CAPTIVE IN THE DARK
Rating 3/5 Tails
This series honestly needs to give a big bold lettered warning to its reader's first thing: ADULT CONTENT 18+
It includes very dark concepts like sexual assault/abuse, disturbing content, strong language,master-slave relationships, physical assault, mental harassment and manipulation, kidnapping, sadism, masochism and some other weird things. Honestly, I don’t even know where to start with this review. It’s a very different, dark and tricky(literally) ‘romance’, if you can call it that.
“This isn’t romance. You’re not a damsel in distress and I’m not the handsome prince come to save you.”
-CJ Roberts
The story revolves around the basic plot of the main lead, Caleb. He is out for revenge against a power-hungry mobster who had kidnapped him when he was a child and sold him into slavery. Working in the world of sex slaves for twelve years he finally finds the man who destroyed his life. Thus wanting nothing but revenge he approaches Olivia, planning to make her a sex slave to carry out his plans ahead. Olivia is the main female lead of this story, she is a young introvert teenager living in a shady neighbourhood and the only person whose features match Caleb’s vision. The story takes off when Caleb successfully kidnaps Olivia and she finds herself blindfolded in an empty room as his Captive with no chances of escape. However, being at Caleb’s mercy, she ignites the classic tale of Stockholm syndrome as she starts feeling attracted to her captor.
My heart hammered in my chest.
”I am your master.” A cold hand pressed against my sweat-slick forehead. “you are where I want you to be.”
“Do I know you?” my voice was raw stripped of anything but my emotion.
“Not yet.”
- CJ Roberts
Criticisms-
This turns out to be a Stockholm syndrome case which is quite typical in these kinds of stories. And glorified kidnapping and torture is just not my thing. Just because Caleb, a kidnapper might I remind you, was a good looking guy and practically sex-on-legs, the protagonist fell for her kidnapper and somehow managed to get manipulated into obeying his every command/order. Honestly, if the guy was not hot then this book would be a case file somewhere in a real police station. I agree that he trained her like that and scared her etc so that she would obey him and develop an attraction to him because she thought he was her knight in shining armour in difficult times, but I guess that’s what happens when you are kidnapped by a good looking maniac.
Caleb’s past was quite tragic as we read on to figure out the mistreatment he has faced as he was forced into slavery and prostitution from a very young age. It's very interesting to see the character development of Caleb. As we see him being a mysterious entity with a dark background 12 years later, he is a different man who knows what he wants and will go to any lengths to achieve it. Not wanting to force anyone to lead the same life he has led he tries to be the better human by thinking he will release Olivia after his revenge is over, but is that really possible? Isn’t he just being condescending? He forces someone into a tragic fate and expects everything to be okay once his motive is complete. Even if he does fall for Olivia, he practically ruins her life with his own hands.
Oliva’s character has the role of the victim; The person on the receiving end of all sorts of dangers. She is portrayed as a strong-willed girl, who is not willing to break and give up no matter her circumstances. However, her attraction to Caleb becomes the source of either misfortune or luck. Olivia is forced to face some gruesome and non-consensual situations which cause her mindset to deteriorate into something akin to madness; leading to an obsession with Caleb. Though, it’s quite interesting to see the interactions between Caleb and Olivia as it always keeps the readers on their toes with the same sense of frustration that the main characters go through.
I would’ve really liked it if the characters had more interaction and less weirdness. Some of the moments between them were weird but also awfully gripping. Plus it's cute how Caleb calls her Kitten. The story in itself is quite different from the generic stories and has a certain depth to it. But it's just not my cup of tea.
Recommendation-
I will not really recommend this to anyone casually but if they have a taste for stories like this, then sure I would indulge them. I just didn’t find the thing that I search for in my favourites. I had bought this book out of curiosity and boy did this makeup for its hype. But honestly, it was a bit disappointing, sure I was intrigued and was glued to this book for hours; hoping it to turn out into a great read but sadly it was just dark and twisted erotica.
Author-CJ Roberts
CJ Roberts was born and raised in Southern California. She joined the U.S. Air force in 1998, serving for 10 years and travelling the world after High School. She is married and has a beautiful daughter. She also has self-published one short story on Amazon, entitled Manwich, under the name Jennifer Roberts.
This book, Captive in the Dark also has a sequel ‘Seduced in the Dark. If this is in your interest, go ahead and enjoy.
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