14.5k reviews for:

How the King of Elfhame Learned to Hate Stories

Holly Black

4.12 AVERAGE

beccasue96's review against another edition

4.75

adventurous emotional tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

robinreads707's review against another edition

4.0

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“A prince of Faerie, nourished on cat milk and contempt, born into a family overburdened with heirs, with a nasty little prophecy hanging over his head since the hour of Cardan's birth, he has been alternately adored and despised.”

What an opening for our much-beloved Cardan!

I love the fairytale style for what is, in truth, a tale of faery. I love the stories within the story. I LOOOOVE all the art—almost one on every page!

Favorite character: the door.

“[Villains] got to be cruel and selfish, to preen in front of mirrors and poison apples, and trap girls on mountains of glass.”

I love a good villain story.
I think a pitfall of the short story form, however, is a lack of character depth, and although we know Cardan from other books, his character development felt told rather than shown in this set of stories.

fraancisforever's review against another edition

4.25

reflective fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

aaaaaaalisa's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous inspiring lighthearted relaxing fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

annilis's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous mysterious medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

marylu412's review against another edition

4.0

dark informative relaxing fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

sydbates04's review against another edition

4.0

adventurous lighthearted 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

maliasbooks's review against another edition

3.5

slow-paced

reigning_rose's review against another edition

3.5

adventurous emotional funny mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

midnightsode's review against another edition

3.75

adventurous challenging lighthearted fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes