Taken by the Enemy

Once again Jennifer Bene has written a story with great background, great storyline and great characters and was successfully able to insert some erotica and make it work well. This story is dark and twisted, if you are not a fan of non-consent or if rape/violence bothers you, you will likely not enjoy the book and will give it a low star rating. If that kind of thing doesn't immediately turn your opinion of the entire book, you will LOVE this book. Like DARK? You will love Jennifer Bene!

Emmie is a very smart mouthed lady who came from a very privileged background. Throwing her into a village environment causes the expected challenges but Lucian keeps saving the day. This guy just drips power, authority, sweetness and a strong desire to love, can Emmie get past the first two to get enjoy the last two? If you only read a few chapters, you HAVE to make it to the ending. Well worth it.

First time reading this author.. The book is good, there is some rough scenes so read the authors warning first. I, myself like dark reads so between all I've read I'd put this one about a 7 on the dark side for some of its harsh content.

Interesting cast of characters. Liked the story but it had sinister, dark abusive tendencies. Not for those individuals that do not want a little a little spice added to their sexual encounters.

Interesting The h was beyond ridiculous. I get she needed to be strong but she was just too childish in a very dangerous situation. No common sense. And I think the author wanted a very dark book and tried to use extreme scenes to achieve that but it didn’t flow well. Wasn’t that believable because the rest of the book didn’t match right. It was a good book w a good thought but I don’t think it was fleshed out enough.

The story is a bit brutal and the punishments are abusive. Definitely not for the faint of heart. Emmie runs away to avoid an arranged marriage to a terrible man. She is saved by the leader of the exiled, who spanks her, rapes her, and then kidnaps her to his secret village. She slowly falls in love with Lucian despite not being able to reconcile the villain in him with the hero.

This story gripped me. The main characters sensuously slid across my mind one moment and fed my need for dominance, submission, and hot stinging swats the next. Read this one! I hope the author writes a sequel....

"Good quick read"
What did you love best about Taken by the Enemy?
I loved how a princess who lives a pampered life learns about the evil that she's taught about and the evil that lives right next-door.

Would you recommend Taken by the Enemy to your friends? Why or why not?
Yes, I would recommend this book. If you're looking for a quick easy listen. Minimal sexual encounters. Sassy heroin and alpha male. This is the book for you.

Which character – as performed by Andrew Ellis – was your favorite?
Lucian was my favorite character. Not only was he a sexy alpha but he was a teacher, friend, and leader.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?
Yes, I did make it a point to finish this in one sitting. It did keep me engaged, I only wish it was a little longer.

I oscillated between a two and three star review for this book for quite some time. I settled on three because there was enough I liked that I can say I enjoyed it. There were, however a number of things that will keep me for rereading it—hence no stellar review. Now, I found this review very difficult to write because most of my thoughts involve spoilers, but I’m going to do my best.

The plot begins with Emmie (wealthy, privileged city girl) running from a vague danger, one that we discover later. She must leave the city and rough it in the wilds. However, she quickly runs into Lucian (our sexy hero), who takes her back to his village, where most of the story occurs. Throughout, we get a number of BDSM, dubious and non-consent scenes, which, presumably is the reason you picked up the book in the first place. If that’s not what you are looking for, search on for something more to your taste, dear reader.

The strengths: I liked the contrast between a good dom and a bad one. That was very intriguing. I liked the fantasy of it—it never felt particularly realistic to me, but the world and characters were build solidly enough that I found it a fun, imaginative romp. I also liked Emmie, although I can understand why a lot of other reviewers didn’t. She’s spitfire and impulsive, and that can be irritating to some people’s mindset. I didn’t however feel like she was very spoiled, which is something the book seems to assume you will think. Maybe privileged, but not spoiled, to my mind.

The weaknesses: THE LOGIC. It just doesn’t make sense on a number of accounts. One of which is a pretty glaring error, ahem, involving choice. Emmie, and any others in her shoes, do NOT have choice. I’ll leave it at that. Also, the rapport built between Emmie and Lucian was abrupt and jarring and definitely could have been done better. Lastly, the villains were flat. Like, cardboard flat. A villain that is simply ‘supreme evil’ works sometimes in some books, but I would have liked some more understanding of their characters.

Overall a fun ride, but don’t expect anything life-changing.

The story sweeps along but is marred, in my opinion by certain misspellings, e.g. Compliment for Complement and a couple of others that distracted me. Also Selena's character is a little too stereotypical - Her feisty resistance capitulates too quickly to Korban. Also, I don't particularly like cliff hangers.

Do you think rape is justifiable? What about when a strong, healthy male beats a small, frightened woman brutally because she talked back to him? Is it okay to choke her, beat her, rape her, force her to perform sexual acts under threat of murdering her if she doesn't? What about preventing her escape? That okay? Should a woman be forced to stay in this environment under the justification that she couldn't possibly survive if she left? What about when a man takes her food, water, cloths, ties her up so she cannot fend for herself? Is that okay? What excuse makes it okay for a man to choke a woman, or hit her or throw her around, simply because she will not tell him her name?

If you read the above paragraph and you are horrified and think the man should be looking at the inside of a jail cell for a very long time - you will not like this book. If you find those things acceptable, then you may find this titillating.

Briefly, before the spoilers...
MATURE CONTENT - Like the most mature a person can be. I'm old enough not to want to admit my age and I'm not sure I'm even old enough for this. TRIGGERS GALORE. This is twisted depravity making terrible abuses okay, though they're not.

That said, the above isn't even why this book got only 1 star. The writing, as I've come to expect from Ms. Bene is great. Clear, well-edited, etc. Pacing - good. Narrative - easy to follow. All pretty decent.

The problems beyond rape and abuse, if you can believe there's more -

The male MC is not an alpha male. An alpha wolf, for instance, knows enough to conserve energy, health, and his pack. For a 'leader' who claims to recognize the importance of strong community members, Lucien would know that beating and starving members for speaking back is not only tyrannical, it's stupid. Sure Rome was supposedly founded by the kidnap and rape of the Sabines, but even the ancient Romans recognized the lack of any redeemable character in a man who rapes and weilds his strength over the weak without reason. And no, being talked back to is not a reason, it's an excuse to exercise power. Nothing more. Lucien is the worst sort of hypocrite, because he abuses women and says it's for their own good, to protect them, while he tut-tuts about some other man marrying a woman and letting his buddies 'break her in.' No, Lucien is not an alpha male, he's the utter dredges of society, who should be exiled from that community so fast, they never speak his name again. Dude's got a major mental disorder of some kind, and it's malignant, not sexy or romantic. Narcisisstic, maybe. I don't know, but that girl is delusional if she thinks he's going to be a decent husband, let alone father.

The heroine - codependent much? With a dash of stockholm syndrome and an unhealthy helping of cognitive dissonance.
AT least she called him out on some of his B.S., if not nearly enough. It was a start, but I skipped to then end, cuz I didn't want to go thru the last 2/3rds but wanted to see if she killed him or wound up the way most romances do. Guess what? SMH. Its ridiculous. Certainly not what I would call an HEA; more like a WTF?

Finally, and this is my biggest beef, because I recognize how subjective tastes in fiction are (though I find any glorification of rape and abusing the weak to be utterly immoral in and of itself, for obvious reasons): the author and publisher warned only that the book contained 'dark' subject matter. NOT that this was a book romanticizing taking a person's rights to their own body and torturing innocents. There is no trigger warning even. The blurb did not portray or even allude to the level of depravity herein. That really needs to be remedied ASAP before some kid looking to read some dark, dystopian fiction with at least some ethical standing comes along. This subject should only be romanticized by those who already do - those with a current rape fetish, perhaps. At the very least, put the appropriate warnings on this book.

That said, I've read Bene's short story, The Tower, and while the theme was similar, it was justified much better (as in the abuser recognized his depravity at least and had a feasible reason for going so very wrong). From what I saw up to the explanations, the justifications didn't make sense.

*** SPOILERS AHEAD ***

This is 100% nonconsensual. This chick runs, fights, begs, cries. Her only crimes are cussing, running away, being in the wrong place at the wrong time, not immediately doing what he says the instant he says it, and being female. That's it. Subjectively, she did become physically aroused at the threat of rape and achieved orgasm. Way to make the best of a very bad thing, I guess. Does that equate to consent? Heck no. Does it mean she 'wanted it?" Uh, no. Yet Lucien seems to think it does. Well, Lucien is a sick sick man with big harmful delusions.

He even seems mad that she's a virgin before he R.A.P.E.D. her, but then, also after dragging her physically from a tree, choking her out, and then chasing her when she ran. Cause she had SO much time to tell him, "Oh, BTW, I'm an innocent" while she pled for him to stop. And he was just so very receptive to absolutely nothing she had to say. Later when he eventually gives her a chance to speak when he's not overtly threatening her with serious bodily harm, he has the gall to argue that he would have treated her with respect, if she had him. Then he says he gives 'all the women' that come to his compound a chance to speak. He didn't give her one single choice besides 'do what I want, or pay dearly.' And that included 'implied' things, because not once did he tell her what his expectations for her were, besides that she 'obey.'

After he does all that stuff I mentioned above, he explains that their little society is based on the women being able to walk away. Everybody except Emmie, apparently. Same with choosing a mate. He pretty much takes that choice away too. Though he touts how necessary, functional and fair their little cult is. About as fair as a concentration camp, I'd say.

So not only does she not receive even the most basic human necessities or allowed dignity, she doesn't get to keep secrets, have any freedom, or make a choice about her own body.

Then, the logic: there wasn't any IMO.
* Lucien constantly lords how he 'saved' Emmie over her head like she asked for his help, and she's like, yeah, my hero. Just because he killed a boar while hunting, it doesn't make him your savior. Ever heard of a fate worse than death? By that logic she could insist he thank her for luring in the game.
*The justification for the town's rules, which no one explains to her but they abuse her repeatedly for not following, when they FORCED her into their little commune. Everyone just figures she reads minds I guess. Even the author and the readers.
*Not letting the whole town gang rape a woman AFTER they already have because she chose a mate (maybe choosing the lesser of evils, no?) Seems fair. We rape you or you consent to us doing it. Either way, you lose.

Again, I didn't finish this except to skip to the end only to be utterly apalled at how it wraps up. This is one messed up book, and not in a good way.

You've been warned.