It's Lady Em, late again, with a new review post. Hold is a sci-fi book set in a future where human kind has spread out across the galaxy, and to simplify things for the ruling government, all broken laws are treated as equal. Trespassing, stealing, rape, murder, all get a person either thrown in prison, permanently, or dumped on a primitive planet for the rest of one's life.
Hold is told from the point of view of Riana, an archeologist who had permission to study ruins on a planet and mistakenly believed she also was allowed to study the nearby land, but was convicted of trespassing and thrown into one of the most notorious prisons. The head guard there tells her to find the strongest man there, and basically allow him to use her body so she will have some sort of protection from all the other prisoners, as they have lost all sense of civilization and might is definitely right in the bowels of this place.
Riana takes this advice, and I have to admit to finding her first sexual interaction with her chosen protector, Cain, pretty cringe-y. I realize it's to help show how brutal the prisoners have become, and to showcase how much better Cain is than the others, even if he seems brutish at the very first. I will say it is more like Cain is so eager to have a (mostly) willing woman for the first time in a while, and Riana DID choose Cain, going so far as to alienate and insult other prospects for a protector. And, Cain himself has regrets about this transactional relationship, as the book shows later on. However, their relationship quickly develops and ALL intimate interactions thereafter are much more palatable. If you can get past that first interaction, the book has a great story arc. The two quickly find their mutual attraction to be the basis of their physical relationship, and while both are uncomfortable with the power imbalance in their own ways, the relationship grows in mutual trust and care.
Cain is an enigma, no one but Riana is offered his true name. He has been scavenging all sorts of things to create a mysterious device. As Riana and Cain develop deeper feelings for one another, and struggle to maintain their humanity amongst the depravity of the unchecked prisoners, they meet another prisoner with a mysterious ability. The three try to find a way to make a plan to escape the inescapable under water prison and back into the galaxy where hopefully they can find new lives, instead of just surviving their brutal cage.
I really enjoyed the growth of Riana and Cain's relationship. At first, Riana is, understandably, scared of making waves or doing anything to upset Cain, because he is the only thing standing between her and hundreds of brutal would-be rapists. It's interesting to watch as she gets more comfortable with him, and has to start reminding herself not to say things to him, and when she starts to trust him more, after a harrowing experience, she actually starts to stand up for her thoughts and argue with him, and Cain listens to her. The reader gets a front row seat to watch the power imbalance right itself as the two develop feelings for each other. Also, Kent does an amazing job sketching out some of the prisoners that Riana observes and interacts with. The reader feels just as horrified or empathetic as Riana, and the whole prison setting, as bleak and dreadful, was well done.
I give this book 3.75 quills out of 5. I would have given it 4.5, but that first interaction between Riana and Cain is a lot.
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