Caged: The Underground

This is the kind of darkness that isn't welcome in your home and in which you can easily sink into. It's also the darkness that can change a person's psyche and leave very deep emotional scars. It's a story about deep loneliness and serious abandonment issues. Ethan is the “product” of a complicated family environment and upbringing - his parents' divorce left him adrift - but worse, and in fact the real problem for his total lack of self-esteem and self-worth, is the fact that he became the invisible child. His desperation and thirst to be seen, cherished and loved has become a slow burning, festering wound.
Meeting Alex, his first boyfriend, and finally being a center of attention and care were like a dream come true. And keeping this newfound feeling of safety on all costs, turned into a priority. When Alex tried to break up with him, the darkness and danger came knocking. But Ethan wasn't capable of seeing the red flags and taking healthy decisions. In order to be with Alex he decided the jump blindly into the lifestyle of the hidden society Alex belonged to with only limited knowledge what lies ahead. The story unfolds from Ethan's POV so the feel of his struggles, fears, pain and psychological transformation was even more amplified and heartbreaking. He didn't even know how wrong, twisted and far away from the real and safe BDSM practice, his own training was. He wanted to be where his Alèx was - his only safety net, that turned out not to be so safe after all; the only love or what he thought was love but was actually borderline obsession and pure fear of abandonment, of not being enough or worth the time and attention. The story was an endless loop of mind games and sensory overload. Definitely very well written and the triggers shouldn't be ignored. If dub con, slavery, sexual abuse aren't your thing, the reading won't be a pleasant experience.