Reviews tagging 'Violence'

The Cruel Prince by Holly Black

625 reviews

ashnoble's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional 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

3.0


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zainurb's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional sad fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No

5.0

lots upon lots of action but cardan could throw dirt in my food any day and I'd eat it with pleasure

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readwithria's review against another edition

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

4.0

The Cruel Prince was a great start to this YA fantasy series! It did a great job of getting me hooked on the world and the story, and I’m excited to read more!

Jude is such a force to be reckoned with! Her pivot from wanting to be a knight to embracing her newfound skills was so great, and I really enjoyed seeing her grow into her strength. 

The political maneuvering was so interesting! I love tactical plays in books like this, and The Cruel Prince was full of them. The planning, the manipulation, the betrayals 😩 SO GOOD

I will definitely be continuing the series asap. 4 stars.

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ek2011's review against another edition

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adventurous dark tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75


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emileecarter's review against another edition

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

5.0

This is my favorite fantasy series/ trilogy of all time. You are meant to hate some of the main characters. 
I find Jude highly relatable. 
Please be aware that this is a political fantasy. While it does contain a romance or two, it is not the focus. Please only read if you are ready for a mysterious, action packed, political fantasy. 
This book has never read as YA to me. It contains some heavy, heavy themes.
For example, Jude dealing with the confusion of loving Madoc as the father that raised her and hating him for what he's done, and how she feels wrong for her feelings.
Truly, an incredible read. 

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kt3636's review against another edition

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

3.0

Low fantasy, enemies to lovers (bully/systemic). 

This book suffers from some pacing issues and I found it difficult to envision most of the time due to lack of comprehensive description. It has big dramatic things happen within it but they feel weightless, that is until about 75% of the way into the book. By the end of the book the author really begins to find her footing, and overall literacy technique improves and the plot becomes more exciting and unpredictable, shaking off its previously juvenile feel for something darker and more gritty. This improvement is carried on and developed further in the second book (currently reading). 

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oddpilot97's review against another edition

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challenging 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

5.0

I think I might be obsessed with this book. It’s the first novel I read as an adult that gave me the same feeling as when I read as a child. 
 
Enemies to lovers is one of the best tropes in my opinion. And this book did not disappoint. I appreciated that both characters were complex, with dynamic motivations, and that there wasn’t an uncomfortable power dynamic.

The only tiny critique I have is that the audiobook narrator got a bit whiny at times of high tension. It was a tad grating/melodramatic.
 
The main character isn’t a goodie two shoes, and I loved that. The plot had excellent twists and turns without being predictable, and never got too dull. The twists were well established in advance as well, which I appreciated. It's got my favorite parts of YA without feeling immature.
 
Read this! It’s amazing. 

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snakebyte180's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging 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? It's complicated

4.75


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readyourrights's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Slow start but the political intrigue and interpersonal drama really hooked me. Great twists and entertaining!

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nestasbff's review

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adventurous emotional mysterious 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

3.75

3.75 ⭐️ |
surprisingly, i liked this. i honestly wasn’t expecting to, as many extremely hyped up books on booktok turn out to be not for me.

Jude might be my new <u>favorite</u> FMC. she’s everything. i love her. my queen.
as for the other characters, though… i hate them all except Vivi and Oak (he’s the sweetest). 
now, Cardan. i am the type of person who will <u>never</u> forgive nor forget when people wronged me. so, if someone treated me this way, and then <i>wanted</i> me… yeah, i’m sorry, but no.

the whole vibe of the book was very unique (to me, at least). it made me feel like i was living in one of the fairytale worlds i read about as a child. it felt very <i>cozy</i> to me. i loved it.

the plot was lacking in the beginning, but about 150 pages in it got interesting. although, the plot twists and reveals at the end were my favorite and made the book for me.

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