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Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal death, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Slavery, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Cannibalism, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Alcohol, War, Injury/Injury detail
There are daggers pressed to throats and hands tangled in hair. It’s whispered promises that sound like threats and threats that sound like love confessions. Jude would ruin the world for him and he’d let her and they’d both laugh about it after.
Enemies to lovers done right is sharp, soft, and so wrong it’s right and this is exactly that. Stolen crowns, stolen kisses, stolen dignity (mine)
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Murder, War, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Bullying, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Slavery, Torture, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Trafficking, Grief, Pregnancy, Gaslighting
Minor: Animal cruelty, Infidelity, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Xenophobia, Cannibalism, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Alcohol, Classism
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Cannibalism, Murder, War, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Bullying, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Slavery, Torture, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Grief, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol
Minor: Alcoholism, Infidelity, Misogyny, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Abortion, Death of parent
- fae are more than just elevated hot versions of human, they're mostly vicious
- for some reason I did like how the specks of romance were done with Carden & Jude, but only in the 2nd and 3rd book
- Heather's struggles (I didn't like them, but they seamed realistic)
- the politics of it, I think this is the main selling point
- the complexity of Jude as a character (I love that I rooted for her and also hated her sometimes)
- the mixture with contemporary world, especially at the end, the ending in general I enjoyed
Things I disliked:
- the
serpent thing made no sense to me but that's probably unpopular opinion - i despise the bullying trope, nearly DNFd Cruel prince because of it and we never would have gotten here (I only continued because the books are quite short and I had audiobooks so I did other things as I listened)
- Tairyn or however you spell that, just her character in general, but what bothered me more is that she was apparently so stupid she didn't think when people asked something of her and just did it, but also
randomly snapped at Locke (who deserved to die imo) the loophole with Carden's exile, I'm sorry but no, he laughed with the rest of them
It's very YA and it should be marketed as such. There is politics and romance, but the latter is very secondary. It's okay if you know what to expect and if you get through the 1st book it gets better imo. Wouldn't say it lives up to the hype, but I don't regret reading it. Also this is random, but I love the covers of the 2nd and 3rd book.
1.5/5
Graphic: Violence, Blood
Moderate: Torture
I mean, I did sometimes wonder how Jude, "just" a human, could almost die so many times, and then recover quickly enough to fight more/so soon. It's astounding. Her adrenaline levels must be unhealthily high all the time. Lol But, again, I was in this for the escapism and entertainment, so I suspended disbelief. My bigger, and really only real, complaint of the series is the chemistry and connection between Jude and Cardan. They read more as platonic allies to me. I just never *felt* that spark of sexual attraction/tension. I get that hate and love are two sides of the same coin, and I see how their hate did turn to camaraderie and banter, but the desire piece never really developed enough to believe in, for me. So, I kinda just chose to read them as comrades and that worked for me. Sort of related, by the end of this novel, I definitely "over it" with the lack of communication in this YA relationship...but I knew what I was getting into when I started reading, so that’s on me.
Back to the good stuff though... There were lots of complex relationships with love and hate and admiration and jealousy and frustration and protection and desire and disgust - friend, romantic, family, and otherwise - and I was impressed with that level of relationship and character development nuance in a clearly YA series, tbh. Also, I was so happy with the classic fae and fairy tale tropes that were used throughout this series. They were well used and cozily familiar (to be clear, this is not cozy fantasy - lotssss of violence and backstabbing - but the recognizability of the tropes was comforting). And at the same time, the plot took some twists I didn’t expect, which kept me on my toes quite enough. A great balance was struck there.
I had fun racing through this series with little to no need for time/brain investment - that was exactly what I wanted/needed and it delivered.
Graphic: Violence, Blood, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Murder, Pregnancy, War
Minor: Child abuse, Torture
The conclusion of the trilogy did not disappoint. The magic system, the banter, the ever-growing love and feel of found family between all the characters. There were introductions of new characters which I loved and they added to the story-telling.
When I started this series, never did I think I would find myself giggling with happiness and crying wholeheartedly for Jude and Cardan (the fmc and mmc).
The series has got better and better for me, and pulled me out of a reading slump.
4.75⭐️ and an incredible read.
Graphic: Death, Gore, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Trafficking, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Cannibalism
Graphic: Child abuse, Violence, Blood, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Animal death, Confinement, Death, Gore, Sexual content, Xenophobia, Kidnapping, Murder, War
Minor: Drug use, Panic attacks/disorders, Torture, Grief, Cannibalism, Abortion, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Alcohol, Classism
Graphic: Death, Violence, Blood, Murder, War
Moderate: Sexual content, Torture
Minor: Cannibalism, Pregnancy
Moderate: Death, Torture, Violence, Murder, Pregnancy, Injury/Injury detail
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Gore, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Murder, War