Reviews with content warning for Pedophilia - Captive Prince

I am probably the person most surprised about liking this book. There are very few books I have ever read where I liked sex scenes or how sexualized everything was, so when I read the summary of this book I was very sure I wouldn't like it, because... well, obvious reasons. But I liked Dark Rise, and Pacat really managed to capture the emotions in that one, so I kind of just wanted to try, and then I read the book in two sittings and I enjoyed it quite a lot.
It is very much a fantasy (or reads like one), with a lot of problematic themes and stuff like sexual assault or slavery being painted in a (sometimes) positive/erotic light (sometimes not), so if I read this in any other context, I probably wouldn't like it, but I thought it was fine. Probably mostly because even with all the problematic stuff and everything being sexualized, there's a surprising amount of plot, the characters are quite complex in their wants and motivations, the (conflicting) feelings are well-written, an there's also a lot of political stuff going on.
The problem that I have with sex in books, is that most of the time, as soon as there's sex, all feelings are gone, so it was really nice having a book with probably too much erotic stuff in it (for me), that still had complex feelings and a lot of emotions going on. I really enjoyed that.
I can totally see why people wouldn't like the book, but I am very much emotionally invested in all the stuff going on now, and I will continue reading the series, because I do want to know what happens next.

Content Warnings

amallard's review

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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? Yes

2.75

Sorry for reading this. I'm not proud of me either.

Content Warnings

lauwbinx's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense medium-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? Yes

4.75

Content Warnings

justjaqueline's review against another edition

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dark emotional tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

Content Warnings

laraloops's review against another edition

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challenging dark tense medium-paced

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

4.0

I went into this after reading Dark Rise and it is definitely very different but I can see the same writing style and story structure. This was definitely a book of it's time - the Pascat acknowledges that it was a fanfiction beforehand and I can feel the influences - the very interesting, no straight sex allowed reality of it, the racy premise. Out of the trilogy it's definitely the weakest and hardest to get through - the dark and triggering content is very present in this one - in a way reminiscent of the darker internet content of the early 2000's. I have seen some on tiktok and the like say they were put off by this as they were expecting a cute enemies to lovers book - do not let any fanart or person fool you into thinking this is a happy book - I think that would be a massive disservice to anyone trying this book series.

First, I would like to go into detail of what I did not like about the book. I can see why this is polarizing and why others would have difficulty stomaching this book - the slavery within it is not chatel slavery but it is still racial implications that are very very off-putting about a darker skin character (he is not black) being sold into slavery and owned by a blonde, blue eyed man. For that I completely understand someone not on board for this one. There is additionally a character who is a slave within this book that says some things that in the modern context incredibly problematic.

I am going to go into a bit of mid book spoilers on some of the triggering content.

There is also a scene where the character is assaulted that is difficult to get through - I have seen some say it's written to be titillating and others say that it's not written to be enjoyed but rather depict a terrible scene of assault. After reading I have the ~~contrarian~~ nuanced opinion that it's a bit of both - as someone who has delved into the darker spaces of the internet I believe that a scene can be written of a terrible event and come off as salacious as well. I don't think it's straight up p*rn*graphy - I think Pascat is a good writer and whether they have intended it or not - I think it comes off as slightly fetishistic. This is a very highly debated topic- and I am not going to put a moral judgment on it but have gone into such detail for any prospective readers might get a more nuanced take than "This is GARBAGE" or "This is the BEST ever ignore everything".

All that out of the way- I liked this novel well enough, but it really is just set up for the character development of the second and third book. The dark content is hard to stomach but I do believe it's worth it to press on for the more interesting conversations of power dynamics and reactions to abuse in the later books. The second and third books also go less into the darker content and the dynamics are less skewed. The good thing is that this is the shortest one of the three. Damen and Laurent are both very well written and interesting characters. Laurent is not written to be sympathized with and his actions are very much shown to be terrible which I appreciated. That said, there is enough hints to his background/issues in this book that I caught on even before getting into the second and third book. Additionally Damen is a very kind hearted, earnest man who is basically a jock trying to navigate this political drama.

I could list all of the triggers of this book, but it's best to just know just about everything is in this.

Content Warnings

paper_aphid's review against another edition

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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 have many thoughts about this book. while reading it, it felt like slowly putting pieces of a puzzle together. the writing style is beautiful and very very thought out; even the small details end up meaning something and it gave me so many "ohhhhhhh" moments. Damen was my fav throughout the whole book, he seems very real to me - his emotions are believable, as well as his reactions to things. I enjoyed reading from him point of view very much! as for laurent,,, I'm nit gonna lie it took me a good while to warm up to him. at first I was like "this is the guy we are supposed to root for as a love interest??" but then as we get to know him more, he seems less sadistic and the way he thinks makes more sense. the writer did a wonderful job keeping us on the same wavelength as Damen! we learn with him and our opinions change along with his. my only qualm with this book was that I wish that

Damen's sexual assault was treated more like seaxual assault than it actually was. I just feel like it was sort of brushed over? the disgust with other slaves being assaulted was made known for sure but it almost felt like since Damen is super masculine and well built, it's like not a big deal.

idk, maybe this is something that will be addressed in the next few books, so I won't hold it in my heart too permanently.

the side characters were also very enjoyable, I love all the other slaves mentioned. the regent is so unsettling though, sooo so....

I will say that this is the type of book you have to be mentally ready to read. I've owned it for years, but knowing the content warnings, I had to take a step back and wait until I felt ready to handle such heavy topics. with that said, I am looking forward to the next book in the series!

Content Warnings

e113's review

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dark slow-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

2.5

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