Reviews tagging 'Stalking'

The Cruel Prince by Holly Black

15 reviews

stellenelcielo's review

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.

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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

zoeelora's review

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

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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

sammyx's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Torture, Stalking, Sexism, Physical abuse, Murder, Misogyny, Gaslighting, Emotional abuse, Bullying, and Body shaming

mf99's review

adventurous dark emotional funny inspiring mysterious sad slow-paced

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

4.75

i finished this book two months ago but i still think about it daily. 
i was a huge hunger games/twilight fan back in the day. i also loved harry potter growing up. as i've recently dived back into the fantasy reading world, this is the only book series that can hold a candle to my childhood favorites. oh my god. it's just SO beautiful. so amazingly written, so visually completed, so tense, so powerful. the characters are so fleshed out and unique. im not kidding when i say i've had multiple dreams about cardan.

took off .25 stars off for the tail, if he didn't have that, this would be flawless

no one is doing it like holly black!

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Abandonment, Alcoholism, Gaslighting, Gore, and Stalking

doggipet's review against another edition

adventurous emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Kidnapping, and Violence

Minor: Blood, Body shaming, Child abuse, Death, Death of parent, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Self harm, Slavery, Stalking, and Suicide