Reviews

Dark Rise by C.S. Pacat

imaginefairies's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious 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

astoryfan's review against another edition

4.0

The sequel to this one has had quite a bit of hype, so I gave it a try and enjoyed it immensely. I love the setting and just the overall mysterious atmosphere. The characters are a bit shallow, but maybe they will be explored more in the next book. There were some unexpected twists that didn't necessarily surprise me in their timing, but they did spin the plot around. I'll definitely read the next. 

erine05_'s review against another edition

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

4.75

michaelavanr's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense 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? Yes

3.5

The first 350 pages - 2⭐️ slow, repetitive, seems like major bits of the book were missing. Like I kept going back to see if I missed something. But then they would nag on about the same points 9 times in 30 pages

like I get it they will drink out of the cup!!

it took me almost 3 months to read this section. I soft DNFed it twice to try other things. 

The last 100 pages - 5⭐️ truly incredible plot twists and characters development. I could not put the book down. This was an afternoon job. One sitting. No food. I half guessed the plot twist but not to the extent fucking brilliant BRING ME THE NEXT BOOK

On another note: this book is set at a weird level. It’s marketed as YA and all the characters are in their teens BUT there were like 10 words I had to google. The vocab in this book is high brow. Also just for my own personal joy of reading I want the second book to be adult

because James and Will and GET IT 🌶️

pollylollies's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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

4.0

_starless's review against another edition

4.0

I was not expecting that twist at the end

m4ximus_pr1m3's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death

libearian217's review against another edition

dark emotional slow-paced

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

2.0

Very YA and not very gay, despite the LGBTQ tag.  There's a big bad (the dark) and big good (the light).  Pretty simplistic in its morality.  As others have said, it's slow and does have a halfway decent twist, but there's not enough here for me to continue.  Captive Prince was decent though, and I'd read any further adult titles she releases.

cadence08rose's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious 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? It's complicated

4.25

cherishes's review against another edition

3.75

the whole book felt like it was just exposition 😭 basically an extremely long set up for the rest of the series so it did feel pretty boring to read for the first 2/3 of the book i think it picked up a bit around the 20 chapter mark? def felt a little disappointing as a captive prince enjoyer. the plot twist was pretty well done like it didnt feel like it came out of no where but it wasnt too obvious either but leading up to it was def like. called it.

james and wills relationship was the highlight of the book and ill prob continue to see how it progresses!! i also powered thru bc i thought the second captive prince book was the strongest so im holding out hope for da sequel! 

unforch there were too many times where i was being told things instead of being shown so it kinda annoyed me... 

every time violet picked up a sword all i could think about was that got dam steven universe song where pearl is teaching connie to fight dkwnskndke 

ALSO LADY?? DEVIL MAY CRY MENT RAHHH