Kings Rising by C.S Pacat
Genres: Historical fiction, LGBTQ+, Romance
Pages: 385
Cover: Paperback
Age rating: 16+
Buy on: Amazon, Barnes and Noble
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The future of both their nations is at stake as Damianos of Akielos, the man Laurent has vowed to kill, returns and must face his master Prince Laurent as Damianos of Akielos. In the south, Kastor's forces are gathering, while in the north, the Regent's armies are mobilizing for war. Damen's only chance to reclaim his throne is to fight alongside Laurent against their usurpers.
The two princes are forced into an uncomfortable alliance and travel deep into Akielos, where they encounter their most dangerous opponent to date. However, even if the brittle trust they have developed endures the disclosure of Damen's identity, will it be able to withstand the Regent's last, deadly play for the throne?
General Opinion
An epic finale to the trilogy, such as a satisfying ending, happily ever after for everyone.
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Characters
Damen now stands before Laurent not as a slave, but as Damianos, heir to the throne of Akielos, and is also the killer of Laurent's brother. This causes some rift between them, but they resolve it, and officially because the POWER couple. Watching Laurent pretending to hate Damen was frustrating and hilarious, it was so clear that Laurent was so in love and admired Damen greatly.
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In this book, we get to witness Jokaste, Damen's past lover turn betrayal, kind of, I thought I would hate her, but that didn't happen, I like her. Jokaste is the female version of Laurent, same appearance a cunning, vicious mind, and great insult. They were so similar that I thought that Laurent had a long-lost sister somewhere.
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Laurent is amazing as usual, him dressing up as Jokaste, tricking the guards got me rolling the floor, especially when the guards praised his beauty, thinking it was Jokaste. Damen's soldiers was baffle while Damen himself was so used to Laurent being unpredictable that he just shrug it of.
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I love how Damen was uncomfortable with the slaves when he was back in power, being in their place for months evokes empathy inside of him, realizing how unjust the system is. Seeing Damen punish people who treated lower-class people was satisfying.
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The scene where Laurent and Damen sparring was on fire, mostly consist of them throwing each other around, but Oh my god!!!
I HATE the Regent, if you think he was bad, trust me, it got so much worse, may his soul never find piece. Kastor being jealous of Damen was sort of understandable, as he did become forgettable when Damen was born, that doesn't excuse his actions though. But I hate the Regent so much that I forgot about Kastor. The eleven-year olds boy at the end broke me a bit.
Plot
Again, I love the political aspect of this book. Every plan was being thought out so thoroughly, and the reluctance to alliances between two countries that hated each other, to the newfound friendship between the soldiers was wonderful to see. The best part, a minor spoiler: Damen abolished slavery when he became king, like YES!!!
​​​​​​​​Conclusion
The Captive Prince trilogy is an amazing and unique read, I am so glad I picked up this book and would recommend it to anyone within the age limit.