Reviews with content warning for Rape - Captive Prince

It takes a lot of skill to write a dark world and present it as-is, with characters who are part of systems of abuse and not cognizant of it. Neither Damen nor Laurent are innocent—despite everything Damen suffers in Vere, it's not like Akielos doesn't also have a system of slavery in place. But it's interesting to see the cracks in Damen's ideals as the story progresses, and the same is definitely true for Laurent. There are multiple moments where their assumptions are challenged, and you can feel their surprise, and how they reassess their opponent, and I love character development like that.

There is absolutely no whiff of romance in this first book, which is good, because I don't think the story allows for it yet. But the character dynamics are fantastic. Laurent is definitely the most fascinating of the two, because he is more inscrutable. Some of his interactions with Nicaise show genuine compassion. It's also clear that he doesn't hate everyone from Akielos and is, in fact, capable of being kind to the slaves, even as he is a complete bastard to Damen. I think Damen is a naïve idiot, and I say this with love, because I don't buy for a second that Laurent doesn't know exactly who he is, and has known from the beginning, which would also explain why his behavior towards Damen is different compared to how he usually behaves.

I'm definitely invested in them at this point, and I can't wait to see all the ways in which they'll grow.

Content Warnings

willowmae's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

Content Warnings

astrozombies's review against another edition

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challenging dark slow-paced

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

1.25

this book has no message, gives nothing of substance, and lacks any meaningful commentary. the main character is flat and emotionless for 90% of the story, the other 10% being where he is horny beyond reason. the future love interest is wholly unforgivable, even with the very obvious tragic backstory that is soon to come.
this book contains gratuitous displays of violence and assault accompanied by some of truly the worst depictions of victims to the point where you ask yourself “is the author enjoying this?” and, worryingly, it seems as though the answer is yes.
the entire plot hinges on the truly wild assumption that nobody in the entire novel would recognize the face of the prince of a sovereign nation. really? you’re saying there was not a single important military figure in the veretian court? do portraits not exist in this world? but honestly, this convenience is something i can get over.
what i can’t get over is the overarching fact that NOTHING MATTERS IN THIS BOOK! nobody learns any lesson.
the differences between slavery in the two nations are seemingly negligible however we are meant to believe that one country is better than the other, and that the slaves in both are happy, actually, unless they’re in the other nation. crazy.
i’ve read dark rise before reading this book but going into this with that (terrible) novel as reference really colors the questionable choices pacat made in hindsight. wild

Content Warnings

emilynied's review against another edition

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dark emotional medium-paced

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

3.5

It's clear why this book is so controversial and why there are so many mixed feelings. I think this book and Pacat go further than other fantasy authors are willing to go as far as gore and heavy topics - ones that the reader is confronted with as the novel's plot and the fantasy world unfolds. Just because, however, you feel gross and disgusted by it, doesn't necessarily mean it's bad - I think instead it confronts the reader even more about the content and moral questions that are raised.

And this book confronts so many intricate, interesting moral questions. What is good and what is bad? How far are you willing to go to survive? What are you willing to do? I don't think these questions were necessarily glorified, I think they were uncomfortably confronted. We see everything through a foreigner's eyes and the interactions between each and every character are approached so precisely. The relationships that we start to see build and the characters that are revealed were really interesting to read about so I would recommend trying this book out.

Content Warnings

chaptermaggot's review against another edition

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dark emotional fast-paced

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

5.0

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marimaia's review against another edition

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dark tense slow-paced

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

4.0

laurent repeated the question slowly in the language of akielos.
the words came out before he could stop them. ‘i speak your language better than you speak mine, sweetheart.’

Relendo depois de 3? anos e não lembrava como o primeiro era leeeento, mas mesmo assim eu sei que ajuda a entender tudo o que vem depois então continua sendo bom. Não consigo não perceber as semelhanças entre Damen/Neil e Laurent/Andrew e isso só faz eu amar eles mais ainda.

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eelka's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Content Warnings

danteeeh's review

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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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