I think this book was very much a case of not my cup of tea. I didn’t realize this was a slavefic when I started reading and quickly learned that it’s not the type of story I enjoy or have interest in reading further. While there was a lot of beautiful writing that I couldn’t help but appreciate, I found myself skimming large chunks of the book rather than diving deeper. Just not for me.

This book came out during a strange time (the beginning of COVID). It was initially hard to get into because of outside influences. The premise was unique and intriguing with nuanced queer characters, but there was glaring gaps in the economic system that I couldn't ignore.

I'm still unsure how i feel about this book. It doesn't help that there was so much acclaim surrounding this book that it wasn't likely to live up to the hype regardless. A good read, but really hard to say much special about it.

I started reading this book and found that it was not for me. I didn't want to review a book that I didn't finish.

Anything pitched as dark, queer and dystopian immediately has my attention, and I was keen to try this twisted exploration of the future. It's centred around a world steeped in debt and just how far people would go to clear their name, keep their family safe. It's not just about sacrificing pride; they are here to sacrifice their bodies, their minds, their sense of self. It's modern day sex-slavery set in a world that gave me Capitol from the Hunger Games vibes (also Only Ever Yours by Louise O'Neill felt reminiscent of this, but less graphic). It is a hard tale to stomach, but I was here for the insidious and terrible commentary on human nature. The depravity and the redemption.

However I did have misplaced expectations for two reasons. (1) It is partially narrated by Alex, who is the rapist and rich abuser. While being in his head, you do see his justifications and how he's not just "pure evil"....except....he is. He's a rapist. The way the book not only gives him a redemption arc, but also has Elisha (someone who Alex has brainwashed, enslaved, emotionally and physically abused as well as raped) STILL give him a chance at a relationship at the end is....well, no. I actually thought Elisha would murder him and the court case at the end would be defining what self-defence is as well as a look at how people ignore rape when there is a "yes", despite the yes being forced and coerced. But no. That was not brought up at all. Lol.

Secondly (2) I really expected some dismantling of this system that relies on sex slaves, docline drugs, and trilionarires ruling the world with their greed. There was just no depth in the world building, no explanation of how things work. I wanted to be terrified of Lex Bishop (Alex's father) and see just the depths of depravity he could also stoop to. NOTHING. Even at the end, everyone seemed to get off with a slap on the wrist? Lex should have destroyed Dutch and everything he stood on, and then done the same to Alex. The fact they could walk away made the entire situation seem so insipid. What were they scared of all this time then? And how exactly did the world work. Why was the board of Dociline convinced Alex couldn't function as a CEO unless he had....a marriage? Lots of words, not much backing for them.

Basically I wanted deeper world building and to be chilled to my core by what power could do and meant. Instead it was a redemption story for a rapist who, at the expense of destroying a 21-year-old, learned to become "a better person".

The writing was, in a word, addictive, and despite being 500 pages it did fly by. It really was very character driven and delved into psychology of abuse and stockholm syndrome, also in themes of what self means. It was a fascinating case study in justification of terrible deeds, and very well written. It's very much about consent too: how Elisha told himself he'd agreed to this sex, even though he had no choice. A yes, where the only option for no is more suffering, is never going to be a yes.

A fascinating book with a subpar resolution. I really wanted to see Alex face real and devastating consequences and to either have seen the characters left hopeless as a mirror to what life is often like OR to see them actually toppling the crushing iron wheel of society. Instead of walking merrily free to have a dubious sort of HEA.

I am a member of the American Library Association Reading List Award Committee. This title was suggested for the 2021 list. It was not nominated for the award. The complete list of winners and shortlisted titles is at <a href="https://rusaupdate.org/2021/02/2021-reading-list-years-best-in-genre-fiction-for-adult-readers/">

A well-written, fascinating parable of capitalism and a scary vision of where it could go, if its most predatory characteristics are allowed to flourish.

Szpara challenges readers' expectations and, in some instances, comfort levels. It's a novel that asks blunt questions in interesting and nuanced ways. It's very well-written, the characters are excellent, and it's gripping.

Recommended.

I wasn't sure what to rate this book at first. But I realized it can't get anything less than five stars because, no matter what else this book did, it kept me completely enthralled. I've never read a book before where I was actively rooting for the relationship to end. Seeing Elisha so hurt and broken, hurt me. This book gave me anxiety and heart palpitations and actually made me nervous. The relationship between Elisha and Alex was completely unhealthy and, yet, I love the way it makes you think and consider the hard stuff. The ending works for me. My opinions on their relationship don't matter because it's ultimately up to them to decide. Docile is dark and heavy, but it will make you feel. And that's all I ask of the media I consume.

This book. Holy shit this book. It's simply amazing. It's a bit like Fifty Shades of Grey, if, you know, Fifty Shades of Grey were:

1) Actually worth reading

2) Beautifully well-written

3) Super gay

4) Set in a dystopian future in which people sell themselves into drugged slavery to pay their debts.

I am warning you, once you start reading Docile, you will not be able to stop. It is compulsively readable. So if you want a hot M/M romance with a hint of dystopian sci-fi, read this book. Or just read it anyway. Seriously. Read it. Read it NOW.

***Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Thank you NetGalley and Tor!***

SPOILER ALERT: I don’t think I can actually discuss this book without spoilers, except to say it had no point.

This book was basically a slavefic erotica with a messy attempt at a moral/political/social message attempt. But it failed pretty badly on all fronts with it. Instead I was left with a book that had a good idea and a snazzy tagline but otherwise had no purpose. It gets an extra star for being well written, because the writing is very good.

I had hoped this book would make some point about the social and economic gap between the wealthy and the poor. I mean, re-instituting slavery is a rather aggressive step to deal with a debt problem so I expected there to be some kind of larger point. But this is very rarely touched upon except to be pointed out that “this person is wealthy, this person is not.” There exists no other purpose for this distinction that I could fathom. I also don’t understand how there’s seemingly two classes of people at play here (3 technically). First, we have the very poor and indebted county folk. Most of them seem to have somehow accumulated millions of dollars in debt over three generations but I am not clear how. They live in a house that was built with abandoned bits of other houses. They run a self sufficient farm. No one is college educated and all of them refuse to seek medical care. So, where exactly did all this debt come from? Never explained. Then you have the trillionaires who buy the debt of the county folk. Always trillionaires. I don’t know why, and it’s not clear how they amassed such extreme wealth either. Then they have a mostly absent third category of people who work in the city, live outside the city, and spend most of their time worried about making sure they don’t accumulate debt. They aren’t wealthy but they aren’t in debt either. But these people only become relevant in the latter half of the book so they don’t matter.

We spend the first few chapters of the book being introduced to this world system. Laws have been passed that make debt inter-generational. You inherit your parents’ debt. We later learn that this has been in place for about three generations. You have two options to handle your debt. Go to debtor’s prison or become a Docile (a slave) for a set period of time that is set forth in the contract agreed upon by you and your Patron (the one who will be paying your debt). As a Docile your Patron can do….well basically anything they wish to you, as long as they get you medical care and try to keep you alive. The wealthy seem to mainly use this power to rape their Dociles and have sex parties. I don’t know why, except so that we could put in sex scenes or make it seem more despicable. But the more we learned about the treatment of Dociles, the more I thought “you have told me nothing about debtor’s prison, but in pretty much any world it’s better than spending multiple years being raped……”

Dociles have rights…sort of. They have the right to request or refuse to use the drug Dociline (which makes them forget their memories while under its influence), they have the right to not tell anyone their real name, they have a right to medical care…and a few other things that really don’t matter. But here’s the rub. Everyone chooses to take Dociline (except Elisha it seems). Dociline makes that person agree to anything. So what is the point of insisting that there are rights they have if they have no capacity to realize that their rights may have been violated? It seemed utterly pointless. We spent a LOT of time being reminded of a Docile’s rights, but they are entirely unaware of themselves and unable to say no to anything. So they really don’t have those rights if no one is actually around to enforce them.

I knew that Alex would change course and suddenly have a change of heart about the company and Dociline, and would see Elisha as a human being and be horrified by his treatment of him. But it was also made clear to me through the writing that I was supposed to feel sorry for him. He just didn’t realize that what he was doing was wrong. Except that isn’t true. He knew it was wrong. He told us it was wrong over and over again. But he did it anyway. He spent 200 pages torturing and dehumanizing Elisha but then suddenly has so much regret and “loves” him. The fact that the two of them end up in a relationship at the end of the book was such bad judgment. It’s like the abused woman leaving the shelter to go back to the husband who’s been beating the crap out of her for years. That is literally what happened here. Elisha got a month or two of making his own choices and then went back to his abuser. I don’t give a damn if his abuser “changed” or was a better person, that was disgusting and cheap.

Now we come to my biggest problem with this book. It makes no sense. Literally zero sense. At first I thought this was the new debt system of the entire United States. But at the end we find out it’s only Maryland. So…..the entire federal government and 49 other states were totally okay with Maryland pretending that the Constitution doesn’t exist and that the Emancipation Proclamation, Civil War and Civil Rights Movement never happened? They just allow an entire state to reinstate slavery? No one took that decision to the Supreme Court as a gross violation of the Constitution? Really? I am expected to believe this? No sense. If it was the whole country then I could get there if you gave me an explanation. But one singular state that is allowed to do all these outlandish things with no interference or intrusion from other states or the federal government? I have a really hard time believing that is even remotely plausible.

This book is nothing more than an erotica with a snazzy tagline and a half backed premise. Which is disappointing because the writing is wonderful.

This is not the book I was expecting to read. I think parts of this felt very real in possibility in terms of debt and what we do to our most vulnerable people in the name of capitalism. I quite enjoyed this story and subtle tale of revolutionizing the system.

I think I have too many mixed feelings about this book to write a coherent review . . . that may sound like I'm trying to avoid writing one, but I can honestly say that it has been weeks since I read this and I still don't know what to make of it.

Thank you, NetGalley and the publisher for the chance to read this novel!

DNF @ 20%

I'll admit, I requested this book for three reasons, the pretty cover, queer characters and the hype surrounding it. While I definitely see why people would love this story, and the writing style is undoubtedly gorgeous, I had no clue what I was getting into when I started this book and suffice it to say, it's not for me.

I will 100% be reading more by this author in the future and I am happy I decided to give this novel a try.

I will not be posting a proper review of this book on my blog because I did not finish reading it. While I appreciate that this book is trying to do something nuanced with the rape/sex scenes, I didn't enjoy reading them and found them a bit dull. The book moved slowly with respect to the other plot line, which I would have possibly found more interesting but at 30% of the way through the book, it hadn't really gotten started.

Docile is a novel that has been getting an insane amount of attention online. At least, my twitter feed has been dominated by it for months now. Written by K.M. Szpara, the leading quote and focus has created a groundswell of attention.

This is a tale about Elisha Wilder. His family was overburdened by debt. So much debt that it felt like they could never get free of it. Probably because they never could. Not without taking drastic measures.

That is why Elisha sold himself. In exchange for clearing all of his family's debt, Elisha would go into a world of servitude. Here he would be expected to live on Dociline, a drug designed to keep people like Elisha calm and controlled.

Naturally, it's only the rich and powerful that benefit from this practice. But this is the world that Elisha was born into. Now let's see if he can break it.

“There is no consent under capitalism.”

Warnings: There are a lot of strong and concerning themes in this novel. Mainly they focus on the lack of consent. There's abuse, sexual assault, non-consensual sex (both for lack of ability to consent and from lack of caring), slavery, control, as well as themes of dominance and servitude.

I am honestly conflicted about how to write this review. To put it simply: Docile is not the novel I thought it would be. When I saw it described, or even talked about online, I got the impression that it was going to be a powerfully moving tale.

That might have been my mistake there. My misunderstanding. Docile does have a powerful undercurrent, in Elisha's ability to retain his sense of self through some truly heinous experiences. But there are times where that almost seems to lose focus.

The truth of the matter is, while Docile had some important points to make, as well as a few great things going for it. It also was very uncomfortable to read. The whole lack of consent in sex was a major sticking for me. As was the harsh representation of BDSM.

I guess what I'm trying to say is this: this is not the book I had expected. Nor is it really the book I had been looking forward to reading. That is a complete shame because I went into this will full intention of falling in love with it. Something that did not happen. I actually struggled to finish this book, if I'm being completely honest.

On that note, there is a bit of an upturn towards the end. But to get to that point you're going to have to go through several uncomfortable scenes and situations. Perhaps I am in the minority for feeling that way though (looking at all of the other reviews out there, I feel like I am).

Also, I just want to be clear: this is not a preference based on sexuality. I actually love that part. It's everything else that made me uncomfortable here.

Think Beauty & The Beast meets 50 Shades of Grey. 5 minutes into the future people can pay off their financial debts by signing up for a government-sanctioned indentured servitude program. Elisha enrolls and is purchased by an emotionally cold billionaire. The concept is interesting, but the execution is lacking; 200 pages too long and extremely sexual. AT YOUR OWN RISK.

This was a wild ride.

Grateful for the chance to read it, couldn't put it down. I ended up finishing it in 3 days? Absolutely loved it, would recommend. Definitely a content warning, it was intense and some may have issues with that.

Would recommend, really well written!

DOCILE is a book that will stay with you days and weeks after reading. In the near-future United States, citizens inherit debt, amounts so high that they will be passed down for generations. As a result, the government established an Office of Debt Resolution where individuals can sell themselves for a portion of their debt. The novel's tagline "There is no consent under capitalism" demonstrates the evil and perversity of this slave-like system: debtors sell their right to bodily autonomy and safety to relieve a measure of debt. Elisha, a young man, chooses to become a Docile so that his younger sister does not have to.
Enter Alex Bishop III, the heir to the big pharma company that produces Dociline, a medicine that Dociles can take to not remember their experiences throughout their term. Pressured by his family and the board of the company, Alex decides to sign Elisha to a life-term (with a stipend to Elisha's family). The major twist: Elisha refuses to take Dociline (as is one of his very few rights) because he witnessed long-term side effects of the drug.
The novel goes between Elisha and Alex's point of views and it is horrifying to see how Alex is able to manipulate and transform Elisha's sense of self and worth through rules, assault, and education. Elisha in turn believes that he is becoming a better version of himself. Both men believe they fall in love with the other and the second half deals with how their reactions upended and transformed their lives.
Docile has received a lot of attention in criticism. I've read numerous reviews about Docile's erasure of American history and I do agree with these reviews that the broader world-building of the novel fails to acknowledge the trauma of black slavery and histories of sex work. With the narrow focus on Maryland - specifically Baltimore and its suburbs - readers do not get a broader sense of the shape of the United States and how other regions interact with the Docile system.
Docile's biggest strength is its critique of capitalism, big-pharma, and how the government consistently puts the interests of corporations above those of its people. The sex slavery and abuse in DOCILE is horrifying but what kept me up at night are the income inequalities and carceral systems currently operating in our present. I also thought that Szpara did an excellent job writing the transformations in personality, emotions, and values in both Elisha and Alex. With all books, I suggest reading criticism broadly to read conscientiously.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

In the future, the majority of the population is so riddled in debt that they must sell themselves into indentured servitude for a term to work off their debt with years of service. The people who buy the debt? Trillionaires.

Elisa's family is three million in debt—several lifetime's accumulations that even his mother couldn't erase with ten years as a Docile. But Elisha's not going to end up like his mom, who still acts like a drone four years after her term. He's going to be a Docile...without Dociline.

Alexander Bishop is the heir to the Bishop fortune and the developer of Dociline 3.0. After a nasty public break-up, his father forces him to take a Docile and the world what he's made of. But Elisha publicly refuses Dociline, and Alexander takes matters into his own hands. He's going to have the perfect Docile, no matter what.

3.5 stars

This is a deeply uncomfortable book that is nevertheless incredibly addicting and mildly disappointing, as it didn't make many of the connections I'd been hoping it would make.

The Ehhh

There are so many parallels to American slavery and yet, despite existing in literally the same world, there were...no connections made? At least, none that I really saw? Same with the system of indentured servitude that existed for many years. The Docile system was combined into a gross resemblance of the two systems—Dociles had "rights" and terms of their sentence, but would be subjected to horrible invasions of their bodily privacy and would even "consent" to these invasions because they could not say no.

Additionally, the lack of connecting to slavery makes the book feel a little off altogether. As one reviewer noted—much more eloquently than I could ever put—"What if the stuff that already happens to marginalized folks happened to nice white people?" from Madison's review.

Anywho, that was the stuff that made me a little annoyed. Plus the very last chapter, which literally eroded 99% of the character development in the back half of the story.

The Oooooooh

Despite myself, I was sucked into Elisha and Alex's...relationship is not a word for what they were. Slave/Master relationship? Bad BDSM? Hurt with no comfort?

Because this is literally How to Brainwash Someone in 10 Simple Steps, complete with how to be a really awful dom. Emotional and physical abuse with hints of wtf is consent anyways and the results of systematic capitalism.

Alex succeeds in creating the perfect Docile, but unlike a happy drone on Dociline, Elisha was programmed like a dog to love the abuse, love whatever affection he could take and strive to mold into whatever Alex wanted—because he was a new version of himself, every day—to the point where he literally could not function without his master telling him what to eat, how to exercise, what to clean, what clothes to wear.

The change was slow, insidious and as unputdownable as the sex scenes (which were as hot as they were deeply disturbing).

And the change in Alex was more reprehensible, because while he grew up completely intrenched within this system of extreme prejudice, it's not like he didn't know the effects of Dociline and how the Docile system fucked up people in many, many ways. His two best friends were his Dociles as children (as children). He's making the new drug, and views it as totally okay.

The Ahhh

And then, of course, Alex gets the complete epiphany that he has done Elisha horrible, unsufferable damage, that he has taken a human and turned them into a puppet, eroding any and all sense of self and control. That he loves this person, and cannot love because he is the master, and the person cannot truly love him back because of 1) the power imbalance, 2) the system and 3) the brainwashing.

So over time there's an epiphany that Alex undertakes, which is half-complete until really the end (and even then it's only like 70%), that huh, maybe the Docile system is um, not good.

And Elisha slowly wakes up and comes out of it. He can work locks now. He can choose his clothes. He can say no. He can walk away.

The Mhm

And yet, that last chapter.

And the fact that the last half is literally a courtroom drama, which wasn't bad but kinda dragged a little.

The Verdict

Definitely one to read, because it does bring up good points, it is a good story, and holy shit it's addictive as hell.

Think of it as Law & Order: SVU with capitalism on steroids and bad BDSM and a trillionaire fauxmance.

I received this ARC from NetGalley for an honest review

DNF

Well. This book f'ed me up. I still have no idea how I feel and need to spend a LOT of time thinking about it, All the content warnings. Seriously: ALL THE CONTENT WARNINGS. If slave-fic disturbs you in any way, this book is not for you.

RTC