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dark
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I'd like to preface this review by reminding everyone that when I get an ARC/ALC of a book, I do my best to avoid reading other reviews before I finish the book myself. I try to go into the book as unbiased as possible.
In this instance, I wish I had read fellow reviews. Reading the plot summary, there is no indication whatsoever on the biggest trigger of this book, and the basis of the romance - that it is a master/slave dynamic. I can't even call it a captor/captive dynamic, since they use the terms master and slave continuously throughout the book, the FMC has a collar and is bartered in a trade at one point. The only indication of this being a dark romantasy is that it states "dark romantasy" at the summary's beginning. It doesn't speak to whether it is dark by tone or dark by topic. In this case, it is dark by topic. The summary in fact says that the FMC is saved by the MMC, and a few mentions other belonging to him. This is all standard verbiage in romantasy and in no way indicates the type of master/slave dynamic at the focus of the book.
After about 50% of the book when I just came to terms with it and continued on, I did my best to look at the book objectively. Had I known what to expect, would I have thoroughly enjoyed it? Maybe a bit more, but not by much. I wasn't a fan of how much intimate scenes happened under that dynamic, and not when they were equals. I did feel like the relationship and the world building as a whole reflected the historical time frame (to the best of my knowledge, anyway). I quite enjoyed it being set in Roman times, as this isn't an overly popular time frame for historical romance, especially historical romantasy. I also had a bit of an issue with the pacing. I felt that the first 75% was pretty evenly paced, and then the last 25% felt like someone said "okay wrap it up, we need to get this done". Everything was happening all at once and big bang boom the book was done.
Overall, I would recommend this book to folks who are looking for this type of dynamic and in this type of historical setting. Going into this book fully informed is critical and I do not believe the marketing was done appropriately. Having listened to the audiobook, I can vouch for the fact that there were no trigger warnings at the outset, but I cannot speak towards if they are provided at the beginning of the written formats.
Thank you to Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for an advanced reader copy. All opinions are my own and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
In this instance, I wish I had read fellow reviews. Reading the plot summary, there is no indication whatsoever on the biggest trigger of this book, and the basis of the romance - that it is a master/slave dynamic. I can't even call it a captor/captive dynamic, since they use the terms master and slave continuously throughout the book, the FMC has a collar and is bartered in a trade at one point. The only indication of this being a dark romantasy is that it states "dark romantasy" at the summary's beginning. It doesn't speak to whether it is dark by tone or dark by topic. In this case, it is dark by topic. The summary in fact says that the FMC is saved by the MMC, and a few mentions other belonging to him. This is all standard verbiage in romantasy and in no way indicates the type of master/slave dynamic at the focus of the book.
After about 50% of the book when I just came to terms with it and continued on, I did my best to look at the book objectively. Had I known what to expect, would I have thoroughly enjoyed it? Maybe a bit more, but not by much. I wasn't a fan of how much intimate scenes happened under that dynamic, and not when they were equals. I did feel like the relationship and the world building as a whole reflected the historical time frame (to the best of my knowledge, anyway). I quite enjoyed it being set in Roman times, as this isn't an overly popular time frame for historical romance, especially historical romantasy. I also had a bit of an issue with the pacing. I felt that the first 75% was pretty evenly paced, and then the last 25% felt like someone said "okay wrap it up, we need to get this done". Everything was happening all at once and big bang boom the book was done.
Overall, I would recommend this book to folks who are looking for this type of dynamic and in this type of historical setting. Going into this book fully informed is critical and I do not believe the marketing was done appropriately. Having listened to the audiobook, I can vouch for the fact that there were no trigger warnings at the outset, but I cannot speak towards if they are provided at the beginning of the written formats.
Thank you to Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for an advanced reader copy. All opinions are my own and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Trafficking