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3.86 AVERAGE
3.86 AVERAGE
dark
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I felt like a sucker after actually purchasing this book because people said it was similar to Captive Prince by CS Pacat. It is similar in premise and in character dynamics. The difference is that it is not very well written. Even from the first few pages, it felt very much like a first or second draft of a story that could benefit from editing and rewrites. I look at the positive reviews and I am just baffled by the gulf separating us.
But what is quality, what is taste anyway? Read it if you want, there's elves and blow jobs.
But what is quality, what is taste anyway? Read it if you want, there's elves and blow jobs.
I read this book in 2 sittings, and only because I needed to sleep. So as far as readability is concerned, this is a very solid book. And I will absolutely be continuing the series. However I did have to dock points for a few reasons.
Firstly, although I understand having Niko fall in love with someone else first, it's very clear that that person isn't who he's going to end up with and so I was very bored having to read that useless romance. I fully skipped the smut scenes because I did not care (why should I? And there were too many. You could have made the point with like 2 scenes instead of 5ish). Frankly between that and the plot going slower at times than necessary I speed read a good chunk of this book. I just wanted to get to the meat of the story and what I really cared about was the secrets, the mystery, and of course Niko and his interactions with Vasili.
All that is to say, it's a very easy book to read and get invested in, but this first installment had a lot of stuff I found boring so I speed read it. I enjoyed the writing; I annotated this book quite a bit. Did Niko frustrate me at times? Yes. But I still think he's a good, flawed character. Vasili is not what I expected at all and I love him for that.
I was expecting a weaker mc and Vasili to be an alpha male, suave type. That kind of dynamic is very common and while I don't hate it, I really appreciate the author doing something different with this. Their dynamic (and lots of story elements) is very similar to Laurent and Damon from Captive Prince, so if you enjoyed that series I think you will like this one too. And let me tell you, when the story finally gets going, it gets *going*. There was one scene that quite literally had me grinning like a giddy idiot and I had to get up and walk around my room. That's rare for a book to do that to me. For that alone the book was worth reading.
Firstly, although I understand having Niko fall in love with someone else first, it's very clear that that person isn't who he's going to end up with and so I was very bored having to read that useless romance. I fully skipped the smut scenes because I did not care (why should I? And there were too many. You could have made the point with like 2 scenes instead of 5ish). Frankly between that and the plot going slower at times than necessary I speed read a good chunk of this book. I just wanted to get to the meat of the story and what I really cared about was the secrets, the mystery, and of course Niko and his interactions with Vasili.
All that is to say, it's a very easy book to read and get invested in, but this first installment had a lot of stuff I found boring so I speed read it. I enjoyed the writing; I annotated this book quite a bit. Did Niko frustrate me at times? Yes. But I still think he's a good, flawed character. Vasili is not what I expected at all and I love him for that.
I was expecting a weaker mc and Vasili to be an alpha male, suave type. That kind of dynamic is very common and while I don't hate it, I really appreciate the author doing something different with this. Their dynamic (and lots of story elements) is very similar to Laurent and Damon from Captive Prince, so if you enjoyed that series I think you will like this one too. And let me tell you, when the story finally gets going, it gets *going*. There was one scene that quite literally had me grinning like a giddy idiot and I had to get up and walk around my room. That's rare for a book to do that to me. For that alone the book was worth reading.
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Sexual violence, Torture, War
what can i say, this read was the most entertaining experience i could hope for
adventurous
lighthearted
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
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Interesting premise, messy execution - I did enjoy the twist towards the end, and I was intrigued enough to move to the next novel in the series, but on the whole I was left wanting.
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
dark
emotional
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I hate you, your highness, but you have my blade.
This dark fantasy kinda-sorta-romance was off to a very promising start. I immediately liked the setting as it was presented in the first chapter: a kingdom in the aftermath of a bloody war that they could have won, except the king brokered peace that felt like a capitulation/betrayal to many. I was interested in seeing how the veteran MC would fare at court, and what the prince even wanted with him. Unfortunately, the story itself didn’t live up to the premise. In fact, it barely felt like a story, more like a collection of cool dramatic moments that often contradicted each other. I think my favorite part was when
I wish I could end my complaints here, but the least goes on. None of the betrayals were set up properly, it was just “oh, look, X has been one of the bad guys all along,” and nothing at all was consistent. The MC’s feelings and opinions changed based on some arcane unknown factors that mostly amounted to, “what would get him to participate in yet another big dramatic something.” The Decadent Court trope was played so straight it could be used as a laser level. The bad guys were all very bad and cruel and power-hungry, the kind who just want to torture people while listening to the sound of their own voices as they perform villainous monologues.
…Yeah, right, I guess I’ll stop here. 😅 If you’re wondering why I’ve bothered to finish the book at all, well,
To be fair, there are some interesting ideas past the premise. The whole messy love triangle has something to it, if only it included more subtlety and foreshadowing. Vasily’s arc has a few great moments, if only it also had consistency. The writing is rather good and snappy and conveys all that cool drama well. Most of the scenes are well-structured in isolation, despite not forming a cohesive whole. The worldbuilding contains some interesting details, and the cliffhanger the book ends on promises more of that. Still, I don’t think I’ll be continuing with the series.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Drug use, Rape, Sexual assault, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence
Moderate: War
Minor: Incest