Reviews tagging 'Child abuse'

How the King of Elfhame Learned to Hate Stories by Holly Black

84 reviews

dramagirl2003's review against another edition

adventurous dark fast-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? Yes

4.25

didn't like it nearly as much as the trilogy but it was still great! i love the illustrations and i read this in a day

thoughts while reading

p47: that's cute actually, cardan basically did free the servants for jude
p75: omg the book came from vivi?? that's crazy, but obviously makes total sense
p94: oop, the moment where nicasia switches to the locke side
p132: look at judie pops clearing up after cardan
p145: oh this is gonna be the story where cardan is so pleased with himself for pretending to be human
p155: i'm sorry, is aslog really trying to

murder the high king

??? like how does she see this working out for her??
p162: is now a good time to point out that cardan is most definitely trying to wait for—WAIT NO.

he's not waiting for jude to come for him, he's waiting for the sun to turn aslog to stone!

damn i almost forgot that he's a strong, independent man who doesn't need a woman to save him! 😂
p166: or is he waiting for jude 😏

quotes

It wasn't until he was glaring down at Jude, standing waist-deep in river water, fighting the current, that he realised he was in trouble.
She ought to be nothing. She ought to be insignificant. She ought not to matter.
He had to make her not matter.
But every night, Jude haunted him. It was too much, the way he thought about her. He knew it was too much, but he couldn't stop.
It disgusted him that he couldn't stop.

"Why didn't you hate everyone?" he asks. "Everyone, all the time."
"I hated you," Jude reassures him, bringing her mouth to his.

Cardan congratulates himself on his skill at passing for human. Of course, he has no human money. But the High King of Elfhame refuses to pay with glamoured leaves, as though he were some common peasant. He hands over glamoured gold instead and walks our with his purchases, feeling smug.

"I think you have iron poisoning," she tells him, which could be true but is still a hurtful thing to say when he is making perfect sense.

"You didn't hear the story I told," he goes on. "A shame. It featured a handsome boy with a heart of stone and a natural aptitude for villainy. Everything you could like."
She laughs. "You really are terrible, you know that? I don't even understand why the things you say make me smile."

Content Warnings

dkh's review against another edition

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adventurous dark lighthearted 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

4.0

Content Warnings

bookwyrm242's review against another edition

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adventurous funny lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Loveable characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Content Warnings

carlyjoann's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad fast-paced

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

3.5

Content Warnings

picaresquedreamer's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny sad fast-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

4.25

Content Warnings

ruthannejoy's review against another edition

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dark lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Content Warnings

moonchild_cos's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional 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

4.25

Content Warnings

smuttymcbookface's review against another edition

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adventurous dark sad fast-paced

Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

It's hard to rate such a short book, but Holly Black packed an immense amount of history and character development into it. It's hard not to feel sorry for the prince forced to live like a stable beast, and Holly Black doesn't shy away from showing that Cardan is cruel, yet redeems him all the same. The illustrations were also gorgeous.

Content Warnings

creatureof_nature's review against another edition

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adventurous relaxing 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

3.0

Content Warnings

aseel_reads's review against another edition

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adventurous funny lighthearted fast-paced

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

3.0

Just a fun little collection of short stories set in this world, was cool to get bit more of Cardin's pov and childhood experiences.

Content Warnings

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