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tovetott 's review for:
Kings Rising
by C.S. Pacat
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Despite all the grief this series has given me as an aspiring author (one day!), I can't help but admire the journey the story took to get ✨️here✨️.
Is it well written? No. Are the characters well developed? Also no. The so-called "romance"? Doesn't really come around until halfway through ✨️this✨️ book, and even then it's questionable at best.
I spent most of this series sending excerpts and crying about them to a friend of mine who writes fanfic (that I, in turn, beta-read) and posts it online. Both of us can't really tell how no-one pointed out the very many areas this could have been improved on during its YEARS in development, and it kind of breaks my heart that so much potential for really, really engaging scenes seemed to have been glossed over to pay more attention to the smut scenes and moments of shock value.
However, neither the story nor the writing was why I picked this series up to begin with, if I'm being honest.
In a way, I see parallells between this series and 'All For The Game' (which I believe was also an online, public work in progress), and it would be interesting to read more books/series that grow and develop from an online platform in comparison to the traditional way of being able to work on the story as a whole, to see if there is a pattern to what kinds of books escape the platform they grew from.
That being said, the FANDOM is really what drew me in to this series to begin with.
I find it fascinating and kind of endearing that the fandom for this series is so dedicated to the work. Every piece of fanart I've seen from 'Captive Prince' have been stunningly beautiful. (I even got recommended this series from a person in ARTIST ALLEY !! I thought their 'Captive Prince'-piece was instead a drawing of Patroclus and Achilles from 'The Song of Achilles', but that's besides the point lmao) The lengthy posts I've seen on tumblr where readers are able to dissect scenes and break down dialogue and foreshadowing, where I was fully struggling to simply figure out what the author meant ✨️to begin with✨️, makes me feel all fuzzy inside.
The fandom around this series is really, truly what MAKES this series, and since the fandom was what made this book a reality in the first place, I can't help but feel kinda good about it staying on my bookshelves, even though I can count its redeeming qualities, writing-wise, on one hand. It serves as a great reminder of what "fandom culture" is, and what fans do for the art they love. And as someone who's been part of fandom for their entire life, it's always nice to be reminded of what we can create together! How we can transform something so incredibly mid and bare to something fruitful and colorful and deep! 🫶
(I am also very excited to read 'Dark Rise', since I have only ever heard great things about it, and I am a sucker for seeing someone's growth and progress of their craft 👏👏)
Is it well written? No. Are the characters well developed? Also no. The so-called "romance"? Doesn't really come around until halfway through ✨️this✨️ book, and even then it's questionable at best.
I spent most of this series sending excerpts and crying about them to a friend of mine who writes fanfic (that I, in turn, beta-read) and posts it online. Both of us can't really tell how no-one pointed out the very many areas this could have been improved on during its YEARS in development, and it kind of breaks my heart that so much potential for really, really engaging scenes seemed to have been glossed over to pay more attention to the smut scenes and moments of shock value.
However, neither the story nor the writing was why I picked this series up to begin with, if I'm being honest.
In a way, I see parallells between this series and 'All For The Game' (which I believe was also an online, public work in progress), and it would be interesting to read more books/series that grow and develop from an online platform in comparison to the traditional way of being able to work on the story as a whole, to see if there is a pattern to what kinds of books escape the platform they grew from.
That being said, the FANDOM is really what drew me in to this series to begin with.
I find it fascinating and kind of endearing that the fandom for this series is so dedicated to the work. Every piece of fanart I've seen from 'Captive Prince' have been stunningly beautiful. (I even got recommended this series from a person in ARTIST ALLEY !! I thought their 'Captive Prince'-piece was instead a drawing of Patroclus and Achilles from 'The Song of Achilles', but that's besides the point lmao) The lengthy posts I've seen on tumblr where readers are able to dissect scenes and break down dialogue and foreshadowing, where I was fully struggling to simply figure out what the author meant ✨️to begin with✨️, makes me feel all fuzzy inside.
The fandom around this series is really, truly what MAKES this series, and since the fandom was what made this book a reality in the first place, I can't help but feel kinda good about it staying on my bookshelves, even though I can count its redeeming qualities, writing-wise, on one hand. It serves as a great reminder of what "fandom culture" is, and what fans do for the art they love. And as someone who's been part of fandom for their entire life, it's always nice to be reminded of what we can create together! How we can transform something so incredibly mid and bare to something fruitful and colorful and deep! 🫶
(I am also very excited to read 'Dark Rise', since I have only ever heard great things about it, and I am a sucker for seeing someone's growth and progress of their craft 👏👏)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Death, Suicide, Murder