Blogger Wife Chat Review: Prince’s Gambit – C. S. Pacat

Prince's Gambit is the second novel in the Captive Prince trilogy, and the action became ever more dangerous here. As did the intrigues, and the betrayals were horrific.
There was also a lot of planning - both on Laurent's and Damen's part. And both men opened up a little bit to help each other towards what appeared to be a common goal. But with them fighting for two different countries, it was difficult to let go of the doubts.

Prince’s Gambit was filled with intrigue, betrayal, action, and planning for war. 

I had to catch my breath reading Prince’s Gambit! The action was even faster. And the intrigue as well as the betrayals were just amazing, don’t you think?

Oh, they both were so amazing! I didn’t know who to trust or what was going to happen next. The action was faster in this installment and while most of the story had me tied in knots, Pacat did manage to make me laugh a few times.

Both Damen and Laurent grew in this novel too! What new information about them did you enjoy the most? I thought that in some ways, they were more similar than they thought.

You know character growth is something I adore in a story and it seemed we got it in spades with this one. I agree with you about Damen and Laurent being more similar than they thought. That was something that really made me think. I’m trying to decide what new information I enjoyed most. I think it was that since they were so similar, they could meet each other on level ground in a lot of ways. I appreciated that especially because they both swallowed some pride in order to do that.

I was absolutely amazed at how they got their army going – especially because I thought the Regent had made it so that this was not going to happen. How did you feel about the cohesion they were able to make?

It said a lot about the character of the men involved that the army gelled the way it did. There were some bumps certainly but once those were smoothed out, Damen and Laurent proved they were born to rule. They did it in different ways, of course, but neither was less effective.

Prince’s Gambit did have some darkness to it, for sure, but I found that it was less dark than Captive Prince. Do you agree?

I don’t know that I agree it was less dark than its predecessor. Certainly the intrigue was more difficult to carry out while the army was on the move than it was while in the palace but it was still there. Now that I think of it though, as I mentioned above, Pacat was able to make me laugh in several moments so that did lessen the darkness of the story. There was absolutely no laughing in Captive Prince. So I’ll agree with you it was less dark due to the moments of levity.

There were some fights in Prince’s Gambit that had me squeezing my kindle! And some situations that made me hold my breath and hope for the best. One of them was in the camp with the women fighters…

Omigosh, this was absolutely a nail biter! There were so many times I was holding my breath wondering if they could get out of this or tied in knots worrying about what was going to come at them next. I’m tensing now remembering! LOL I definitely was worried in the camp of women fighters. I wasn’t sure Damen had seen anything like that before and worried neither he nor Laurent were prepared…

As I told you in our chat the other day, I have this weird feeling that Laurent knows who Damen really is. What are your thoughts on that?

There were moments in Captive Prince and Prince’s Gambit that made me wonder whether Laurent was aware of Damen’s identity. But then I’d shake it off thinking Laurent wouldn’t engage Damen the way he does and has if he knew. So as with so many elements in the story, I’m unconvinced. We shall see though….we shall see.

What do you think The Regent will do next? He has a devious mind, doesn’t he? In a way, Laurent might get his mind from him as well. Even if I felt like I might understand Laurent a little better now. 

Oh my goodness! The Regent is constantly shocking me! And yes, Laurent absolutely may have developed his devious mind learning from The Regent but knowing what we do of Laurent’s father and brother, I don’t know if it’s all genetics. I also feel I understand Laurent a bit better now, but he’s still able to surprise me.

The end… made me click on my kindle to find the last book as soon as I finished reading – and I can’t wait to chat about that one with you as well

LOL When I got to the end, I understood why you’d had to start King’s Rising immediately. I just HAD to know what was going to happen next. And that’s really the mark of a good story, right? Thank goodness we waited until the trilogy was complete before we read it.

There were many shocking things that happened in Prince’s Gambit – without spoiling anything, are you able to share something that shocked you? I think it was the end. (Enough said;) )

Hmm…there are so many! There was that one thing at the camp of women fighters. Then there was that thing Laurent did with a sword. But the ending was definitely a shocker. A few parts of the ending, actually. bwahahahahaha  <– and if that doesn’t entice y’all to read this, I don’t know what will.

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