Dark Restraint
by Katee Robert
CW: I’m going to include the entire note from the start of the book:
“Dark Restraint is an occasionally dark and very spicy book that contains abortion (off-page, historical), elements of dubious consent, non-consenual drugging, biting without prior negotiation/conversation, guns, violence, blood, child abuse and assault (historical, off-page, referenced briefly).”
Gentle reader, this is a dark romance; the darkest of the series. I am, in fact, a very gentle reader and so for me this was a little too much, which makes grading it tricky. So I’m going to unpack how I got to my grade and you might well find that your experience of the book is very different to mine. Maybe you’ll land somewhere else on the grading scale? I’d like to hear your thoughts.
This book focuses on Ariadne and the Minotaur, AKA Asterion. I was intrigued because so far in the series the Minotaur has been a pretty ruthless killer and not much else. So I was curious about possible depth to his character. Turns out the depth is just an obsession with Ariadne. I use that term advisedly. I suppose it’s also love, but the man has a laser focus on Ariadne. If you enjoy ‘possessive/mine’ stuff, then it’ll work for you. Oddly, I only like possessive vampires. What can I say, the 2000s really did a number on me with paranormals.
Because they were already pretty in love with each other from page one and had only the most tenuous thing keeping them apart, the love story was a little blah for me. I prefer more depth and development in my romance plots.
The rest of the plot going on around Ariadne and Asterion was extremely complicated. In book 6…
Show Spoiler
Ariadne betrayed her father and defected to the side of the Olympians. Much of the first 50% of book 7 is taken up with schemes and plots to try and extricate Ariadne from the mess she’s in and get her free and clear of Olympus entirely.
Plans are made and fall apart and change almost every chapter. Especially towards the end, it is a high-octane ride which didn’t always make sense to me. I know each character has their own motivations for things, but for some I couldn’t work out why they were making the decisions that they were. Perhaps I had forgotten parts of preceding books and that’s why it didn’t make sense. I’m not known for my great memory. I’ll be curious what the Bitchery thought about the plotting.
Overall, this book left me with a LOT of questions.
- Who should I be rooting for?
- What is Hermes up to?
- Will Hera really –censored–?
From what I can tell, book 8 is about Poseidon and Ariadne’s incredibly whiny brother, Icarus. But I’ll need to read it so I can keep up with the rest of the overarching plot lines in the series. I’m not pumped about the whine factor though.
So: the grade. The possessive stuff was a bit much and some of the sex was too dark for me. While the conclusion was a thrill ride, the journey there felt a little all over the place. Not my favourite in the series, but I made it through in only a couple days.
I fear this may become a series I’m reading to find out what happens to everyone else, and not for the romance between the main characters of each book. That was the case here: I’m invested in the world and the mayhem and the plots and schemes, but I wasn’t nearly as invested in the main couple. I’ll keep reading until we finally get to Hera and Zeus’ book – fingers crossed that’s a sensible thing for me to hope for!
– Lara
Ariadne Vitalis is in trouble. She’s betrayed her father—and his benefactor—and now she’s left to rely on the questionable mercy of Olympus to keep her safe. As with everything in this city, mercy comes with a price. For Ariadne, that means a marriage to Dionysus. She has no choice but to agree, even if there’s only one man she’s ever wanted—a man she’s feared just as much as she desires.
The Minotaur never had any illusions about Minos’s plans. He was willing to get his hands dirty as long as the old man kept his word—at the end of this, the Minotaur would be given Ariadne as a reward. Nowhere in that deal was her walking down the aisle to a different man. She’s meant for him, and he means to have her.
Ariadne knows better than to encourage the Minotaur. Her relationship with her new fiancé might be more friendship than burning passion, but she is all too aware of how much fiery passion can hurt. She and the Minotaur are no good for each other. She can never forgive him for what he’s done, and he can never change. But when his hands are on her body and his wicked words are whispered in her ear, she might just be willing to let all of Olympus burn…
Fantasy/Fairy Tale Romance, Romance, Science Fiction/Fantasy
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