General Opinion

This book was a really heavy and unique read for me, it touched upon a lot of mature topics that could be disturbing for some readers, and even though I enjoyed it, I had to admit that sometimes, I had to put the book down, breath in, and continue reading.

 

Characters 

I came into this book, expecting a romance with a political subplot, but what I got instead was the opposite. There was little to no romance between Damen and Laurence, so I am confused about why they would market as a romance. But not complaining. Damen is a prince, but now as he is a slave, serving in the court of Vere, he must witness and endure the cruelty and danger there. Now, I will have to remind you that in this book, it is a norm for slavery. However, slaves in Akielos weren't treated poorly, rather, they were viewed as jobs, you didn't get paid, but there were few abuses and violent acts toward the slaves. It is also that if you are a personal slave to the prince, you will be respected. I am not justifying slavery, I am just providing what slaves are being seen as in this book.

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However, that is not how slaves in Vere are being treated, specifically, slaves from Akielos who are being forced to serve in Vere. Because the two countries are enemies, the slaves that come from Akielos are being tortured, and abused, and even normal slaves are being used for sick entertainment (some explicit and disturbing scenes in this book). Damen sees these acts as disgusting, and mortifying, and he wants to help those people by bargaining with Laurent, his master. So even though slavery is a norm in this book, there is still a fine line of how you treat your slaves.

 

Laurent, the prince, and heir to the throne of Veretian, is cruel, mean, arrogant, the typical morally grey character that everyone falls for. But because of how cruel he was to Damen at the beginning (there will be a violent scene, warning), many readers hate him. I am conflicted about him, he will be the endgame with Damen, and I believe that would lead to a lot of interesting development in their dynamic in the next 2 books. 

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The Regent, Laurent's uncle, is disgusting, and cruel and the reason why Lauren is who he is in the first book. 

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Plot

There isn't much happening here, as it's mostly introducing the character and a lot of world-building. I enjoy the world-building in this book, I think the mature topics in this book are well written. ​

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​​​​​​​​Conclusion

So if you think that you can handle these topics: r*pe, slavery, grooming... I think you should try this out, it is a unique read for me, and I think it resonate well with the reality of the world today. ​