Reviews tagging 'Drug use'

Captive Prince by C.S. Pacat

58 reviews

nolimalumsedheroa's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny tense

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

4.25

Who doesn't like a slowburn enemies to lovers?

Side note: I'm currently lacking in sleep, so this review might be a hot mess

I'm not really a fan of some of the sexual interactions, but I really loved the characters. This book was great, because it got me out of one of my biggest reading slumps yet.

DEFINITELY NOT FOR EVERYONE
In contrast to the overall smuty/eroticay vibe, the book almost doesn't feature sexual content, HOWEVER when it does, it might be a little triggering to people.

Here are my personal TWs/tags: Master/slave kink, CNC, Rape, Pedophilia?(I'm not entirely sure if this is the correct tag here. On the one hand, one of the people involved in the relationship is a minor, however they're very much consenting to everything and if the story said they were 20 instead of 13, it wouldn't really change a thing since they don't act infantile at all... I guess a main question is if they're able to consent), also I found allusions to familial SA; Voyeurism could be also argued, Public play

As I said, I loved the characters. Himbo and 🐍 are so complimentary of each other when you truly observe them, it's fascinating.

If you're in the mood for a smuty and horny book low on sex displays which would make a Christian woman clutch her pearls and start crossing, I feel like this book fits the bill.

Also, it did better than FSoG with explaining the contract relationships, so there's that.

There were some... choices made here, which made me quote one of the most iconic lines Jenkins (from The Librarians) has ever said:
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Overall, I liked the book 4.25/5

Now off to the next one since the insomnia isn't going away 🙂

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Kidnapping, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Bullying, Sexual content, Trafficking, Gaslighting, and War

Minor: Drug use, Incest, Fire/Fire injury, and War

louisa_pennyfeather2021's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Drug use, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Kidnapping, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Death, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Trafficking, and Death of parent

Minor: Animal death, Blood, and War

ailsaod's review

challenging dark fast-paced

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

4.0

 Haha I read this in a single sitting! I have been curious about this book for a while as I was drawn to the secret identity aspect and the controversy about whether this series is problematic. All the reviews I've seen here are either saying this book is disgusting or romantic but I personally found it very t e n s e. The setting is extremely messed up (going into it I had no idea just how messed up it was going to be and I cannot stress enough that it gets a bit grim in places) but all the depravity allows for especially convoluted court dynamics and when you realise certain characters' motivations all I could think was OH NO! I'm almost left wondering if Pacat wrote this purely so they could write the courtly intrigue.

The interactions between Damen and Laurent are interesting as while I can tell from a mile off that they are going to eventually have a romance from what kind of story this is there was barely any hints at that in the whole book and instead the focus is on how much they hate each other and Laurent being horrible in the strangest of ways. Everyone in this story is to some degree awful - even Damen, who is much more sympathetic than everyone else because we see exactly what he is thinking has moments that when you have the whole context are not great. I really liked how Pacat turned everything on it's head in the third act and I look forward to reading book 2!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape and Slavery

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Confinement, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Drug use and Incest

ara02's review against another edition

adventurous challenging medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Confinement, Pedophilia, Sexual content, Slavery, Torture, and Trafficking

Moderate: Drug use, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Rape, Kidnapping, Death of parent, and War

kostas's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Drug use, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Violence, and Kidnapping

lavender_lores's review against another edition

challenging dark medium-paced

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

2.0

this book is literally so problematic, it's got way too many sexual abuse/harassment/violence scenes for anyone to read it while sane, not to mention the almost fetishization of gay people in the effort of making a queernorm world and the underlying colorism/racism with the way pale people with blond hair is throughout glorified as a damn plot point. i read this after dark rise, which i loved so much, but after reading this i'm not sure if i can support the author anymore. there was too much going wrong here to be covered up by "it's not glorification, we need to discuss dark topics." this is not the right kind of dark..... anyways look at the damn content warnings before reading. i will stay optimistic about the author for now but i sure am wary over this book

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual harassment, and War

liemannen's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

• 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? Yes

1.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, and Slavery

Moderate: Drug use and Pedophilia

This book is set in a world where sex slaves are a commonplace thing. Human "pets" are also the norm. The main character often compares the two types of slavery, glorifying one of them.

jmross10's review against another edition

challenging dark tense medium-paced

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

4.5

This book (and this series) get a bad wrap a lot of the time. The main reason for that is people don't read the synopsis or they do read it and completely disregard what it says. Then they act shocked when they find out there is sexual slavery at the center of the story. It is an understandably surprising premise but if you give the book a chance you will see there's more to it than what the surface suggests. A big part of the main character's journey is being forced to re-evaluate his view of the world now that he is seeing it from the other side.

There is a slow burn romance that develops over the duration of the series but don't go into this book expecting to see much of it. There are the tiniest hits of what could be. There is no actual suggestion as to what it is.

For that matter, don't go into this book expecting to know what's going to happen next either. While the world is interesting and the characters are messy, the most captivating part is easily the chaotic political maneuvering in Vere. Everyone seems to be twenty steps ahead of the reader. Some of them - Laurent - are thirty. 

Captive Prince is not necessarily an easy read but there are real emotional stakes, consequences for character's actions, and an unraveling of political plots that makes it well worth the effort. Pacat is an excellent writer and worth giving a try!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Drug use, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Slavery, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Kidnapping, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Child death, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and Classism

shonaberu's review against another edition

adventurous dark medium-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, and Trafficking

Minor: Child abuse, Death, Drug use, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury

lcoll93's review

dark fast-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexual content, Slavery, and Trafficking

Moderate: Pedophilia, Rape, and Violence

Minor: Animal death and Drug use