Reviews tagging 'Drug use'

The Cruel Prince by Holly Black

91 reviews

elntastic's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.25

I really don’t understand the hype over this book. Maybe it is because I personally prefer MC to be somewhat wholesome and to have good intentions. It’s not that I didn’t like Jude or couldn’t understand her motives. It’s only that I feel like she could’ve made better decisions for herself and everyone else around her. As for Cardan: after the first interaction they had I already knew that I would never be able to like him or that there could be any kind of reason or excuse for his behavior that would justify it enough for me so that I could enjoy they romance that is supposed to develop later on in the plot. Cardan is just a mean, petty bully! How could you love someone who bullied you and who is friends with someone who literally wanted to kill you? Also the Locke-thing felt completely off. 
The whole relationship between her and her sisters also felt weird.
The only thing that made me finish this book was because it was so fast paced and so I was able to finish it in 2 days.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Violence, Death, Toxic relationship, Drug use, Bullying, and Injury/Injury detail

mary_do_12's review

adventurous emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

ugh, i love this book.

this was the first re-read i’ve ever done. to be honest with you, i used to think re-reads were kinda boring because… well, you already know what’s happening. but then i felt the desire to read about my fav characters again and i did it and AAAH.
this was the best decision ever. maybe i’ll only re-read books from now on. i first read this book series 2 years ago so there were some things i did indeed forgot but they came back to me when i read the book again. i also realized that my reading habits have definitely changed in those last two years. i used to be a CRAZY fast reader and now i’d say i’m an average speed reader. i payed much more attention to detail which made me recognize new things in an old story. also, for some reason, i was able to understand the talk about politics and strategy MUCH better than when i first read this book. maybe that‘s because i know the outcome and therefore understand the planning better.
i also have to mention that the first time i read this book was in my native language (german) but i enjoyed it more in english. what surprised me was that, despite me having read the book before, i was giggling and gasping just the same. the best scenes still made me feel the best of emotions, even though i totally knew they were in there. in fact, i anticipated them. and they hit the same, if not better. 
coming back to my comfort characters was SO comforting and it made me feel excitement in a way i never have before. i looked forward to keep on reading the whole day, i brought the book to birthday parties and running errands and going shopping and to church.
this book is a masterpiece still, nothing will ever come close to this story that i hold so dearly to my heart.
i’ve never quite realized how fond i am of these characters until now.
i feel at home again.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Death, Alcohol, Blood, Drug use, Suicide, Death of parent, Murder, and Violence

Minor: Incest, Grief, and Emotional abuse

bookmark3brodi's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Abortion, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal death, Misogyny, Murder, Blood, Toxic relationship, Violence, Body horror, Bullying, Slavery, Torture, Toxic friendship, Body shaming, Classism, Death, Death of parent, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Kidnapping, Vomit, War, Child abuse, and Drug use

wrensreadingroom's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Minor: Addiction, Mental illness, Vomit, Physical abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Abandonment, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Blood, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Violence, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Sexual content, Self harm, Racism, Murder, Miscarriage, Injury/Injury detail, Infidelity, Grief, Gore, Gaslighting, Fire/Fire injury, Emotional abuse, Drug use, Death of parent, and Death

n0elle's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Pregnancy, Slavery, Blood, Domestic abuse, Violence, Abandonment, Body horror, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Alcohol, Trafficking, Classism, Drug use, Grief, Bullying, Child abuse, Death of parent, Death, and Murder

margaret_k30's review against another edition

dark sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Murder, Death of parent, Torture, Physical abuse, Blood, Violence, and Bullying

Moderate: Drug use and Alcoholism

Minor: Child death, Toxic relationship, and Toxic friendship

madisonstarkov's review against another edition

challenging dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying and Violence

Moderate: Blood and Death

Minor: Drug use, Grief, and Vomit

lizy's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent and Murder

Moderate: Violence

Minor: Drug use

cady_sass's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

3.75ish ⭐️ 
I think I was set up for failure with this one, everyone has nothing but good things to say but I found it mostly okay. The last quarter of the book is what really got me, and it’s why this isn’t getting a 3. Things really pick up and get quite wild just in time for the book to end. The first half is very….. average. It was slow going for me and I only read a couple chapters at a time. I will continue the series and see if the momentum built at the end carries through, there’s a lot of potential but I’m not sold yet. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death of parent, Kidnapping, Murder, Death, Physical abuse, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Blood, Classism, Injury/Injury detail, Alcohol, Drug use, Grief, Bullying, Infidelity, and Violence

druzyquartz's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny relaxing sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Blood, Murder, Toxic friendship, Child abuse, Confinement, Death of parent, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Suicide, Slavery, Bullying, Death, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, and Violence

Minor: Incest, Alcoholism, Infertility, Suicidal thoughts, Trafficking, and War