galleytrot's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
FIRST AND SECOND READ: Mar 2023
FORMAT: Audio
BRIEF SUMMARY:
In this fictional historic adventure/fantasy/erotica set in the Eastern Atlantic (anywhere between 1600s-1800s to the best of my understanding), word of Jon’s powers of empathy/acute perception have reached Captain Baltsaros, who believes such an ability would prove a great asset in his piratical endeavours. While battling illness, Jon finds himself coerced into choosing enlistment on board the captain’s Corvette. He finds himself mixed into the complex mess of a relationship between the hardened captain and Tom, the charming, dangerous, and perpetually amused first mate. The three navigate a treacherous sea of deceit, jealousy, and betrayal.
ENTERTAINMENT VALUE: 5 / 5⭐
What do you get when you mix an empath, a sociopath, and a pathological liar? Throw in a can of piracy, sprinkle a dash of desire, season with just all of the spice, and you get this book. Caged is the story of three broken individuals figuring out what it means to find love.
Jon has been raised under the care of his widowed stepfather in a relationship devoid of affection. He spent his time in the shadows, observing people, taking in and mastering their social cues to the point where his abilities have become the stuff of stories. Despite his innate understanding of people, he suffers from the social anxiety and poor self-esteem that years of isolation have left him with. He finds himself craving a connection like the one that Baltsaros and Tom share, but he is confused by the abusive nature of their relationship.
Tom spent years as a slave, driven to work in constant fear of the whips and lashings that kept him in line, until Baltsaros bought him and took him onto the ship. Wild and near-feral, it took a long time for the captain to calm him and mold him into the skilled, brash, murderous, and deceitful (but most importantly, loyal) young man worthy of the role of First Mate. Baltsaros can provide the hurt and the control that Tom needs, but falls short when it comes to comfort and compassion.
Baltsaros, a man commanding of respect and obedience, operates different from most humans. He is largely unconcerned by the emotions of others; he is manipulative, self-serving, impulsive, and detached. He is by all accounts a sociopath, and his strange attraction to both Tom and Jon is difficult for him to navigate, coming from a place he does not understand. He selfishly needs to claim, and he jealously guards what’s his, but it’s made more complicated when the two people he feels he must choose between might also want each other, too.
TECHNICAL / PRODUCTION: 4.75 / 5⭐
Boy oh boy oh hecking boy, this book. It is not afraid to go places. The whole story’s strength is in painting a picture of unconventional (and terribly flawed) love, among unconventional (and terribly flawed) people. This is not a story of moral redemption. Awful people do awful things and are rewarded in spite of it. That isn’t to say there’s no character growth in here – there absolutely are instances of personal development for each character, but the motives behind some of their choices remains to be seen and I am very interested to see what direction the deceit and treachery may take in the next book.
Most romance stories involving a pirate and their captive will paint a picture of the pirate captain being a horrifying criminal, with grave stories of misdeeds and villainous intent; but nine times out of ten, they end up being a lovable teddy bear that just needed a little affection in their life to find their Happy Ever After. I can’t appreciate enough that Baltsaros, Tom, and the crew are entirely what they’re made out to be – cold-blooded killers, swindlers, marauders, abductors, thieves. You name it, they’ve done it. Baltsaros is his sociopathic self from the first page to the last, even if he does experience a smidge of emotional growth somewhere in between.
Ferraiuolo’s performance in the audiobook, and I truly can’t stress this enough, is incredible. I’m not sure his accent choices are geographically accurate, but I also can’t say what an accurate accent would have sounded like three-to-four-hundred years ago; so, it’s fine. His personal flair and inflection in the dialogue is what’s quickly making him one of my top favourite narrators of all time. He gives each of the characters so much life and personality that I’m envious of his skill.
FINAL THOUGHTS - OVERALL: 5 / 5⭐
This book has a lot of dark concepts in it and I would advise going through the content warnings before reading, because oh boy, does it have some rough content. I wouldn’t say any of the more distressing concepts are graphically detailed, but their inclusion is noteworthy and has impact.
This book has representation for gay, bi, and lesbian sexualities. There is a side-character of dubious gender who may be nonbinary. Women are represented in roles and positions of authority without discrimination based on their gender. At least one character is described with dark skin.
The following elaborates on my content warnings. These may be interpreted as spoilers, but I do not go into deep detail.
Spoiler
This book contains: deaths, murders; abduction/kidnapping; near-fatal illness; anxiety; vomiting (illness, hangover); confinement (cage); animal neglect; mentions of slavery; physical abuse, sexual domination; whipping to near-death as punishment; drug and alcohol use; mentions of cannibalism; suicide (hanging); mentions of child abuse (physical, emotional, implied sexual); implied incest (in one case by marriage, in another by blood); probable adult/minor relationship by today’s standards; plague; blood, injuries varying from minor to grievous (bruising, cuts, lashes, gunshots, cannon fire, traumatic amputation, third degree burns); mentions of torture; and, many instances of violence.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Drug use, Gun violence, Incest, Infidelity, Cursing, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Kidnapping, Medical content, Alcohol, Gore, Vomit, Child abuse, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Death of parent, Slavery, Suicide, Torture, Murder, Physical abuse, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Sexual assault, Religious bigotry, Rape, Animal cruelty, Cannibalism, and Pedophilia
cadiva's review against another edition
4.0
Lusty pirates, is there anything finer?! Well throw in a bit of mystery, add a touch of BDSM, kick off with a bit of adventure and tie it all together with a little bit of twisted threesome kink and you get this opener from Bey.
It didn't totally work for me, I found the odd empathy/spirit dreams element, while giving a bit of background if you interpreted them that way like I did, were a bit distracting within the narrative.
But what did work was the great setting and world building, the full complement of secondary characters and the three fascinating men who anchor the story together.
Now onto book two.
It didn't totally work for me, I found the odd empathy/spirit dreams element, while giving a bit of background if you interpreted them that way like I did, were a bit distracting within the narrative.
But what did work was the great setting and world building, the full complement of secondary characters and the three fascinating men who anchor the story together.
Now onto book two.
see_sadie_read's review against another edition
4.0
I found that I enjoyed this despite myself. These are not easy characters to like. One is a psychotic (possibly cannibalistic) serial killer, one is a remorseless situational murder and the third seems to be turned on by these traits in the other two. I can't even call these guys anti-heroes. They're just sort of the antis. But despite that you do come to root for them in the end.
I thought the book was well written and well edited. There were some scrorchin' sex scenes and a bit of a slow burn toward the intercourse in the beginning. It's largely insta-love, but I appreciate that the virgin didn't immediately become a über versatile sex kitten. I also like the direction the plot is going, so I think I'll be picking up the sequel.
I did think the dialogue clunked on occasion (not often, but occasionally) and about 2/3 of the way in there is a section with so much sex I eventually started skimming it. Hot it may be, but sometimes enough is enough. It made the book feel overly long. I also would have like a little more pirating out of my pirates and Jon's talents didn't seem to be used as often as their ostensible importance would suggest. But for the most part, I enjoyed this and look forward to more of Deckard's work.
I thought the book was well written and well edited. There were some scrorchin' sex scenes and a bit of a slow burn toward the intercourse in the beginning. It's largely insta-love, but I appreciate that the virgin didn't immediately become a über versatile sex kitten. I also like the direction the plot is going, so I think I'll be picking up the sequel.
I did think the dialogue clunked on occasion (not often, but occasionally) and about 2/3 of the way in there is a section with so much sex I eventually started skimming it. Hot it may be, but sometimes enough is enough. It made the book feel overly long. I also would have like a little more pirating out of my pirates and Jon's talents didn't seem to be used as often as their ostensible importance would suggest. But for the most part, I enjoyed this and look forward to more of Deckard's work.
claudiereads's review against another edition
4.0
4.5 stars
I would’ve probably rounded it up to 5, if not for the fact that this book needs an editor. Not so much for typos or grammatical mistakes, I don’t think there were that many here (if any), but because it suffers from an affliction that sometimes made me think I was reading fanfiction online: the excessive use of adjectives to differentiate between the characters — “the [older, younger, muscular, taller, shorter, dark-eyed, etc] man…” was a common sentence structure that kept me from enjoying it to the fullest.
Despite this little hiccup, Caged was really good. The worldbluiding was well done, and there was a nice spot of action here and there, but the story is mostly character-focused, which is exactly what I want in my books! Baltsaros, Tom and Jon… each one of these men is so beautifully complicated and fascinating (though I freely admit my weakness for Tom
I would’ve probably rounded it up to 5, if not for the fact that this book needs an editor. Not so much for typos or grammatical mistakes, I don’t think there were that many here (if any), but because it suffers from an affliction that sometimes made me think I was reading fanfiction online: the excessive use of adjectives to differentiate between the characters — “the [older, younger, muscular, taller, shorter, dark-eyed, etc] man…” was a common sentence structure that kept me from enjoying it to the fullest.
Despite this little hiccup, Caged was really good. The worldbluiding was well done, and there was a nice spot of action here and there, but the story is mostly character-focused, which is exactly what I want in my books! Baltsaros, Tom and Jon… each one of these men is so beautifully complicated and fascinating (though I freely admit my weakness for Tom
amyiw's review
5.0
Wowsers, I really liked this one. First book? Fanfuckingtastic. Don't like the word, don't read the book it's used plenty. Baltsaros and Tom are both hard to like as they both do and say things you want to kill them for. Still Jon is taken with Baltisaros and then with Tom for his own twisted upbringing and reasons. All are screwed up, the two kill without remorse, the captain even seems to be calmed by it. Seemed more realistic than the HR pirate books I've read by a long shot. Still, it is hard to like them, yet in the end... I kinda did... at least I think I liked Tom. I kinda feel that Baltsaros needs to die in the end. And Jon... well sweet Jon is changing but I think he'll still be the good guy in the end.
I hear the 2nd book is better than the first but I cannot imagine as the book, story and HEA is all there at the end. No need to go on unless like me you liked the characters and want to see where it goes. I hear there is a lot of Tom in the next book.
First erotic novel I've read that was written by a man. Seemed more to the point and less touchy feely, but it was hot. The story and the emotions were great too.
Disclaimer: mainly M/M sex lots, a little M/F-M and M/M/M scenes too. Still the majority of the book is the story, not the sex... really.
I hear the 2nd book is better than the first but I cannot imagine as the book, story and HEA is all there at the end. No need to go on unless like me you liked the characters and want to see where it goes. I hear there is a lot of Tom in the next book.
First erotic novel I've read that was written by a man. Seemed more to the point and less touchy feely, but it was hot. The story and the emotions were great too.
Disclaimer: mainly M/M sex lots, a little M/F-M and M/M/M scenes too. Still the majority of the book is the story, not the sex... really.
meggiemine's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence and Sexual content
Moderate: Confinement, Mental illness, Murder, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Alcohol, Blood, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Physical abuse, and Cannibalism
Minor: Panic attacks/disorders, Child abuse, and Fire/Fire injury
kavasghost's review against another edition
3.0
This was surprisingly good. Honestly didn’t expect it. Probably one of the best romances I’ve read in a while.
The characters are re good and both complex yet relatable.
I love the air of mystique that surrounds the story and really hope a fantasy element might come to it soon!
The characters are re good and both complex yet relatable.
I love the air of mystique that surrounds the story and really hope a fantasy element might come to it soon!
tiggers_hate_acorns's review against another edition
4.0
A pirate story that warms the cockles of your heart, if Baltsaros hasn't stolen it(literally!!). All the characters have flaws and have had harsh lessons in life - no Peter Perfects here and no fluffy romance. This is raw, swashbuckling action with bdSM thrown into the mix. This book is a historical fantasy and the first in a trilogy. We are left with a HFN with our lads sailing on their next adventure. I will be reading more!!!
naomi_branham's review
3.0
This is not my typical type read. Baltsaros is abusive and really messed up personality wise. I really liked Jon and learned to like Tom. They all have deep scars that they have to bear. It got better as the story progressed. The ending was good.