Interesting characters, beautiful graphics, story just fell short for me in the end. it could have been a much better story

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for granting me free access to the advanced digital copy of this book.

2 stars, it was just okay for me. Admittedly, I was trying something different by choosing this book, so this could work for others who read books related to this one. But on its own merits, it never made much sense to me, and worse still, it didn't particularly engage me.

Many thanks to NetGalley and to the publisher for a digital ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This was ok. I was hoping I would like it more but I still enjoyed it for the most part. The characters were interesting but I didn't love them as much as I wanted to.

I struggled to keep motivated whilst reading this, the graphics are beautiful and usually I love stuff like this but it wasn’t very smooth sailing throughout which left me feeling a bit disappointed.

The author had the right direction but things were just a bit…eh, at points. The BDSM was on point but some of the past flashbacks made me tilt my head in confusion. It was decent.

I immediately fell in love with the cover of I Want You to Own Me and was absolutely not disappointed. Even though the cover doesn't quite look as *hot*, as the book turned out to be. It was so interesting, to read about these characters and their relationship and the development of their Dom/sub roles.

First up, thank you for allowing me to read this book!
I have loved Yaoi/MM/Boy's love for ages, well, OK, I am done with a lot of the tropes (sexual assault being one), but thankfully there are plenty of MM/Yaoi without, especially these days. So I was excited to read this book and was curious about the Dom/Sub and how that worked in this universe. Plus, that cover. So cute! It just screamed that this one would be a cute read.
However, the first chapter just didn't click with me and just made me feel uncomfortable enough that I decided to check some reviews. And thank the lords I did because they warned me that there was going to be A LOT of graphic sexual assault. For many many pages. Because apparently when one gets named a Sub you have to go through all sorts of weird as fuck lessons that include fuck consent. I also saw some other warnings that made me go EWW NOPE, that I don't want to read in any book. So I DNF-ed this one.

It was an okay book with an interesting premise and characters. However the lacking in the world building and characters' inconsistent acting made it a bit incomplete. Recommended for people who likes to read erotic stories as a light fun.

What really throw me was that lack of content warnings. Not for the graphic sexual parts but just for the more triggering situations (emotional abuse, dubious consent). Some warning prior would have appreciated.

Overall, I found the premise of the book to be interesting. The idea of either being a Dom or a Sub and it can be seen in someone's bloodwork isn't something I have come across before. What I felt like was a plot hole was that Anthony wasn't effected by Doms until he found out that he was one. If he was a Sub and it's something that is written in DNA, you'd think that there were have been early signs.

Anthony was failed by all of the adults around him, especially his parents. 100% garbage people. When Anthony and Noah got together I was overcome with joy. They are so sweet and kind one another that it warmed my soul <3

This was a fun and sexy quick read! I loved these two characters so much! It was also well written. Highly recommend if you are in the mood for an omega verse!

I wanted to read this book partly because I thought I would enjoy it as I watch a lot of BL dramas on TV. But I was a bit disappointed to be honest..
I didn’t mind the Dom/sub content, but parts of of the story didn’t feel as real as others and that niggled me..
It does have potential and I’m sure that for some readers it will be a book that they really enjoy.
My thanks to the author, the publisher and NetGalley for gifting me this arc. My review is left voluntarily.

Unfortunately I did not get on with this book. I usually read a lot of omegaverse books and thought the sub/Dom world would be similar but for some reason this made me uncomfortable and I had a hard time picking it up which is of course just a personal opinion. I think if this is your thing you might enjoy it slightly more than me. I didn't think it was the best writing but it wasn't the worst I've read and it did have its moments but it just wasn't the book for me.

A very interesting take on Dom/Sub relations. In this world, it is a separate sexuality, and there is nothing you can do to change that.

Overall, fun concept. Though, DEFINITELY check the trigger and content warnings since it starts out with some VERY negative and toxic Dom/Sub relationships, as well as dubious consent/non-con.

Luckily, our Sub protagonist Anthony finds himself in the capable hands of a very good Dom. With some lovely twists, turns, and a really healthy relationship blooming, this was a fun read.

I received this ARC via NetGalley and this is my honest review.

It was alright, simply not my style of reading but would still recommend this book to anyone who likes these styles of books!

1.5 stars

I honestly thought this was going to be a manga like some of the other reviewers (this mistake of mine, of course, didn't affect my rating) but thankfully, this book was short.

Now, I am aware of the trigger warnings, so I have no issue with those, but sometimes the book felt like it was satire or a parody, and I couldn't take it seriously at all. The writing (especially the dialogues) was bad sometimes and overly descriptive here and there. The author seems to have an obsession with bodily fluids and I'm aware she's not the only one but it felt excessive especially since it's in writing and not drawing like in mangas (I'm basing this off from my experience of BL mangas).

As for the erotica aspect, honestly, I feel embarrassed to be even typing this, but beyond for the choking play, it felt mild?? LOL. The only position I read was missionary and I was expecting this to be wild since it was BDSM but it focused more on the pain and bodily fluids aspect (that is to say, there were a lot of biting and blood drinking besides for the constant mention of sweat, tears snot and of course, cum. I'm only familiar with the Alpha/Omega thing, but from the very few I've read, there wasn't this obsession with biting hard enough to drink blood 🤷‍♀️).

Overall, I have to say I either laughed or cringed most of the time as I read the book, and Anthony was overly annoying with his damsel in distress personality blasted through the maximum. Bruh, how do you even cry to the point you blind yourself and can't see anything no matter how many times you wipe your tears??? This is why I feel like the book was a parody rather than it being somewhat serious besides for the erotica aspect. I would definitely be more careful in reading the tags and definitely won't read more from the author because the concept and her writing style aren't for me, unfortunately.

Thank you Netgalley for providing me with the digital copy for an honest review.

3.5/5 stars

I had the pleasure to read Eve Healy’s “I Want You to Own Me” as an ARC and it has seriously been a pleasure because there have been so many emotions and so many things and and… I was so damn cheering for Noah and Anthony and I was seriously NOT let down at the end.
Due to moving and then having a while no internet connection, this review comes a little later. But in total - it was a good read.

First off, I thought this was a manga, only to learn it was a light novel. Okay, fine. Cool. That's on me. I'll give it shot.

Well, I gave it a shot.
This felt like a fujoshi's wet dream piece, to put it nicely. And while I'm a big fan of BL, the way this story played out felt like it a came from *that* side of the fandom. IFYKYK.

Thank you to NetGalley for sending me the advanced reading copy of I want you to own me by eve healy. This started off completely missing the mark with me. I really didn’t want to read past the first page and I didn’t get much farther. Treating subs like pets and slaves. Really just didn’t catch me. Maybe it could have been better later on and I’m sure it’s for someone.

Full disclosure, I requested this because of the cover thinking that it was manga or a graphic novel and didn’t read the description. I admit that I royally fucked up, and that I am the one who made the mistake here. This wasn’t for me; this is nothing that I would ever be interested in. So, one star is an accurate measure of my opinion and total moral opposition to the content, though I do feel slightly bad about accidentally coming into a very specific type of space and rating so lowly.

Basically, I advise people to read the synopsis, as well as other reviews that more comprehensively list the tags/triggers, as I had to dnf.

Aspects to be aware of:
- non-con and dub-con
- dubious age gaps
- sexual-assault justifying magic(?) system (‘Doms’ can use words that compel ‘subs’ sexually, and they cannot physically disobey)
- non-safe BDSM practices
- a/b/o adjacent vibes
- flippant use of words like ‘manic’
- dehumanisation in general
- sex slavery vibes
- fuck or die trope

The actual writing style is pretty average, but the content is something that you need to be extremely aware of.