Lauren
Kings Rising is the conclusion of the Captive Prince Trilogy (okay, there’s also a collection of short stories, but I’m not counting those). As it is a conclusion, it shows the paths Damen and Laurent must take to attempt to return to their thrones.
Fair warning: as this is book 3 in a series, there will potentially be spoilers for all 3 books.
I’m going to be honest, I just didn’t love it. It was fine, but I wanted so much more. The set up of book one is that Damen, a prince forced into slavery, is given to Laurent, a cruel Prince from the enemy kingdom. In the first installment, slavery was seen as something normal and not heinous. Even Damen, who was experiencing many of the injustices, still found ways of justifying it in the book. I figured that his world had changed suddenly and maybe that was going to be the character arc of both him and Laurent. And it wasn’t. Okay, yes, there were moments in this final installment that Damen started to reflect on slavery (refusing slaves, thinking he didn’t want them, finally noticing how strange it was for grown men to have small boys at their feet, etc), but that should have happened in book 1. Maybe book 2. It’s too late now. Worse, it’s never taken any further. He and Laurent never sit and discuss its wrongness nor do they take any real, measurable actions against it.
Additionally, on a less serious note, the ending felt rushed and very confident. I would have liked to spend more time in that last 15% and less time in the first 20%. There were things I liked about the book. I think over time Damen’s and Laurent’s connection started feeling genuine and they both showed signed of growth. They’re both pretty complex characters (unlike the villains of the story, but I digress). Despite liking them as characters, I just can’t get past the issues in this book.
Although I have many complaints, I think the writing style was okay (not bad, not special, but did the job) and I never found anything happening confusing. I was just bummed. I wanted so much more from this series.
Kings Rising is the conclusion of the Captive Prince Trilogy (okay, there’s also a collection of short stories, but I’m not counting those). As it is a conclusion, it shows the paths Damen and Laurent must take to attempt to return to their thrones.
Fair warning: as this is book 3 in a series, there will potentially be spoilers for all 3 books.
I’m going to be honest, I just didn’t love it. It was fine, but I wanted so much more. The set up of book one is that Damen, a prince forced into slavery, is given to Laurent, a cruel Prince from the enemy kingdom. In the first installment, slavery was seen as something normal and not heinous. Even Damen, who was experiencing many of the injustices, still found ways of justifying it in the book. I figured that his world had changed suddenly and maybe that was going to be the character arc of both him and Laurent. And it wasn’t. Okay, yes, there were moments in this final installment that Damen started to reflect on slavery (refusing slaves, thinking he didn’t want them, finally noticing how strange it was for grown men to have small boys at their feet, etc), but that should have happened in book 1. Maybe book 2. It’s too late now. Worse, it’s never taken any further. He and Laurent never sit and discuss its wrongness nor do they take any real, measurable actions against it.
Additionally, on a less serious note, the ending felt rushed and very confident. I would have liked to spend more time in that last 15% and less time in the first 20%. There were things I liked about the book. I think over time Damen’s and Laurent’s connection started feeling genuine and they both showed signed of growth. They’re both pretty complex characters (unlike the villains of the story, but I digress). Despite liking them as characters, I just can’t get past the issues in this book.
Although I have many complaints, I think the writing style was okay (not bad, not special, but did the job) and I never found anything happening confusing. I was just bummed. I wanted so much more from this series.