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thefunkeemunkee 's review for:
Captive in the Dark
by CJ Roberts
You know, I read this book nearly two years ago. When I finished it, I wasn't even capable of writing a review. I didn't have the words.
I've thought about this book many times since then. Without fail, every time I think of it, I'm filled with rage and horror. Rage towards the author. To write a book about kidnapping, rape, torture, and sex trafficking - and then turn it into a "love" story? Deplorable. No excuses. This (and books like this - I'm assuming there are some, though I'm not looking to read them) can only do harm to the REAL victims of sex trafficking. Romanticizing this real-life horror only serves to make people think, "well, it's not so bad" or "hey, that's kinda sexy". Yes, it is that bad, and no, it is not sexy. Not even a little bit.
The horror comes from the Goodreads (and Amazon) ratings and reviews. When this book comes to mind, I nearly always check back in, hoping that the masses will have had a "what the hell was I thinking?" moment and changed their 5 star reviews. I'm always let down, and always made to worry, again, about the state of humanity. There's nothing romantic about this book. There's nothing swoon-worthy about the "hero", Caleb (ick, that hurt to type). He is a monster, plain and simple. Only a monster would kidnap a teenage girl on her way to school, beat her, rape her, sodomize her, and then plan to sell her into sexual slavery. I don't give two shits about his troubled past. I give even less shits that he starts to care about her (after the above mentioned rape, sodomy, torture, etc). It doesn't matter - it doesn't excuse the author's attempt at making this into yet another "he had a troubled past, aww, I forgive him and love him" type romance.
No. Just...no. *rage face*
I've thought about this book many times since then. Without fail, every time I think of it, I'm filled with rage and horror. Rage towards the author. To write a book about kidnapping, rape, torture, and sex trafficking - and then turn it into a "love" story? Deplorable. No excuses. This (and books like this - I'm assuming there are some, though I'm not looking to read them) can only do harm to the REAL victims of sex trafficking. Romanticizing this real-life horror only serves to make people think, "well, it's not so bad" or "hey, that's kinda sexy". Yes, it is that bad, and no, it is not sexy. Not even a little bit.
The horror comes from the Goodreads (and Amazon) ratings and reviews. When this book comes to mind, I nearly always check back in, hoping that the masses will have had a "what the hell was I thinking?" moment and changed their 5 star reviews. I'm always let down, and always made to worry, again, about the state of humanity. There's nothing romantic about this book. There's nothing swoon-worthy about the "hero", Caleb (ick, that hurt to type). He is a monster, plain and simple. Only a monster would kidnap a teenage girl on her way to school, beat her, rape her, sodomize her, and then plan to sell her into sexual slavery. I don't give two shits about his troubled past. I give even less shits that he starts to care about her (after the above mentioned rape, sodomy, torture, etc). It doesn't matter - it doesn't excuse the author's attempt at making this into yet another "he had a troubled past, aww, I forgive him and love him" type romance.
No. Just...no. *rage face*