Reviews tagging 'Blood'

Captive Prince by C.S. Pacat

48 reviews

danteeeh's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Slavery, Sexual assault, Pedophilia, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Child abuse, Violence, Blood, Trafficking, Physical abuse, Adult/minor relationship, War, Kidnapping, and Sexual content

Minor: Death, Animal death, Xenophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Infidelity, Trafficking, Drug use, Confinement, Violence, Murder, Death of parent, and Cursing

goddess_of_mars's review

adventurous dark mysterious 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

I absolutely adore this book. I don't know how it's not super famous now, but it's got everything. It's slowburn enemies to lovers, the characters are interesting and you never know what they pull next. I love the world it's set into and the way the author is not afraid to show a different society than we are used to.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery, Sexual content, Torture, and Blood

Moderate: Rape, Sexual violence, Child abuse, Death, and Adult/minor relationship

lauwbinx's review against another edition

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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Sexual content, Blood, Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, Slavery, Violence, Death, and Torture

Moderate: Animal death, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, and Sexual assault

Minor: Death of parent, Drug use, Pregnancy, Rape, and War

paper_aphid's review against another edition

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!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Slavery, Rape, Blood, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Physical abuse, Kidnapping, and Confinement

Moderate: Pedophilia

Minor: Death of parent

depressionesque's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Sexual harassment, Slavery, Child abuse, Xenophobia, Trafficking, Torture, Kidnapping, Injury/Injury detail, Drug use, Adult/minor relationship, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Murder, Physical abuse, Death of parent, Cursing, Death, Confinement, Blood, and Animal death

Moderate: Pedophilia, Rape, and War

Minor: Suicidal thoughts and Abortion

green_amaryllis's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense fast-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Violence, Adult/minor relationship, Slavery, Trafficking, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Child abuse, Confinement, Pedophilia, Rape, and Sexual content

Moderate: Blood, War, Death, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, and Kidnapping

rhi_'s review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual harassment, Slavery, and Torture

Moderate: Murder, Animal death, Incest, Blood, Death of parent, and Death

nicetomitchya's review

dark mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

0.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Colonisation, Slavery, Torture, Blood, Abandonment, Racism, Bullying, Kidnapping, Pedophilia, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Cursing and Drug abuse

meepmeepmia's review

challenging dark mysterious slow-paced

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

3.25

I have read this series a few times, I always think this is the lowest of the three. Just as how it is written you don't really get a full picture till you have read everything, so while this may be gritty and certain character may be down right un readable for those who like a good pay off keep going!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Blood, Sexual violence, Slavery, and Violence

Moderate: Pedophilia, Rape, and Racism

Minor: Death, Cursing, Sexual assault, Incest, Torture, Drug use, and Death of parent

violetlunablossom's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

4.25

For years, I had put off reading Captive Prince, partly because I had other books higher on my TBR list and partly because of the ever pervasive controversy of its handling of certain subjects. And honestly, I can completely understand why people are put off by this book. There are definitely scenes that are hard to get through and language used to describe what's happening doesn't make it much better. To most, this does seem like a book that fetishisizes such subjects, and I wouldn't blame people for thinking this. But it gets a little easier to understand certain world building decisions that Pacat made, in my opinion, when you view them through the historical inspirations that they come from. Akelios and Vere are very clear based off of two different cultures from the past, so things kind of click into place when you realize the context. 

That being said, I did find the political intrigue and world building to be surprisingly strong, and the way that deceit and the abuse of power is displayed is incredibly engrossing. Damen is a protagonist that I was immediately endeared to and watching him navigate Veretian society and politics while trying to keep his identity a secret was very engaging. Conversely, Laurent was a compelling secondary protagonist, with all his brutality and wit. Every time him and Damen shared a scene, I was glued to the page because of how unpredictable everything was. The two of them are obviously being set up as a slowburn enemies to lovers and I couldn't be more excited to see how their relationship grows. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery, Pedophilia, Sexual violence, Rape, Torture, Violence, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Murder, Blood, Child abuse, and Trafficking