A review by user1001
Captive Mate by Eliot Grayson

  • Loveable characters? No

0.5

Look, the writing is fine. There's even plot and smut (but I was unable to get into it because 75% of the book, the LI is being sexually assaulted, and by the end I dislike the MC and his LI).

It's the MC I strongly dislike. And it's in first person, so I could not escape him. I read through for his redemption, but there was none. With the way Matthew treats Ian, he and Arik might deserve each other. Might, because Arik is a literal predator and I think even Matthew deserves better.

Jesus I have never seen such a godawful manipulative scumbag MC. Throw the whole man away.

MCs can be assholes, but they gotta have something redeeming. And it's preferable that they grow, or at least grow to admit that they're pieces of shit. Yes, Arik sometimes admits that he's an asshole, but he always justifies it. That, I think, is what makes him irredeemable.