A review by ailsaod
Captive Prince by C.S. Pacat

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

4.0

 Haha I read this in a single sitting! I have been curious about this book for a while as I was drawn to the secret identity aspect and the controversy about whether this series is problematic. All the reviews I've seen here are either saying this book is disgusting or romantic but I personally found it very t e n s e. The setting is extremely messed up (going into it I had no idea just how messed up it was going to be and I cannot stress enough that it gets a bit grim in places) but all the depravity allows for especially convoluted court dynamics and when you realise certain characters' motivations all I could think was OH NO! I'm almost left wondering if Pacat wrote this purely so they could write the courtly intrigue.

The interactions between Damen and Laurent are interesting as while I can tell from a mile off that they are going to eventually have a romance from what kind of story this is there was barely any hints at that in the whole book and instead the focus is on how much they hate each other and Laurent being horrible in the strangest of ways. Everyone in this story is to some degree awful - even Damen, who is much more sympathetic than everyone else because we see exactly what he is thinking has moments that when you have the whole context are not great. I really liked how Pacat turned everything on it's head in the third act and I look forward to reading book 2!
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