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A review by ellelainey
Ten Count, Vol. 4 by Rihito Takarai
3.0
SERIES REVIEW
I have to admit, I wasn't bowled over by Vol. 1, but I've heard everyone raving about this and I just got paid, so I took the plunge and bought the entire series.
While, on one hand, I'm glad I did, I'm also disappointed.
This isn't at all what was advertised. At least, to me. The cover, title, blurb, do NOT prepare you for the type of story you end up with. There is NO mention of Dom/sub elements, or a Daddy/boy relationship. And, you know what? I'm fine with those things, but I'm not fine with how they were explored. Why do they both have to have experienced the cliche "childhood trauma" to become a Daddy/boy or Dom/sub? Why????
I knew in Vol. 1 that the story was moving too fast. I mean, there was insta-love hints, and then BOOM! Vol. 2 delivers "I love you" and I just...hmm, well, I wasn't impressed. There were ZERO feelings involved in this "love".
In fact, I found the entire relationship to be shallow, unformed, fake, forced and false. It was more insta-love and sex than actual chemistry and feelings. The only one who showed any hint of emotion was Shirotari, and even he was smart enough to stop and say "hang on", questioning Kurose's love. He, wisely, realised Kurose was being selfish, pushing things on him he didn't want or like, due to his OCD/germophobia, and didn't take no for an answer. He knew he was being manipulated, but still went back, and that made me SO angry!
I mean, I get it. You want to present a kinky Daddy/boy and Dom/sub relationship - HOWEVER - that doesn't mean "No" doesn't exist, and covering it with Kurose throwing out this crappy "I'm just giving you what you're too afraid to ask for" is just rubbish. That's not how it works.
I've read some FANTASTIC Daddy/boy and Dom/sub books in my time, and this one doesn't even come close to hitting the mark. I'm honestly not even sure why it was necessary, because neither of them fitting the right mentality. These guys are more S/M than Daddy/boy.
In the end, I felt pretty Meh about 50% of it, and angry about the other 50%. It's basically porn without plot, for all the emotion and growth it shows. All the decent moments are for Shirotari, but he quickly becomes a flake and a carpet for Kurose to walk over. It doesn't help that there were kink/taboo elements without any warning, either. I mean, I could think of a million better ways to explore their past than for Kurose to hit on an adult while appearing like a 10yo, and a thousand better ways for Shirotari to become a germophobe who craves a Daddy/boy relationship, without him needing to be infatuated with his own father, who was screwing an underage student. *sigh* Yeah, there's just a whole lot wrong with this, IMHO.
I have to admit, I wasn't bowled over by Vol. 1, but I've heard everyone raving about this and I just got paid, so I took the plunge and bought the entire series.
While, on one hand, I'm glad I did, I'm also disappointed.
This isn't at all what was advertised. At least, to me. The cover, title, blurb, do NOT prepare you for the type of story you end up with. There is NO mention of Dom/sub elements, or a Daddy/boy relationship. And, you know what? I'm fine with those things, but I'm not fine with how they were explored. Why do they both have to have experienced the cliche "childhood trauma" to become a Daddy/boy or Dom/sub? Why????
I knew in Vol. 1 that the story was moving too fast. I mean, there was insta-love hints, and then BOOM! Vol. 2 delivers "I love you" and I just...hmm, well, I wasn't impressed. There were ZERO feelings involved in this "love".
In fact, I found the entire relationship to be shallow, unformed, fake, forced and false. It was more insta-love and sex than actual chemistry and feelings. The only one who showed any hint of emotion was Shirotari, and even he was smart enough to stop and say "hang on", questioning Kurose's love. He, wisely, realised Kurose was being selfish, pushing things on him he didn't want or like, due to his OCD/germophobia, and didn't take no for an answer. He knew he was being manipulated, but still went back, and that made me SO angry!
I mean, I get it. You want to present a kinky Daddy/boy and Dom/sub relationship - HOWEVER - that doesn't mean "No" doesn't exist, and covering it with Kurose throwing out this crappy "I'm just giving you what you're too afraid to ask for" is just rubbish. That's not how it works.
I've read some FANTASTIC Daddy/boy and Dom/sub books in my time, and this one doesn't even come close to hitting the mark. I'm honestly not even sure why it was necessary, because neither of them fitting the right mentality. These guys are more S/M than Daddy/boy.
In the end, I felt pretty Meh about 50% of it, and angry about the other 50%. It's basically porn without plot, for all the emotion and growth it shows. All the decent moments are for Shirotari, but he quickly becomes a flake and a carpet for Kurose to walk over. It doesn't help that there were kink/taboo elements without any warning, either. I mean, I could think of a million better ways to explore their past than for Kurose to hit on an adult while appearing like a 10yo, and a thousand better ways for Shirotari to become a germophobe who craves a Daddy/boy relationship, without him needing to be infatuated with his own father, who was screwing an underage student. *sigh* Yeah, there's just a whole lot wrong with this, IMHO.