Reviews tagging 'Drug use'

The Cruel Prince by Holly Black

94 reviews

snapdrag_n's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny fast-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

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death and Death of parent

Minor: Drug use

gabi_w21's review against another edition

slow-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? It's complicated

1.5

DNF’ed around 15%. But with Jude acting like a stubborn idiot despite knowing it could get her seriously injured and Cardan not having any redeemable qualities, I gave up. Jude seemed much more concerned about if her sister slept with someone and ogling Cerdsn than anything. It wasn’t “enemies to lovers,” to me. Cardan and his buddies were just sociopathic abusers to me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Drug use, Toxic relationship, Blood, and Death of parent

Moderate: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, and Gaslighting

raypaws's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Physical abuse, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child abuse, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Kidnapping, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Incest

emilycbaker's review against another edition

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Sexual assault, Slavery, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

revived_reading's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional tense fast-paced

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

4.75

There were some times in the story where I was quite confused with the wording, which is the only reason I’m not giving this book 5 stars. Overall, it made me squeal and scream and want to hurl my book at a wall. That’s when I know it’s a good book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Death, Drug use, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Alcoholism

Minor: Incest and Self harm

abbiexhope's review against another edition

emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Death, Drug use, and Death of parent

reneec1's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark medium-paced

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

5.0

This was a fun read. While it is YA, it felt a bit younger than I was expecting (the style of narration, not the themes).

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Violence, and Death of parent

Moderate: Gore, Physical abuse, Blood, Grief, Murder, Alcohol, and Classism

Minor: Infidelity

embla_v's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional

5.0

Spänning, överraskningar och förräderi, är bara början på denna makalösa fantasy bok. Den här boken överträffade mina förväntningar och jag kan knappt vänta på att få hem andra boken i serien. 

Boken handlar om Jude som fördes till Faerie som barn tillsammans med sina systrar. Som människa i Faerie blir hon mobbad men allt hon vill är att passa in. När Jude blir äldre inser hon att hon inte kommer på en plats i Faerie om hon inte skapar en själv men vägen till makt kantas av fara och förräderi, och Cardan, prins av Faerie, hotar allt som hon försöker bygga. 

En fantastisk spännande bok som jag definitivt rekommenderar. Den är på engelska och är för unga vuxna. Oerhört läsvärd!!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Death, Physical abuse, Blood, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Torture, Violence, and Alcohol

Minor: Slavery, Trafficking, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Pregnancy, and Abandonment

stellenelcielo's review against another edition

challenging dark tense slow-paced

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

2.0

I will give two stars because I appreciated certain points of the book. Like, the portrayal of faerie lore and the malicious attitude towards mortals? I did like that. I also liked that there were certain niche memories of Jude’s that felt relatable, like the sticky fingers and television childhood, as well as different descriptions of emotions she was feeling.

However, this book’s pacing was hell on my ADHD and it truly felt like a chore to read. There were parts that were engaging and I had no problem getting through chapters, and others were so slow that I would lose focus and go do something else. This book took me a month to read, which is atrocious and I wish I had a the habit of DNFing a book without feeling guilty, but I don’t so here I am now. 

The characters as well, while relatable at certain points, are infuriating. Jude makes absolutely no sense. Why stay in Faerie if she’s angry and terrified all the time? If the people around her are all fucking terrible? Because you were raised there? You want power? Even though you are viewed as inherently inferior? 

You gonna go ahead and fall in love eventually with someone who ripped another’s wings right off and participated in sexually assaulting you?

Bullshit, sounds like torture porn. 

Vivienne was the only engaging character. I would read three books about her romance with Heather and her grappling with her identity and her hatred, but her determination to love a mortal and live there. 

I didn’t care for the romance either (I mean, I’m gay, so I would never have cared for the het romance anyway) but I bought the book because people were mad about the lack of it, only to find political intrigue. I love political intrigue, but this book was vague at best with the world building and system descriptions. So I found that to be lacklustre as well.

I hear that Wicked King and Queen of Nothing were better, but I don’t think they might be better enough to give a shot, also it will be the last time I take book recommendations from heterosexual booktokers.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Hate crime, Infidelity, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, and Sexual harassment

sirkeili's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-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? It's complicated

4.0

This book started off in a way I've never seen books do before, in that the first chapter was a singular sentence. I was intrigued by how this story followed the old faerie tales style, dark and mysterious, but full of wit and charm. 

What broke my heart was Jude putting herself through hell, either in hopes to come out on top or to die in the process, because she felt she had no place in either world.  She doesn't care for her humanity, rather she hopes to rid herself of it one way or another. 

I do hope she gets what she is owed in the end; revenge against the man who slaughtered her family for the sake of his pride, and to put Locke in his place. I hope her plan to protect Oak works, and even if he doesn't become king, he realizes the sacrifices she made for him.

This book subtly made me fall back in love with faerie tales, the ones who's ending is ambiguous and who's story unravels slowly and yet all at once.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Bullying, Death, Drug use, Toxic relationship, Violence, Death of parent, Murder, Toxic friendship, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Confinement, Infidelity, Misogyny, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, and Alcohol

Minor: Body shaming, Abandonment, and Dysphoria