I didn't enjoy this book. it's full of violent assholes that treat women like shit. it romanticises violence, abusive behaviour and kidnapping - Stockholm Syndrome anyone? the guys may be pretty to look at but their characters are disgusting. wanting to possess women and use them like toys. I wonder how anyone can write a story like this and proclaim it a love story - it's not. it's a story about a toxic relationship, about a man having power over a woman. Doe didn't really have a choice. she has no recollection of who she is. she lives on the street, starving and is constantly in danger. King has a weird obsession with her, claiming he owns her. fxcking disgusting to begin with. he touches her when she doesn't want him to - he undresses her in her sleep. he's violating her all the freaking time and she doesn't do anything. she's fine with it because he saved her from being raped - after he held her hostage and sent her away in the middle of the night? I can't even... I feel disgusted reading this and still some part of me wants to keep on reading because it's like watching an accident - you don't want to look because it's so terrible but at the same time you can't stop. I guess I like to torment myself because holy shit - nothing about this story, the power relations in it or the way women are constantly objectified and degraded sits right with me. but the sociologist in me is fascinated by the fact that people actually enjoy this, think it's hot/a good romance story or whatever. books like this are perfect for an analysis from a cultural criminology pov. so. messed. up.