Dark Restraint
by Katee Robert
CW: I’m going to include the entire note from the start of the book:
“Dark Restraint is an occasionally dark and very spicy book that contains abortion (off-page, historical), elements of dubious consent, non-consenual drugging, biting without prior negotiation/conversation, guns, violence, blood, child abuse and assault (historical, off-page, referenced briefly).”
Gentle reader, this is a dark romance; the darkest of the series. I am, in fact, a very gentle reader and so for me this was a little too much, which makes grading it tricky. So I’m going to unpack how I got to my grade and you might well find that your experience of the book is very different to mine. Maybe you’ll land somewhere else on the grading scale? I’d like to hear your thoughts.
This book focuses on Ariadne and the Minotaur, AKA Asterion. I was intrigued because so far in the series the Minotaur has been a pretty ruthless killer and not much else. So I was curious about possible depth to his character. Turns out the depth is just an obsession with Ariadne. I use that term advisedly. I suppose it’s also love, but the man has a laser focus on Ariadne. If you enjoy ‘possessive/mine’ stuff, then it’ll work for you. Oddly, I only like possessive vampires. What can I say, the 2000s really did a number on me with paranormals.
Because they were already pretty in love with each other from page one and had only the most tenuous thing keeping them apart, the love story was a little blah for me. I prefer more depth and development in my romance plots.
The rest of the plot going on around Ariadne and Asterion was extremely complicated. In book 6…
Ariadne betrayed her father and defected to the side of the Olympians. Much of the first 50% of book 7 is taken up with schemes and plots to try and extricate Ariadne from the mess she’s in and get her free and clear of Olympus entirely.
Plans are made and fall apart and change almost every chapter. Especially towards the end, it is a high-octane ride which didn’t always make sense to me. I know each character has their own motivations for things, but for some I couldn’t work out why they were making the decisions that they were. Perhaps I had forgotten parts of preceding books and that’s why it didn’t make sense. I’m not known for my great memory. I’ll be curious what the Bitchery thought about the plotting.
Overall, this book left me with a LOT of questions.
- Who should I be rooting for?
- What is Hermes up to?
- Will Hera really –censored–?
From what I can tell, book 8 is about Poseidon and Ariadne’s incredibly whiny brother, Icarus. But I’ll need to read it so I can keep up with the rest of the overarching plot lines in the series. I’m not pumped about the whine factor though.
So: the grade. The possessive stuff was a bit much and some of the sex was too dark for me. While the conclusion was a thrill ride, the journey there felt a little all over the place. Not my favourite in the series, but I made it through in only a couple days.
I fear this may become a series I’m reading to find out what happens to everyone else, and not for the romance between the main characters of each book. That was the case here: I’m invested in the world and the mayhem and the plots and schemes, but I wasn’t nearly as invested in the main couple. I’ll keep reading until we finally get to Hera and Zeus’ book – fingers crossed that’s a sensible thing for me to hope for!
– Lara
Ariadne Vitalis is in trouble. She’s betrayed her father—and his benefactor—and now she’s left to rely on the questionable mercy of Olympus to keep her safe. As with everything in this city, mercy comes with a price. For Ariadne, that means a marriage to Dionysus. She has no choice but to agree, even if there’s only one man she’s ever wanted—a man she’s feared just as much as she desires.
The Minotaur never had any illusions about Minos’s plans. He was willing to get his hands dirty as long as the old man kept his word—at the end of this, the Minotaur would be given Ariadne as a reward. Nowhere in that deal was her walking down the aisle to a different man. She’s meant for him, and he means to have her.
Ariadne knows better than to encourage the Minotaur. Her relationship with her new fiancé might be more friendship than burning passion, but she is all too aware of how much fiery passion can hurt. She and the Minotaur are no good for each other. She can never forgive him for what he’s done, and he can never change. But when his hands are on her body and his wicked words are whispered in her ear, she might just be willing to let all of Olympus burn…
Fantasy/Fairy Tale Romance, Romance, Science Fiction/Fantasy
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I feel like the Dark Olympus series started as morally grey protagonists finding love and a bit of found family despite the political hellscape they all live in. Now stories seem to have lost their happy endings and replace them with a happy-with-what-we-have. I was looking forward to seeing Hera and Zeus play out after their reveal in Electric Idol, but I’m not so sure anymore. Dark Restraint seems to move the political machinations of Dark Olympus forward, but I miss the hopeful note on which the first two books ended.
I’m always fascinated by what Roberts keeps from the myths and what she tosses away. Like keeping the parental betrayal from the original Ariadne/Theseus myth but having Ariadne basically hook up with her brother, the half-bull. I know that’s not what happens in her books but it still boggles my mind.
Sadly these books haven’t been working for me for awhile. They’ve been getting mired in their darkness, as everyone’s noted.
I’m not sure what it says about my reading habits, but I don’t find Dark Olympus that dark.
The problem I have is that there are so many characters with opaque motives and plots that there isn’t enough time spent on developing depth. Ariadne wants to not die. Asterion wants Ariadne.
The book is still very readable, and I liked it well enough, but it isn’t really satisfying.
I read NEON GODS and I have a couple other books in the series that I haven’t read yet. There are a few things that have made me hesitate to go further given my very limited reading time these days (even though I did enjoy Neon Gods). I am very behind on the overall storyline so please excuse me if this is a stupid question, but is “The Minotaur” just a mafia-style nickname, like Sammy The Bull or Scarface or Joey Walnuts? Is the Minotaur a full human or is he still literally part bull? Thanks to anyone willing to clarify!
@Lauren – not a stupid question at all. He’s not part bull, but why he’s called the Minotaur is kind of hand-waved away. Ariadne’s father is a guy called Minos Vitalis, and Asterion is his ward/adopted son/trained killer/cannon fodder. So obviously what else would you call that person other than The Minotaur?
@Lara, you got me to read Midnight Ruin and you were right, dangit. It was cathartic and emotive and all the feels. Stupid Charon making me like Orpheus, and actually wanting them all to have a happy ending. One of the few relationships in this series that I thought might actually be vaguely healthy after the book ends (see also Hades/Persephone, Cassandra/Apollo and maybe Psyche/Eros).
Then this book was just sort of repetitive and faux-angsty? Asterion is really angry with Ariadne (but doesn’t use his words) and then he goes to a meeting and then he stalks people and then his plans change and then and then (repeat each 4-5 chapters) … Ariadne has an ambivalent conversation with someone and does what they tell her to and genuinely has had a LOT of shit happen to her that she needs to go away and cry about for three weeks but instead goes clothes shopping (good choice).
Also, I am deeply unenthusiastic about the next book being the emotional recovery of Icarus. But maybe it’ll be similar to Midnight Ruin and I’ll actually really enjoy it? This is the hope that keeps me coming back.
I’ve gotten bored with Dark Olympus- I stopped after the Helen/Patroclus/Achilles book.
I think what turned me away is the fanfic-esque tropes and tags in the blurbs, and the way that the plot seemed to just be there to jump from one tag to another. I agree with what other commenters have said about the depth being lacking. I certainly don’t hate them- but Katee Roberts has become a library/used-bookstore/subscription service author for me, and not a full-priced buy.
I would honestly be reading only to keep up with whatever Zeus and Hera are doing. Is that even worth it?
Sorry, I know that Ariadne and the Minotaur were half-siblings. Incest is not my catnip. An author who says “but it was really different from that!” Would have to go a long way to convince me.