A review by violetends
Desperate Measures by Katee Robert
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,
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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Kidnapping, and Confinement
Moderate: Death of parent, Emotional abuse, and Domestic abuse