Phuong ✯'s Reviews > Captive of the Horde King

#1 Captive by the Horde King ↠ 3 stars
#2 Claimed by the Horde King ↠ 4.25 stars
#3 Madness of the Horde King ↠ 2.5 stars
#4 Broken by the Horde King ↠ 2.75 stars

↳ ✧  The plot  ✧

Luna (h) is on a foreign planet called Dakkar where the Dakkari rules with seven horde kings. Luna lives with her little brother in a small village and one day her brother burns down the field by accident but it's still seen as a huge violation of the Dakkari folk. One of the horde kings, Arokan (H), comes by for a visit and Luna sacrifices herself that the Horde King will spare her brother's life. She's taken back to the horde camp and has to learn to adjust to her new life.

My Google search after finishing The Golden Dynasty by Kristen Ashley:
--> Romance books that are similar to The Golden Dynasty

First result:
--> Captive by the Horde King by Zoey Draven
(also Transcendence by Shay Savage, Radiance by Grace Draven and The Sweetest Oblivion by Danielle Lori (LOL WTF? 😂) among other books)

Believe me, when I say that I clicked so fast on the to-read button.

I was stoked to finally start this series and what can I say. Since TGD I feel in love with the barbarian romance subgenre. It's so damn entertaining. Every book that gives me some kind of Khal Drogo vibes is a win in my eyes.

While I enjoyed this world and most of the story, I had two major problems with this book.

↳ ✧  1. I compared everything to The Golden Dynasty  ✧

And that's a "it's me, it's not the book" problem. I knew going into the book that it would be much lighter and would have less violence than The Golden Dynasty. But the more I didn't want to compare it, the more I did.

I was like duhh:
⇢ why does this guy have a TAIL?! Isn't it weird enough that he has six fingers and claws and six toes?? Noo apparently he has to have a tail… WHY? I know they are aliens but d-do you have to mention that fact? 😭
What my mind conjures is a RAT'S TAIL (i wanted to insert a picture of a rat here, but when I wanted to save the picture, my laptop CRASHED!!! It's a fucking sign.. My laptop was too digusted. Guess today is your lucky day)

⇢ why does everyone speak the "universal language"?? Bruh, this is wayy to easy for the heroine to understand everyone.. where is the flavour in that? I wanted some Lahnahsahna Fahnahsan Dahksahna ato Hahla Lahn shiit 😭 but noo because almost everyone important speaks the universal language it was easy for Luna to communicate with the people and Arokan.

⇢ why are the guys so civilised?? What you're telling me they don't beat up woman or act barbaric?? These dudes are all teddy bears when all I expect is bloodthirsty monsters. Why does nothing bad happen? Is this a 5 star hotel or what? I was so confused.

And the list goes on and on. If you've never read TGD then you won't have a problem or even if you have read it but can read one book without comparing it to another, then you're going to be fine. That's just how my brain works, if I see that two books are really similar, I automatically start to compare them with each other and when it comes to barbarian romance TGD is just top-tier 🙈

↳ ✧ 2. The heroine  ✧

Luna was annoying. She offers herself in exchange for her brother's life. She tells the horde king that she's going to be his whore if he will let her brother live. Luna was suppose to pay a price, but it never felt like she did. Her new life in the horde was way too comfortable. She had food, she had clothes, she had hot water and homegirl still found things to complain about like omg "this skirt is way too short I don't want to wear this". Nah girl nah.

Like Luna tried to fight everything with tooth and nail and I just didn't understand it. She is on a foreign planet, is with a lot of strange creatures, she's treated way better than the village she lived before and she's so ungrateful. Girl, be glad to still breathing air. These people could have killed your brother and you for breaking the law. She's the prisoner but acts like a princess sometimes.

She's with Arokan maybe a couple of days or weeks and thinks she can change their traditions, disobey Arokan infant of his horde and it made me facepalm so hard. Who does she think she is to make any demands? Luna througout the book thought she knew better but she did not. It was irking me. She depends on THEM and not the otherway around.

But what I liked about her character was that at the end when she gets kidnapped by the enemies, she is no damsel in distress. She's clever enough to save herself and that was some badass behaviour.

Otherwise, everything else was ✨peachy✨.