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shrikebait's review against another edition
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
I checked this title out from my local library as it seems to be a right of passage for lovers of queer fantasy.
I went in expecting a MM dark fantasy erotic thriller based on the blurb. While this is absolutely a fantasy book, I don't find it romantic or particularly erotic, even in a taboo sense. There are quite a bit of NC erotic tropes in the first half, but they never really pay off and aren't a consistent theme later in the book.
Speaking of taboo...A particular ick comes in the form of a child character who is groomed as a s*x sl*ve. Rather than recognizing the horror this concept SHOULD evoke, the story portrays him as a spoiled brat, older than his years. No, thank you.
While I enjoy the attention to detail in the clothing and customs of this world, I feel this aspect falls flat without a cohesive plot. Initially, I thought the plot was supposed to take a backseat to the erotic elements...but when the eroticism didn't pay off, I was left with characters who lacked consistent motivations and a less-than-compelling plot.
With all this in mind, I'm not particularly interested in the next book. I might change my mind if y'all think it's a move in the right direction for the series.
I went in expecting a MM dark fantasy erotic thriller based on the blurb. While this is absolutely a fantasy book, I don't find it romantic or particularly erotic, even in a taboo sense. There are quite a bit of NC erotic tropes in the first half, but they never really pay off and aren't a consistent theme later in the book.
Speaking of taboo...A particular ick comes in the form of a child character who is groomed as a s*x sl*ve. Rather than recognizing the horror this concept SHOULD evoke, the story portrays him as a spoiled brat, older than his years. No, thank you.
While I enjoy the attention to detail in the clothing and customs of this world, I feel this aspect falls flat without a cohesive plot. Initially, I thought the plot was supposed to take a backseat to the erotic elements...but when the eroticism didn't pay off, I was left with characters who lacked consistent motivations and a less-than-compelling plot.
With all this in mind, I'm not particularly interested in the next book. I might change my mind if y'all think it's a move in the right direction for the series.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Murder, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, and Violence
Minor: Blood
nitzanschwarz's review against another edition
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
3.5
C+ | 3.5 ★ | More than Satisfactory
I finally did it. I finally read this book! And boy, do I have some thoughts.
I'll start by saying that I will be reading the rest of the series—I pretty much need to know what happens next. How does this develop? When do they realize some of the hidden truths about each other? And how do they deal with them whenthey're only just tentatively becoming allies ?
But despite this, I must admit that this was not an easy read on multiple fronts. First of all, just the rampant sexual abuse alone made this rough. I definitely don't think this is a book for everyone, as sexual violence and exploitation are themes that carry on from the first pages to the last, alongside many other forms of violence, mental and physical alike. This is not a pleasant world to be in, that's for sure. I understand, theoretically, why Pacat spent so much time on all of this, but there were definitely moments where I wondered if it was even worth getting through all of that, or should I DNF it?
I decided to continue despite this puke-inducing horror because of the characters and their relationships. We mostly get to know Damen, as the story is told from his point of view (albeit in 3rd person POV). And I like this man. He is courageous, cares for his people quite a bit, and is quite smart but also a bit of a hothead. He also tends to miss some of the more glaring things in front of him, but I'll let it slide because he has a very strong image of both Laurent and Vere, and some of the underlying truths of the Court seem to clash quite heavily with both.
Laurent is more of the cunning and deceptive side of things. He is playing 3rd Chess with the court and Damen, but unfortunately his main opponent also happens to be a chess master. While Luarent is the brain to Damen's brawn, he also sins at projecting an image unto Damen instead of seeing him for who he is.
For both these men, it'll be interesting to see how that develops.
I do think the relationship between Damen and Laurent is rather fascinating and can't be easily defined. I am not sure that calling what these two have a relationship is even apt at this point. They're enemy princes, but they're not. They're master and slave... but they're not. They despise each other but are also confused by each other, and I rather think neither quite knows to anticipate what the other might do next.
There is nothing romantic about it at this point, and I am still uncertain how Pacat will make it so, considering the things Laurent has done to Damen thus far, but I am willing to see if she can convince me. If she does, then I think this series will definitely qualify for an "enemies to lovers" tag .
There are a lot of questions surrounding these two that I am curious to see explored and revealed in future installments.How would Laurent react when he finds out Damen's true identity? When he realizes the true gravity of Damen's "punishment." How will that align with what he thinks he knows of the Akielos?
And what about when Damen realizes Laurent's past "relationship" with the Regent? Pacat has not explicitly told us about it in this installment, but I feel the hints were so massive that it'd be shocking if it wasn't the case--a prince who is "frigid" and refuses sexual company? A prince who reacts with surprise when Damen refuses to rape a child? A cunning, ambitious, pedophilic regent who "spared" his nephew when he was a "boy," only going into the offensive when he is on the cusp of becoming a man? One who laments about Laurent having been such a "good boy"? One who has a "pet" who looks similar to Laurent? And Laurent, who is almost affectionate, apologetic, and worried for that pet? Yeah, no. Everything about that, from head to toe, screams that Laurent has previously received his uncle's perverse attention.
So, yeah, I'm in.
Aside from the events of the book making this a hard read, the writing itself was not an advantage for me. I am not a native English speaker, but I have read over a thousand books in English, often with little to no problem. Yet, with this one, I had to switch to my kindle copy fairly early on because I realized that Pacat loved using "big words," and Kindle would make that less painful. I mean, kudos to Pacat for always having an obscure word that perfectly meant what she wanted to, but it made the reading experience very difficult, especially when she chose a rare word that had a well-known and equally befitting alternative. I'm sure it adds to the setting of the novel or something, but it detracted from my personal enjoyment of the book.
Plot - 17
Characters - 17
Relationships - 17
Writing - 13
Reading Experience - 13
Final Score: 77
I technically read between June 14 and July 11, but in truth, I only read 12% on June 14 and the remaining 88% between July 9 and 11 lol
I finally did it. I finally read this book! And boy, do I have some thoughts.
I'll start by saying that I will be reading the rest of the series—I pretty much need to know what happens next. How does this develop? When do they realize some of the hidden truths about each other? And how do they deal with them when
But despite this, I must admit that this was not an easy read on multiple fronts. First of all, just the rampant sexual abuse alone made this rough. I definitely don't think this is a book for everyone, as sexual violence and exploitation are themes that carry on from the first pages to the last, alongside many other forms of violence, mental and physical alike. This is not a pleasant world to be in, that's for sure. I understand, theoretically, why Pacat spent so much time on all of this, but there were definitely moments where I wondered if it was even worth getting through all of that, or should I DNF it?
I decided to continue despite this puke-inducing horror because of the characters and their relationships. We mostly get to know Damen, as the story is told from his point of view (albeit in 3rd person POV). And I like this man. He is courageous, cares for his people quite a bit, and is quite smart but also a bit of a hothead. He also tends to miss some of the more glaring things in front of him, but I'll let it slide because he has a very strong image of both Laurent and Vere, and some of the underlying truths of the Court seem to clash quite heavily with both.
Laurent is more of the cunning and deceptive side of things. He is playing 3rd Chess with the court and Damen, but unfortunately his main opponent also happens to be a chess master. While Luarent is the brain to Damen's brawn, he also sins at projecting an image unto Damen instead of seeing him for who he is.
For both these men, it'll be interesting to see how that develops.
I do think the relationship between Damen and Laurent is rather fascinating and can't be easily defined. I am not sure that calling what these two have a relationship is even apt at this point. They're enemy princes, but they're not. They're master and slave... but they're not. They despise each other but are also confused by each other, and I rather think neither quite knows to anticipate what the other might do next.
There are a lot of questions surrounding these two that I am curious to see explored and revealed in future installments.
And what about when Damen realizes Laurent's past "relationship" with the Regent? Pacat has not explicitly told us about it in this installment, but I feel the hints were so massive that it'd be shocking if it wasn't the case--a prince who is "frigid" and refuses sexual company? A prince who reacts with surprise when Damen refuses to rape a child? A cunning, ambitious, pedophilic regent who "spared" his nephew when he was a "boy," only going into the offensive when he is on the cusp of becoming a man? One who laments about Laurent having been such a "good boy"? One who has a "pet" who looks similar to Laurent? And Laurent, who is almost affectionate, apologetic, and worried for that pet? Yeah, no. Everything about that, from head to toe, screams that Laurent has previously received his uncle's perverse attention.
So, yeah, I'm in.
Aside from the events of the book making this a hard read, the writing itself was not an advantage for me. I am not a native English speaker, but I have read over a thousand books in English, often with little to no problem. Yet, with this one, I had to switch to my kindle copy fairly early on because I realized that Pacat loved using "big words," and Kindle would make that less painful. I mean, kudos to Pacat for always having an obscure word that perfectly meant what she wanted to, but it made the reading experience very difficult, especially when she chose a rare word that had a well-known and equally befitting alternative. I'm sure it adds to the setting of the novel or something, but it detracted from my personal enjoyment of the book.
Plot - 17
Characters - 17
Relationships - 17
Writing - 13
Reading Experience - 13
Final Score: 77
I technically read between June 14 and July 11, but in truth, I only read 12% on June 14 and the remaining 88% between July 9 and 11 lol
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Trafficking, Murder, and Sexual harassment
Moderate: Child abuse and Pedophilia
lou702's review against another edition
challenging
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
This book has very explicit and heavy topics in it. I did not enjoy those part but they made the experience of the book different and made it worthwhile, since the characters are acting and reacting on those parts, which makes it bearable and better to read.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, Trafficking, Murder, and Sexual harassment
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Cursing, and Blood
slimygf's review against another edition
3.0
idk if this type of book is for me, i think i overestimated how well i could stomach the uhh subject matter. the last third of the book got really good tho?
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Kidnapping, and Sexual harassment
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury
_forestofpages's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
I don't know how to feel about this one.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Xenophobia, and Sexual harassment
poisonviolet's review against another edition
DNF 60%
MAJOR TRIGGER WARNING
what the actual f$ck...
There is two reasons I made it to 60%... 1. I don't want to be a quitter, I have 100 books to read this year and I have started off the year strong. and 2. I was waiting for the cliche moment when the main character awoke and realized this was all a deranged dream and promptly checked himself into a mental institution.
Thank lord I am reading Iron Flame right now, because I feel like I would never touch a book again for months based on what this book did. I literally did not touch my Kindle for a few days even to read Iron Flame because I knew this madness was on the Kindle. I feel so terrible for my poor Kindle who I will have to cleanse thoroughly with incense.
I went into this book completely blind, which I presume is the only reason why anyone ever picked up this book because if I had read what it was about I would have never gone close to it. All I knew about it was that it was gay. Of course, thats all I would need to pick up a book, but no longer will I ever be so naive.
I should've known I'd be in for it when the first page of the book is just a list that tells you who the characters are in the world and their ranks in the kingdom or whatever you want to call it. Cool. It was a pain in the butt having to refer to it constantly to try and have any idea who was saying anything and who they were. Like sure, maybe that's useful but try and write this in the story, it felt like a fanfiction with all the character tags (nothing against fanfiction). It just felt like such lazy writing to me. Not saying I could do any better, but come on...
Then I trudge along and get a sense of where we are going with the plot. I wanted to projectile vomit. Let me tell you I was shaking and near a freaking panic attack reading this. I have never read a book that made me feel so sick and filthy for even looking at it. I hate even writing this review and having my name attached to it because I want no association with this book. But alas, I have to yap and I have never in my life deeply hated a book so much.
I don't understand the appeal. This is literally a book about horrible people doing horrible things. Not in a cute and quirky or morally grey way, just flat-out being the most disgusting and ruthless human beings. I have since read reviews after deleting this from my Kindle and people are gushing about these characters... talking about how they are "the cutest" and their favorite book characters of all time.... THE CHARACTERS WHO LITERALLY R@PE PEOPLE AND HAVE NO SHAME IN IT WHATSOEVER!
I am not one to judge, but you have to be joking right? The main character literally admitted to r@ping his own personal pleasure sl@ve (which right there... why the hell do you have one of those?! Who is this author and are they either in jail or far removed from society because I am honestly scared for humanity) while another man r@pes him.
I seriously don't understand how people are into this kind of thing. I tried to finish it, I really did. If only so I could rant and not have people fact-checking me. But I'm disgusted with myself that I got this far through it. When will I learn that some things just really don't get any better? or for that matter, some things just aren't good AT ALL!
I thought I was going to get a emotion-filled story of a prince who was captured (I was getting this from the title) and who was then rescued by another prince and they fell in love. But NOOOOOO.
UGH, I swear if someone tells me this gets better and that I should have just finished it I will scream. I don't understand how these characters can be even close to redeemable even if they did change. Sorry, but I have no desire to read any more about filthy human beings that are doing the bs done in the book.
Okay, I'm finishing this rant here because I'm going to throw up thinking about this horror for too long.
Save yourselves and don't pick up this sh$t show.
MAJOR TRIGGER WARNING
what the actual f$ck...
There is two reasons I made it to 60%... 1. I don't want to be a quitter, I have 100 books to read this year and I have started off the year strong. and 2. I was waiting for the cliche moment when the main character awoke and realized this was all a deranged dream and promptly checked himself into a mental institution.
Thank lord I am reading Iron Flame right now, because I feel like I would never touch a book again for months based on what this book did. I literally did not touch my Kindle for a few days even to read Iron Flame because I knew this madness was on the Kindle. I feel so terrible for my poor Kindle who I will have to cleanse thoroughly with incense.
I went into this book completely blind, which I presume is the only reason why anyone ever picked up this book because if I had read what it was about I would have never gone close to it. All I knew about it was that it was gay. Of course, thats all I would need to pick up a book, but no longer will I ever be so naive.
I should've known I'd be in for it when the first page of the book is just a list that tells you who the characters are in the world and their ranks in the kingdom or whatever you want to call it. Cool. It was a pain in the butt having to refer to it constantly to try and have any idea who was saying anything and who they were. Like sure, maybe that's useful but try and write this in the story, it felt like a fanfiction with all the character tags (nothing against fanfiction). It just felt like such lazy writing to me. Not saying I could do any better, but come on...
Then I trudge along and get a sense of where we are going with the plot. I wanted to projectile vomit. Let me tell you I was shaking and near a freaking panic attack reading this. I have never read a book that made me feel so sick and filthy for even looking at it. I hate even writing this review and having my name attached to it because I want no association with this book. But alas, I have to yap and I have never in my life deeply hated a book so much.
I don't understand the appeal. This is literally a book about horrible people doing horrible things. Not in a cute and quirky or morally grey way, just flat-out being the most disgusting and ruthless human beings. I have since read reviews after deleting this from my Kindle and people are gushing about these characters... talking about how they are "the cutest" and their favorite book characters of all time.... THE CHARACTERS WHO LITERALLY R@PE PEOPLE AND HAVE NO SHAME IN IT WHATSOEVER!
I am not one to judge, but you have to be joking right? The main character literally admitted to r@ping his own personal pleasure sl@ve (which right there... why the hell do you have one of those?! Who is this author and are they either in jail or far removed from society because I am honestly scared for humanity) while another man r@pes him.
I seriously don't understand how people are into this kind of thing. I tried to finish it, I really did. If only so I could rant and not have people fact-checking me. But I'm disgusted with myself that I got this far through it. When will I learn that some things just really don't get any better? or for that matter, some things just aren't good AT ALL!
I thought I was going to get a emotion-filled story of a prince who was captured (I was getting this from the title) and who was then rescued by another prince and they fell in love. But NOOOOOO.
UGH, I swear if someone tells me this gets better and that I should have just finished it I will scream. I don't understand how these characters can be even close to redeemable even if they did change. Sorry, but I have no desire to read any more about filthy human beings that are doing the bs done in the book.
Okay, I'm finishing this rant here because I'm going to throw up thinking about this horror for too long.
Save yourselves and don't pick up this sh$t show.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Trafficking, Kidnapping, and Sexual harassment
megmei's review against another edition
challenging
dark
slow-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? No
2.0
God I wish I had read the content warnings for this.
And yet, even with all of that, this managed to be a very boring 300 pages. If I wasn’t stuck at home with Covid, I probably would have DNF’d this.
And yet, even with all of that, this managed to be a very boring 300 pages. If I wasn’t stuck at home with Covid, I probably would have DNF’d this.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Violence, Xenophobia, Sexual harassment, War, and Injury/Injury detail
vera02ena's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, and Sexual harassment
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, and Death of parent
Minor: Child abuse and Abortion
coxsarah24's review against another edition
dark
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, and Sexual harassment
toni_mahony's review against another edition
3.5
the world and its interhuman relationships are very brutal and perverse which can be quite gruesome if you are not ready for it.
otherwise, i got immersed in the story although it is noticeable that this book is primarily world building and is setting the mood for the other two books. therefore, i recommend reading at least the first two books to get a grasp of the plot of the series.
otherwise, i got immersed in the story although it is noticeable that this book is primarily world building and is setting the mood for the other two books. therefore, i recommend reading at least the first two books to get a grasp of the plot of the series.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Trafficking, and Sexual harassment