Reviews tagging 'Murder'

The Cruel Prince by Holly Black

741 reviews

readwithria's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Murder, and Violence

Moderate: Death of parent, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Domestic abuse

Minor: Suicide attempt, Alcohol, Toxic relationship, and Kidnapping

nabzilla's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault

Moderate: Xenophobia, Slavery, and Racism

Minor: Suicide and Murder

emileecarter's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Bullying, Death, Murder, Violence, War, Toxic friendship, Death of parent, Gore, and Grief

kt3636's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Moderate: Bullying, Violence, Domestic abuse, Murder, Blood, Death, and Death of parent

Minor: Alcohol and Sexual assault

This isn’t a very spicy book, there’s some kissing mainly near the end and that’s it. There’s varying degrees of violence throughout, but it doesn’t go into too much graphic detail of said violence. The main character is subjected to bullying for being a mortal/human throughout.

there is a part where the main character is glamoured and made to take off her clothes but is not taken advantage of further than that

oddpilot97's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent and Slavery

Moderate: Murder, Toxic relationship, Violence, Bullying, Blood, Alcohol, Suicide attempt, Gaslighting, Kidnapping, Child abuse, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, and Self harm

matildasouthern's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny sad 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Murder, and Death

Moderate: Bullying and War

Minor: Grief and Blood

aribookishly's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Blood, Drug use, Alcohol, and Bullying

Moderate: Death

Minor: Gore

adoptedbuttons's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

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

3.25

Didn’t think I would finish until like page 250

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment and Violence

Moderate: Alcohol, Murder, Racism, Death of parent, Kidnapping, and Bullying

Minor: Abortion, Torture, and Toxic relationship

replovernights's review against another edition

adventurous tense fast-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Bullying, and Violence

Moderate: Alcohol and Death of parent

philosofreaky's review against another edition

adventurous dark fast-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death, Classism, Abandonment, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Grief, Murder, Physical abuse, Suicide, Kidnapping, Alcohol, Bullying, Confinement, Death, and Domestic abuse