A review by dragonbloom
Captive Prince by C.S. Pacat

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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