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brdiaz1123's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Animal death, Confinement, Slavery, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Pedophilia, War, Blood, Animal cruelty, Death, Drug abuse, Kidnapping, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, Violence, Murder, Physical abuse, Child abuse, Torture, Toxic relationship, Rape, and Sexual content
sarahflies's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Incest, Child abuse, Confinement, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Slavery, Body horror, Trafficking, Violence, Murder, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual violence, Kidnapping, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, Torture, and Toxic relationship
mikeymara's review
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Kidnapping, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Adult/minor relationship, Sexual assault, Pedophilia, Rape, and Slavery
Moderate: Cursing, Torture, Animal death, Death, Emotional abuse, Incest, Violence, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Fire/Fire injury, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Classism, War, and Bullying
A lot of sex based content aswell as rape and abuse. One of the main characters is a 10-14 year old in a relationship with an adult man. At some point in the story the main character is punish via wipping, it is vaguely graphic. There is some minor death of an animal, it is minor and can be skipped over. The main plot involves a description of the main characters kidnapping and transportation to Vere.nat_kiverse's review against another edition
1.0
Graphic: Body shaming, Physical abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Toxic relationship, Cursing, Homophobia, Pedophilia, Rape, Self harm, Sexual content, Blood, Murder, Sexism, Sexual violence, Slavery, Violence, Child abuse, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Torture, Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Confinement, Emotional abuse, and Sexual harassment
abitbetterbooks's review
- 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? It's complicated
Graphic: Torture, Sexual assault, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, War, Xenophobia, Violence, Trafficking, Toxic relationship, Slavery, Sexual violence, Sexual content, Rape, Physical abuse, Pedophilia, Murder, and Drug abuse
kyliereads341's review against another edition
- 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
4.75
Graphic: Toxic relationship, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Trafficking, Medical content, Physical abuse, Pedophilia, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Violence, Kidnapping, Emotional abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Murder, Torture, Slavery, Confinement, Child abuse, and Adult/minor relationship
fudanshi's review against another edition
- 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
5.0
Graphic: Rape, Pedophilia, Violence, Slavery, Sexual assault, Torture, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, and War
Moderate: Incest
dragonbloom's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
0.75
I hated it.
Fundamentally, I feel it is too horny to be an adventure story, but not horny enough to be erotica. My issues with the plot only compound it.
Laurent, our love interest, is gifted Damen as a sex slave. The court he is surrounded with is hedonistic and sexual, with courtiers regularly having sex in public.
Despite this, there is only one actual sex scene,
Despite ordering Damen’s abuse at the hands of his servants,
I found the story predictable. On several occasions, the chapter would end with Laurent dramatically informing the ever oblivious Damen something I had guessed chapters ago, much to Damen’s shock. In these moments, he comes off, not unfamiliar with the venomous court of a foreign land, but stupid.
The regent’s, who’s name escapes me, “pet”,
The only thing I can give the book credit for is consistent characterisation, and good use of showing instead of telling.
If you like slow burn, abusive noncon fanfiction, this is probably the book for you. For me? God, no.
Graphic: Torture, Sexual harassment, Racism, Pedophilia, Adult/minor relationship, Sexual assault, Rape, Sexual content, Physical abuse, Trafficking, and Sexual violence
Moderate: Death, Injury/Injury detail, Alcohol, War, Death of parent, Violence, Toxic relationship, Grief, and Blood
Minor: Animal death, Animal cruelty, and Suicide
Much of the book is spent musing on the beauty of, specifically pale, skin.diana_raquel's review against another edition
- 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
3.75
“A golden prince was easy to love if you did not have to watch him picking wings off flies.”
Around 2018-2019, I was looking for fantasy series that would have LGBTQIA+ characters and ended up finding this trilogy. I remember that, at the time, I started reading and was immediately hooked. Captive Prince was the book that made me love Pacat but also explore less-known authors. So, when I finally got my hands on physical copies of this trilogy, I decided to read it again. And although I knew what was going to happen, I found that I still loved this trilogy as a whole.
However, over the years, I also read a lot of negative reviews about this trilogy, especially about this book. And although I understand part of the backlash, there was this particular recurring argument that never made much sense to me, and lead me to think that the person using that argument only read the first book without giving the benefit of the doubt and continue reading. Which is totally fair - I also have abandoned series that I didn't like. What I didn't understand was that even when other people would defend the book and the trilogy as a whole, the first person would accuse the other of being a horrible person for not thinking that the trilogy was worthless trash with no value. So allow me to defend this book and this trilogy.
Look, you are entitled to your opinion, and I will respect it, however, in my opinion, just because a book contains darker and horrible elements, doesn't mean that the book is problematic. Just because this book contains horrible elements that doesn't mean that it romanticizes those elements. Yes, slavery and rape are accepted parts of the culture of Vere, however, the book never gives the impression that this is in any way acceptable. Yes, Laurent also takes part in this, however, we later discover that this is a way to revenge his brother's death (it doesn't excuse his actions but it does provide some needed context). And don't even get me started on Damen. Yes, he is a victim. And, no, nothing that happens to him in this book is in any way excusable. However, he isn't a damsel in distress with Stockholm syndrome (side note: Stockholm syndrome isn't considered a mental disorder, so can we stop it using it?). He never accepts what's happening to him and he resists every step of the way.
I think that when using this argument people forget that the slave culture is also a part of Akielos culture (Damen's country) (although there are differences, it's still a slave culture). And this is important. Although Laurent is against any type or form of slavery, Damen isn't because he sees the culture of Akielos as a more acceptable form of slavery. However, after being subjected to slavery, Damen starts to see that his own culture isn't acceptable. That's why this book is so hard to read. The main character has to experience slavery and the violence that comes with it to understand that no form of slavery is acceptable. At its core, this is a story about dismantling power structures and understanding why those power structures have to be dismantled.
Another argument used to prove the "romanticization" of this book is that, from the first chapter, is clear that Laurent and Damen are endgame. And yes, they are. However, it should be mentioned that they are mortal enemies, from enemy countries (yes, it's very Shakespeare, I know), and their relationship is one of hate, at first. However, the romanticization of their relationship only starts when they start to trust each other. With time, Damen is no longer Laurent's slave, he is a friend, and that's when feelings start to appear.
So, as a first book, this is quite a difficult book, due to its subject matter (that's why I decided to give it a 3 stars rating). However, it's a well-structured book, with well-developed characters and an intriguing plot. The pacing is perfect and the narrative flows in a very natural way. I guess that the only thing that I ask is this: if you are willing to read this book (and have read the content warnings list- seriously, do it), please, give this book the benefit of the doubt to this book and read the second one. I promise that its worth it.
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Sexual harassment, Death, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Pedophilia, Child abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Slavery, Sexual violence, Violence, Incest, Drug use, Torture, Toxic relationship, and Rape
Moderate: Death of parent and War
tangerinetea's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Graphic: Physical abuse, Sexual content, Slavery, Violence, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship