Kerana - Slave of Atlantis - Lindsey Brooks I think I ran the gamut of every single emotion known to man in reading this book. But overall, this was the exact expression on my face as I read Kerana – Slave of Atlantis in just one sitting. I kept looking up from my reading – stunned.When the story begins, Kerana is a rebel, in charge of a faction of bandits who attack caravans. After plundering all the riches and killing any resistance – without ever showing mercy – Kerana rounds up the remaining survivors and sells them as slaves.However, Kerana has become a victim of her own success and the same men she’s led, now want to take the untold riches she has for themselves. In a set up Kerana never sees coming, she is betrayed by her Lieutenant and sold as a slave herself! Now all that Kerana saw the slaves endure she has to live firsthand. Karma is definitely a bitch. :(I found that Kerana – Slave of Atlantis is not a book, it’s a rite of passage! Though most of the themes in the book don’t appeal to me, I believe there is an audience for every book. Kerana offers a happy ending, but it is no small feat getting there. The reader is definitely put to test as Kerana endures: Beatings Spankings Canings Whippings Public Humiliations Enema F/F Play Non-consensual Sex (Oral, Anal, you name it!) More Beatings More Whippings Non-consensual Piercings Loads of BDSM These are just some of the themes Kerana is subjected to – and none of them are romanticized – they are all dirty and gritty. But if you can look past the violence, there is a great story of strength and survival in Kerana. At first I wanted Kerana to go all warrior and enact her revenge on the whole camp, slaughtering every thing that breathed and dared to humiliate her as well as free the other slaves who befriended her. I kept thinking – This is it! She’s going to get free, and there’s going to be a massacre! – But then I realized why the moment never came.Every time Kerana tried to escape, she would always end up being recaptured by the man who bought her – Macros. But though she and the rest of the slave girls suffered for her many escape attempts, we find out at the end of the book that staying with Macros saved her life. You see, as Kerana was such a successful criminal, the king placed a large bounty on her head. It wasn’t going to be long before she was going to be caught and put to death (as the whole kingdom was searching for her), so being with Macros helped her escape being horribly tortured and then crucified for her crimes.Still, being a slave was a very HEAVY price for Kerana to pay as she had to endure a lot. I was torn as to which was the lesser of two evils – death, or everything she was subjected to. Still, with time, Kerana begins to find pleasure in all the pain she’s subjected to and develops feelings for her new Master, Macros. But it is a long ride to get there.Thrown in the mix is the return of the Lieutenant who betrays Kerana – just when things are finally settling down for her, as he hasn’t been able to find the untold riches she’s hidden away. He’ll stop at nothing to get them, but he’ll have to get in line because when Kerana nears the city, the king’s soldiers and several people recognize her as being the bandit the king wants dead. From then on, it’s a race trying to evade everyone who wants a piece of her and the king’s reward money.PLEASE HEED MY WARNING: Please heed the labels associated with this book as they are listed above in red in the section of what Kerana has to endure before you read this book. If you don't like any of those themes, then this book is NOT for you.All in all, I was so glad the book ends in a happy ending and it was very well written – that automatically gets 2 kisses from me. Plus I’m giving it an extra kiss because reading Kerana made me realize I was brave enough to tackle it to the end. I passed the test! :) Check my site for a NSFW excerpt! http://readourlipsblog.blogspot.com/2012/06/nsfw-review-keranaslave-of-atlantis-by.html#more