A review by wordswritinstarlight
Prince's Gambit by C.S. Pacat

adventurous dark emotional lighthearted reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

God DAMN I love these books.  Genuinely one of my favorite romance series of all time.  This book is a great balance between action and emotional beats—CS Pacat writes a great battle scene, but doesn’t get swept away in the grand tactics so much that the one-on-one dynamics are forgotten.  Damen and Laurent falling together and discovering that they can honestly rely on each other and trust each other more than their own people, in a lot of ways, fucking GETS me every time.  I am incredibly emotional about Laurent in this book, learning to let himself care about people again while he’s dealing with objectively the worst case scenario.  God I love these books.  Fucking modern classics.

Also, this book has that scene with Damen killing a guy in one hit by throwing a broadsword like a madman, and it’s maybe my favorite scene in the whole series.