Review: Unusual setting and quite a few sex scenes
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 05 30, 2011
Warning: This review might contain what some people consider SPOILERS.Rating: 7/10PROS:- I like the idea of growing to love someone you initially hate, and I like it even more when that hatred is born out of fear. Jaden has SUCH intense fear of Dersai at the beginning that watching Dersai woo him was interesting (see cons below also). Jaden's gradual change in attitude toward Dersai is very well done, too. With each scene, he's a little more accepting of the man, a little more eager to be touched by him.- Owens does a great job of showing Jaden's natural tendency to trust and submit to Dersai warring with the cynicism Haden has learned during his years of imprisonment.- I liked how both Dersai and Jaden have a possessive streak. This is a good example of a story in which one character is much larger and more powerful than the other but the smaller man is neither helpless nor effeminate.- I enjoyed the plot just fine from the start, but about halfway through there's a slight supernatural tilt to the story, which made it even more interesting to me.CONS:- Some of the early sex scenes are a little disturbing. Yes, Jaden enjoys the touches and is aroused by them. But he fears and dislikes Dersai so intensely that some of the early scenes had a borderline rape feeling to me. The descriptions in those scenes are hot, and the emperor's actions are gentle enough; I just couldn't quite get past Jaden's mental block.- The whole story is told from Jaden's perspective, and I really wanted access to Dersai's thoughts on several occasions. I didn't hate him, but I didn't love him, either. He isn't cruel or malicious, but he behaves with single-minded arrogance. I think some scenes from his perspective would have gone a long way toward making him more likeable to me.- The connection between Jaden and Dersai lacks a bit of depth simply because the story's length prevents too many meaningful conversations from taking place. There are sentences like this, for example--"They found they had quite a few interests in common. Jaden became more open with Dersai, more able to argue a point without fear of retribution, and Dersai seemed to like that"--but there's not much detail about WHAT precisely they had in common.Overall comments: I'm not a huge fan of angsty stories (well, I'm not a fan AT ALL of angsty stories), and this one has a decent amount of it right up front. It doesn't last too long, though, so if you're like me and don't enjoy reading about suffering, don't give up after reading only the first chapter. It turns out to be quite a sweet story about unconditional love.