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_valorie_ 's review for:
Tears of Tess
by Pepper Winters
dark
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
-THIS REVIEW WILL CONTAIN SPOILERS-
I find it really funny how I always end up disliking stories such as these with unrealistic FMCs and problematic MMCs and yet end up enjoying them so much that I always keep coming back for more. This has to be a phenomenon that needs to be studied because I've scoured the Internet but couldn't really find anything on it.
This book was definitely a mindfuck even though it was not as dark as some other books that I've read. For a non dark romance reader, I guess this would be quite tough, but as someone who mainly reads dark romance, it wasn't that dark. While the rape and the kidnapping certainly were on the other side of the edge towards darkness, the main body of the story was not.
Q was not necessarily a bad guy. I mean, yes, his desires are twisted, and it's kind of scary, but at the same time, I understand that his mind was warped like that due to a trauma response witnessing his father take part in debauchery with slaves. What he had with Tess was selfish, no doubt, but it cannot be ignored that he helped so many other slaves escape while at the same time suppressing his sick desires. He wants to rape and beat and fuck and while it's a nauseating thing to want, I also can't deny that's a darker side of trauma that people may not often talk about. It's twisted, but that's just the reality of it.
You really have to leave any morals that you may have out of this book because the line between rape and just sex is very blurry, and I would not condone this type of behaviour in real life under any circumstances. There were times when I just wanted Tess to get her shit together, escape the manor, and mutilate anyone who had ever hurt her, including all the people in the mansion. It was difficult to come to terms with Q being a good person while at the same time indulging in his twisted fantasies with Tess.
I think it would have been easier if Tess had not been so emotionally confused.
She didn't want the stuff that Q was doing to her, and yet her body AND mind both reacted to it and encouraged it. It would have been another story if it was just her pussy getting wet but her mind remaining strong willed in the fact that she enjoyed what was happening to her made this truly a mindfuck. I think the contrast between the real rape Tess suffered and what she felt with Q really highlighted that it was more reluctance for Tess rather than a hard no. However, I did it find it weird how they had sex like right after the rape and that was really wanted changed Tess' mind which makes me question: if it wasn't for the rape would she have accepted Q and her new life? Perhaps eventually, but it's a tough tightrope to walk on.
I also did not like how everyone around Tess was unsympathetic towards her. She's been kidnapped and human trafficked. Of course, she would have trouble trusting the man that was her master now. Suzette may have had to suffer more than Tess, but that doesn't mean that Tess hasn't had it hard either. The way everyone was disappointed and angry at her for escaping and calling the police but like, what else did you expect her to do? Prance around and settle in her new life with so many questions around her?
Everyone expects Tess to love and care for Q, but what about what Tess wants? Why are her needs secondary to his when she's the one that would be giving up the most in the relationship. I really did not like the way everyone expected so much from her when her life had been completely turned upside down. Suzette telling her that her old life was dead and to just forget it was just plainly cruel.
I did enjoy the story but I can't say that I liked it. It was certainly thrilling and captivating, but it messed with my morals as well. The second book does seem to be promising at least so I will be reading that next.
I find it really funny how I always end up disliking stories such as these with unrealistic FMCs and problematic MMCs and yet end up enjoying them so much that I always keep coming back for more. This has to be a phenomenon that needs to be studied because I've scoured the Internet but couldn't really find anything on it.
This book was definitely a mindfuck even though it was not as dark as some other books that I've read. For a non dark romance reader, I guess this would be quite tough, but as someone who mainly reads dark romance, it wasn't that dark. While the rape and the kidnapping certainly were on the other side of the edge towards darkness, the main body of the story was not.
Q was not necessarily a bad guy. I mean, yes, his desires are twisted, and it's kind of scary, but at the same time, I understand that his mind was warped like that due to a trauma response witnessing his father take part in debauchery with slaves. What he had with Tess was selfish, no doubt, but it cannot be ignored that he helped so many other slaves escape while at the same time suppressing his sick desires. He wants to rape and beat and fuck and while it's a nauseating thing to want, I also can't deny that's a darker side of trauma that people may not often talk about. It's twisted, but that's just the reality of it.
You really have to leave any morals that you may have out of this book because the line between rape and just sex is very blurry, and I would not condone this type of behaviour in real life under any circumstances. There were times when I just wanted Tess to get her shit together, escape the manor, and mutilate anyone who had ever hurt her, including all the people in the mansion. It was difficult to come to terms with Q being a good person while at the same time indulging in his twisted fantasies with Tess.
I think it would have been easier if Tess had not been so emotionally confused.
She didn't want the stuff that Q was doing to her, and yet her body AND mind both reacted to it and encouraged it. It would have been another story if it was just her pussy getting wet but her mind remaining strong willed in the fact that she enjoyed what was happening to her made this truly a mindfuck. I think the contrast between the real rape Tess suffered and what she felt with Q really highlighted that it was more reluctance for Tess rather than a hard no. However, I did it find it weird how they had sex like right after the rape and that was really wanted changed Tess' mind which makes me question: if it wasn't for the rape would she have accepted Q and her new life? Perhaps eventually, but it's a tough tightrope to walk on.
I also did not like how everyone around Tess was unsympathetic towards her. She's been kidnapped and human trafficked. Of course, she would have trouble trusting the man that was her master now. Suzette may have had to suffer more than Tess, but that doesn't mean that Tess hasn't had it hard either. The way everyone was disappointed and angry at her for escaping and calling the police but like, what else did you expect her to do? Prance around and settle in her new life with so many questions around her?
Everyone expects Tess to love and care for Q, but what about what Tess wants? Why are her needs secondary to his when she's the one that would be giving up the most in the relationship. I really did not like the way everyone expected so much from her when her life had been completely turned upside down. Suzette telling her that her old life was dead and to just forget it was just plainly cruel.
I did enjoy the story but I can't say that I liked it. It was certainly thrilling and captivating, but it messed with my morals as well. The second book does seem to be promising at least so I will be reading that next.