This was a supremely long book. I kept finding myself get uninterested in it as it continued. It was well written, just something about it made me not connect with it. I kept getting annoyed with the character’s blinders about feelings and rigidity. I get that there was a need for angst but it seemed just a bit over the top. ( )

Just a quick note:

there is lace in this book =)
there is abuse and rape of a minor, however, behind the scenes.
there is abuse all over the place, as a matter of fact. Cause - slaves =)
there is death of minor characters.
there is an ending, that seems... rushed, for the lack of better word outside of spoiler tags, but I don't see how it could have been done differently without adding another 100-150 pages to the already long read.

and then...
there is formatting. UGH. I can easily take a star down just for that, because even at the end of the book multiple "IE"s (meant to be "I...") never failed to make me think of Microsoft and Internet Explorer, and that's just one tiny example of the wide variety of formatting problems within a book.

Ellis's point of view as a slave, his thoughts about being a slave and enjoying his servitude, feeling fulfilled, was amazing, imho, and redeemed many a flaw.

In the end, 4 stars.
( )

How can I possibly describe how this book made me feel? Because honestly, I'm lost for words.

This story shows a society where in order for girls/boys to learn a profession, they must become a slave. A very fucked up form of internship I suppose. And while it probably started out with good intentions, it became corrupt over time. Slaves became property that is owned, do be treated as the owner wishes. Love isn't allowed between a Master and a slave.

This book is a gem of story-telling, world-building and character creation. It sucked me in, made me feel with Ellis, Harte and William. It truly gave me everything I could possibly wish for in a book. I wish I could give it more stars! ( )

Some of this was really hard to get thru but in the end it was worth it. I loved it. ( )

Alright, this was a very different book for me. I was captivated from beginning to end. Those of you who follow or see any of my reviews would notice that it’s very rare that I’ll tag in my books that I cried and if I did, honestly, it was maybe one single lonely tear. This one, not the case. I cried quite often while reading this book. Just sitting at work and thinking of some of the things done to these characters, yeah, I started crying at my desk at work….That is what this book does to you, you’ll continue to think of this book even when you don’t or shouldn’t have time to think about it. It was happy, sad, loveable, dark, abusive, commendable, heartbreaking and everything in between with sugar on top. I had this book on my “to-read” self forever it seems just b/c I wasn’t sure I wanted to waste the time because it is a very long book, not gonna lie but it was worth every moment. It’s been almost 2 weeks, I think, since I read this book and I’m still thinking about it. Enough to write a review and it’s still fresh. Do not hesitate. You will love this. ( )