Reviews tagging 'Confinement'

Initiation by Alethea Faust

12 reviews

galleytrot's review against another edition

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

FIRST READ: Jan 2024 

SECOND READ: Apr 2024
FORMAT: Digital, Audio

ENTERTAINMENT VALUE: 4.75 / 5⭐ 

TECHNICAL / PRODUCTION: 4 / 5⭐ 

FINAL – OVERALL: 4.5 / 5⭐ 

In this book, Dominai finally arrives at the wizard’s towers after it was suggested he might have some magical aptitude, leaving behind a life that could no longer guarantee his security. Methods of casting magic are far more carnal than he ever would have guessed, and he is taken under wing by several of the Crux’s more experienced casters to help him find the schools of magic he would most like to earn his mastery in. One of their castings give him a vision of a missing wizard of the tower, confirming her to be alive and held captive and sparking a rescue mission for her and the others who have since gone missing. 

This book is entirely aware of exactly what it is at all times, from cover to cover; it’s right there, in the name of the series. I wasn’t confident going in that it would amount to anything more than pure erotica, but it actually surprised me. I won’t claim that the plot is necessarily all that clever, but it is surprising and entertaining right to the end. I was worried for the first handful of chapters, because our main character is very much a blank slate who isn’t even given so much as a physical description until way later, just being yanked around from one encounter to the next by people who are just immediately enamoured with him. Eventually we get to know more about him, once we’re done being inundated by the setting and rules of this world. 

If you want to poke and prod, the whole premise is a bit silly and might not hold up to very much scrutiny; but if you’re willing to put that aside for some sex-positive, diverse, and kinky fun, then this book has it in spades. As far as representation of kink goes, I have only one complaint: Dominai is thrown into every encounter without any real conversation to explicitly tell him what he’s agreeing to. He is endlessly curious and willing, and he is always given the freedom to stop at any given moment, but by-and-large his consent is uninformed more often than not. 

All that aside, I had an extremely good time reading this book and I’m raring to go for the next ones in the series. 

This book has representation for pansexuals, polyamory, and intersex individuals. Multiple characters are non-white, and several others are sentient, non-human fantasy races. 

The following elaborates on my content warnings. These may be interpreted as spoilers, but I do not go into deep detail.

This book contains:

past injury (broken arm, healed poorly); past parent death (illness); alcohol use; mentions of animal deaths (for protection and for food); kidnapping, confinement; consensual piercing; physically and mentally harmful past violation of trust; weapon violence (weaponized magic, blades, bow and arrows); mentions of rape, sexual assault, abuses, brutality; racial prejudice (against a fantasy race); mention of past colonization; blood, burns, injuries; drugging/sedation; death; and, vomiting.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content

Moderate: Blood, Kidnapping, Violence, Alcohol, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Cursing, Racism, Vomit, Confinement, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Terminal illness, Colonisation, Drug use, Animal death, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Rape, and Torture

yeah_she_reads's review against another edition

adventurous dark hopeful tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Murder, Confinement, Cursing, Sexual content, Kidnapping, Sexual violence, Torture, Rape, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Racism, Toxic friendship, and Gore

abookwormspov's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful lighthearted fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, Animal death, Confinement, Drug abuse, Kidnapping, Panic attacks/disorders, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Violence

Moderate: Racism, Colonisation, and Xenophobia

kelisabeth's review

challenging emotional inspiring fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Alcohol, Death, Self harm, Blood, Animal death, Confinement, Cursing, Sexual violence, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual harassment, Violence, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Torture

cas_sun_dean_rising's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful informative medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Sexual harassment, Confinement, Sexual content, Violence, Trafficking, and Kidnapping

Moderate: Sexual violence, Genocide, Racism, Xenophobia, Rape, Animal cruelty, and Sexual assault

katsofanotherkind's review against another edition

adventurous dark fast-paced

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Death of parent, Physical abuse, Rape, Kidnapping, Sexual violence, Confinement, Sexual content, Torture, and Violence

hisashiburi's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Sexual content, Injury/Injury detail, and Kidnapping

Moderate: Violence, Death, and Murder

Minor: Fire/Fire injury, Sexual assault, Drug abuse, Rape, Vomit, Racism, Trafficking, Torture, Animal death, Drug use, Physical abuse, and Sexual violence

zeravos's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional informative slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Outing, Emotional abuse, Drug use, Death, Classism, Sexual harassment, Physical abuse, Homophobia, Sexual content, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual assault, Racial slurs, Rape, Body shaming, Sexual violence, Grief, Drug abuse, Confinement, Blood, Abandonment, Vomit, Torture, Kidnapping, and Domestic abuse

shinyfox's review against another edition

adventurous emotional lighthearted fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content

Moderate: Sexual assault, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Confinement, and Panic attacks/disorders

Minor: Sexual violence, Death of parent, Animal death, and Rape

Bdsm, needle play, impact play, sensory deprivation

elisquared's review against another edition

adventurous challenging funny informative tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

This was a very well-crafted fantasy.

If you take away the kink (obviously you’d have to re-work the Magic system), the book could stand on its own. Of course, I loved the kink in this. The way it’s used in relation to magic was actually really interesting. Consent was a big, big thing, which is so important in any kink lifestyle (one of the reasons I have such a problem with how people idolize 50 Shades of Grey - that is not well done kink). I felt there was a good balance between the sex and the plot and the kinks aren’t used in a sensational way. It is important to the story and characters.

I will for sure be continuing this series, and if you love a great mix of fantasy and sex, well this is totally the book for you!

Each chapter does contain trigger warnings and kink warnings; they’re also crafted in a way that feels organic with the story, so it was great. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape

Moderate: Violence, Kidnapping, and Sexual violence

Minor: Cursing, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, and Medical content