Kings Rising

Not sure how I feel about how this wrapped up. A lot happened in this final installment so it is a lot to digest. I also have conflicting thoughts about the ending and how C. S. Pact left everything.

This is definitely the strongest book of the series. Packed with action, romance, and intrigue that felt like a roller coaster. Pacat really came into her own with the writing of this one, with the struggles I mentioned in my review of the first book. It's almost a shame you have to read the first two books for this book to have that impact because I'd definitely recommend this one on it's own.

These books are really satisfying. Definitely recommend if you enjoy both m/m and historical fantasy.

This trilogy deserves a million stars! I am in awe that a new author wrote a story of this caliber. So many twists and turns...you never know what's coming and it keeps you on the edge of your seat right up until the very end. Well done, C.S. Pacat. Well done.

Well done also for making me love this story when I normally loathe trilogies. I don't read them. Ever. I hate cliffhangers. But when my hold became available at the library, I downloaded purely out of curiosity and found I couldn't stop reading. I'm sure it helped that my library had all 3 parts of the story, but even if they hadn't, I would have wanted to know what happened next, would have needed the conclusion to Damen and Laurent's story. It's the kind of epic romance that consumes you, that you just want to keep reading without stop.

It had all the odds stacked against it...a trilogy, and one that takes place mostly on the battlefield, something I thought would bore me to tears. It didn't. Not even a little bit.

It also takes a very long time to get to the sex, which normally for me would be a big strike against it. In this case, however, it felt right. Considering the dynamic between these two men, one held against his will as slave to the other, I was actually glad that it took as long as it did for them to be intimate, because when it finally happened it was consensual. It wasn't rape. It is also quickly apparent that something happened to Laurent in his past that put him off of sex, so the way it unfolds between them slowly, gently, makes total sense.

That being said, the dynamic between Damen and Laurent as slave and master is still so hot. Damen is the bigger man, physically, of the two...heavily muscled. A fighting machine. It goes against everything in him to act as a slave when he should be a king. Gradually he comes to accept it, in part because he's slowly seeing Laurent for who he really is and falling for the flesh and blood man beneath the facade, and in part out of guilt for having inadvertently hurt Laurent in the past before he ever knew him, something that remains an obstacle between them and any real relationship.

I highly recommend the epilogue The Summer Palace, book 3.5, as an accompaniment. It's beautiful and romantic, and I loved reading more of their happily ever after.

Very rambling spoilery review

I'm so much in love with this series and the characters, so this is probably going to be less of a review and more of a random rambling about my favorite parts in this book. I apologize in advance for sounding quite incoherent.

I don't talk about it much, but I love action sequences. I love reading about or watching elaborate fight scenes and this book had exactly one of those. We've always known Damon is a great warrior and he killed Auguste but watching him decimate his enemy ruthlessly, despite his disappointment about Laurent abandoning him, is a sight to behold. He is a whole class apart and this book shows how natural it is for him to transition into his role as King. We also learn early on that he is going to be a great one.

Instead of dealing with his conflicting feelings about the man who killed his brother, Laurent decides to go back to his facade and cut down Damon with his humiliating words. But Damon understands Laurent so much and he can see past the hurtful words and understand the feelings of a boy who lost his beloved brother. We've always known Laurent's strength is his mind but in this book, he also shows he is capable of physical strength when needed. And the scene where he tries so hard to fight with Damon is very very intense, but it feels more like an argument between lovers who don't know how to express their anguish except through a sword fight.

But when it's time to put their differences aside and unite their forces to fight the Regent and Kastor, we see how much they really trust and love each other. Their understanding of each other is at a level where they don't even need to communicate and just know exactly what the other person needs. It's beautiful to see two people so much in love. As days go by, they grow comfortable around each other and it's wonderful to see them on equal footing and also letting other people see their relationship.

Nikandros is my new favorite character in this series. He is so loyal and loves Damen a lot, not just because he is his King but because he is his closest friend. He is very skeptical of Laurent and tries to dissuade Damen from being in a relationship, but ultimately supports him in whatever he chooses to do and always has his back. It speaks more to Laurent's strength because he never had that kind of support in his life after Auguste. And it's heartening to see Damen become that support system for Laurent.

I hate the Regent even more than I thought I could. We all knew he was manipulative and cunning, but the lengths to which he could go to discredit Laurent and becoming King himself was just disgusting. I was actually expecting the revelation of Laurent being abused by his uncle since book 2, but watching it unfold and Damen's visceral reaction to it quite mirrored mine.

The way the ending played out and the truth was revealed seemed fitting because Laurent was never going to defeat the Regent in all out war and it had to be in front of the court. But I still didn't see the revelation coming. Never thought the Regent could be so cruel in his greed for power. I'm glad the council saw the truth but I still think the Regent got a very easy death. Damon deserved to serve the death blow and I think that's my only gripe. The whole story comes full circle when Laurent kills Kastor to protect Damen. There is no epilogue and I was very disappointed because I just wanted to read more about how the kingdoms would go on from there and how Damen and Laurent would proceed with their relationship. But I know they will be together.

Initial thoughts
WOW WOW WOW!!!!
Angst and tension is at a whole different level here... I just can't even describe all the emotions I felt. All I know is this is one of my all time favorites now and I wish there was more Damen and Laurent..
RTC

GODDDDDD I LOVE THESE BOOKS. Damen and Laurent, my babies, I will never forget you. I tried to drag out reading this as long as I could....but I also needed to keep reading or else I'd go insane. So frickin happy with this series.


halfway through. I love this but I'm stressed AF. I love Laurent and Damen so goddamn much and I'm hoping that the end of this series doesn't shatter my fragile little heart into a million pieces.

This book was like a 3rd serving of chips. It's still salty and crunchy and you want to continue munching, but it's not as satisfying as the first serving. It's also calory dense and lacks valuable nutrients. You enjoy the chips but they also leave you feeling kind of empty at the end.

In theory, this had a good ending, but the journey was quite disappointing.

Just as with the first two books, I was compelled to keep reading so I would see how it would all wrap up. But so many things didn't make any sense in this book. The plot is disjointed or poorly planned. The way Laurent gets captured at Fortaine but manages to free himself was too easy. It just took me out of the story. But I thought it must be a blip so I managed to suspend my disbelief to move along with the story. But when Jokaste made an appearance I couldn't ignore the glaring inconsistencies and it went downhill from there. So many other plot points were wrapped up too glaringly convenient:- the troop strolling through Akeilos like they were headed for a picnic, them not being caught up in the cloth merchant lie;- Jokaste doing a 180 and saying the child was Kator's;- Laurent not telling Damen about this and moving forward with the "exchange" at Kingsmeet;- implying they could actually know for sure who's kid it was when it could have been either Damen's or Kastor's because Jokaste was sleeping with both brothers during the same period of time;- the Regent not killing Damen on the spot because Laurent had "surrendered" himself. The Regent could literally kill Damen and arrest Laurent for Council trial, it's not like Laurent had any leverage or the Regent any scruples. - the trial was also the most anticlimatic ever with the Regent accusing Laurent and Damen and the other way around. And the resolution is someone's wife's testimony and a healer keeping a critical piece of info for himself until the very last second, after which the council does a 180 and is like "Laurent, our bad, you are our true King." What?The entire plot felt pretty low stakes compared to the first two. The whole I-killed-your-brother-but-we're-sleeping-together felt also pretty much unresolved. I still didn't buy Damen and Laurent being in love and it's the finale. Also, the book ends before they are instated as Kings so we could not see them banning slavery or how they dealt with their relationship outside of the conflict that brought them together. I know this wasn't the main purpose of the book but since I still wasn't that into "Daurent", the story just lost its shine.

Wow. Just... Wow. I can't believe how much better this series has become since the first book. The first book was so rough, so explicit in the wrong ways, so nope at some points (for me at least). But then came the second book which I liked.

And then came KINGS RISING. Oh my god . What can I say? I am giving it 5 stars, I only do this when I love love!! a book. And this one was so good, I couldn't believe it.
I loved the development of the characters. I cried, I laughed, I fell in love with Laurent and Damen and their beautiful hate to love, enemies to lovers relationship. I admired how Laurent overcame his fears, his insecurities and he became such a strong and lovable man. It is somehow clear that we wouldn't have done it the same without Damen, which makes me so happy that they found each other.

I hated The Regent so much, but his character is really good. He's sneaky, he is smart (well, not smart enough to beat Laurent and mind games) and he is cruel. A cruel, awful man, he deserves his death sentence. I came to like even Nicaise's character and I felt so sorry for him in the end. He was innocent, he didn't deserve what he got. And Aimeric too. Poor characters, they suffered so much because of this cruel man.

All in all, this was a great book. I loved it, it kept me hyped and I couldn't wait to finish it and see the ending. Which was a really emotional one, Kastor getting what he deserved and Laurent and Damen creating a world for both of them. A world of peace.

*4.5

Kings Rising was possibly the best one in the series. It brought on more action that I thought it could with double the angst and sexual tension. I found myself caring for a whole lot of characters outside of Damen and Laurent and I was hooked on since the first word of the first chapter. I don't remember the last time I've read an entire trilogy in two days (well, Shatter Me counted but it definitely was not as amazing) and I'm glad to say that I can finally be part of the Captive Prince family. There's not much to say about this book other than “it's worth reading.”
If C. S. Pacat ever comes out with more books in other genres, I will definitely read it as soon as it comes out.

What a rollercoaster.
Gave the same rating for book 2 and 3 cause I read them back to back and they blurred together.

jfc no. just no. ooc everywhere, an ending that's all deus ex machina and an eye for an eye in the most stupid of ways. then nothing, no reward, no nothing. this book was terrible. the first is horrible and disgusting, and this one is full of clichés and terrible plotting. only the second is good but damn, not worth to go through rape and abuse for a story of nothing. keep away from it. I feel cheated.

Loved how the series ended. I literally don't have anything to add, loved the characters, loved the ending, loved the plot twists THE PLOT TWISTS !!!! And most of all, the interactions between the characters are so well written, they really are the cherry on top. Thoroughly enjoyed it and loved it.

IT WAS hyperventilating ONE screeching KINGDOM wailing ONCE!!!!!! howling

I really enjoyed the other two books in the series, and loved this one even more. It's really the culmination of the previous two books' plot threads, twists, and character development particularly between Laurent and Damen. It's a satisfying conclusion to their story and to their journey all the way from book 1. Sometimes I find that series ends will be unsatisfying, that the author will try too hard to make the last book stand out even as they've run out of steam, the entire Captive Prince Trilogy feels like one continuous story split into three parts. Of course each has its own distinct narrative arc for our deutrotagonists, but it's satisfying seeing everything you've read and learned reach the end you'd hope it would. In the last 1/4 of the book I was nearly jumping out of my seat at the events transpiring, and the end definitely made me tear up at the poetic book-ending that Pacat gave the story.

No me quejo de nada.

This was the ending I wanted for both characters. It was quite a ride to make it through all three books, especially with the triggers in book one. After reading this series I will never look at the word mount the same again. It still was worth the slow burn of the three books