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imme_van_gorp 's review for:
Sweating Lies
by Emma Jaye
Holy hell, this was a pretty fucked up rollercoaster of emotions.
This book is really god damn dark and deals with super interesting yet horrifying experiences.
The story follows three people, who are all caught up in a centuries old scheme of slavery in the form of gladiators and sexual servants:
Jiao is an undercover cop, who gets sent to this terrible organization when his cover gets blown. Once there, he and his fellow new captives discover the horrors of this place, and Jiao discovers them even further by getting to know the brainwashed and traumatized Kaspar. He vows to bring the whole place down and save its victims. But how does he do that when he himself is locked up as well? And how do you save victims who don't want to be saved? Furthermore, who even are the victims when the slavers were once taken too? It's a vicious cycle of abuse and terror.
Kaspar is the favoured slave of the organization's current leader Vladimir, and therefore has a certain amount of status. However, Kaspar's experiences (past as well as current) have left him utterly and completely terrorized. Although he is incredibly bright, he has gone absolutely mad after years and years of brainwashing and pain. He suffers from dissociative identity disorder (meaning that he has multiple personalities), which he sometimes only recognizes as 'the voices in his head he wants to silence'. Kaspar will go to great lengths to get some peace and quiet in his head, even if that means being mutilated physically. He is strong, so very strong, but just doesn't understand his reality anymore. What is wrong and what is right? Is serving truly his only purpose? Which voices should he listen to?
Vladimir is the organization's current leader and appears to be the 'villain' of the story. And, I mean, he is the villain of course, but seeing how he was once taken and put into servitude as well, it gives him more depth than your average villain. His intentions are not always vicious, as he sees some of his actions as things that simply ought to be done for the glory and survival of the organization. He desperately believes in the organization and in what it stands for. He thinks that he is making these 'slaves' the best version of themselves: gladiator or sex slave, trained to the utmost perfection. Just like he once was by the previous leader.
The plotline of this story was really well-done. It had plenty of suspense, and the action was thrilling. There's also a bit of a mystery element, as many things will be revealed throughout the story about the characters as well as the organization.
The characters were well-developed and displayed interesting characteristics. Especially Kaspar blew me away in this regard. His mental state and manipulated brain were so incredibly interesting to read about. I couldn't get enough of it. He was a great character, and my heart often broke for him.
This book really is super dark and intense, and I can imagine that it might be difficult for some people to read. There is a lot of on-page abuse and torture (mentally as well as physical).
I personally loved the book, though. I was just completely invested in the story, and I found all of it to be very intriguing.
This book is really god damn dark and deals with super interesting yet horrifying experiences.
The story follows three people, who are all caught up in a centuries old scheme of slavery in the form of gladiators and sexual servants:
Jiao is an undercover cop, who gets sent to this terrible organization when his cover gets blown. Once there, he and his fellow new captives discover the horrors of this place, and Jiao discovers them even further by getting to know the brainwashed and traumatized Kaspar. He vows to bring the whole place down and save its victims. But how does he do that when he himself is locked up as well? And how do you save victims who don't want to be saved? Furthermore, who even are the victims when the slavers were once taken too? It's a vicious cycle of abuse and terror.
Kaspar is the favoured slave of the organization's current leader Vladimir, and therefore has a certain amount of status. However, Kaspar's experiences (past as well as current) have left him utterly and completely terrorized. Although he is incredibly bright, he has gone absolutely mad after years and years of brainwashing and pain. He suffers from dissociative identity disorder (meaning that he has multiple personalities), which he sometimes only recognizes as 'the voices in his head he wants to silence'. Kaspar will go to great lengths to get some peace and quiet in his head, even if that means being mutilated physically. He is strong, so very strong, but just doesn't understand his reality anymore. What is wrong and what is right? Is serving truly his only purpose? Which voices should he listen to?
Vladimir is the organization's current leader and appears to be the 'villain' of the story. And, I mean, he is the villain of course, but seeing how he was once taken and put into servitude as well, it gives him more depth than your average villain. His intentions are not always vicious, as he sees some of his actions as things that simply ought to be done for the glory and survival of the organization. He desperately believes in the organization and in what it stands for. He thinks that he is making these 'slaves' the best version of themselves: gladiator or sex slave, trained to the utmost perfection. Just like he once was by the previous leader.
The plotline of this story was really well-done. It had plenty of suspense, and the action was thrilling. There's also a bit of a mystery element, as many things will be revealed throughout the story about the characters as well as the organization.
The characters were well-developed and displayed interesting characteristics. Especially Kaspar blew me away in this regard. His mental state and manipulated brain were so incredibly interesting to read about. I couldn't get enough of it. He was a great character, and my heart often broke for him.
This book really is super dark and intense, and I can imagine that it might be difficult for some people to read. There is a lot of on-page abuse and torture (mentally as well as physical).
I personally loved the book, though. I was just completely invested in the story, and I found all of it to be very intriguing.