Reviews with content warning for Sexual harassment - Captive Prince

This book is definitely not for the faint of heart but I think this is a pretty good start to a trilogy, though I really need to stop reading slow burn and getting mad when the burn is slow.

Content Warnings

natnat_7's review against another edition

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dark tense medium-paced

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

3.0

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rhi_'s review against another edition

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dark fast-paced

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

1.0

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1undercover's review against another edition

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1.5

Ain't it for me chief. I'm fine with an amount of consent issues in my guilty pleasure romantasy but there are deeper problems here. Some genuine (tw)

rape, pedophilia, and public sex without consent

. I like the different cultures, different skills setup and I can see that this is going to a place with an interesting relationship, but the story was in no way wrapped up in the first book and the lads didn't even get to bone. I didn't get any of the answers to my theories. Uncool. And something about the romance being between someone and the man who

deliberately had them nearly publicly raped and then flogged TO DEATH and did both with satisfaction

? I don't really care what the cultural norms are, I really struggle to believe that love's coming out of that idk. By almost halfway through the book I was still wondering if I'd misunderstood and the main character was supposed to be with someone else.

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woza's review against another edition

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challenging dark medium-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? Yes

4.5

It’s a good book in the sense I found it enjoyable to read and not that I would recommend it to anyone else

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joahrt's review against another edition

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dark fast-paced

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

4.25

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charmedstray's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

i did not come into this book expecting to like it. i came into this book feeling extremely skeevy about the whole slavery thing and thinking ah, fuck. it's a classic piece of queer fiction at this point, i better at least see what it's deal is. came out the other end of the trilogy absolutely blown away.

to be clear-- this book & its sequels, & pacat's writing as a whole loves to linger in grey areas. awful and deeply unpleasant shit happens in this book! every character does terrible things! what's crucial, though, is that pacat trusts the reader enough not to have the narration go "yes, the systemic sex slavery and the violence are, in fact, bad and not good," and if you grow to trust the author enough to go "you know what? i bet the themes of this book probably Aren't going to be slavery and rape good and hot actually," you'll have a good time. this feels unnecessarily didactic and condescending of me to say, but i'm so exhausted of the ghosts of terminally online lit discourse brainrot that i'm saying it anyway.

also, for those who also are skeeved out by the slavery thing & would maybe like to know more about it before they commit:

the trilogy takes place in two countries. the first is heavily inspired by ancient greece and rome; their country's relationship w/ slavery is an idea of "perfect submission, in exchange for perfect treatment". hitting, violating, or abusing them is considered to be awful and taboo.
the second country is heavily inspired by western europe-- the court where this novel takes place is, imo, heavily reminiscent of the sun king's versailles, or the medici's florence. this culture nominally doesn't keep slaves-- "pets" as they're called, are contracted, can be paid and often have at least some autonomy. they're considered a status symbol & treated ridiculously well.
the idea of slavery (these countries specific ideas of & relationships with it, to be clear) is interrogated throughout the trilogy, and it is textually condemned.

anyway, the first two thirds of this book is dedicated to constructing the convoluted power dynamic between the two protagonists, and also reminding you of the whole slavery thing every single page. in a sort of frog-in-boiling-water way, this turns into intricate political intrigue. if you're not interested in the main premise of the book, the slavery thing, i'd say read it anyway, it gets better. if you're not interested in court intrigue? you will NOT enjoy this!! fortunately, i fucking love this type of thing. also now i'm done with the thesis statement on why this book is Good, Actually!

her writing style irt character is very much like a painting where the most attention and care is visibly concentrated on the most important areas, but all the side characters we meet are still solidly sketched out. the protagonist is.... a little bit blank slate meathead-y. this gets better later, but it does grow a bit tiresome. the pacing in this one is also fairly slow. overall, if you're interested in messy relationships (both platonic & not), convoluted power dynamics, identity shenanigans, or very pleasant untouchable princes who are definitely not always filled with seething hatred and frustration and misery.... crack it open. give it a try.

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dontaadme's review against another edition

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challenging dark sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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