Review | Captive Prince #1 by C.S Pacat

Title : Captive Prince #1

Publisher : Viking: Penguin

Release Date : May 22nd 2012 

Genres : Adult Fantasy, LGBT

Pages : 252

Rating : 4.5/5

SYNOPSIS

Damen is a warrior hero to his people, and the rightful heir to the throne of Akielos, but when his half brother seizes power, Damen is captured, stripped of his identity, and sent to serve the prince of an enemy nation as a pleasure slave.

Beautiful, manipulative and deadly, his new master Prince Laurent epitomises the worst of the decadent court at Vere. But in the lethal web of Veretian politics, nothing is as it seems, and when Damen is caught up in a dangerous play for the throne, he must form an alliance with Laurent to survive and save his country.
For Damen, there is just one rule: he must never reveal his true identity. Because the one man Damen needs is the one man who has more reason to hate him than anyone else . . .

Trigger warning : sexual assault, extreme violence

REVIEW

Remember when I said I was tired of reading the same tropes over and over again ? I am happy to say that Captive Prince was a pleasant surprise. This is not a standard fantasy novel. You won't find an incredibly sassy MC fall in love with his captor after a few hundred pages and give up everything out of love for him. This book is more than a cheesy romance with extremely charismatic/badass characters. It's about duty, hardships and survival.

This book contains a lot of graphic descriptions of extreme violence and sexual assaults. The author doesn't glorify them in any way and they all serve a necessary purpose to the rest of the story. Keep in mind that this isn't a YA book.

Damen, Prince and heir of Akielos is betrayed and sent as a pleasure slave to his #1 enemy and Prince of Vere, Laurent. Damen has to find a way out of this situation while keeping his identity hidden from him.

I loved the characters' complexity.

On one hand we have Damen, the fallen Prince, desperate to be free. He's proud, strong but he's also sensitive and compassionate. On the contrary of a certain assassin (*coughs* Celeana *coughs*) he actually thinks about the other slaves he has been sent with. 

On the other hand, we have the deceptive Laurent.

A golden prince was easy to love if you did not have to watch him picking wings off flies.

It's hard to read at times but the strange fascination I felt for Laurent kept me reading. I wanted to know how far he could go and how the author would change the reader's perception of him.

He's charismatic and uses diplomacy to get what he wants. As opposed to Damen, he doesn't act impulsively. Every move he makes is calculated and thought through.

He cruelly inflicts monstrous punishments to Damen and his unpredictability makes him even more dangerous and – let's be honest here – thrilling.

The dialogues might make some of you blush. There is nothing pretty or romantic in their relationship. We feel sometimes a sexual tension but most of the time they're more focused on the hatred and disgust they feel for each other. 

Now let's talk about the world-building. Damen is mostly confined to his room so we don't get to see much of Vere but we get some glimpses of the cultural differences between the two rival countries. However, the political aspect of the book is not very developped since the focus is on Damen's struggles.

We don't know why these countries are enemies in the first place but I think all of my questions will be answered in the sequel.

To conclude, as my first M/M adult fantasy novel, Captive Prince exceeded my expectations. It's meant to be shocking and brutal. I loved the dynamic between the characters (which is important since it's a character-driven story) and I can't wait to see where the story is going.