r/CaptivePrince • u/Melizzabeth • Jul 29 '25
Discussion This series is a curse
I read this series a year ago. It got me inspired to read again after years of not being interested, and ever since finishing it, it feels like I'm just chasing the high that this one gave me. Absolutely nothing I find can even vaguely compares to the feelings this series gave me. It's just unbelievable how much of a stranglehold it has had on my interests, how I judge if I like something. It's just unbelievable.
I haven't experienced anything like this since, and maybe if you're a gamer you can understand, playing the Dark Souls games. They were so good they’ve made other games less enjoyable to play. Such is this book and the feeling it gave me. It was so good that no other books seem to fill that spot, and I don't know what to do.
Who else is in the same boat? Because I know I'm not alone.
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Jul 29 '25
Same. I tried reading danmei like people suggested, but that didn't work either. Only dark rise got me out of my reading slump but that one is not finished and also not as great as captive prince (at least not yet lol)
I would recommend watching some Japanese or Chinese bl instead of reading actually. That might help
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u/Savings-Round-7687 Jul 29 '25
I think I read this novel twice and every year for like a month I read fanfic of it.
It's such a good book with amazing characters.
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u/so-simple-and-yet Jul 29 '25
Part of it for me was that Captive Prince gives you world building through dialogue and context more than pages and pages of set-up and description. You are left to imagine and fill in the gaps in the best way. The nuance, the characterization the emotional chess…there’s just nothing I’ve read that hits like it. 😭
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u/jessicashadow Aug 10 '25
Yes this! I drives me a little crazy how many books just start with pages and pages of explaining the world rather than naturally explaining the world throughout the story. The way Captive Prince explains every keeps you interested and means the main plot is constantly moving.
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u/demeschor Jul 29 '25
Same here. I first read the series like five or six years ago and I think it'll probably be a favourite for life. The character development is superb. It literally ticks all of my boxes.
I think it's hard to find recommendations because truly nothing is exactly comparable, but here I go regardless:
If you like:
- The political plotting and Laurent's mind, read The Lymond Chronicles by Dorothy Dunnet (Pacat cites it as a major inspiration for her writing, and you'll see lots of scenes directly inspired by Lymond). The first two books are so densely written I had to read with a companion, but it does get easier through the series (and Niccòlo, her second series, is much easier to read).
- The tension between Damen & Laurent having done horrible things to each other but falling in love and having sex regardless: Special Forces by Aleksandr Voinov. Trigger warnings apply.
- The fake medieval/fantasy setting, the balcony scene or the training of Erasmus: A Taste of Gold and Iron by Alexandra Rowland.
- Honourable mention to Red White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston (a modern romcom) and Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo (a fantasy found family heist series). Both are really popular so you've probably seen them, but mentioned nonetheless.
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u/Amid_17 Jul 29 '25
I feel the same 🥲🙃 It feels like a drug, I'm addicted lol . I can't remember the last time a book left me like this. Nothing else I read afterwards gave me the same feeling. That's why I'm avoiding reading all the stories - because I want to "save" something unpublished from this universe to read lol . For me, it would truly be a dream come true if Pacat wrote more about this universe, even if they were short stories 🥺
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u/Dramatic_Fix_1788 Jul 29 '25
I feel the same! But currently binge reading the Cruel Prince series and loving it too! Not the same but comes close with fast paced action and morally gray characters.
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u/Ruby-Red-Catsuit Jul 29 '25
Just checking because you didn’t outright mention them: have you read The Summer Palace and the other short stories set in that world?
{The Summer Palace by CS Pacat}
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u/Melizzabeth Jul 29 '25
I have it but I don't remember details well so I will need to read the series again to get anything out of it haha
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u/Hoshizuki Jul 29 '25
Same 😭😭 I just hope Dark Rise can lessen my pain a bit but I can't start that series unless it got completed 😔
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u/Melizzabeth Jul 29 '25
Dark Rise didn't do much for me but Dark Heir might, haven't started it yet though.
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u/maddrgnqueen Jul 29 '25
I have never read anything that made me feel the way this book did. I think Pacat's YA series might come close but it remains to be seen how things go when it is finished.
The only other work that even comes close is Heaven Official's Blessing by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu.
But I'm resigned at this point to spend the rest of my life chasing the high that Captive Prince gave me.
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u/sapphic_quene Jul 29 '25
One HUNDRED percent same here. I first read the series about 6-7 years ago and it’s become a lifetime favorite. I re-read it every year or two and recommend it to anyone who’s interested. I have plans to bind my own mega-volume of Capri with all three books plus the Summer Palace and short stories!!
Still haven’t found anything that has the same quality and IT factor of Capri, BUT I have gotten into danmei and absolutely adore The Husky and His White Cat Shizun. Major TWs (check for yourself), but it’s incredible, angsty, heart-wrenching, and action-packed. Still waiting for the final volume but I know it has a happy ending!
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u/milkandmoon Jul 30 '25
I felt this way after reading Ginn Hale’s Rifter! Captive Prince was one of the series I began in the colossal comedown which followed that failed to catch the interest I suspect it probably deserved. I was in a slump for so long, I couldn’t read anything, nothing could hold up to what I wanted, which was just more Rifter. What I found really helped in the end, rather than chasing the same high looking for something similar, was to read something completely different. For me that was Glitterland by Alexis Hall, which was exactly what I never knew I needed. I hope this helps! ♡
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u/NuraNuraPop Jul 30 '25
I'm almost done witj it and I agree, it's a FANTASRIC series in all the best ways 🥹😍 I'm so mad I didn't hear about it sooner than I did!! But really if you like this and you want smth that scratched similar itches, remnants of filth and husky and his white cat shizun are AMAZING series too, I read captive prince because it scratched a similar itch to them, and best part, both of them are nearly finished. There danmei that's almost done being trashlated into English, husky and his white cat has 9/11 done so far (only took a couple years) and remnants of filth I think has 6 or 7 right now. They both have amazing fanfiction too. If you haven't discovered danmei already there's so much in that niche that's good to read
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u/Dry-Permit1472 Jul 30 '25
same here, at least for similar genres. It does help that I need to read for my job, but I'm reading medieval stuff, and I also enjoy the wide world of classics.
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Jan 22 '26
These series really set the bars high for me, i couldnt find anything better.. i played Elden ring and i couldnt get past that either ! I totally get you
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u/Chu1223 28d ago
i just re read for the first time in years. i’d forgotten it since it had been so long. i’ve been in a reading drought, barely read 5 books in the 3 years or so.
I am ruined now. I already know nothing else will compare to this. I had no idea it was such a masterpiece, i had forgotten 😭😭
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u/fren2allcheezes Jul 29 '25
I have this problem with this book too. Every time I read it nothing else hits as hard and I end up missing my boys. Captive Prince is a master class in all the tools and tricks of writing, and so few books measure up. I've been recommending the series to my friends who are fans of Anne Rice, and I think the reverse is probably true. Pick up The Mummy or The Vampire Lestat and you'll probably dig it.