Reviews

Voy a partir con mis impresiones sobre el final porque así luego puedo cerrar la reseña en un punto positivo.

Cabos sueltos:

Quedé super perdida con esa revelación de que Nicaise había robado la información donde salía la traición del regente. Cómo se hizo con esas cartas Nicaise? Ya. Se las robó a Govart, pero cómo?? Cómo sabía Nicaise que Govart tenía esa carta? Era imposible que supiera de la existencia de ese papel, no tiene sentido. Lo otro, si Paschal ya tenía la carta en su posesión, por qué no dijo nada antes? Por qué esperar a que Laurent fuera apresado y por poco decapitado para contar la verdad? Y cómo Damen de la nada supo que Paschal tenía esa información? No se... El final se me hizo muy inverosímil, ocurrieron muchas cosas demasiado convenientes para la trama y en muy poco tiempo y ninguna me terminó por convencer. Me gustó que, a pesar de que el libro ahora debía enfocarse en la trama política, la autora igual supo darle espacio al romance, pero siento que al no querer quitarle espacio a ninguna de esas líneas argumentales, terminó por sacrificar el final, lo que explica que tuvieramos un descenlace tan apresurado, con incoherencias y, en general, no muy bien planeado.

Los últimos capítulos estuvieron llenos de "plot twist" y lo pongo entre comillas porque al que me quiero referir ahora, no fue un secreto que no viera venir desde el primer libro.

Como decía, la revelación de que Laurent también fue una de la víctimas del tío pedófilo, fue solo sorpresa para Damen xd Aunque el "secreto" fuera tan obvio, igual se me apretó la güata cuando el regente se refiere al abuso. Csm... era un niño pequeño, huerfano, que recién había perdido a su hermano, que acudió a su tío para protección y se encontró con un monstruo... CERDO QLO!!!!!

Y hablando de Damen siendo sorprendido, necesito detenerme en su personaje un momento.

Damen/ AKA Himbo:

No thoughs, head empty

El Damen fue demasiado weon en este libro

chimmykai's review against another edition

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fast-paced

Loveable characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

saku_3939x's review

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adventurous emotional 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? N/A

3.75

ethias's review against another edition

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4.0

This honestly feels kind of unfinished. I hated the whole baby plotline, and the pacing felt pretty meandering throughout. I liked the end but feel like it needs a bit more to actually feel satisfying. I’m hoping the short stories fill in the unfinished feeling I’m having.

I also feel like we needed a lot more of like… breaking down how messed up the whole slavery stuff was… I’m fairly certain the point was that they both did horrible things to each other but I just felt like they needed to break it down way more than what the author ended up doing so I can see why some people came away from it feeling like it was romanticized or made to be sexy or something.

I think in general this just needed another like 200 pages spread throughout and especially at the end to really dive into the complex ideas that were attempted here.

mallorypen's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful 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

4.75

I really, really enjoyed the hell out of this book, and the incredibly satisfying conclusion to a series that I did not particularly enjoy as it began.

When I say "incredibly satisfying," I don't just mean the happy ending where the battered and bruised kings of their respective countries find a way to love one another on their own terms and reunite an ancient and divided kingdom as a result; I mean that the plot answered all the outstanding questions, and that the narrative delivered parallel arcs that made the story feel complete. Here are a couple of things that I really fucking enjoyed:

The story began with the knowledge that Damien killed Auguste in a conflict that was understood (at the time) to be orchestrated by Damien and Laurent's fathers as part of an act of war. The story ends with Laurent killing Kastor in a conflict that was revealed to have been orchestrated entirely by the Regent ... just as the initial conflict had been.
The fact that Laurent knew who Damien was from the first moment he saw him?!? Because of course he did - this guy killed his brother. Laurent studied and fought his entire life to be able to kill just this one man. He obsessed over how to end his life. The fact that he didn't immediately kill Damien when he had him under his power was a little strange to me, but I did appreciate how it played Laurent's desire for retribution against his survival instinct. This reveal also lent a new light to all their previous interactions, and proved that Laurent was smart enough to be able to compartmentalize the horrors of war/the actions of a young prince doing what he thought was right for his country. It also showed just how reluctantly Laurent was dragged into first acknowledging Damien as someone who saved his life; then grudgingly respecting him as a smart battle tactician and strategic asset; and finally seeing Damien as someone he could love in spite of it all.
Damien and Laurent's characters were so clearly defined, and the way they approached conflict stayed perfectly in those defined characteristics.
- Laurent was calculated until he got vicious, at which point he made mistakes, and he only got vicious when his highly-personal tender spots were attacked - anything to do with his uncle's abuse/approval, and anything to do with Damien. Firstly, because he knew who Damien was and was suffused with rage, and then because he learned the truth of Damien's character and then decided loving and protecting Damien was more important than his own political machinations. UGH, my heart.
- Damien's driving motivations stayed consistent: to do what's right for his kingdom & to adhere to his own moral code. He was smart, but not devious; he was controlled, but not impenetrable. His growing affection for Laurent made him even sloppier, which was shown with devastating effect when he tried to get to the Regent at the kingsmeet. MY. HEART. (Speaking of that moment, it was also a great illustration of how alike Laurent and the Regent were in how they used the emotion and motivation of the people around them to get what they wanted - the Regent revealed his abuse of his nephew in just the right moment to get Damien to lose control in just the right place to gain leverage over Laurent.) I also appreciated that Damien's moral compass made him blind to the motivations of less honorable men - he fully believed that Gion would make good on his promise to give evidence against the Regent, even when he and Laurent were in chains and about to lose everything.
Though it was horrific, the throughline of the young men who were abused by the Regent ultimately being his downfall was symbolically fitting. From Laurent, who dedicated his life to beating his uncle at his own game (though his motivations were clouded between actually beating him to impressing him/proving his value independent of his uncle's perverse desires), to Nicase, who saw the writing on the wall and delivered the damning evidence to the physician, to Emeric - the death of whom became the impetus for Gion's wife Loche to break from her husband's schemes and tell the truth. It drove the narrative that, no matter how wiley and intelligent you are, if you are a bad person who does bad things, the truth and karma will out.

So why didn't I give this book a five star rating? Actually, that's a good question, and it may be a reflection of a few things from the series versus things from the individual book - the main thing that comes to mind is how Damien didn't figure out that the Regent had abused Laurent. There's a line in the first book that all but shouted it out plainly, and plenty of evidence thereafter that was glaringly obvious. I also really wanted an out-loud love confession, because I'm a HEA bitch through and through ... even though it was obvious in how Laurent asked Damien about combining their countries and his joy when Damien agreed.

Anyways. This fucking slapped!

Content Warnings

meghanfulmer's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional 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

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