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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.
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?
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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Sexual assault, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infidelity, Sexual harassment, Stalking, Toxic relationship, Child abuse, Death of parent, Drug use, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Bullying, Grief, Hate crime, Drug abuse, and Kidnapping
giannabartiromo's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Bullying, Physical abuse, Sexual harassment, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Violence, and Death
zoeelora's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- 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
Content Warnings
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Torture, Stalking, Blood, Violence, Physical abuse, Sexual harassment, Gore, Kidnapping, Toxic relationship, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Alcoholism, Murder, and Bullying
ourmoony'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
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent and Physical abuse
Moderate: Violence, Emotional abuse, Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, Bullying, and Murder
Minor: Alcohol, Abandonment, Grief, and Blood
indianagranger's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
sad
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
4.0
I had a really fun time reading this book, and once the plot really took off I had a very hard time putting it down/not thinking about it when I wasn’t reading it.
I love Jude as a protagonist, I found her entertaining, interesting, witty and all around bad-ass. Her character development and unraveling as the story unfolds was spectacular.
I think the reason I can’t give this book 5 stars is because there are a lot of themes of “loss of control” centered around Jude and I found them incredibly difficult to read. Mixing that with the fact the Jude has no one and nowhere safe so we as the reader also never get to rest meant I was tense and actively anxious for the first 2/3 of this book.
I love Jude as a protagonist, I found her entertaining, interesting, witty and all around bad-ass. Her character development and unraveling as the story unfolds was spectacular.
I think the reason I can’t give this book 5 stars is because there are a lot of themes of “loss of control” centered around Jude and I found them incredibly difficult to read. Mixing that with the fact the Jude has no one and nowhere safe so we as the reader also never get to rest meant I was tense and actively anxious for the first 2/3 of this book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Murder, Physical abuse, Sexual harassment, Slavery, Suicide, and Toxic friendship
jessicaludden's review
adventurous
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
There was not a single moment in this book where I knew what was gonna happen next. I can see why some people don’t like it. It is really confusing at some points, so I had to slow down and make sure I understood what was going on, but once I did it was so good. There were so many different mysteries and plot twists. I felt like I always had all the pieces to the puzzle, but didn’t know what the final picture was supposed to look like. It really kept me on my toes. This book wasn’t at all what I thought it would be, at least the first half of it wasn’t. If you asked me to tell you what happened in the first half I wouldn’t know a thing. The first half was pretty slow, but I kind of liked that because it was a lot of world building and it took the time to really characterize Jude and make me love her so much. I was living for the politics and I know people say the romance is only a small subplot, but it was more than enough for me. Cardan lowkey annoyed me in the beginning, but the second half of the book made me fall in love with him and I’m so excited for the tension in the 2nd book.
Content Warnings
Minor: Murder and Sexual harassment
tarfish's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Death of parent, Death, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Gore, and Murder
Moderate: Suicide
Minor: Sexual harassment
anyways's review against another edition
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
I can't tell you how much I hated this book. It was just such a letdown. It could have been great but literally, everything was terrible. I'm a person that likes good, lovable characters, and let me tell you- there was not one character in this whole book that I liked.
-The mc is forgettable and kind of just there. I don't get her motivation for all of this stuff she's doing either. She wants the approval of her stepdad who she knows killed her parents so that's fine and dandy?? I guess??
-The love interest spends the whole book bullying the mc (and we're talking humiliating her, trying to drown her, etc.). This guy was SO TOXIC. I loathed his character and he was never redeemed.
I honestly don't understand all the hype around this book.
-The mc is forgettable and kind of just there. I don't get her motivation for all of this stuff she's doing either. She wants the approval of her stepdad who she knows killed her parents so that's fine and dandy?? I guess??
-The love interest spends the whole book bullying the mc (and we're talking humiliating her, trying to drown her, etc.). This guy was SO TOXIC. I loathed his character and he was never redeemed.
I honestly don't understand all the hype around this book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic relationship, Bullying, and Death of parent
Moderate: Violence and Sexual harassment
lish_e's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
tense
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? Yes
4.0
“If you hurt me, I wouldn't cry. I would hurt you back.”
I wanted to read a nice fantasy story that was on the lighter site. And this book was.
The world building was good and not explained in one giant info dump. I also hadn’t read a lot of books with fae characters, so this was something new and fun.
But I don’t like Cardan...at all. Maybe this will change in the next book, but I’m not sure.
Jude on the other hand was an interesting character and I like to read more about her and her development.
The world building was good and not explained in one giant info dump. I also hadn’t read a lot of books with fae characters, so this was something new and fun.
But I don’t like Cardan...at all. Maybe this will change in the next book, but I’m not sure.
Jude on the other hand was an interesting character and I like to read more about her and her development.
“If I cannot be better than them, I will become so much worse.”
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying and Death of parent
Moderate: Alcohol, Gaslighting, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Drug abuse
kathyreviewsbooks's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
tense
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? No
5.0
The Cruel Prince by Holly Black
Rating: 5/5
Summary: Jude's parents were murdered when she was a chil. The person who murdered her parents took the to the Faerie world and raised them as his own. Now ten years later Jude and her siblings have to try to find their place among the beautiful but deadly fey. Jude just wants to be among the king's council, and she'll do whatever it takes.
Review: This story was wonderful, i thought it was being overhyped on BookTok but it was definitely not. I did enjoy reading this story and I'm happy that the booktoks i found on it were pitching it to me as political intrigue. There were hints of romance but it wasn't at all the plot of the story which i really loved.
The plot of this story advanced really well and i enjoyed reading all of it. I enjoyed seeing how everything tied in well together. There were heart wrenching scenes. Scenes with a lot of political tension. So many twidts throughout the book that i was never anticipating. It was amazing and the writing had it all flowing so well.
The characters in this story were also wonderful. I fell in love with Jude. I loved seeing her doing things for herself and standing up. I really loved how Jude wasn't perfect, she did things that couldn't be excused sometimes. I loved how she developed throughout the story and masterfully planned out that last twist in the story. Cardan was also wonderfully written. Cruel and terrible but what were you expecting? It's literally the title of the story. However getting to see some of his background and learning about it more towards the end, that was heart wrenching. It doesn't excuse how he behaved, never will but it gives us more insight into his character.
In this book there is little romance with i actually quite loved. I feel like if there had been a lot of romance it would have taken away from the political intrigue of the story. This story is wonderful without the romance. So for whoever is pitching this story as an enemies to lovers story please stop. It's not, they're not even lovers yet by the end of the story.
Yeah i really loved this book. I recommend you read it if you enjoy political intrigue. Do not pick it up if you're looking for an enemies to lovers story you will be very much disappointed. The title of the story is literally the cruel prince, so don't pick it up if you're expecting a nice prince.
Rep: Biracial main character, Bisexual side character, Polyamorous side character (Princess Rhyia is said to have, "two lovers" on pg. 80.), WLW Relationship (side character)
Rating: 5/5
Summary: Jude's parents were murdered when she was a chil. The person who murdered her parents took the to the Faerie world and raised them as his own. Now ten years later Jude and her siblings have to try to find their place among the beautiful but deadly fey. Jude just wants to be among the king's council, and she'll do whatever it takes.
Review: This story was wonderful, i thought it was being overhyped on BookTok but it was definitely not. I did enjoy reading this story and I'm happy that the booktoks i found on it were pitching it to me as political intrigue. There were hints of romance but it wasn't at all the plot of the story which i really loved.
The plot of this story advanced really well and i enjoyed reading all of it. I enjoyed seeing how everything tied in well together. There were heart wrenching scenes. Scenes with a lot of political tension. So many twidts throughout the book that i was never anticipating. It was amazing and the writing had it all flowing so well.
The characters in this story were also wonderful. I fell in love with Jude. I loved seeing her doing things for herself and standing up. I really loved how Jude wasn't perfect, she did things that couldn't be excused sometimes. I loved how she developed throughout the story and masterfully planned out that last twist in the story. Cardan was also wonderfully written. Cruel and terrible but what were you expecting? It's literally the title of the story. However getting to see some of his background and learning about it more towards the end, that was heart wrenching. It doesn't excuse how he behaved, never will but it gives us more insight into his character.
In this book there is little romance with i actually quite loved. I feel like if there had been a lot of romance it would have taken away from the political intrigue of the story. This story is wonderful without the romance. So for whoever is pitching this story as an enemies to lovers story please stop. It's not, they're not even lovers yet by the end of the story.
Yeah i really loved this book. I recommend you read it if you enjoy political intrigue. Do not pick it up if you're looking for an enemies to lovers story you will be very much disappointed. The title of the story is literally the cruel prince, so don't pick it up if you're expecting a nice prince.
Rep: Biracial main character, Bisexual side character, Polyamorous side character (Princess Rhyia is said to have, "two lovers" on pg. 80.), WLW Relationship (side character)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Drug use, Sexual harassment, Murder, and Suicide