Reviews

Captive of the Horde King by Zoey Draven

jurnee_reads's review

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4.0

So good! The quality of the writing is really what gets me, the author just does a very good job of creating an atmosphere for the story that it sucks you right in.

Pretty normal sci-fi tropes going on, seemingly barbaric alien takes a human woman for a bride… and it turns out his people are actually great and he’s a kind and good natured king and they fall in love. I appreciated how much of a fight Luna put up as well, especially that she seemed to fight for quite a while before conceding to her husband. Their dynamic is not one of my favorites, the way they “hate” each other and that just turns them on, but it works for this story very well.

Mostly I liked seeing her find her way in this new life and find herself in the process, the romance was more of a side show in comparison. The spicy scenes were good, not great.

sophiareadsalot's review

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3.0

this is literally game of thrones fan fiction lol

jakelley's review

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4.0

NO stars yet, but soon. If this lives up to the hype I'm hearing about this series I will devour it quickly then update this review, or maybe I will write it along the way...
I am actually reading the third book in this series now and am almost finished with it!
As for this book, it was good, but I really loved the story that inspired it, The Golden Dynasty by Kristen Ashley. It has a top spot on my reread list, this one is a one-off for me. While enjoyable, there were certain aspects I felt were a miss. It may just be the couple featured in it because I am enjoying the couple in the third book much more... go figure. I will say that my favorite book in a series is usually the one that is the least popular to loyal readers. I don't understand why that always seems to be the case, but it's true nevertheless.
I think I would definitely be down for Alien Horde Kings to become a niche of SciFi romance the way ORCs and other monsters have done.
I like barbarians, barbarian Kings even more, but I want mine to be slightly more brutal and less cuddly than the ones in this series. That's only IMO which is entirely personal and I am entitled to have as a lifelong avid reader.

xdyanii's review

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adventurous fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

shadowsiren's review against another edition

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

4.0

eminator3000's review against another edition

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adventurous medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

girl_vs_books's review

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emotional lighthearted fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

openallnight's review

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2.0

Captive of the Horde King was a serviceable read. Not sure if I'm interested enough to continue the series but we'll see.

The H & h were both super unlikeable for me throughout the book. Just when I'd start to get over it, one or both of them would do stupid shit that made me dislike them again as people. The plot device "miscommunication/no communication" was the driver of the story. It's annoying to have yet another h being "kidnapped to be Queen" but inexplicably, NO ONE every explains anything to her.... even the most obvious things that she can't possibly know after being plucked from her world and dropped into a foreign culture. Kidnapped as a slave? Ok. That makes sense. But kidnapped to be Queen? Just feels lazy to create conflict out of silly cultural differences that could have easily been explained to her and have the focus shift to difficulties accepting her situation and flesh out the relationship building between the 2 MC's.

Meh.

nanoreadsxo's review

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4.0

get me my own horde king pls so sweet so alpha

marysesbooks's review

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adventurous tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

I would consider this a lite version of Kristen Ashley's Golden Dynasty. I don't like comparing 2 books by different authors but this was so similar that it's hard not to. And to be honest, it was the need for something along the Golden Dynasty lines that convinced me to read this. 

Does this story have the same depth of world building and character development as KA? No, unfortunately not. However, it was a fun, cozy sci-fi with not too much tension or angst. The world building is pretty sparce but it's enough to know what is going on and the characters are sweet together when they get over their tension with each other. There is spice and it's a complete story that moves quickly.

I will try the second book as I see it is rated higher than this one.