Reviews tagging 'Self harm'

The Cruel Prince by Holly Black

56 reviews

oliverreeds's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

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

3.5

eh. lots of straight peopled doing straight people things. the characters are repetitive and the situations are as well. the writing style is enjoyable but the plot was a little too predictable for my taste. sometimes it seemed as if there was just cruelty for cruelty's sake instead of actually being a motivator. i also didn't like how almost every character was white... they're fairies, mythical beings, and you choose caucasian? the fairy characters also don't act much different than humans. there's honestly nothing keeping them apart except for eternal life, and i wanted to see more from that. the conflicts seemed to be heavily teen drama centered instead of political conflict based, the actuality of saving a kingdom, or heavier themes. i feel like the author created an interesting world but then failed to adequately utilize it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Blood, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Murder, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual content, Slavery, Suicide, Torture, and Violence

ieryka_magic's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

3.75

I enjoyed it, but it just wasn't my cup of tea. Not the worst, not the best. The second and the third books are better thought, so whort reading 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Blood, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Drug use, Gaslighting, Genocide, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Torture, and Vomit

Moderate: Abandonment, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Blood, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Drug use, Eating disorder, Gaslighting, Gore, Grief, Kidnapping, Murder, Self harm, Torture, Violence, and Vomit

Minor: Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Blood, Bullying, Death, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Gore, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Torture, Violence, and Vomit

skylerher's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Murder, Death, and Blood

Moderate: Self harm, Suicide, and Death of parent

hollys_library's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Bullying, Murder, and Violence

Moderate: Gore, Grief, and Self harm

Minor: Infidelity

amkleio's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcohol, Bullying, Death of parent, Murder, Self harm, and Violence

Minor: Abandonment, Slavery, and Suicide attempt

karambit's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark funny inspiring mysterious tense fast-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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Bullying, Death, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Murder, and Violence

Moderate: Child abuse, Alcohol, Grief, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Self harm, Slavery, and Suicide

minimarie's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense slow-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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Blood, Body shaming, Bullying, Death, Death of parent, and Murder

Moderate: Slavery, Torture, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, and Violence

Minor: Self harm and Sexual violence

biancas_library's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.0

I have mixed feelings about this. Yes, I just rated this book four stars. No, that does not describe how I felt about it in the first half (I would maybe rate that one and a half stars - if at all). 
I absolutely HATED the beginning of the book and was close to not finishing the book at all (and I almost never quit a book). I found myself googling reviews and questioning why this book was recommended everywhere. But all the reviews said to keep going, that it would turn around - so I did. 
However, the writing style in the beginning just felt off, it was almost childlike. The description of the world and the characters just lacked depth, it was all done so quickly and just a little bit too much. On top of that I did not understand how the rivalry between Jude and Cardan came to be, it just lacked a lot of background story.

BUT THEN, let me tell you, the pace, the atmosphere, EVERYTHING about this book changed. I found myself invested in the story and couldn't put the book down. There were plot twists coming almost every chapter - some I was expecting, most I did not. It was done in an interesting way and I definitely see why people love this book now. I was hooked. The ending of this book is also the reason, I rated this book an overall of four stars. IT WAS THAT GOOD. 
So, do what you want with that information. For my part, I will continue to read the next books of the series and I deeply hope that we will not go back to the way the story was told in the beginning of the cruel prince!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Death of parent, Blood, and Violence

Moderate: Murder and Self harm

rose_play's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense slow-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

I love nature but this was a little too much of romanticism of animals for me please and thank you.

Two murders completed in a single night mark a descent I should be proud of

Jude was the only good thing about it tbh, the blueprint of lovable morally grey. I was so frustrated with her for not fleeing but she wanted to be a part of that world and that should be a good enough reason.


I hated one instance when a proof was handed to her by pure luck of fate (but maybe I need to do a reread to understand the nuances cause the book was so politically intriguing and I read the so slow paced one in 42 days. No fault of book tho, cause I had exams)

Also, at least in this book, carden is not MORALLY GREY. he's just a weak asshole who can't even properly BULLY

But I'm open to his character development cause spiralling of Jude was done so well. 


The writing is stunning and there were some plot twists I was able to guess, there were so many which made me stop reading and think about author's talent for a minute. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Bullying, Death of parent, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Self harm, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, and Physical abuse

Minor: Abandonment and Suicide

adrijagd's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny mysterious tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, and Bullying

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders and Violence

Minor: Toxic relationship and Self harm