Reviews with content warning for War - Prince's Gambit

Reviews tagging 'War'

Prince's Gambit by C.S. Pacat

79 reviews

nightlight9's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

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magicshop's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

'I'm not going to use the knife,' said Damen, 'but if you're willing to put it in my hand, you underestimate how much I want to.'

'No,' said Laurent. 'I know exactly what it is to want to kill a man, and to wait.'

where do i start with this one. to take an analogy that's been making its way across my brain today, because i watched silence of the lambs for the first time recently, this book... this series, is the most beautiful, most slowly and carefully metamorphosed butterfly i've ever seen. as much as i have grown to appreciate aspects of the first book during my first reread, seeing things with new, knowing eyes, it's still hard to imagine how it could have transformed into what this book is in such a daring way, like it was always meant to be what it became. pacat allowed this whole thing to be so much more than what it seemed at first, and i'm grateful for that.

the good

pacat's writing improves substantially here — there are so many lovely, lyrical passages that stuck out in my memory for days after, in particular during more relationship-focused chapters. there's something delightful about the tenderness with which she approaches all romantic things, like she's merely throwing roses at your feet and letting you pick them up at your leisure, one by one, or sometimes all at once in a big sweep of emotion.
damen and laurent's relationship. some of my favorite romantic passages and lines of all time came out of this book, and i doubt they will be trumped by anything for a long time. damen and laurent are foils to each other; they constantly make up for each other's weaknesses and keep the other firmly grounded in reality during the times when they're caught up in their hubris; they're often vulnerable and honest around the other, yet equally so there is intrigue, the masking and unmasking natural to any story about politics and rival sides of a war; they affect each other's lives and behavior even when they're apart, like something was fundamentally changed by getting to know each other. and it was. most importantly, despite the context of their relationship, they're in every way equals. and we get to slowly, so very slowly, watch them realize what all of these things mean for them (and proceed to invent romance).
the political landscape. some of it went over my head because i'm a simple bitch who cared more about the relationship parts, but other parts, oh boy. edge of my seat is putting it mildly. there's a particular joy in watching laurent outplay just about everyone on the board, realizing only later (usually as damen does) what was really going on all along. laurent's entire mind is a particular joy, in fact. i'd like to make a comparison here with another super brainy genius character, kaz brekker from six of crows, which i read months ago and gave a lukewarm review.
they're essentially very similar characters, but what worked for me with laurent that didn't with kaz was the presence of blind spots, big emotions and vulnerability. kaz has maybe one moment of real emotional struggle in the whole book, and no one who cares about him gets to see or participate in it. everything else is memories from when he was younger. conversely, laurent gets to be alive, and to bring the story alive — he's allowed to falter, make mistakes, show his vulnerability and happiness in equal measure when he feels safe, so on. kaz never gets this chance.
sometimes there's a sadness in what i feel kaz brekker could've been tbh. maybe crooked kingdom fixes this aspect somewhat, but i don't know if i'll ever pick that one up again. maybe someday.

the bad

i genuinely can't think of anything concrete to put here. i guess prince's gambit's major weakness is actually another book entirely, the first book in the series, and the act of putting yourself through it to get to the eventual payoff. not everyone has the luxury of doing that, triggering as captive prince can be.

the complicated

again, not much to say on this front, except for probably a warning that the topic of slavery is still very much present in this book, though less violently and approached much more carefully. it's a cakewalk compared to the first book, so if you passed that hurdle you'll be fine here.

i sold my soul to cs pacat for peanuts after reading this and it's a solid, bulletproof 5 stars for me, which explains the lack of critique in this review. i genuinely think it's a god-tier piece of writing with little in the way of actual flaws. that's not the case for kings rising (at least not entirely), the final book in the series, so look forward to my review of that one if u want some dirt i guess!

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nicamooch's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Absolute rollercoaster I didn’t want to get off of, Creme dela creme of slow burns, EMOTIONAL
—
2nd read:

Prince’s Gambit was an instant 5/5 stars for me (and still remains so on re-read). I don’t know how to describe other than it being like, the catching fire of this trilogy lmao. I love the lean in to the adventure genre, the journey, the slow burn between DL, I had never cared for battle scenes and political intrigue (in anything) before this book but it does it so well. I was so invested in everything! Damen and Laurent are such intelligent characters (also facing off a very intelligent and terrifying POS villain) that being along for the ride with all of the scheming and reveals is fun. I really love that Damen is this honourable hero archetype— I’m obsessed with the way his physical prowess gets depicted like yes, king throw that two-handed long sword like a javelin AND hit your mark 😫 but also how observant and emotionally intelligent he is?? Imagine being that put together 😭

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charliesbadday's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

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wrensandroses's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This was brilliant. My mind is thoroughly bent (in a good way)

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lanna_aud's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

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btwnprintedpgs's review against another edition

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dark reflective tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

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samchase112's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I JUST....SO MANY EMOTIONS. The characters are so complicated and well-rounded, and each move is carefully planned out. This series is definitely not for everyone, but if you like it then you LOVE IT. I am so freaking invested in these characters, and I cannot WAIT to see what happens next!

“He needs me,” said Damen. “I don’t care if you tell the world.”

Reread: September 2021

The building relationship...the clever politics...the minute details...Laurent’s control...it is all just <b>so good</b>. The ending gets me every. damn. time. Just an incredible trilogy, with an incredible sequel.

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srm's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

Good grief, this just keeps getting better. There's someone ahead of me on the library hold list for Book 3, and I just may have to buy, because I don't think I can wait.

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