Pennies

"ALL men in this book are trash. ALL of them. There are no heroes. There are no knights in shining armour. There are people who do things for different kinds of selfish reasons. Alrik is psychotic, and he gets off not he wicked things he does to Tasmin and the complete power and control he has over her. Elder? I still don't even know what to think of him. I definitely don't like him. I'm fairly sure I hate him actually. I don't know which saying is appropriate here: better the devil you know (Alrik), or better the lesser of two evils. But then again, the lesser of two evils is still evil. And Tasmin? Wow. Given everything she's been through I really can't fault her for any thought or action. I'm amazed at her strength, and shocked that she hasn't tried to kill her self to put an end to her wicked misery. The little wins she clung on to to get through each day truly breaks my heart. And I know its naive and untrue, but I pray to God there is no one living a life like hers right now, with no end or brighter future in sight. I can't even begin to image the pain that women in sex trafficking go through. I hated seeing how Tasmin accepted her position as a "slave" (I absolutely abhor this word and simply can not wrap my head around the fact that anyone could be titled as such) and acted in submission just to survive.<br/><br/>Back to Elder though. He claimed to himself he was not a rapist, abuser, or a ******* bastard, but I find that I'm inclined to disagree with all of these denials. He had (and likely still has) every intention of raping her, said he was tempted to beat her into answering his questions, and although he did not have sex with her, he still touched her in ways she did not want. Also, when deciding what to do with her, he wasn't sure if he should free her or sell her. Sell her? SELL HER? That sentence told he everything I care to know about him. This is a man who is lacking severe parts of basic compassion and humanity. There is no light I can see him in that will succeed in painting him anything other that what he is. A monster. The lesser of two evils perhaps, but evil all the same.<br/><br/>Though at one point, where Elder was killing people and so, I wasn't sure if I was reading a fantasy or something, because the way he was describing himself fighting and his skills (his pov annoys me a lot actually, it seems very overdramatic and vague whenever he talks about himself) was was the type of thing I'd usually find myself reading in the cringier parts of a fantasy novel. It was really unrealistic.<br/><br/>This book is definitely not a romance, and I will be eternally grateful for that. It's dark, its world and characters are ****** up, and it doesn't try to hide that. I read it in one sitting, and while part of he hates it, the rest is too intrigued to not continue onward."