C. S. PacatReviews

1 racconto e tre storielle brevi, complementari alla trilogia

⭐"FUGACE E' L'INNOCENZA" Aimeric seduce Jord

⭐"IL PALAZZO D'ESTATE" Laurent e Damen in gita

⭐⭐"IL PREDILETTO" Ancel fa il peggior pompino del mondo ma trova l'ammmore

⭐⭐⭐⭐"CHARLS IL MERCANTE" Charls invecchia precocemente quando l'algido Laurent contribuisce ad una rissa con un lancio di olive e "Lamen" si traveste da re

L'istruzione di Erasmus: Callias salva la vita a Erasmus

Resa: La notte prima dell'apertura del collare di Damen

2,5⭐
dopo 2 volumi in buon equilibrio in questo il focus scivola pesantemente sulla love story

EDIT:
C'è da dire che se è Fantasy è mio, che molto raramente leggo sinossi e tag e che quindi mi accorgo sempre dopo, a lettura ultimata, di cose che avrei dovuto sapere prima, tipo che questa trilogia oltre che fantasy è anche M M Romance, perciò è inutile che io mi lamenti che sia troppo romance!

TRAMA E SPOILER
i cattivi perdono (la testa...letteralmente)
l'ammmore trionfa
e tutti vissero per sempre felici e contenti

3,5⭐
questo mi piace:

TRAMA:
Inizia il conflitto armato e la giostra delle alleanza gira e gira...

Damen, erede al trono, viene imprigionato dal fratello e regalato a un principe nemico come schiavo di piacere

So there is actually a follow up after this that is hard to find as it wasn't published i believe but is a follow up to that ending . There were some issues the other review spell out very well and it i do wish it had a few better conclusions to some plots overall i think the focus shifted to the relationship and a few other things slid aside (not neglected mind you still well wraped up but) was still a great read and follow up to 2

This really picks up and evolves a lot of the characters. The romance vs role conflict as well as each of their personal agendas and intrigues. Well written and you bet i leapt right into 3 XD

This was an interesting read for me. It does have sexual slavery as well as a weird underlying societal hierarchy for it i fell the author does a good job of not just going for the trope. The story is pretty well done and honestly out of the 3 this one has some of the most graphic of the content at the start as well as some underlying mentions of a child and master relationship at one point (which i understand why its there and its dealt with well it just leaves a certain kind of taste ) Most of the graphic stuff at the start can be skipped and the rest of the book doesn't suffer from it. They do a good job of not just making a Stockholm kind of relationship but that said the slave theme carries at least heavily through this book and moderately in the next 2 (treated mostly as a status verses actions like the 1st). The interactions of the princes as the story went I found I liked as well as the strategies and twists but the whole sexual slavery thing was a bit much and leaves you hoping it doesn't pop up nearly as bad later on if at all but its definitely not romanticized or the relationships pushed in the way you'd think they'd be. This book is not for everyone but has somethings going for it i didn't hate it but this one in the set did push me a bit but i did overall enjoy the series its complex and hard to brake down without spoiling some of the later points in the series½

5 Stars for the Entire Trilogy!

When you take two men who never in a million years would ever deem to look at the other with anything less than contempt and bring them full circle to a place where they stand united, is truly a feat of genius.

This was one of the most hard fought wins, as Damen and Laurent struggle externally and internally to defeat so many obstacles. The slow weaving and ultimately, the unraveling of how that comes to play out was impressive. Each had to overcome not only their countrymen's loyalty, the shadow of their ancestors' legacy, but also what was weighing so heavily in their own hearts.

Proclamations may be sparse, emotions may be nuanced, but actions say a million things, and these two prove over and over that what always was, doesn't always need to remain so. Anger, distrust, and hate turn into a painful yearning for something more than what they simply were bred and expected to do.

In the end, this was a brutal, cunning story about justice and redemption, forgiveness and destiny, as Damen and Laurent come together to make their own new history, their own new truth.

Epic scope, epic feels, epic brilliance.

4 Stars

The newly formed team heads to their first practice tournament. Are they for themselves or for each other?

Some nice lessons learned and it definitely spurred my interest to ultimately see Seiji and Nicholas’s greatest adversary eat some humble pie.

4 Stars

The boys are finally coming together as a team instead of rivals. Looking forward to them kicking some ass!

4 Stars

This next volume containing comics #5-8 shows the pressure is on as the students at King’s Row face off with each other to grab the top 3 spots for the fencing team!

I look forward to seeing how this all plays out!

Oh my...goodness. This book, this series, ugh, it was so magical and amazing, and breathtaking. Everything I needed! Such sweetness as well, I'm happy the way it ended, I suspected far worse. Now I am just sad it is all over. I read this book in a few hours...I couldn't put it down no matter how hard I tried.

LOVED IT!

I should have waited until the third book came out...
Oh man, I'm addicted.

No thanks

was fine i guess

Some ambivalence here, but I'm giving it a 4 anyway.

I quite enjoyed the romantic arc in this final volume. In my review of the first book I observed that fictional romance is driven by conflict, but in Kings Rising the romantic narrative changes direction, is no longer energized by conflict but by healing, trust, resolution. The result is tender and sexy and psychologically raw, and it only works because Pacat has created such compelling, well-drawn characters. Damen is still a bit of a doormat, but he's a kind and muscular doormat and I am pretty much okay with that.

But oh man, the plot! Obviously I showed up for kissing and not political machinations, but I do wish that the author had made some different choices here. The book is well-paced and has many fun and exciting moments, as well as a satisfying ending. However, it relies on a LOT of hand-waving, concealed information, and strategically terrible decisions.

I could shrug off some wibbly-wobbly plotting, but I think there's an underlying problem: the trilogy's villains are not nearly as strong as its heroes, and they end up behaving like caricatures. Scenes where they could deliver a real emotional punch feel overblown and mustache-twirly instead. For all the darkness in this trilogy, the narrative seems to avoid looking directly at human evil. Perhaps this was a strategic decision on the author's part, but it felt like something was missing.

Overall, I loved the heck out of this trilogy. 4/5, would fangirl again.

Exiled prince Damen has every reason to hate underdog prince Laurent—except maybe he doesn't know Laurent at all. What better way for them to get to know one another than to embark on a sexually tense buddy-cop adventure across Vere, full of surreptitious glances and uncomfortable sleeping arrangements?

After the trauma-fest that is Captive Prince, this novel is an absolute romp. Prince's Gambit matches the first book's tense pacing, gritty action, and general atmosphere of skulduggery, but this is no longer a story of toxic power dynamics. Instead, the novel follows Damen and Laurent as they learn to relate to one another as leaders, and as equals.

We finally leave Vere's capital, and wacky hijinks ensue against the backdrop of the country's rugged borderlands. Pacat has created a serviceable little grimdark fantasy world, with plenty of intrigue, credible descriptions of military life, and fun thumbnail sketches of the intersecting border cultures. Vere doesn't seem to have much in the way of an economy, or weather, but for light fiction it's not bad.

Prince's Gambit also gives us the romance we were waiting for(?), although not the romance I expected. For better or worse, Pacat absolutely sells us on the chemistry between Damen and Laurent. They are well-drawn, charismatic characters, and their courtship is such an unusual one. For all the talk of forbidden love and the physicality on the page, this is not a Brontëesque celebration of unbridled passion, or of love as aggression. Instead these characters are brought together by respect and trust and tenderness (and enthusiastic consent!! It's so great!!)

Now, I have some issues with the treatment of Damen. The poor guy spends the first book experiencing all sorts of awfulness under Laurent's watch, but as soon as you hand him a sword, he feels empowered again. I'm glad we don't revel in his trauma, but I definitely felt like that his empathy for Laurent comes at the expense of his own right to have negative feelings about his experience. It bothered me that during the otherwise wonderful, emotionally raw sex scene near the end, there's no reference to the scars on Damen's back—or any hint of discomfort about Laurent's participation in his one experience of sexual assault. Damen is maddening because he never tries to square up the various aspects of Laurent's character; he's too much of a softie to even be bothered about whether his love interest is chaotic neutral or chaotic evil.

For all that—I loved this book. My cup of LAURENT FEELS continues to runneth over. Looking forward to being emotionally gutted by the finale.

i read this because i loved the author's dark rise/dark heir series and i wanted more written by them whilst waiting for the third book. this series is... very different lol.

first off, as other reviewers have said, there is graphic sexual slavery. also this is not a romance, i'm sure they'll get together eventually but in this book the two main characters hate each other, and the one who is enslaved gets tortured by the other.

but... it's well written and i like the characters and i want to find out what happens with all the political machinations and i'm kind of hoping maybe being enslaved helps the main character realize that oh hey slavery is wrong? i'm not holding my breath but i'm probably going to read the next one anyway.

and also really hope the author writes more ya because for real dark rise and dark heir are so good.

Hey, if M/M romance isn't your thing, and if you struggle (understandably!) to separate the fantasy of a sexual slavery narrative from the all too real and horrific reality of the slave trade - both historical and current - then this series is not for you. I struggled with the slavery aspects myself, and I'm still not sure that this was my thing. However, the story between the two main characters is compelling and just beautifully written. Generally I deeply detest it when a novel ends in such a way that leaves a reader with no choice but to read a second and third book in order to get a complete story, but this time I'm not even mad.

I am very lucky to read an ARC of this book, and I devoured it in one day.

Yes, that is his way. ... Every action looks innocent on the surface, and has dark tendrils growing beneath.

The thing I loved most about Dark Rise was the way it became a different book in retrospect.
After the twist at the end of Dark Rise, everything that happened before changes into a new light. Sentences are woven with hints and double meanings, and it was astounding. As easily as I missed them the first time, so obvious were they during a reread. Innocent on the surface, dark underneath.
With this twist revealed, would book 2 be just as interesting?
I’d say yes. The double meanings are everywhere, and give almost every scene a hint of suspense and dramatic irony. There is no eye-opening moment at the end, but every single scene is filled with layered conversations and things not said.
I am in awe of the way this author makes conversations feel so layered, as if every word was chosen deliberately to say one thing and mean another. I cannot think of a single other book that managed to use connotations as well as this one.

Another thing to make it so ironic is the many parallels between the characters.
Dark rise was written as ‘reclaiming of the queer villain’ (this was in the front of my ARC as description) and it showed.
Will, Violet and James were all assigned ‘evil’ upon their birth. They did not choose it but they are punished for it, just like queer people are. This felt like the red thread in the entire story.

The book discusses what makes a person evil, is it inherent or taught? And do evil actions make a person evil if the victims are not blameless?
Will and Violet are each other’s mirror, both choosing not to follow the path they were assigned, but falling into it nonetheless. Violet wields heroes’ weapons, just like the heroes who used to fight for good, but how good is she? James is to blame for the Stewards’ demise, but so are the stewards, for willingly tying themselves to shadows and trying to kill the child James used to be.

This is also a downside. The many characters make for an interesting ensemble cast, but sometimes it was hard to keep track of everyone. The main focus is on Will, James and Cyprian, with a secondary plot for Violet and a third plot for Elizabeth. Devon from book 1 is lurking somewhere, Simon has multiple relatives, Violet’s brother is…. Also doing things??
In my opinion the large cast overshadowed the main characters, especially Violet’s part.
I loved the emphasis on friendship in book 1. Will and Violet are each other’s best friends and they express it without a doubt. It is so rare to see a male and female character show affection without hints of romance, especially if they are the two main characters.
For a person who was without a doubt the deuteragonist of book 1, Violet had little to do in this book and the main setup from book 1 (with her brother) did not go anywhere.
Cyprian and James got a lot of development, which was great, but I was disappointed that these two got promoted to main characters at the cost of someone who was already a main character.

The many magical objects and their lore were a bit overwhelming as well.
After reading two books, I am still not sure what the magic is, how it works for each character and what dark things happened to make it work the way it does. There are kings, portals, armies, remnants, reborn, returners…. Lots of stuff to keep track of.
The book continues right where book 1 ended, and the author provides a short recap of everything that happened in book 1, and it did not hinder my reading in any way. Everything gets explained well enough while reading, and it all made sense while reading, but I couldn’t explain it to anyone if they asked.
I have NO idea what might happen or where this will go. But I guess that is a good thing? Keeps the anticipation high for book 3.
I will certainly be waiting when book 3 arrives.½

I'm mad it took me so long to read this. It's so good. It's absolutely wonderful. I've been crying through half of it. I don't cry through books that much.

I'm not gonna lie, while "Fence" the graphic novel series (at least vol 1-3, which I've read), is beautifully drawn (I loved Johanna's art for years before the series began) and pretty well paced, it didn't stand out to me as much in comparison to other sports & school m/m stories I've read. I was also worried the switch from C.S. Pacat to an author I've never heard of would be an issue, given I liked the "Captive Prince" trilogy and loved "Dark Rise".

I could not have been more wrong. While the opening was a tad slow, Aiden's second POV bowled me over, and the roller coaster of emotion never stopped. It was wonderful, just wonderful. This is the best entry in the series thus far. It's been a while since I read the graphic novels, and I'm probably missing out because I didn't read at least vol 4 before this, but wow. Just wow. The pacing, the angst, the backstory development, the humor. It's wonderful and deliciously painful and honestly I'm gonna stop now so I can read the next one. I'm glad at least I don't have to wait for it to be published.

A delightful read. Absolutely. One of my favorites this year.

The best of the graphic novels so far. The art is still pretty good, and overall I loved seeing the extra tidbits of relationships in this story, particularly the supporting cast.

A wonderful conclusion to a wonderful trilogy. I love the new characters introduced, the various plots that Laurent and Damen faced and overcame. It's tense and thrilling and fun and satisfying. Sorry it took so long for me to finish it, but happy I did.

Can a book cure depression? No, but this one sure got close. Admittedly I may say that about every good book, but I'm in a dark place and this book was truly a joy to read.

I really liked "Captive Prince". I enjoyed the parts of "Fence" I've read. I love this book. It's not just in the way it's possibly a love letter to nerdy stuff I grew up with, but also in the way it read like poetry, particularly in the second half, much like "The Last Unicorn" always did.

I love all the characters (particularly James, but also Violet, Will, Cyprian, Justice, Devon...). I love the world-building. I love how it feels nostalgic - like how reading new fantasy stories as a kid felt. Not that this isn't a book adults can enjoy, but that it just had that kind of whimsical feeling a lot of truly good fantasy has, and that I read a lot more when I was younger. But told in a more subversive light that I can better appreciate now.

Perhaps my biggest criticism is that the first... 1/3 or so feels kind of slow? (And a lot happens in that first 1/3, so that may just be a personal thing). But I was still curious to keep going, and sticking through it is incredibly rewarding. And that first 1/3 is still quite enjoyable. The second half of the story packs a wallop.

The way Pacat sprinkles hints of things throughout is quite amazing. I guessed a lot of things early on because of them, though one particular reveal might have been a mix of reading previews and peaking at the end, so I could spot the hints as I came across them. It felt like a fun mystery novel in that sense. I'm usually not good at that kind of thing, so it was nice. Truly, really great job.

One pairing does remind me of "Captive Prince", and honestly I just want to read more about them. Hoping we get more of them next book. It's just wonderful. And all the relationships in this are excellent. There are a lot of beautiful lines in this that I'm not going to quote because this is already too spoilery for my comfort. Truly a well-written, amazing story, that I plan to read again soon. Look forward to the rest of the series.