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A review by jay_sy
Captured by Lauren Biel
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Loveable characters? No
3.0
I found Captured by Lauren Biel on a list when I was looking for more romantic/erotic horror, rather than the usual dark romance. Horror is one of my favourite genres so I'm fine with reading about very dark themes.
I DNF pretty frequently, so the story was definitely interesting enough for me to finish the whole thing. But I also feel like it didn't quite hit the mark in terms of horror.
When it comes to horror, there's a lot of different kinds, and I feel like this book focuses more heavily on the disgust factor. But I feel like disgust or creative ways to be cruel don't necessarily make a story more interesting or impactful. Gunnir might be extremely gross and sadistic, but he's more of villain that repulses me, rather that a character I hate. Having a hateful villain is way more emotionally engrossing than an unrepentantly nasty one, but I've noticed that properly hateful characters are almost as hard to find as lovable ones.
For example, there's a manga called Kedamonotachi no Jikan that has similar themes (a girl gets abducted, and also has a similar backstory with a father that commits SA), but the psychological impact of Kedamonotachi no Jikan is so much more intense because of how it delves into the psychology of the characters and what happens once the FMC is free. It might not have as many disgusting things happen, but it hits way harder. The FMC's father in Captured disgusts me, but I absolutely hate the father in Kedamonotachi no Jikan. That said, for those wanting to check out Kedamonotachi no Jikan, some of the things that happened are significantly more messed up than what happens in Captured so if you decide to read it, be mindful that it's extremely dark.
I also felt like the ending was a little too neat. It's what pushed this story to feel more like romance than horror, when I was craving more horror. And it's not that I want the characters to suffer more. That's not necessarily what I want out of horror. I just like seeing the details of how it plays out in their lives. I like the messiness of it all.
So, for being entertaining, I'd give it a 3 out of 5, but I wish there would have been more depth to the horror.
I DNF pretty frequently, so the story was definitely interesting enough for me to finish the whole thing. But I also feel like it didn't quite hit the mark in terms of horror.
When it comes to horror, there's a lot of different kinds, and I feel like this book focuses more heavily on the disgust factor. But I feel like disgust or creative ways to be cruel don't necessarily make a story more interesting or impactful. Gunnir might be extremely gross and sadistic, but he's more of villain that repulses me, rather that a character I hate. Having a hateful villain is way more emotionally engrossing than an unrepentantly nasty one, but I've noticed that properly hateful characters are almost as hard to find as lovable ones.
For example, there's a manga called Kedamonotachi no Jikan that has similar themes (a girl gets abducted, and also has a similar backstory with a father that commits SA), but the psychological impact of Kedamonotachi no Jikan is so much more intense because of how it delves into the psychology of the characters and what happens once the FMC is free. It might not have as many disgusting things happen, but it hits way harder. The FMC's father in Captured disgusts me, but I absolutely hate the father in Kedamonotachi no Jikan. That said, for those wanting to check out Kedamonotachi no Jikan, some of the things that happened are significantly more messed up than what happens in Captured so if you decide to read it, be mindful that it's extremely dark.
So, for being entertaining, I'd give it a 3 out of 5, but I wish there would have been more depth to the horror.