Review : Exquisite Captive by Heather Demetrios

Summary (from Goodreads) 

Title : Exquisite Capitve (The Dark Caravan #1)
Author : Heather Demetrios
Publication Date : October 7th 2014
Publisher : Harper Teen
Goodreads - Amazon - Barnes & Noble

Forced to obey her master.
Compelled to help her enemy.
Determined to free herself.

Nalia is a jinni of tremendous ancient power, the only survivor of a coup that killed nearly everyone she loved. Stuffed into a bottle and sold by a slave trader, she’s now in hiding on the dark caravan, the lucrative jinni slave trade between Arjinna and Earth, where jinn are forced to grant wishes and obey their human masters’ every command. She’d give almost anything to be free of the golden shackles that bind her to Malek, her handsome, cruel master, and his lavish Hollywood lifestyle.

Enter Raif, the enigmatic leader of Arjinna’s revolution and Nalia’s sworn enemy. He promises to free Nalia from her master so that she can return to her ravaged homeland and free her imprisoned brother—all for an unbearably high price. Nalia’s not sure she can trust him, but Raif’s her only hope of escape. With her enemies on the hunt, Earth has become more perilous than ever for Nalia. There’s just one catch: for Raif’s unbinding magic to work, Nalia must gain possession of her bottle…and convince the dangerously persuasive Malek that she truly loves him. Battling a dark past and harboring a terrible secret, Nalia soon realizes her freedom may come at a price too terrible to pay: but how far is she willing to go for it?

Inspired by Arabian Nights, EXQUISITE CAPTIVE brings to life a deliciously seductive world where a wish can be a curse and shadows are sometimes safer than the light.

Personal Thoughts

The first time I read Exquisite Captive, I shut the book and decided that I didn't have very good feelings about it. After I calmed down, stalked the author's Twitter page for updates, I decided to give it a second shot and my opinion of the book definitely improved. Exquisite Captive is undoubtedly not going to be the book for everyone, mostly because of the love triangle, but it is a book that also attempts to send out a social message, which I have come to expect from every Heather Demetrios book.

As I mentioned, my relationship with this book was shaky at best in the beginning. I was utterly confused and I had no clue as to what was going on, mostly because of all the different jini species and their special abilities. Once I decided to screeshot the glossary, I had a better hang of it. The world building progressively got better as I became more and more involved in the book and by the end, I was absolutely fascinated. Heather Demetrios definitely created a fantasy world, but she tackled themes such as slavery and discrimination in a tactful way. I was a teensy bit disappointed that the book didn't have more of a Middle-Eastern desert setting (it's set in LA), but I think the next book will have us traveling to different places. That doesn't mean Exquisite Captive was devoid of any Middle-Eastern culture though. It was the complete opposite. I loved how the book was brimming with culture. I'm in interested to see where the world building is heading to in the next installment.

As far as the main character, Nalia, went she was the kind of character who slowly grew on me. I wasn't convinced with her character at first because of the way she allowed her master Malek to treat her so disrespectfully, but it soon became clear that she was suffering from Stockholm Syndrome. I was frustrated by many of her actions throughout the book, but I understood where she was coming from, and by the end, I loved how badass she had become. She has the potential to became a fabulous character throughout the series and I'm excited for the prospect. The romance was very complicated, or so it appeared at first. I was convinced that this would wind up being a frustrating love triangle where the girl fell for the abusive master, but while Nalia definitely leads Malek on, she had her reasons which became clear as the story progressed. I personally don't think that Malek will ever be a contender for Nalia's heart and the author has confirmed this on Twitter (if I read into her Tweets well). I personally thought she was trying to make a point by depicting Nalia and Malek's relationship : the cycle of abuse and how difficult it is for victims to break away from that cycle. The real love interest, Raif was a sweetheart. He was rough around the edges, but he was devoted to his clan and to his sister. While many readers found him to be boring, I found him to be the opposite of that. She was swoony, enigmatic and absolutely a good guy (which is HOT in my opinion). I did think the "I love yous" in their relationship came a little too fast, but it didn't bother me as much because their chemistry was smoldering.

Heather Demetrios is one talented author. There is an addictive quality to her writing that sucked me in from the first page and reading the book the second time around just proved further about how gorgeous writing is. Like I said, Exquisite Captive isn't going to be a series for everyone, but it's worth a try. It's rich, romantic and beautifully written! I can't wait for the second book!

Rating 

Cover : 4/5
Plot : 4/5
Characters : 4/5
Writing : 4/5

Thank you to Edelweiss and Harper Teen for the e-ARC of Exquisite Captive.