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mdee's review against another edition
2.0
While I feel like this had a great premise, the execution fell terribly flat. I didn’t connect with either of the MCs and their chemistry was very lacklustre. Yawn.
katmoreid's review
4.0
Compelling
Once I started, I couldn't stop reading. This isn't my usual kind of book with the abuse and torture Dare goes through. I like fluffy books. But I still really enjoyed it. The torture scenes did make me uncomfortable, especially the torture combined with dungeon master's strange personality. However, I loved the two guys and I felt driven to see how their story ended. Very well written. I can't bring myself to give it five but only because of my own preferences.
Once I started, I couldn't stop reading. This isn't my usual kind of book with the abuse and torture Dare goes through. I like fluffy books. But I still really enjoyed it. The torture scenes did make me uncomfortable, especially the torture combined with dungeon master's strange personality. However, I loved the two guys and I felt driven to see how their story ended. Very well written. I can't bring myself to give it five but only because of my own preferences.
eemms's review
1.0
I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review
Honestly: I did not like this book!
I'm just going to go ahead and blanket warning for spoilers here. cw: discussion of mental health issues in a negative light. Also cw: mentions of slavery/slave kink and Captive Prince
So I started this ARC and right away I'm like yes, this is id-y and kinky, I can get into this. Dare (the MC) is the plaything of Darius (the prince). He's made to act as human furniture (and called Footstool) as well as suck Darius off and generally put up with anything the prince wants to dole out. Here we go, I thought, we'll have some slave kink, some humiliation kink, maybe it's going to wind up incest-y but I think I can deal with that (It's never explicit in the book but I'm like 98% sure they're half-brothers). I *loved* the Captive Prince and I thought it was going that direction.
Then 20% into the book. And I was like. That's it??? No dirtywrong sex, no falling in love with your cruel tormentor, none of that? Nope! All of a sudden we're in an 80s fantasy novel, and then honestly I found the rest really boring.
Would I have liked this more if it hadn't felt like such a bait and switch? Probably. But the pacing is pretty choppy, the prose wasn't my style, and the main romance between Dare and the foreign prince Malory wasn't at all compelling to me. Most of it seemed glossed over in a "over many days they fell in love" off page way.
So the romance wasn't there for me, and everything that was there...I didn't like. There was a lot of moping and introspection. There were several chapters devoted to a gross, sadistic, philosophical dungeon master. I'm not sure what the intended effect was but it wasn't one I liked.
Finally, and I can't let this go as it got worse and worse over the course of the book, there was a lot of casting mental illness in a really negative light. At one point "Schizoid" is flung out as an insult, which first of all, was like having Lord of the Rings elves use "r*t*rd" as an insult. Threw me RIGHT out of the fantasy setting, let me tell you. But I thought, maybe it's a one off mistake. Unfortunately not. Prince Darius (the dead one) was anxious and increasingly agoraphobic. He was also cruel and volatile. In the second half of the book these two traits are increasingly conflated as Dare reminisces about how "crazy" Darius was. As someone who is anxious and not a sociopath, I disliked this.
I wouldn't have finished this book if I didn't have the 2nd in the series (also an ARC) that I promised myself I would at least start.
I read romance novels for either pants feels, or heart feels, or ideally both. This provided neither.
Honestly: I did not like this book!
I'm just going to go ahead and blanket warning for spoilers here. cw: discussion of mental health issues in a negative light. Also cw: mentions of slavery/slave kink and Captive Prince
So I started this ARC and right away I'm like yes, this is id-y and kinky, I can get into this. Dare (the MC) is the plaything of Darius (the prince). He's made to act as human furniture (and called Footstool) as well as suck Darius off and generally put up with anything the prince wants to dole out. Here we go, I thought, we'll have some slave kink, some humiliation kink, maybe it's going to wind up incest-y but I think I can deal with that (It's never explicit in the book but I'm like 98% sure they're half-brothers). I *loved* the Captive Prince and I thought it was going that direction.
Then 20% into the book
Spoiler
prince Darius dies, just straight up spike through the chest diesWould I have liked this more if it hadn't felt like such a bait and switch? Probably. But the pacing is pretty choppy, the prose wasn't my style, and the main romance between Dare and the foreign prince Malory wasn't at all compelling to me. Most of it seemed glossed over in a "over many days they fell in love" off page way.
So the romance wasn't there for me, and everything that was there...I didn't like. There was a lot of moping and introspection. There were several chapters devoted to a gross, sadistic, philosophical dungeon master. I'm not sure what the intended effect was but it wasn't one I liked.
Finally, and I can't let this go as it got worse and worse over the course of the book, there was a lot of casting mental illness in a really negative light. At one point "Schizoid" is flung out as an insult, which first of all, was like having Lord of the Rings elves use "r*t*rd" as an insult. Threw me RIGHT out of the fantasy setting, let me tell you. But I thought, maybe it's a one off mistake. Unfortunately not. Prince Darius (the dead one) was anxious and increasingly agoraphobic. He was also cruel and volatile. In the second half of the book these two traits are increasingly conflated as Dare reminisces about how "crazy" Darius was. As someone who is anxious and not a sociopath, I disliked this.
I wouldn't have finished this book if I didn't have the 2nd in the series (also an ARC) that I promised myself I would at least start.
I read romance novels for either pants feels, or heart feels, or ideally both. This provided neither.
chlojo91's review against another edition
4.0
Are you freaking kidding me? That was so good?
My one gripe came from the "I love yous" I understand when and where that relationship developed but wished that we as the reader saw more of Mal and Dare's time falling in love before they issue I love you's.
My one gripe came from the "I love yous" I understand when and where that relationship developed but wished that we as the reader saw more of Mal and Dare's time falling in love before they issue I love you's.
dan_ackerman's review against another edition
3.0
I enjoyed the first installment of the ImposterSeries and I’m glad to see that it is a series because the ending felt abrupt. The story begins with a look at the relationship between the spoiled and unstable Prince Darius and his servant/companion, Dare, two young men who share a name and are conveniently close in appearance. The character of Prince Darius felt a little flat, an antagonist whose purpose was to make it so Dare’s childhood wasn’t tookind for a mere commoner. At times the author was able to draw out an interesting side to Prince Darius, and depth in his characterization. It was, to me, a shame that he died before the story really started. I would have liked to seem more from him, more growth or a more tragic spiral, instead of following along with Dare, the ever kind and patient and smart and handsome servant boy. Dare doesn’t seem to have a bad bone in his body, which is suspect considering the abuse he’s endured throughout his childhood. We have access to his thoughts and feeling, as he’s the point-of-view character, and I find his relative lack of trauma concerning. He seems to be more or less at peace with all the bad things that happened (and continue to happen) to him.
Post-kidnapping, the two leads, Dare and Malory, begin as tentative companions during Dare’s captivity and Malory’s convalescence, and eventually, fall in love. It’s a slow build and a sweet one, too. I honestly enjoyed most of the interactions between the two of them once they started to challenge each other and act as equals. I especially enjoyed that Malory cared enough for his friend to try to fix the misunderstandings between them and support Dare when his true identity is revealed.
Dare’s captors, the king and queen of Shastan, don’t feature much into the story as characters, though they do drive the plot somewhat. The queen hates Dare, a lot, without much of an explanation other than he’s an enemy prince. Maybe that’s enough of a reason, but again I wanted depth. I hope we’ll get more from her in the sequel. There’s a drawn-out interlude with the dungeon master that would have interested me more if it had gone anywhere and lasted for more than a few days; I thought, briefly, that this would turn into a Count of Monte Cristostyle captivity, but not much personal growth can develop in such a short span. Instead, the book ends with Dare and Malory wed, Dare still impersonating Prince Darius, and the two of them happily in bed together.
The books greatest shortcoming is its length. It easily could have been twice as long and twice as interesting if the author had dug deeper into the plot and characters. I wanted her to give me more so badly. Knowing more about the political situation, the king and queen, about everyone’s motivations and personalities would have taken this book from a quick and pleasant read to one that gets its hooks into the reader.
I’m curious to know what will happen when Dare inevitably must face Prince Darius’s father; given what we know of the relationship between Prince Darius and his father, there are some interesting possibilities in the air.
Post-kidnapping, the two leads, Dare and Malory, begin as tentative companions during Dare’s captivity and Malory’s convalescence, and eventually, fall in love. It’s a slow build and a sweet one, too. I honestly enjoyed most of the interactions between the two of them once they started to challenge each other and act as equals. I especially enjoyed that Malory cared enough for his friend to try to fix the misunderstandings between them and support Dare when his true identity is revealed.
Dare’s captors, the king and queen of Shastan, don’t feature much into the story as characters, though they do drive the plot somewhat. The queen hates Dare, a lot, without much of an explanation other than he’s an enemy prince. Maybe that’s enough of a reason, but again I wanted depth. I hope we’ll get more from her in the sequel. There’s a drawn-out interlude with the dungeon master that would have interested me more if it had gone anywhere and lasted for more than a few days; I thought, briefly, that this would turn into a Count of Monte Cristostyle captivity, but not much personal growth can develop in such a short span. Instead, the book ends with Dare and Malory wed, Dare still impersonating Prince Darius, and the two of them happily in bed together.
The books greatest shortcoming is its length. It easily could have been twice as long and twice as interesting if the author had dug deeper into the plot and characters. I wanted her to give me more so badly. Knowing more about the political situation, the king and queen, about everyone’s motivations and personalities would have taken this book from a quick and pleasant read to one that gets its hooks into the reader.
I’m curious to know what will happen when Dare inevitably must face Prince Darius’s father; given what we know of the relationship between Prince Darius and his father, there are some interesting possibilities in the air.
atheresa's review against another edition
2.0
Not enough relationship development. Rushed ending. Sadist Stix was an unnecessary character.
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