Book Review : Captive In The Dark

 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.

“He was my tormentor and my solace; the creator of the dark and the light within.”

-CJ Roberts

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.

“For what it’s worth Livvie, I never thought of you as a whore. And you are…the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen”

-Caleb.

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.

“Why couldn’t he just keep being an evil, soulless bastard so I knew what his role was and I knew mine?”

-Olivia Ruiz

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.

 

Full of intense scenes and pretty much a ton of sexual frustration, strong language, heavy breathing and awkward sadistic moments, it turned out a be weird porn. This book was not for me and I don’t think it might be suitable for everyone due to its dark themes, but if you’re into sadism and dark romance then go ahead, have fun.

Perfect for a day you feel frisky and want to read something dark for a change under the covers.

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.

Thank you for reading. 

My battle against Depression

Black. The sheet was covered in pitch black ink. That's when it started, maybe that was my call for help. 

"Ma'am, this is the drawing your child made. It looked...concerning". The teacher said looking at me, pulling me away from my thoughts back to the conversation infront. 

"I don't understand. Isn't it just a drawing?" My mother asked.

"Yes, it is. But children her age shouldn't just be scribbling black all over the sheet. Also, the fact remains that she doesn't speak to her peers or participate in class is raising some questions." 

" So she is a quiet child, always has been" she answered with a sigh and gave me a questioning gaze to which I averted my eyes.

" I would suggest counselling". Upon hearing that her face turned grim. 

I realized something on that day from their interaction, I might have a problem within me. 

Over the years, I went for several counselling sessions, changed doctors almost every season, but nothing helped to change the darkness within me. 

Sometimes, I thought I might just be depressed. But, turns out depression and being depressed were as different as night and day. And I was diagnosed with depression at the age of 12. 

It started out as just me being an introvert; having an awful habit of keeping things bottled up. I pondered on the reason for my illness but always ended up thinking about the past. 

"This may have stemmed from the divorce she is afraid to be abandoned", the conclusion would always be the same.

Honestly, it wasn't this bad before but some where along the line, I grew tired of myself and the people around me. All I wanted was to go back to the comfort of my bed. Everyday I felt sluggish, not having the strength to even move a muscle; caging myself in that room. I had become addicted to the feeling of depression and that was how I wanted to lived on. Even after I managed to surround myself with friends, I was alone; their happy faces suffocated me. No one knew the real me, and if they did maybe no one would want to stay anymore. But, the thought that would always follow was ‘Do I even need friends?’ it was all I could think about. My social anxiety was taking over my life. 

Moreover, I had started to become cranky, lashing out at people for the most random things. My mood was always low and I felt... worthless. Just like my father, who had left when I was a child, a constant fear lurked around my mind as a reminder that someday I might again end up being abandoned... And this time by everyone.

However, I still hoped, one day I would become more mature and all of this would be just a misunderstanding, my childishness.

My anxiety took a turn for the worse, the day I graduated from college; with no clue on what to do in life, my mind became more dark and twisted. I seemed to have fallen further down the rabbit hole. 

I didn't know what to do or where I fit in. I watched all my other friends talking about their future plans and goals for life. However, I was...stuck, with no idea on how to take a step forward.

Soon, even medicines weren't helping control my severe anxiety and depression. Day by day, I was losing my will to live; I had lost my appetite long ago and now was heavily dependent on supplements. No matter what I did, I just couldn't recover my body or mind. I was slowly losing myself to the point where I couldn't even differentiate between reality and hallucination. I had also completely stopped speaking and was heavily reliant on medication. 

Whenever I thought about the achievements of my friends, my mind would turn green with envy. Socializing became a difficult game to play. While they went on happily with their lives, I was at the point where I thought 'maybe I should end it once and for all'. 

So one night, I sat on the floor with a blade in my hand and made the first cut. I watched the oozing blood with fascination and welcomed the pain, ready to end my misery once and for all. Fortunately my mother had caught me red handed and immediately rushed me to the emergency room. When she asked me why I did so, I could not answer. I didn't know how to explain what I was going through but when I saw her face with tears running down her eyes, I burst out crying as well. All those moments where I kept bottling myself up was finally broken. I jumped into her arms hugging her as tight as I could and cried out everything that I was hiding: my anger, pain, sadness and loneliness. Throughout the night, I poured out my heart to her and she listened patiently as she patted my back.

The next day walking back home, I realized how small my mother's back looked, how tired her face was, how she must have felt all those years watching me struggle, going in and out of those therapy sessions. We both were fragile souls who only had each other to rely on. All these years, when I thought I was alone, she had silently watched over me, working and taking care of both of us all at the same time. I finally realized how much she loved and cherished me; while I was blind. She had to go through so much hardship in her life but she took all that happily just to see me smile in return. On that day, I took an oath to change myself. I wanted to become better for the both of us, so that this time she could rely on me.

After that day, I went through extensive therapy and listened to the doctors to the best of my abilities. I started to live a healthy lifestyle: eating good food, going out for a run, sketching whenever I could, maintaining a sleep schedule and socializing. And guess what? Slowly I started to recover. I also began hanging out with my friends more and even though it seemed annoying in the beginning, I started enjoying our conversations. I even managed to gain the courage to confess to them about my illness and the struggles along with it. Which made me realize that they were some of the best people in my life, as they accepted me for who I was and sometimes even helped me win the battle against it. Though I wasn't completely over my depression and sometimes, that feeling would rush back to haunt me but this time I knew exactly the people who I should reach out for, and would figure it out at my own pace. 

I realized, all I needed was to trust myself and the people around me. I accepted the fact that I needed help and I couldn't have done this alone, I wanted someone to save me. 

One of the things that help me the most was reviving my artistic skills, I brought back the me who drew in colour again. Using drawing as a way to soothe my mind, I found the answer I was looking for everywhere to be beside me all this time. I am now currently working as a freelance Illustrator with a successful social media outreach and a ton of clients. And honestly I have never been more proud of myself. 

Proud of the twelve year old me, who was trying to call for help through her drawings, the sixteen year old me, who was trying her best to not stray from her path, the twenty one year old me, who was just trying her best to survive and finally the twenty three year old me, who is grateful to myself for staying strong all those years and not giving up. I am glad that I pulled myself up from such a dark place and learnt to love myself, opening up to what life has to offer without any regrets.

"You are the only one who can help yourself, Love yourself".