The second and third book have significantly more action than the first. I'm a big old sucker for over-dramatic romance with twists and heartache and relationships that go from hating each other to grumbling respect to love, so this was perfect for me That would usually bother me, but it felt organic in this case. The ones that are there are perfectly fine, but this is mostly a book about men. Partly as a result of the above though, there are very few prominent female characters in these books. I'm always appreciative of non-heteronormative worldbuilding: In Vere, m/f relationships are scandalous because bastardry is a total taboo. I honestly haven't read enough gay erotica to really compare anything, but I found the porny parts really well written. Really, if you don't enjoy explicit gay sex scenes, this book is probably not for you. This is redeemed in great parts in book three in my opinion by Damen's intention to end slavery once he is king We don't really know how anyone becomes a slave there, but it's not a good look. There are a few icky implications where Akielon slaves are essentially presented as very happy in their subservience if they're treated right.
Slavery, rape and pedophilia are all just kind of there, and although Damen is shocked at some of it, many other things aren't really looked at critically. Generally, I was not really sure in the beginning how critical the book is of the horrors it portrays. Just as a general FYI, this is only "fantasy" in the sense that it takes place in a different world. The balance between plot and "look at all this sex stuff" gets drastically better later on in my opinion. The first few chapters are so explicitly naked, sex-heavy and rape-y that I was honestly not sure what I had gotten myself into with this. His new master Prince Laurent of Vere is a beautiful stone cold bitch who has few qualms about humiliating and torturing his new property, but Damen quickly starts to realize that there is greater evil in Vere than Laurent's cruelty. Spoilers are tagged.Īfter his brother stages a coup, Prince Damen of Akielos is stripped of his identity sent to the court of Vere as a pleasure slave. I listened to all three books on Audible (great narrator btw, his name's Stephen Bel Davies) in a matter of days, and it really surpassed my expectations. Okay so after that content warning this statement will make me look weird af, but I LOVED this series. Recommended if you like: enemies to lovers, problematic relationships & dramatic romance, worldbuilding where everyone is gay or bi, gay love stories, big-scale battles and court intrigue, explicit sex scenes, royalty PoV, greco-roman aesthetics CONTENT WARNING: These books - and this post by extension - feature depictions and mentions of rape, sexual assault, pedophilia and slavery (the non-racial kind) and are not always 100% critical of these things.
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