Oh, wow! What a fantastic debate that has sprung up about this short novelization. Which is this - does this book romanticize rape? Anybody who knows me, will know I despise the romanticizing of rape. I scream about it! I shout it from the very rooftops! Another thing I also try to be is open-minded, which is very very hard concerning this topic, but something I actively encourage myself to do. 
 You see, not long ago, I didn't understand women who have RAPE FANTASIES. 
 They enjoy being dominated by men. They protest and say no, but all the while, that's "what they've been secretly longing for all along. That one man to take charge." 
 Yeah. I don't get it either. 
 Growing up, I despised any story, where the female started of getting raped, but by the end, she's enjoying it, despite the fact she's still saying NO. That still stands today. Where it gets more complex, is the characterization of the female lead and how she handles the male agression. 
 In this book, the female is presented as a woman who says no, but secretly she's longing for a male who will ignore that NO, and plunder ahead. Confused? Tell me about it! Are there women like this seriously out there? The answer is YES. More than you think. I'm not one of them. Umped up testosterone and aggression are not things I seek in a partner and don't make compelling qualities. However, I am open-minded enough to see, that there are people out there, who have warped fetishes and desires, that most people can't understand - but I won't condemn them as long as it's self-inflicted. For the time I read your book, I will get into your head, and be non-judgmental. That's the least you deserve. If at any point, I'm sensing the female is genuinely DISTRESSED, then I will cry foul and say this is the romanticizing of rape. 
 But not faux-distress. 
 God, I really don't understand Myst's thinking but I won't say she's a victim. 
 No way. 
 The one aspect I didn't like, was how Wroth stole Myst's waist-necklace thingy, and has complete control over her, denying her freedom. Myst genuinely is a complex...being. She enjoys being dominated, almost to the point it could be called "rape" but she's secretly been hankering after it, so what the hell is it, but she wants to not be controlled outside of sex. They are two clashing dispositions, but makes sense to me. Still I'm not a fan, of how she ordered Worth, to order her to stop feeling pain, when he's plundering her. Messed up or what? But she's messed in the head, so... 
 (But again, no victim.)