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jgnoelle 's review for:
Prince's Gambit
by C.S. Pacat
I read this second installment in the Captive Prince trilogy in seven days (the first one only took me four days, but then, it was shorter).
Prince’s Gambit contained even more of what made the first book great: amazing political twisting and turning; two finely-drawn main characters (Laurent, in particular, with his calculating brilliance and poisonous wit, was in fine form); well-realized secondary characters; and stellar writing (“It was like being alone in a pit with a snake: the snake could relax, you could not.”). Only this time, we also had side adventures and disguises, armies on the move, alliances, duels, considerably more romance, and, of course, sex.
The sex scene, when it finally happened, was both hot and fraught. Leading up to it was perhaps the slowest burn ever in the history of such things. The sexual tension was absolutely incredible.
I really like how, despite the story being about two guys and featuring a world and dialogue that is so strongly masculine, Damen’s point of view was filtered through more of a female gaze. He constantly observed such things as a golden fall of hair or the shifting of lean muscles beneath fair skin, which further added to the tension. The narration of the sex scene, rather than coarse, was mostly sensual with just a hint of stronger language for contrast.
However, as observant as he was about Laurent’s beauty, Damen was often oblivious to other important facts and blinded by his own sense of righteous honour. This was frustrating at times as a reader, but added considerably to tension of the overall story.
Prince’s Gambit contained even more of what made the first book great: amazing political twisting and turning; two finely-drawn main characters (Laurent, in particular, with his calculating brilliance and poisonous wit, was in fine form); well-realized secondary characters; and stellar writing (“It was like being alone in a pit with a snake: the snake could relax, you could not.”). Only this time, we also had side adventures and disguises, armies on the move, alliances, duels, considerably more romance, and, of course, sex.
The sex scene, when it finally happened, was both hot and fraught. Leading up to it was perhaps the slowest burn ever in the history of such things. The sexual tension was absolutely incredible.
I really like how, despite the story being about two guys and featuring a world and dialogue that is so strongly masculine, Damen’s point of view was filtered through more of a female gaze. He constantly observed such things as a golden fall of hair or the shifting of lean muscles beneath fair skin, which further added to the tension. The narration of the sex scene, rather than coarse, was mostly sensual with just a hint of stronger language for contrast.
However, as observant as he was about Laurent’s beauty, Damen was often oblivious to other important facts and blinded by his own sense of righteous honour. This was frustrating at times as a reader, but added considerably to tension of the overall story.