Reviews with content warning for Drug use - The Cruel Prince

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The Cruel Prince by Holly Black

94 reviews

mmefish's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Before, I never knew how far I would go. Now I believe I have the answer. I will go a as far as there is to go. I will go way too far.

I read this trilogy last year and couldn’t stop thinking about it since. There are two reasons for that:

The main heroine. I love Jude, she’s my favourite YA character. She’s constantly struggling but never gives up; she stands up for herself and her sister but she’s not overly sentimental about their relationship; Jude is just believable, she feels real (just like every character in this book, to be fair).
The setting. Holly Black created a world that sucks you in. The nature, the Folk, all of the structures and decorations—everything is absolutely magical. I love that she wrote her fey to be wicked and actually different from humans.

Don’t start this book thinking that it’s a ~dark romance~ (the way it’s sometimes advertised), because “the Cruel Prince” is actually about belonging, ambition and fighting for the right to exist.

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lisa_m's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

5.0

I didn't know if I would like this book but I so did! The intrigue and the whole politics were so interesting and even though they are pretty much all horrible I also love the characters. I loved the world building as well. The perfect mix between beautiful and absolutely horrifying.

Also this book captured me! I couldn't stop reading. And now I will immediately begin with The Wicked King because I have to know how this ends. I have a slight feeling that the following books won't be able to top this one but I hope to be surprised.

Cardan is the perfekt example for a character I love to hate. He is such a great character but also he is horrible and I can't stand him. I like that Holly Black didn't shy away from gruesome details and that she actually made him a bad person. This book is 100% enemies (to lovers) and I live for it.
I like that she didn't just make them have a rivalry but a knife-to-the-throat I hate you so much romance.

------------------

I loved this book even more after my reread! There is so much more to discover and so much amazing forshadowing!
I LOVE Jude and Cardan!
I wanted to start this book today and maybe read a few chapters but instead I devoured it in one day because I could not stop. I can't wait to reread the rest of the series!

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miaaa_lenaaa's review against another edition

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dark emotional tense 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? Yes

3.75

Was this great? No, did it lead to murder yes, so very good *claps*

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lorenasanz's review

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funny relaxing

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

3.25

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teagstime's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

A solid 4.5 ★s I think !?
Really enjoyed this book-- the plot twists were hinted at subtly enough they were honestly surprising, while still making total sense w the info you've been given as a reader! Like.. chefs kiss at how satisfying the payoff was

I also really liked Jude, who becomes an absolute conniving badass (in desperate need of some therapy), and Cardan, who gave me waaay more feelings than I was prepared for ^^;; I just think he's neat!

So much of his dialogue & actions just completely endeared me to him. Seriously, he’s so intelligent and fun. Learning more about his family/home life made me feel a bunch of Emotions— he’s fr my lil cinnamon apple now… I’m holding his hand as we speak.

There's a few side characters I'm v personally invested in too, such as Madoc and Oriana.

Like Madoc is SUCH a dad. I just be thinking about how much he loves his family all the time— esp towards the end of the book, during his confrontation w Jude.. T_T And Oriana is so badass … she literally loves Oak & the girls so much.. she’s just been traumatized in so many ways! But when Jude’s in trouble she doesn’t hesitate to step up… Love her fr!! + the Court of Shadows guys are all so cool 💖

A good book for someone wanting to read abt a strong female protagonist who's desperate to prove herself & make her own way in a world wherein she has virtually no power. And then DOES!! She grows so much & becomes so unhinged by the end. What a queen uwu
The enemies-to-lovers is really good too, though it's mostly in the 'enemies' phase here lmaoo... I'm already a Huuuge fan of Cardan tho. No Cardan slander allowed in this house !

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adeliab's review against another edition

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dark mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
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

2.0

I am really conflicted on how to rate this books. On one hand I enjoyed myself and there were some elements pertaining to mortality that I thought were interesting. On the other I take issue with some of the plot beats relating to the romance and with the overall pacing.

This book is just flat out addictive. I started listening to the 13 hour audiobook yesterday and am finished with it today. I did not put the book down. My favorite fantasy novels are those that focus on interpersonal relationships, but have fantastical and sociopolitical elements to spice it up. Luckily for me, that is what this book does. It focused on the relationships between Jude, her family, and the rest of the court all within the setting of this fantasy world.

The strongest element of this book, in my opinion, is the exploration of morality. All of the main cast of characters are morally complex. Whether is be the Jude's adopted father Madoc,

who kills Jude's biological parents, but clearly loves Jude and the rest of the family

or Taryn Jude's sister

who lets Locke, the boy Taryn is engaged to, court Jude because she want so badly to be accepted by the fae

or even Jude

who is tries to secure peace for the human and fae people while you the reader can tell she is brimming with violence and desire for power

. I appreciate this book for exploring how one can both love someone and disdain them for their actions.

Further, the books focus on making all of the characters morally ambiguous ensures that the characters are dynamic. Oriana Jude's step-mother, for example

seems to occupy the niche of evil step mother, a relatively static role, but is later revealed to have acted out of caring. She may have lectured and been suspicious of the girls, but it was because she was influence by her own experiences as the concubine of the king to protect the girls from evils of the court. Oriana, could have remained a static character, a foil for the plot, but I believe because of the book's commitment to exploring mortality she was given more depth

.

Yet, when it comes to Cardan (finish review later)

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lexi_readsbooks's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional tense 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

I normally don’t write reviews but this book is just so good I had to, unlike most books there are no patch’s where it just gets boring it’s just great. However if you came to this series promised an enemies to lovers that’s more of a sub plot and the rest is like an awesome fantasy with politics and some family

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katvou's review

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adventurous emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

3.75

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christinaj1021's review against another edition

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adventurous medium-paced

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

3.75

A classic case of "Booktok made me do it", unfortunately I think this book is overhyped on social media for what it actually delivered on.
From the point of view of a YA review, my opinion would be that the world-building and fantasy aspects of this book are more aligned with the type that you'd find in an early Harry Potter-esque book than a YA fantasy novel. Though the MC is 17, she acts and thinks more similar to a 13/14/15 year old which I think is what really made me lower my opinion. Also I'm just personally not a fan of bully romance which this 100% is... but truly, even though I'm not a fan, I literally have no idea why the MC and MLI have any attraction to one another. It's never explained.
Why you should read this book:
- you aren't a fan of smut/spice but still want that high fantasy-based feel
- you like faeries/magical worlds that are well developed (if a bit juvenille)
- you want an alternative to the 700+ page fantasy novels that are so popular right now
- you want a read that contains plot twists with no foreshadowing
- you want a read where the MC feels like a real person and not a stereotype (ie., chosen one, not like other girls, woman written by a man syndrome)

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carolncc_'s review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

2.0

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