KittyLuvr's Reviews > Obey

Not everyone loves the same way, or solves their problems the same way, or survives the same way. Many are sweet & upfront & determined, they walk a path the most of us do, or least TRY to do. BUT, what if your past, or your current situation & even your potential future is broken, shattered, DARK or downright evil? How THEN would you love (if possible), solve your problems or attempt to survive?
Any way you can.
So it was, & continues, for Maxim (anti-H) & his Kotyonok (Frankie/Kitten, heroine) in 'Obey'.
This is a continuation of 'Submit' & 'Submit' really must be read in order to understand Maxim, Frankie, their relationship & how they've arrived where they are in it currently. Maxim & Frankie had acheived a semblence of a resolution in their relationship in 'Submit', but in 'Obey' evil & vengeful & greedy outside influences in Maxim's life & empire are searching for any weakness the terrifyingly frightening Maxim may have. And for the first time in his life, the only time in his adult life, Maxim has one: Frankie.
And if it takes shattering Frankie's heart & soul to protect her, is Maxim able to do that?
His empire means everything to him, his entire life has been building & growing it, holding on to it with brutal & lethal iciness, doing whatever it took to preserve & keep it. But even Maxim has those to whom he's responsible, who are not happy with how things have been going . . . .
Both Maxim & Frankie have been tragically broken (read book #1: SUBMIT) in vastly different but equally tragic ways. Broken to the point that only pain (given & taken) is able to allow them to 'feel' anything, to connect with their counterpart. But neither is able to articulate their feelings, although they've managed to escalate the intensity of their relationship & couplings to the point they are able to skirt at the very far edge of expressing the depth of their need, want & desire for the other.
Both Maxim & Frankie are wonderfully complex characters, & initially (in book #1), I wasn't sure I'd like EITHER of them. Maxim is a HARDCORE sadist, in the bedroom & out, OTT dominant, controlling, vicious & glacially cold emotionally. But his Kotyonok has somehow managed to become an addiction, he craves her even as he continually attempts to drive her away, terrify her away or shut her out of his life. But he keeps taking her back because no matter what he does, no matter how Frankie swears to walk away, she returns because she is as addicted to Maxim as he is to her.
Their relationship is DARK, it is brutal, it is destructive & yet NOT any of those. Why? Because it is what they both need AND want in order to calm & quiet their thoughts: rage & violence for Maxim, betrayal & exhaustion for Frankie.
I truly did love ]this continuation of Maxim & Frankie's story: the broken & the betrayed, the abused & the warped sometimes deserve their peace too, no matter who they find it with or how they consensually work to achieve it.
This story SUCKED me further into Maxim & Frankie's tragically beautiful tale, I found my emotions swirled chaotically from teary eyed to hopeful to angry to horrifed & back again. I COULD NOT STOP READING this book (or SUBMIT) until I finished it in one sitting. Yes, to me, it was THAT excellent. And no matter what happened, a mantra of please, please, PLEASE let them have a HEA together never left my mind.
So, for the reader who isn't afraid of the dark, or triggers, or brutally beautiful & dysfunctional love stories, I heartily recommend this one. It is one of the best & wonderfully twisted romances I've ever read.