Reviews tagging 'Drug use'

The Cruel Prince by Holly Black

89 reviews

halflingnana's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious 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

4.5

An excellent fantasy. A great take on folklore and tons of fun. Emotional and intriguing plot lines. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Violence, Blood, and Bullying

Moderate: Death of parent, Drug use, War, Blood, Child abuse, Xenophobia, Classism, and Death

Minor: Sexual content and Suicide

stewartj0421's review against another edition

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? No

3.5

It took 85 pages for me to become invested in the story. The beginning feels clunky and aimless, and then all at once you’re swept up into this magical world of lies and dishonor.

I found Black’s fondness of obscure vocabulary to be at odds with the modern time period the story takes place in. I suspect her intention was to portray Faerie as more elegant and otherworldly, but the juxtaposition was jarring and, at times, unsettling in a way I can’t explain.

Despite my dislike of the writing quirks, the book eventually captured my attention. I also found it to be really well suited for the young adult genre. I will definitely be reading the next book in the series. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Classism, Murder, Blood, Death, Emotional abuse, and Violence

Moderate: Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Alcohol, Drug use, and Slavery

Minor: Grief, Infertility, and Infidelity

rafacolog's review against another edition

challenging emotional 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death, Violence, Bullying, Drug use, Child abuse, Toxic relationship, Emotional abuse, Murder, Death of parent, and Body horror

shadereads's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Alcohol, Death of parent, Violence, Slavery, Self harm, Death, Suicide, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Bullying

Moderate: Xenophobia and Infidelity

Minor: Drug use

wrappingpaper's review against another edition

adventurous funny 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

Going into this I didn’t expect to enjoy this nearly as much as I did. This was my first time ever reading anything to do with fae - I’m definitely going to read more. 
This book is essentially perfect to me - it felt so magical yet easy to read and the stakes felt high and I was rooting for the romance so much. I wish there was more of Cardan and Jude interaction - the only reason I didn’t give it 5 stars. 
Overall I think this book helped me solidify my favourite trope ever -enemies to lovers prince romance. I can’t wait to dive into the second and third books where hopefully their relationship will bloom even further and the tension will get even stronger.
I fully recommend!!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Alcohol, Blood, Death, Murder, Toxic relationship, Drug use, Physical abuse, Gore, and Injury/Injury detail

aysha_blake'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? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Bullying, Classism, Death, Grief, Violence, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Alcohol, Death of parent, Murder, Alcoholism, Blood, Drug use, and Emotional abuse

Minor: Infidelity, Fire/Fire injury, War, Infertility, and Stalking

shelvesofivy's review against another edition

adventurous tense medium-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Death of parent, Slavery, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Alcohol, Toxic friendship, Grief, and Drug use

seforana's review against another edition

adventurous inspiring medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Drug use, Murder, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Death, and Blood

elntastic's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.25

I really don’t understand the hype over this book. Maybe it is because I personally prefer MC to be somewhat wholesome and to have good intentions. It’s not that I didn’t like Jude or couldn’t understand her motives. It’s only that I feel like she could’ve made better decisions for herself and everyone else around her. As for Cardan: after the first interaction they had I already knew that I would never be able to like him or that there could be any kind of reason or excuse for his behavior that would justify it enough for me so that I could enjoy they romance that is supposed to develop later on in the plot. Cardan is just a mean, petty bully! How could you love someone who bullied you and who is friends with someone who literally wanted to kill you? Also the Locke-thing felt completely off. 
The whole relationship between her and her sisters also felt weird.
The only thing that made me finish this book was because it was so fast paced and so I was able to finish it in 2 days.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Violence, Death, Toxic relationship, Drug use, Bullying, and Injury/Injury detail

mary_do_12's review against another edition

adventurous 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

5.0

ugh, i love this book.

this was the first re-read i’ve ever done. to be honest with you, i used to think re-reads were kinda boring because… well, you already know what’s happening. but then i felt the desire to read about my fav characters again and i did it and AAAH.
this was the best decision ever. maybe i’ll only re-read books from now on. i first read this book series 2 years ago so there were some things i did indeed forgot but they came back to me when i read the book again. i also realized that my reading habits have definitely changed in those last two years. i used to be a CRAZY fast reader and now i’d say i’m an average speed reader. i payed much more attention to detail which made me recognize new things in an old story. also, for some reason, i was able to understand the talk about politics and strategy MUCH better than when i first read this book. maybe that‘s because i know the outcome and therefore understand the planning better.
i also have to mention that the first time i read this book was in my native language (german) but i enjoyed it more in english. what surprised me was that, despite me having read the book before, i was giggling and gasping just the same. the best scenes still made me feel the best of emotions, even though i totally knew they were in there. in fact, i anticipated them. and they hit the same, if not better. 
coming back to my comfort characters was SO comforting and it made me feel excitement in a way i never have before. i looked forward to keep on reading the whole day, i brought the book to birthday parties and running errands and going shopping and to church.
this book is a masterpiece still, nothing will ever come close to this story that i hold so dearly to my heart.
i’ve never quite realized how fond i am of these characters until now.
i feel at home again.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Death, Alcohol, Blood, Drug use, Suicide, Death of parent, Murder, and Violence

Minor: Incest, Grief, and Emotional abuse