Reviews tagging 'Physical abuse'

Captive Prince: Volume Two by C.S. Pacat

21 reviews

divine529's review against another edition

adventurous 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? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

This is the second installment in the "Captive Prince" trilogy, and while it's definitely still a "book candy" series for me, I liked this book a bit better than the last. 

This book picks up right where the last one left off, with Damen, Laurent and a whole bunch of soldiers embarking out to go to Aquitart, all the while playing a chess game of war and military strategy along the way, and their feelings continue to develop from there. 

Laurent and Damen's relationship continues to bother me with the utter devotion and loyalty Damen has for Laurent after the events of the last book. It was good to see the shift in mindset, but still weird that it happens so fast. I'm also 100% convinced that Laurent knows who Damen is and has most likely the whole time which would explain, but not excuse, a lot of things from the prior book. I liked some of the side characters a bit more this book too. I'm also so glad for less rape and CSA - still present for sure, but not as explicit and prevalent as in the first book.

Some things that really grate on me though is the continued portrayal of Laurent's lack of relationships and sexual interactions (he definitely reads as asexual spectrum to me - probably demi). I hate that his personality of being cold and cruel in particular transfers to his sexual identity (a lot of it is a trauma response I'm sure too). Also Damen's reluctant bisexuality was portrayed in a frustrating way at times. 

It was also a lot clearer this book why people call this a gay GoT. 

Overall, still not the best thing ever ("book candy") but enjoyable in a way too. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Sexual content, Slavery, and Violence

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Biphobia, Child death, Drug use, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Suicide, Blood, Acephobia/Arophobia, and War

Minor: Animal death, Incest, Rape, Sexual assault, Grief, and Gaslighting

mausoleum's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Sexual content, Slavery, Suicide, and Violence

Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, and War

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Pedophilia, and Injury/Injury detail

obatan's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Bullying, Child death, Cursing, Deadnaming, Incest, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Slavery, Suicide, Violence, Xenophobia, Murder, and War

louisallama's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense medium-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? Yes

4.0

The characters, relationships, and plot twists in this series are absolutely phenomenal. My jaw was on the floor several times. The best part is that all of the twists are foreshadowed and well earned. 
Also I want to break Laurent down into a primordial goo, put him through a centrifuge, study the resulting pellet under a microscope and do chromatography on the supernatant. I'm so normal about him. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Slavery, Violence, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Suicide, and Death of parent

sarahflies's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Animal death, Death, Infidelity, Death of parent, Colonisation, War, and Classism

nat_kiverse's review against another edition

dark sad tense medium-paced

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Murder, Sexual harassment, and War

paziicrm's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense slow-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War

Moderate: Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Violence, Grief, Murder, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Death of parent, and Alcohol

kiseao's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Incest, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicide, Trafficking, Murder, Sexual harassment, and War

aeori's review against another edition

slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Slavery, Suicide, Toxic relationship, and Blood

Moderate: Pedophilia

diana_raquel's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

“To get what you want, you have to know exactly how much you are willing to give up.”

As serialized books go, there's something called "second-book syndrome", wherein a writer fails to write a second book that will live up to the first one.  Well, this book doesn't suffer from this syndrome. It was better than the first, even. This book is the one that shows that the arguments used for criticizing in a negative way the first fell apart (I addressed these arguments in my review of Captive Prince). The relationship between the main characters starts to be a more equal one and the plot continues to be interesting as the first one, with a well-structured structure and plot twists that fall into place at the right moment. 

This is truly one of my favorite series! I completely recommend it!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Pedophilia, Rape, and Suicide

Minor: Infidelity and Pregnancy