Reviews with content warning for Confinement - Desperate Measures

Nice bit of erotica with a decent amount of plot but don’t expect anything more than that.
If you go into reading this expecting smut then that is what you’ll get. While this book has more plot than other books I have read by katee robert (a touch of taboo series) there is no mistaking it is erotica.

For me, I definitely could have used some more of Jasmine and Jafars backstory to flesh out the story a lot more and buildup to the smut. I really would have enjoyed reading more of their banter and seeing that true enemies to lovers trope though I know this isn’t the authors style.

Having said that I thoroughly enjoyed this book for what it was and definitely plan on continuing working my way through the wicked villains series, Hades and Meg have me very interested in their story and I can’t wait to read ‘learn my lesson’ very soon.

I felt this book dealt with the CNC kink in a very careful way and made it clear of Jasmines consent throughout the story, leaving absolutely no nuisance for it to be interpreted differently. Also loved the use of the safe word and the way it connected this story with the original source material.

Overall it was a perfect mix of dark fantasy with just enough romance to make the sensitive topics more comfortable for the reader.

Initial rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️ 3 stars
(subject to change)

Spice rating: 🌶🌶🌶🌶 4 spice

Favourite Quotes:
“To everyone out there who prefers the villains to the heroes.”

“What's the point of possessing a rare desert flower if no one knows it exists?”

“A princess locked in a tower is only kept away from the world for one reason: it has nothing to do with her safety and everything to do with her perceived value.”

“This is not a victim rushing to meet her savior.
This is a queen considering whether or not to treat with an enemy.”

Would I read again? Probably not

Would I recommend? Yes

Content Warnings

meggybee's review

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dark tense fast-paced

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

3.25

Very smutty without much plot involved but I like the world that’s being built within the series

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thesmutsister_emma's review

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adventurous challenging dark emotional tense fast-paced

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

4.0

Ten Thousand Years Can Give You Such a Crick in the Neck. Oi!
For some reason, I am making the severe mistake of loaning my mother these books. This is a decision I am sure to regret the second she comes to the first scene and realizes how fucked in the head I am (hey, Alexa, play Champagne Problems by Taylor Swift). All's well that ends well though so. We'll see how that plays out.

The Characters
Jasmine: if it had not been for the fact that she literally had never left her father's place like ever, honestly I would complain more. But here she is, as old as she is and was never allowed to leave? I guess I can give her some slack. I do wonder though how she ended up managing to do certain things she wound up doing. Curious.
Jafar: Look, the man could get it. I wouldn't be happy about it, but he could get it. I have so many issues that literally he could just tell me to fight back and we'd have a wonderful time. Outside of this, he was somewhat infuriating, honestly. Refusing to acknowledge feelings in a book as smut heavy as this? Those are some basic moves, my guy. Let's just hope I have more coherent thoughts when I look back over this than at the time of publishing and I can give more thorough thoughts.

Things I Loved
The smut was amazing as well as Katee's writing as always. I don't think I have found a book of hers I don't like. It honestly might become my life's mission to read her entire backlog. I truly don't think I could give Katie beneath a 3.75 star rating ever.

Things I Didn't Love
It felt forced a lot of times honestly. While I did understand why that was the case, I wasn't as invested as I typically am and it was frustrating because I honestly would have loved for this to be a 5 star read. Maybe the next one.

The Final Verdict
Definitely give this book a try if you like smut. This is very smut heavy and it is honestly great. Come for the villains (hehe) and stay for the smut.

Content Warnings

literarycryptid's review

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dark emotional mysterious 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

5.0

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jjreads331's review

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dark mysterious fast-paced

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

2.0

It's fanfiction. It had what felt like wildly under-negotiated kink, but it helped get me out of a short slump.

Content Warnings

thecatconstellation's review against another edition

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fast-paced

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

3.75

Is this an amazing book? No. Was it fun and hot? Yes. Quick erotica read if you’re into kink. The plot was not very good or interesting, but character interactions were good. A note: I switched from the audiobook to the ebook about halfway through in large part because I hate the male narrator’s voice.

Content Warnings

art_books_chemistry's review

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dark reflective medium-paced

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

3.0

If I had read this before reading Neon Gods, I don't think I would have bothered with any more of Katee Roberts work. After how much I loved Neon Gods, Desperate Measures was a severe disappointment. I even found grammar and spelling errors (cobbled instead of hobbled sticks out the most to me) that I didn't expect. There was more actual spice in this book which was good. I can't say I'm a huge fan of the storyline but everyone's tastes are slightly different, this just didn't fit mine for the most part. I'm intrigued with all the fairytale/mythology crossover and am interested in reading the series further to see which other villains are introduced and if Katee's writing gets better (it also felt mildly repetitive at points with using the same phrases) since the Dark Olympus books were published after these and I found the writing there better.

I do still recommend this for those who like the down and dirty dominant mafia boss falls for the princess type of story.

Content Warnings

violetends's review

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dark emotional tense 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

3.75

Read for fun while in quarantine. And I gotta say, I think I found my romance book series. Disney villains, enemies-to-lovers, kinky smut written by a person who has very obviously dabbled more than a little in kink and everything there is to know about it like safewords, aftercare and consent practices as well as a wide range of fun and possible ways to play, yess!

Even though this novel does not even pretend to be anything but smut, it still manages to present a compelling narrative with interesting characters and developments of both. I enjoyed the many cameos of other disney characters and the twists Katee Roberts gave them. (And I am so much looking forward to the second book that focuses on Meg, Hades and then also brings in Hercules).

It also opened interesting perspectives on questions of consent in the context of confinement and control. Even though Jafar stresses how important it is to him that Jasmine remembers her safeword and uses it if necessary, there is only a limited space in which she can navigate since he holds financial power over her and factually controls the spaces she is allowed to move in. The narrative continously highlights that she enjoys this for the time being and is waiting to gain further knowledge of the world she has been locked away from, before she wants to free herself from another person's control. There were scenes however, in which this became too much and uncomfortable for me, Spoiler
e.g. when Jasmine began to talk about the factual power imbalance between them and how the choices she was able to make were still within a framework presented to her by Jafar. And it did not really seem as if he understood this or cared to understand. In this case I was able to suspend my disbelief, or rather my morals. Ultimately this only worked for me though, because the narrative concludes with Jasmine freeing herself and taking up a position of power that first positions her over Jafar as she reclaims her position as her father's heir. From here on they will only be equals if she allows it and their d/s dynamic remains a fun part of their sex life and whereever they care to bring it. Due to the carefulness, with which Roberts wrote the d/s dynamic of this book, I was able to put the weird feeling I had aside but I don't think that this would have worked for me in many other novels.

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