from the moment i finished this trilogy, i've wanted to return and start back over again. that is HUGE praise coming from me.

re-reading this first book after being done with all three is an exercise of looking at things with new knowledge, which is always so satisfying when you manage to pick up nuance that flew way above your head before. lol.

i can't say that this is a masterpiece on intricacy, but i Can say that surely didn't read it this carefully the first time around, and this is a prime book for rereads, specially when you've come to love some characters as much as i did.

captive prince is certainly not the best book out of the trilogy (which has its flaws, ofc, as a whole), it has the unnecesary rape culture way out on your face, yikes, and the whole thing with slaves... but man, man oh man, the thing that makes this series so enjoyable for me (and many others, so it seems) is the slow burn, the slowest of burns, and now on the reread, knowing damen and laurent better!! just scrumptious, i'm afraid.

now to what i actually Have to critize is pretty simple, the world building is kind of lacking, specially given how damen is only ever in his chambers and how little we know of the world around him. which is quite frustrating. which brings me to something i saw in a review somehwere "if you don't plan on showing the worldbuilding to a more plausible extent, why go with imaginary lands at all?".

anywya, i first read this in august and it is now december, since then, i have reletlessly looked for books that could make me feel even a third of what kings rising got from me and it would be impossible to feel that much if we hadn't gotten the rough start of the damen/laurent relationship in captive prince. sadly i have found only a handful of books that come somewhat close to inspiring me as much as this trilogy. alas, i guess you truly can't ever compare anything to your first love.

i not only recommend this trilogy, but i strongly rec you read it at least twice– as i'm doing right this moment.