Man, gotta say, this series reminds me very strongly of Kushiel's Dart:

• Elegantly written
• Packed with court intrigue
• In a high fantasy setting that
• is at least partially modeled on Renaissance Venice

And also:

• Packed with sexualized violence and sexual violence
• That often rides the line of what I, personally, am willing to tolerate in fiction
• And for sure is over line for many readers
• Though I don't get the impression either writer is being prurient or provocative for its own sake. 

Weirdly, it was when the main relationship -- one between the titular captive prince and his captor -- shifted to a dynamic of more equitable standing that I kind of freaked out and had to stop reading at about 90% of the way through the middle book in the series. Still not sure what that was about, though I suspect that I freaked because their previous relationship -- one that was, in a word, abusive -- had been so normalized in the text that the shift made that abuse obvious. I'd been Stockholm syndrome'd along with the captive prince.

This isn't maybe the most interesting thing to do -- just observe how many people treat Humbert Humbert like some kind of romantic hero, and his relationship with Lolita as a grand love story, and you can see how easily readers will dupe themselves into siding with abusers. What's interesting is unmasking it for what it was, and then trying to move on from there.

So. Onto book three, I guess. 

Just as cute and fun as the previous two volumes. I'm still enjoying the art art and the writing, and the characters remain endearing. And at long last we finally get to find out who makes the fencing team. My only wish is that there was just a bit more meat on the bones - I tear through these so fast and it takes quite a while between collections.

I have been trying desperately to like this, but it's just not engaging. We aren't told enough about Damen and Laurent to actually care about either of them. We are just thrown into the mix, which would usually be okay. But we aren't given enough background to feel sorry for Damen. And Laurent is so unlikable at this point that I'm over it. Too much rape and random sex scenes. I get that this is a lot like ancient civilizations, but there's something gross about this to me. Sorry if any if you really liked this, but I'm not. Pass.

5 Library books 

1 manga 

3 graphic novels

4 audiobooks. 

Favorites  broken  things 

Happy reading 

Scrappy fencer Nicholas Cox comes to the end of his path to prove himself worthy of a father he never knew in the face of surly upperclassmen, nearly impossible odds, and the talent of his rival, sullen fencing prodigy, Seiji Katayama.

Sparks fly white-hot on the pitch as Nicholas and Seiji finally face off once again in the halls of King’s Row. It’s a match that will change King’s Row (and both of them!) forever, and set the stage as the team journeys to face their bitter rivals and prove themselves once and for all.
Review: loved volume 3 it's down to see who gets on the team . Nicholas and seiji face off again . Seiji wins and it's all down to either eugene or Nicholas. They both get on the team . Jesse shows up I wonder what will happen next.