need: a drunk, belligerent, abusive Mexican") and all the stereotyping. The casual racism really jumped out and was very distracting, it was totally unnecessary and didn't add anything to the story, unless the point was to show that Kayne's a bit racist on top of his other (SERIOUS) flaws. SEE I TOLD YOU HE'S NOT A GOOD PERSON.
The funny thing is the actual sex scenes were not bad (IMO; I don't fault anyone who did not enjoy them). It really was the characters and the overall plot that I didn't care for.
The plot started out interesting enough and showed some promise, I wanted to see what everything was leading up to, what Kayne's end game with Javier was and why he had to stay on Javier's good side. Then the end was really fast and abrupt, there were a couple "oh shit" moments but they didn't last long enough to create any real tension. It really was a let down. And then the GASLIGHTING of Ellie when she learns the whole truth, "he did it for you, he doesn't just love you, he's OBSESSED with you!!!" Just hell no.
The only reason this got 3 stars from me was for Sam Crowley (male narrator), he was amazing. I'm pretty sure that he was the only reason I kept listening...that and the plot being just good enough to want to find out what happens. EDIT: three stars was too high: two stars and both of them are for Sam Crowley lol
I think it was mainly the main male character, Kayne. I can appreciate a "bad" alpha male lead, but don't try to convince me that actually he's a good person and he just had no other choice but to do what he did to Ellie. That Javier is the bad guy (that part isn't debatable) and Kayne's just the hero protecting the world from the bad guy.
Speaking of Kayne and Javier, why did the narrator have to keep talking about Javier eating tortillas and having rice and beans (oh noes international foods!) in his kitchen?? There were just constant references to Javier being Mexican and to tortillas in particular ("that tortilla-eating motherfucker"), like it's one thing to mention it as part of the character's identity and another thing to keep calling him Mexican alongside other insulting words (an actual quote: "Just what we need: a drunk, belligerent, abusive Mexican") and all the stereotyping. The casual racism really jumped out and was very distracting, it was totally unnecessary and didn't add anything to the story, unless the point was to show that Kayne's a bit racist on top of his other (SERIOUS) flaws. SEE I TOLD YOU HE'S NOT A GOOD PERSON.
The funny thing is the actual sex scenes were not bad (IMO; I don't fault anyone who did not enjoy them). It really was the characters and the overall plot that I didn't care for.
The plot started out interesting enough and showed some promise, I wanted to see what everything was leading up to, what Kayne's end game with Javier was and why he had to stay on Javier's good side. Then the end was really fast and abrupt, there were a couple "oh shit" moments but they didn't last long enough to create any real tension. It really was a let down. And then the GASLIGHTING of Ellie when she learns the whole truth, "he did it for you, he doesn't just love you, he's OBSESSED with you!!!" Just hell no.
The only reason this got 3 stars from me was for Sam Crowley (male narrator), he was amazing. I'm pretty sure that he was the only reason I kept listening...that and the plot being just good enough to want to find out what happens. EDIT: three stars was too high: two stars and both of them are for Sam Crowley lol