The Marketplace by Laura Antoniou is a book that's a departure for me. The first time I heard about The Marketplace or Laura was when I read at the former Ravenous Nights, now renamed, Between the Covers. Laura was there and read from one of the books in The Marketplace series. I was enthralled by Laura’s reading and was told how The Marketplace is a book that has become a cult classic reading among those in the BDSM and GLBT reading community. I took a chance and decided to buy and read The Marketplace.The Marketplace is unflinching, brutal and has moments of droll humor. This is a book that grabs you from the get go. Laura’s storytelling and writing is engaging, and as you read, you lose yourself in the world and the characters. This is heavy, heavy BDSM where four people are being trained as slaves and will be sold at auction to masters who are allowed to do whatever they want to them. This isn’t some fantasy, sexual odyssey where pleasure and pain is combined for the ultimate climax. The slaves are put through rigorous tests and are humiliated to the point where it’s almost non-consensual and brutal. The Marketplace reminds me of reality show television where the audience, or in this case the reader, picks a favorite they want to succeed and move forward in the hopes they’ll be given to a master who will appreciate them and see how wonderful they are.The slaves here are taught to bend to the will of others in power and not question why they are forced into doing things, no matter how humiliating. The slaves still have free will and can leave at any time, but they stick to it because they feel they have nothing else to turn to. The training center is run by two people, Alexandra and Grendel who have taken on the task of training four people who already have been involved in the BDSM scene as pseudo-slaves. These four all need major work and they're forced to go through a type of BDSM boot camp. We have Sharon, the spoiled and entitled thinking pleasure slave who thinks she’ll be some rich man’s slave and pampered and loved. There’s Robert, a bear of a man who has a gender identity crisis because of the mistress’s he served. Claudia is a true submissive and her mistress adores her but feels Claudia is dead inside and has no real skills and needs to be reprogrammed. Finally Brian embraces the scene but is cocky and doesn’t think he needs to be taught or trained. These four will sleep, bathe, eat and work alongside one another for weeks in order to become perfect slaves. Under their caregiver and teacher of sorts, Chris Parker, the majordomo, rules with an iron fist while only obeying Alexandra and Grendel. Chris has a few dark secrets, one of which Brian is very aware of, and because of that he may not succeed.Over the course of the novel we see the four slaves in training learning basic decorum and life skills such as laundry, cleaning out the stables on the property and housework. If the slaves complain or disappoint Chris and the staff, they're punished with whippings and paddlings and forced to pleasure a number of the staff or any guests who visit and not receive pleasure in return. In most cases it appears they're abused horribly and are expected to ask for more and take whatever is dished out to them. A book like this is not for the faint of heart. The first section is more of an introduction and one that carries you along. There are more than a few scenes of humor and witty dialogue as you get to know the four slaves and their personalities. But then in the second section, that is where things turn dark and there are more than enough scenes of brutal acts and humiliations such as Brian being punished and forced to be a dog, and Sharon who cannot be broken and refuses to obey is forced to pleasure anyone, male or female in any way they want. A slave has no options or real desires. Their desires are their masters or master and they must always think of the one who owns them and not about themselves.The reason The Marketplace was so enjoyable for me it because of the writing. Laura’s writing and world building is very fascinating and enjoyable even though I flinched a few times because of what the slaves had to endure. There’s this one scene with Sharon and two men who degrade her horribly that I had to stop reading. But if you can get past some of the shocking acts, you’re in for a treat. Claudia and Robert will tug at your heartstrings and Brian will make you laugh with his statements and insults. Then there's Chris, a true enigma of a man who is still very much a mystery when you finish.The Marketplace was addicting reading for me and I look forward in reading the next installments. These books are pricey at $10 a pop so most may take a step back from purchasing them. But if you are willing to sacrifice the $10, I would buy The Marketplace. Laura really opened my mind to a new world and way of life not many authors can pull off. I’m glad I took a chance and introduced myself to the world of The Marketplace and Laura Antoniou.
Well this is frustrating, after writing two paragraphs of review I lost it! I'll attempt to rewrite it.This book is very difficult for me to review. I both liked and disliked it - thus explaining the three star rating. It was very interesting to read about the training of 4 wannabe slaves, yet the reason behind much of the training was missing. There were a few exceptions, notably Brian's treatment as the family dog for a few days. The main techniques were beatings and criticism. When dealing with people, who by their very nature want to please, using negative reinforcement so heavily is just wrong and IMO an incorrect training method.Yes, it is fiction but Sharon's character in particular was simply not believable as written. For an exacting training house such as The Marketplace, she would have been ejected at numerous occasions. With her personality, a clueless primadonna, she would have left of her own accord at numerous other occasions. To me she was the comic relief of the group. When Brian muses about being left in the dark as to the whys and wherefores of things, that is exactly how I felt as a reader. I was left scratching my head in confusion too many times. Yet the book kept my interest and I want to read more of the series. I suppose my ambivalence doesn't make for a very helpful review, but it is as honest as I can be. Perhaps after reading more of the series I will gain enough insight to edit this review. Already in reading the second book, The Slave, I have more understanding of the trainees motivations and desires. What I see as abuse isn't as clear cut in light of that information. However, such negligent treatment of property still makes little sense to me.
What do You think about The Marketplace (2000)?
Read this because of the good reviews. I was hoping to learn about the mindset of people who get into 24/7 slavery. The book did some of that, but the cruelty, abuse and brutality were over the top to the point of ridiculousness. Such continuous and severe beatings would lead to broken-down bodies in reality. One arrogant slave is punished by being given (unsupervised) to two strangers who horribly beat and rape her for hours, then she's beaten even more by her trainers, then sent to bed without any aftercare. (IRL, she would have needed an ER and a rape kit!) Apparently, the author would like us to believe that "real" slaves can only be trained using brutal methods, and want to serve so much that they have absolutely no regard for their personal health or safety. I get that this is fiction, but people with no real experience with BDSM who read this will find that it reinforces all of society's negative stereotypical prejudices about BDSM equaling abuse.
—Michele
It's unusual for me to be drawn along so strongly by a pornographic story that is so thoroughly Not My Kink. The prose is brisk and vivid, subtly shifting tone to match the four central characters. The characters themselves are a lively, diverse bunch with engaging voices, who change and grow as the story progresses. I found myself going back to it eagerly to find out what happened next, despite never finding it really arousing.The book is a story about particular characters, but it's also a manifesto of sorts. Antoniou has well-developed views on what the essence of consensual slavery is or should be, and the characters constantly enact or debate those views in ways shaped by their particular personalities. The frequent kinkier-than-though snark at dilettantes, poseurs, and "those trashy novels" others have written manages to be entertaining and abrasive at once.There are two bonus stories in the Circlet Press edition, both very worthwhile. "A Leash Has Two Ends" provides more insight into the books most interesting and cryptic character, the majordomo Chris Parker. "For Want of a Nail" displays Antoniou's wicked sense of humor in fine form, and had me laughing out loud at several points.P.S. Goodreads wants to know if my friends who like Chick Lit and Romance would therefore enjoy The Marketplace. Heh.
—Vinnie Tesla
I didn't expect to get pulled into this story as fast as I did but I was rooting for Claudia and Robert, somewhat agitated by Brian and I honestly wanted to claw Sharon's eyes out. She really needed to learn something about being silent and learning to be humble. I love this book and I randomly came upon it based on a recommendation from a friend. So glad I downloaded it because I couldn't put it, even convinced a couple of my friends to download it as well. I believe that this series, this book in particular shows how involved the process is for training good slaves and teaching someone how to learn well and how to treat others as well because you never know whose help you might need down the road. Can't wait to read book #2, The Slave.
—Alexandrea Ward
