This book was a big hot mess, and it got worse the further I went on. There was potential here, and the writing isn't awful, but it does feel a bit like someone's first fan fiction.

My biggest gripe is that there was not nearly enough plot or character development to justify the over 400 pages of content. If you had edited down the repetition of the main character's inner dialogue, and the amount of over-explanation, you would have been left with about a solid 100 pages of content.

I've heard others feel like this felt like a prologue that went on for far too long, and I have to agree. I simply started skimming at about the 70% point because what was the actual point of this book? I'm sticking around to the second one, simply because I hear it is much better, but I don't think I will force myself to finish it.

There is the concerning nature of "torture porn" that seems to take up the final third of the book. Much of the violence and rape seemed unnecessary. We do not need further explanation that the things that these 'saddles' go through are awful. I have a usually high tolerance for these things, and even I was uncomfortable with how it was happening.

I'm not a big fan of pushing through a book for the sequel, but because it was easy enough I could read chapters in between doing other things.

Also, please check for basic formatting before publishing a book! In the middle, the font changed sizes for a few pages before going back to the normal font. It made everything feel unfinished and unprofessional.