Reviews with content warning for Alcohol - Captive Prince

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Captive Prince by C.S. Pacat

18 reviews

kekeli's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

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

4.75

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dragonbloom's review against another edition

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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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lh_reads's review against another edition

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dark medium-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? Yes

4.75

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jmross10's review against another edition

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challenging 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? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

This book (and this series) get a bad wrap a lot of the time. The main reason for that is people don't read the synopsis or they do read it and completely disregard what it says. Then they act shocked when they find out there is sexual slavery at the center of the story. It is an understandably surprising premise but if you give the book a chance you will see there's more to it than what the surface suggests. A big part of the main character's journey is being forced to re-evaluate his view of the world now that he is seeing it from the other side.

There is a slow burn romance that develops over the duration of the series but don't go into this book expecting to see much of it. There are the tiniest hits of what could be. There is no actual suggestion as to what it is.

For that matter, don't go into this book expecting to know what's going to happen next either. While the world is interesting and the characters are messy, the most captivating part is easily the chaotic political maneuvering in Vere. Everyone seems to be twenty steps ahead of the reader. Some of them - Laurent - are thirty.

Captive Prince is not necessarily an easy read but there are real emotional stakes, consequences for character's actions, and an unraveling of political plots that makes it well worth the effort. Pacat is an excellent writer and worth giving a try!

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