Reviews tagging 'War'

The Stolen Heir by Holly Black

34 reviews

lara_ayrolla's review against another edition

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? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Abandonment, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Death

Minor: Trafficking

kathi_90'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? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Violence, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Torture and Abandonment

Minor: Blood and War

vaguelyredhead's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Violence, and Blood

Moderate: Death, Kidnapping, and Abandonment

Minor: Death of parent, Murder, and War

diana_raquel'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? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Blood, Murder, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Toxic relationship and Kidnapping

Minor: War

thebetterstory's review against another edition

adventurous fast-paced

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

3.75

A fast, fun read that doesn't quite have the spark of The Folk of the Air.

I think Holly Black's writing has gotten more mature over time, and it's generally much smoother to read now. Wren's a great protagonist—sympathetic, unsocialized, impulsive—and Oak is likeable here, even if I felt that he was almost too easy to like and trust for the purposes of the story. It's obvious fairly quickly that all the wild rumours about him being irresponsible or cunning are exaggerated, but the book seems to want you to wonder at his true intentions, even when he literally can't lie about them.

My main complaint is with the weak ending, wherein

all the traits we've seen in Wren so far are abruptly thrown out, like her fierce hatred for imprisonment, over her discovering she has Mellith's heart and that Oak didn't mention it. It doesn't feel like nearly a big enough "betrayal" to warrant her 180 in personality and using the bridle on him, especially after making much ado about not wanting to see it on anyone. Not to mention Oak literally tells her outright that he was just keeping it from her so she would be able to truthfully say she didn't know where the heart was. Way more angst and development would have been needed to make that cruelty feel like a realistic next step, the way Jude betraying Cardan felt real in the original trilogy.

Still, I marathoned this within a day and immediately put a hold on the next book, so I can't say I don't recommend it. It's a good time, even if the character development doesn't always hold together towards the end.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse and Kidnapping

Minor: Sexual assault, Torture, Vomit, and War

noellegrace8's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Unlike some Folk of the Air lovers who were disappointed in the lack of Cardan & Jude or a similar relationship dynamic, I was blown away by Black's ability to formulate a completely captivating story with far less use of such a dramatic love duo. I personally think Oak and Suren are a lovely duo, albeit less romantically present in their story than Jude & Cardan were in theirs. I actually think it's much harder to write a great story without the easier elements such as romance/sex & violence, so this book was next level in my opinion. I found myself hurting for Suren so many times to the point that I actually teared up, loving her adherance to kindness, and pleasantly surprised by plot elements. And the casual drops/updates about Jurdan and their reign? Love that. I just love Elfhame so much. I hope Holly Black keeps writing about it.

I give Saskia Maarleveld 5/5⭐️. Her narration was great, with distinction between characters and what I thought was a wonderful depiction of Suren's character through cadence & voice choices. Additionally, unlike many women narrators, I didn't find her male vocal imitation to be cheesy or too much. It did kind of bug me that she said soo-ren instead of ser-ren though.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Violence, Blood, Murder, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Gore, Toxic relationship, Grief, Stalking, Toxic friendship, and Classism

Minor: Animal death, Bullying, Cursing, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Self harm, Torture, Medical content, Kidnapping, Cannibalism, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and War

letiross's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious 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

Graphic: Child abuse, Violence, and Blood

Moderate: Death, Torture, and Abandonment

Minor: Death of parent, Murder, and War

daenerystargaryen's review against another edition

adventurous dark medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• 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: Child abuse, Death, Physical abuse, Violence, Blood, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child death, Confinement, Torture, Kidnapping, and Murder

Minor: Animal death, Infertility, Vomit, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Alcohol, and War

jessversteeg's review against another edition

3.5

Back to Faerie to see what’s happening with Oak. 

Another good book in the series!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse

Moderate: Physical abuse, Violence, Kidnapping, and Abandonment

Minor: Vomit, Death of parent, and War

rchulin1's review against another edition

adventurous emotional sad 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? No

3.25

This book focuses on Suren a character who was mentioned briefly in the Queen of Nothing and also Oak it has been many years since the previous events and Oak is all grown up

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Torture, Blood, Dementia, Kidnapping, Alcohol, and War