A review by mkw1lson
The Captive Prince by C.S. Pacat

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

3.75

This is a tough book to rate because it is a good book on its own, but it is a great set up for the next two books in the series. A lot of this book is world-building and introducing the characters, establishing the stakes, and exactly how much Damen and Laurent loathe each other -
then the circumstances that force them to continue to depend on each other.


That means the book does suffer a bit because the meat of the story is yet to come, but you will find that once you reach the end of this book, you'll be desperately reaching for the next one. It's addicting and dark and dramatic - I gobbled it up and really came to love both these very complex, grey characters.

Yes, both of them, even in this first book
because while it may seem like one of the two is irredeemably evil, it is so important to remember, that Damen is an unreliable and uninformed narrator, he's got heavy biases and is missing a lot of information about what is going on and what has happened. Small spoilers for the rest of the trilogy: If you pay attention, a lot of the hints are in this book as to what will be revealed in the second and third books.


As for the controversial material in this book... it is controversial, and this book is definitely the roughest,
mostly because it appears as if Laurent is unbothered by it all while Damen is horrified,
but I don't think any of it lacks purpose even if it may seem so in the first book. The book is not glorifying and romanticizing anything, in my opinion, but heed the warnings.
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