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A review by ihateprozac
Captive Prince by C.S. Pacat
5.0
Well, guess who waited too long to read Book 3 that they forgot everything and now have to do a reread? This gal.
Captive Prince tells the story of Damianos of Akielos, a prince who is sold into slavery when his brother usurps their father, the King. Damianos is sold to the prince of a rival nation as a gift, disguised as “Damen”, a fighting slave. Not only is he now a slave in a foreign land, but in an enemy land where revealing his identity would quickly make him public enemy number 1.
I’m trash for this series. It deals with some pretty tough themes, but I find them a really intriguing and enjoyable read! The characters and the content are undoubtedly adult/new adult, but there’s just something about CS Pacat’s smooth writing style that means you’ll fly through this within a few hours as if it were a YA novel.
I really enjoyed the worldbuilding in Captive Prince. Akielon society is more or less an alternative Ancient Greece (aka my fave ancient society), while Vere more or less resembles Versaille mixed with Venice. CS Pacat does a fantastic job at painting this world and fleshing out the rules of society; it’s so atmospheric and never feels like an info-dump, even though we’re learning about Vere as Damen does. I had no trouble visualising the excessive aesthetics of the Veretian court or the sumptuous smells of the feasts and baths!
I will say that this story is clearly intended as the foundational story upon which the larger series is built, because in reading this you can feel the world and politics being set up to explode later on. While there is definitely a plot and political intrigue here, much of the story is focused on establishing Damen within the context of Vere, establishing the power dynamic between Damen and Laurent, and establishing the politics between Laurent and the Regent and Vere and Akielos. It’s largely character-driven and not a whoooole lot happens, but there are enough political machinations and it’s a quick enough read that it never feels like it drags.
I really enjoyed the queer elements of this story, though they’re mired in darker themes (more on that in a sec). It’s so nice to read a story set in a society where queerness is basically the default and hetero relationships are usually only pursued for power and/or procreation. Bisexual rep in particular is lacking in literature, so it’s good to see characters for whom attraction to multiple genders is so natural that it’s not even something they consciously think about. Damen says on paper that he’s slept with both men and women, and that his sexual interactions have mostly based on the person rather than the gender. *insert a million clapping emojis here*
That being said, there are some necessary trigger warnings for rape, sexual assault, and pedophilia in this story. It doesn’t read like a dark and grimy episode of Law & Order: SVU (and trust, that show literally makes me ill), but it’s still confronting in spite of being fairly well contextualised within this fictional setting. Be aware before you dive in that Veretian society is cruel and this is not all feasts and oiled up naked men.
Overall: This was just as great a read the second time round - though I suppose it helps that I’d basically forgotten everything! It’s a super quick read with an incredibly smooth writing style that feels like YA, in spite of the content being anything but YA. There are some darker themes here to be wary of, but for the most part this is an intriguing and addictive old world ancient Greek (ish) tale.
Captive Prince tells the story of Damianos of Akielos, a prince who is sold into slavery when his brother usurps their father, the King. Damianos is sold to the prince of a rival nation as a gift, disguised as “Damen”, a fighting slave. Not only is he now a slave in a foreign land, but in an enemy land where revealing his identity would quickly make him public enemy number 1.
I’m trash for this series. It deals with some pretty tough themes, but I find them a really intriguing and enjoyable read! The characters and the content are undoubtedly adult/new adult, but there’s just something about CS Pacat’s smooth writing style that means you’ll fly through this within a few hours as if it were a YA novel.
I really enjoyed the worldbuilding in Captive Prince. Akielon society is more or less an alternative Ancient Greece (aka my fave ancient society), while Vere more or less resembles Versaille mixed with Venice. CS Pacat does a fantastic job at painting this world and fleshing out the rules of society; it’s so atmospheric and never feels like an info-dump, even though we’re learning about Vere as Damen does. I had no trouble visualising the excessive aesthetics of the Veretian court or the sumptuous smells of the feasts and baths!
I will say that this story is clearly intended as the foundational story upon which the larger series is built, because in reading this you can feel the world and politics being set up to explode later on. While there is definitely a plot and political intrigue here, much of the story is focused on establishing Damen within the context of Vere, establishing the power dynamic between Damen and Laurent, and establishing the politics between Laurent and the Regent and Vere and Akielos. It’s largely character-driven and not a whoooole lot happens, but there are enough political machinations and it’s a quick enough read that it never feels like it drags.
I really enjoyed the queer elements of this story, though they’re mired in darker themes (more on that in a sec). It’s so nice to read a story set in a society where queerness is basically the default and hetero relationships are usually only pursued for power and/or procreation. Bisexual rep in particular is lacking in literature, so it’s good to see characters for whom attraction to multiple genders is so natural that it’s not even something they consciously think about. Damen says on paper that he’s slept with both men and women, and that his sexual interactions have mostly based on the person rather than the gender. *insert a million clapping emojis here*
That being said, there are some necessary trigger warnings for rape, sexual assault, and pedophilia in this story. It doesn’t read like a dark and grimy episode of Law & Order: SVU (and trust, that show literally makes me ill), but it’s still confronting in spite of being fairly well contextualised within this fictional setting. Be aware before you dive in that Veretian society is cruel and this is not all feasts and oiled up naked men.
Overall: This was just as great a read the second time round - though I suppose it helps that I’d basically forgotten everything! It’s a super quick read with an incredibly smooth writing style that feels like YA, in spite of the content being anything but YA. There are some darker themes here to be wary of, but for the most part this is an intriguing and addictive old world ancient Greek (ish) tale.