Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

Captive Prince by C.S. Pacat

52 reviews

zoey_blk's review against another edition

adventurous tense fast-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? It's complicated

4.5

I read this book through in the span of 3 hours max and really enjoyed Damen as a character. Laurent is a pain in the ass, but I can feel his attitude change ever so slightly. They didn't lie when they said this was a slow burn book. Since I read this book solely because of Tiktok videos about Laurent and Damen I was taken a back by the customs of the world the story plays in. The slave and rape culture made me very uncomfortable every time I came across it. It's a topic I generally don't enjoy, but I tried to look past than for the sake of the Mcs stories.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pedophilia, Adult/minor relationship, Death, Murder, Physical abuse, Violence, Slavery, Rape, Sexual violence, Sexual content, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Death, Death of parent, Classism, Blood, and Drug use

Minor: War and Alcohol

alana_f's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad 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

4.0

Writing this review after already finishing the second book (and about to start the third), I can confidently say this trilogy is really damn good. I understand some people cannot enjoy the book due to some issues with the sensitive content (which is fine!), but I didn't view the book as glorifying it in any way (contrary actually) so I really enjoyed it! There's so much character development throughout the whole trilogy, and I think the plot is excellently crafted. I also really enjoy the Greco-Roman inspired political elements, and think a lot of people ignore that some of the harder-to-read situations are based on a cruel, historical reality that the book speaks about with disgust and critical commentary. Overall, great books, but not for those that simply don't want to engage in that type of sensitive content.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death of parent, Sexual violence, Classism, Physical abuse, Violence, Emotional abuse, Slavery, Trafficking, War, and Death

witheredflower's review against another edition

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? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Murder, Rape, Adult/minor relationship, Grief, Blood, Death of parent, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Pedophilia, Slavery, Torture, Violence, and War

mikeymara's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark tense medium-paced

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

4.0

I am definitely reading the next books and buying them to own. This book is not for everyone as it does involve a lot of topics related to sex slavery and rape. It is also not the best for people who want a quick romance, this is more of a slow burn in some ways. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Adult/minor relationship, Sexual assault, Pedophilia, Rape, and Slavery

Moderate: Cursing, Torture, Animal death, Death, Emotional abuse, Incest, Violence, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Fire/Fire injury, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Classism, War, and Bullying

A lot of sex based content aswell as rape and abuse. One of the main characters is a 10-14 year old in a relationship with an adult man. At some point in the story the main character is punish via wipping, it is vaguely graphic. There is some minor death of an animal, it is minor and can be skipped over. The main plot involves a description of the main characters kidnapping and transportation to Vere.

paziicrm's review against another edition

challenging dark tense medium-paced

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

4.25

Captive Prince, as a novel, gets a 4☆ for me. As a re-read after 7 years, it was such a fun reading experience! The worldbuilding, though emotionally challenging and shocking, was so well done from the get to. And seeing the progression of Damen and Lauren't dynamics from enemies to temporally reluctant allies is so 🤌🏼 GOOD! 

This edition contains an extra short story, Erasmus's training AND IT WAS SO SO GOOD. First time reading it and I'm floored to see how much I enjoyed it. The ending was surprising, heartbreaking and devastating for so many reasons. I hope Erasmus and Kallias find each other again... 4.5☆

This specific edition I give 4.25 because the short story at the end elevates the rating (such a nice bonus!)

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Confinement and Drug use

Minor: Animal death, Classism, Death of parent, Alcohol, and Animal cruelty

abitbetterbooks's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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? It's complicated

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Sexual assault, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, War, Xenophobia, Violence, Trafficking, Toxic relationship, Slavery, Sexual violence, Sexual content, Rape, Physical abuse, Pedophilia, Murder, and Drug abuse

pouncysk's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery, Death of parent, Rape, Incest, and Sexual assault

dazaireads's review against another edition

dark sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Drug abuse, Rape, Sexual content, Child abuse, Drug use, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Sexual harassment, Trafficking, Murder, Sexual assault, Kidnapping, Pedophilia, War, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual violence, and Violence

jjnich's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-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? Yes

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Rape, Torture, Death of parent, Kidnapping, Murder, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Slavery, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Drug use, Sexual content, and Sexual assault

dragonbloom's review against another edition

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? It's complicated

0.75

This is a controversial book. After years of hearing from other people what I should think of the book, I decided to form my own opinion. 

I hated it. 

Fundamentally, I feel it is too horny to be an adventure story, but not horny enough to be erotica. My issues with the plot only compound it. 

Laurent, our love interest, is gifted Damen as a sex slave. The court he is surrounded with is hedonistic and sexual, with courtiers regularly having sex in public. 

Despite this, there is only one actual sex scene,

when Laurent has another sex slave force oral on a tied up Damen.

If you are looking for some dark erotica, perhaps find it elsewhere, this is lacking in sex. 

Despite ordering Damen’s abuse at the hands of his servants,

Laurent never personally lays hands on him.

I can only assume, as

we are supposed to find him more forgivable than if he had personally beaten and raped Damen. I do not. Rape fetish fiction is not my thing, but I understand people like it. However, it would be nice if we didn’t pretend the abuser is not an abuser, as he abuses by proxy.

I found the story predictable. On several occasions, the chapter would end with Laurent dramatically informing the ever oblivious Damen something I had guessed chapters ago, much to Damen’s shock. In these moments, he comes off, not unfamiliar with the venomous court of a foreign land, but stupid. 

The regent’s, who’s name escapes me, “pet”,

a 13 year old boy, plotline, feels a lazy effort to make Laurent look better in comparison to his uncle. “Oh, sure, he’s a violent abuser, but look! He’s not a child molester!” I have not read further, but I suspect Laurent was molested by him also. Just a guess.

Regardless, the pedophilia is not romanticised, but is not handled with the sensitivity such a… Well, sensitive, topic demands. 

The only thing I can give the book credit for is consistent characterisation, and good use of showing instead of telling. 

If you like slow burn, abusive noncon fanfiction, this is probably the book for you. For me? God, no. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Sexual harassment, Racism, Pedophilia, Adult/minor relationship, Sexual assault, Rape, Sexual content, Physical abuse, Trafficking, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Death, Injury/Injury detail, Alcohol, War, Death of parent, Violence, Toxic relationship, Grief, and Blood

Minor: Animal death, Animal cruelty, and Suicide

Much of the book is spent musing on the beauty of, specifically pale, skin.