Take a photo of a barcode or cover
A review by fangirljeanne
Captivate by E.J. Lawson
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
2.0
This is fine for what it is, primarily for the kinks (why choose, Omegaverse sexuality, service Dom, etc.) but not for me.
The world building is pretty weak. Basically our contemporary world with omegas, betas, and alphas existing with no impact on society beyond the dehumanizing oppression of omegas, who essentially exist as an enslaved class. But with the implications of that having no impact on the interpersonal relationships between the omega and her alpha pack.
There’s mentions of a lot of pop culture media and they seem unchanged from their real world equivalents. Which feels like lazy world building. As if an entire class of sentient beings having no rights and being treated like a commodity wouldn’t have an impact on contemporary society and by extension media. (It sent me down a mental rabbit hole of how things like Jane Austen’s novels and the Star Wars series would be different in a Omegaverse world.)
In this world the policing of Omegas is so extreme that the “meet cute” for the FMC and a member of her Pack involves her nearly being arrested and sexual assaulted by a alpha cop for the crime of being in public as an omega. Miles, the member of the pack she meets, has to claim (ownership of) her to save her. Forcing her to live with his pack while they, no her, suitable pack for her. The power dynamics are the issue for me, personally.
While I understand much of this is standard for this subgenre, Omegaverse, that doesn’t change that the narrative not only does challenge the very inequitable societal hierarchy, beyond “it sucks but that’s how it is,” but in some cases it normalizes it through one of the pack members talking about medical interventions to suppress or block alphas and omegas biological drives as unnatural and unsustainable. Which again I understand is an aspect of this subgenre, but the implications of framing this worlds version of birth control and hormone blockers as unnatural smacks of pro-life rhetoric. (This book was publish a year after the overturning of Roe v Wade.)
Reproductive autonomy aside, the dynamics of the relations in the story feel at times coercive because of how much weight is given to “biological drives” and the systemic inequities that seep into every aspect of these characters relationship. The alphas often talk about her like she’s a child, their interactions are primarily driven by sexual attraction, and no real development happens on the page. It’s usually just characters info dumping about each other to “show” they’re deepening feelings for each other rather than actually showing their relationships develop.
That’s can be said for the style of storytelling as a whole. We’re told everything, from the character emotional state to their haunted pasts, a lot of it is revealed repeatedly in dialogue and internal monologues it feels like your reading a character biography rather than getting to know them.
I’m familiar with Omegaverse in fan fiction, usually in mlm/queer relationships. So nothing about this was new, in fact this story is very basic. The plot is the standard angsty insecure omega/pack of alphas who each represent a popular romantic hero archetype with little more than a crooked smile, glasses, and scowl for personalities.
This book doesn’t do anything new, and it’s not very good at doing the same old story. Add in the current political climate around reproductive rights in America, I would have at least appreciated the acknowledgment that a woman has a right to make decisions about her life and body, despite whatever biology she has. But that is asking a lot, I guess
The world building is pretty weak. Basically our contemporary world with omegas, betas, and alphas existing with no impact on society beyond the dehumanizing oppression of omegas, who essentially exist as an enslaved class. But with the implications of that having no impact on the interpersonal relationships between the omega and her alpha pack.
There’s mentions of a lot of pop culture media and they seem unchanged from their real world equivalents. Which feels like lazy world building. As if an entire class of sentient beings having no rights and being treated like a commodity wouldn’t have an impact on contemporary society and by extension media. (It sent me down a mental rabbit hole of how things like Jane Austen’s novels and the Star Wars series would be different in a Omegaverse world.)
In this world the policing of Omegas is so extreme that the “meet cute” for the FMC and a member of her Pack involves her nearly being arrested and sexual assaulted by a alpha cop for the crime of being in public as an omega. Miles, the member of the pack she meets, has to claim (ownership of) her to save her. Forcing her to live with his pack while they, no her, suitable pack for her. The power dynamics are the issue for me, personally.
While I understand much of this is standard for this subgenre, Omegaverse, that doesn’t change that the narrative not only does challenge the very inequitable societal hierarchy, beyond “it sucks but that’s how it is,” but in some cases it normalizes it through one of the pack members talking about medical interventions to suppress or block alphas and omegas biological drives as unnatural and unsustainable. Which again I understand is an aspect of this subgenre, but the implications of framing this worlds version of birth control and hormone blockers as unnatural smacks of pro-life rhetoric. (This book was publish a year after the overturning of Roe v Wade.)
Reproductive autonomy aside, the dynamics of the relations in the story feel at times coercive because of how much weight is given to “biological drives” and the systemic inequities that seep into every aspect of these characters relationship. The alphas often talk about her like she’s a child, their interactions are primarily driven by sexual attraction, and no real development happens on the page. It’s usually just characters info dumping about each other to “show” they’re deepening feelings for each other rather than actually showing their relationships develop.
That’s can be said for the style of storytelling as a whole. We’re told everything, from the character emotional state to their haunted pasts, a lot of it is revealed repeatedly in dialogue and internal monologues it feels like your reading a character biography rather than getting to know them.
I’m familiar with Omegaverse in fan fiction, usually in mlm/queer relationships. So nothing about this was new, in fact this story is very basic. The plot is the standard angsty insecure omega/pack of alphas who each represent a popular romantic hero archetype with little more than a crooked smile, glasses, and scowl for personalities.
This book doesn’t do anything new, and it’s not very good at doing the same old story. Add in the current political climate around reproductive rights in America, I would have at least appreciated the acknowledgment that a woman has a right to make decisions about her life and body, despite whatever biology she has. But that is asking a lot, I guess