Reviews tagging 'Slavery'

Captive Prince by C.S. Pacat

341 reviews

toni_mahony's review against another edition

3.5

the world and its interhuman relationships are very brutal and perverse which can be quite gruesome if you are not ready for it.
otherwise, i got immersed in the story although it is noticeable that this book is primarily world building and is setting the mood for the other two books. therefore, i recommend reading at least the first two books to get a grasp of the plot of the series.

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Content Warnings

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

jaxtongray's review against another edition

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Slavery, and Adult/minor relationship

lunahale's review against another edition

tense fast-paced

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

3.5

i read this for the first time a few years ago, but by the first twenty pages of my reread, i realized that i didn’t remember ANY of this. some names were familiar and i remember the basic plot but everything else felt new. so it was fun to read this again, and i’m happy i did. i remember likening the second and third books more so i’m excited to keep going

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Slavery, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, and Adult/minor relationship

Moderate: Blood, Injury/Injury detail, and Torture

issyharvey's review against another edition

challenging dark 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? It's complicated

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Trafficking, Slavery, Sexual violence, Injury/Injury detail, Rape, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, Pedophilia, Violence, Murder, Blood, and Sexual content

Minor: Death, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Animal death, Incest, Miscarriage, War, Abortion, Animal cruelty, and Torture

samara_surface's review against another edition

3.75

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Violence, Death, and Death of parent

onthesamepage's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

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

4.0

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.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Torture, Rape, and Slavery

Moderate: Drug use and Child abuse

Minor: Animal death

bea1745's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense fast-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Trafficking, Sexual assault, Violence, Slavery, Torture, and Pedophilia

Minor: Death of parent

emilynied's review against another edition

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.

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Content Warnings

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

chaptermaggot's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Trafficking, Sexual violence, and Slavery

Moderate: Animal death, Injury/Injury detail, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, Adult/minor relationship, Confinement, Violence, Sexual assault, Rape, and Kidnapping

Minor: Alcohol, Death, Drug use, Incest, Fire/Fire injury, Death of parent, Murder, and Pregnancy

marimaia's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Violence, Slavery, Rape, Physical abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Confinement, Sexual assault, Torture, Death, Adult/minor relationship, and Murder