Reviews tagging 'Injury/Injury detail'

The Cruel Prince by Holly Black

212 reviews

melina_30's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

I expected something entirely different but the story is way better than I thought. I didn't expect any of the developments in the story which didn't happen to me in a long time. Also I  liked the morally grey main characters and that it is more a fantasy adventure story than an enemies to lovers romance set in a fantasy world. I'm curious about the other books in the series. What bothered me is the depiction of love especially paternal love. To me it just screamed of Jude gaslighting herself into believing that her stepfather being violent is his way of showing his love to his children... And even with her saying that elves are different and generally more prone to being cruel especially to humans, it just seemed like domestic abuse to me... also I just hope that Jude doesn't fall in love with Carden because I would find them becomin  friends and only that more realistic. Him bullying her and being so cruel to her with his friends and then suddenly her having feelings for him later in the series just wouldn't sit right with me. If that happens I need to see him actually becoming another person and redeeming himself first. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

tovetott's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

2.5

Okay so... this is a very wierd book to review, I feel like. Despite it being nearly 400 pages, it feels like nothing really happens. We don't really get to know any of the characters that well. We don't understand the world or the magic or the history of it that well. 

What we DO learn, however, is the backstory to what I imagine is the Actual Story. This book feels like a prologue. A 400-page buildup to the story Holly *actually* wants to tell. 

I have seen and heard so many people claim that The Wicked King is such an incredible lift in the story, and I'm willing to believe that. The Cruel Prince leaves me with 110+ angry, frustrated notes on my Storygraph containing everything from... *interesting* word choices to straight up me screaming at Jude, and I leave this book off with an equal dislike for every single character lol. Nothing makes sense, everything is stupid, and I'm disappointed because I really REALLY wanted to love this book. Believe me, I DID. 

However, The Cruel Prince is written like a prologue. It finishes off with a lingering aftertaste of promises that I haven't even gotten ankle-deep into the story as a whole. If The Wicked King is not as great as everyone and their aunt has made it out to be, I'm suing.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

sizzlesteaks's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Slavery, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Alcohol

uselesspirateraven's review against another edition

adventurous dark informative inspiring lighthearted medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Death, Violence, Blood, Murder, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Child abuse, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Torture and Toxic relationship

robin_reads's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Chef’s kiss 

I always knew I’d like this book I just didn’t know I’d love it as much as I do. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Kidnapping and Grief

baileybeloved's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Torture, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, and Alcohol

Moderate: Physical abuse, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Suicide and War

pianokeys's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective relaxing sad tense medium-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Death, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, War, and Injury/Injury detail

suerte_encantada's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Violence, Blood, and Classism

Moderate: Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: War

readingoccasionally89's review against another edition

challenging inspiring mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Death, Physical abuse, Torture, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

indigo_fox's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious fast-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? Yes

3.5

This book had an awfully slow start. Things didn't start to get interesting until chapter 20, that's about 62% of the way through the book. There were multiple times where I thought about DNRing the book. I had to keep telling myself that everyone online said it would pick up eventually. It finally got good but was over way too soon. By the time I got to the end I felt like I was cheated out of the story? Where was all this excitement earlier in the book? 

The characters are horrid and its fantastic. Both the MC and the MC's love interest are terrible people. The MC is selfish, only doing what she wants and ignoring the trouble it causes those around her. I'd say she gets better at this by the end but she's still making choices that would best suit her.  The love interest is cruel and does whatever he wants, no matter who gets hurt in the process. As of this book they are both bad people. It's great. Despite their flaws, I love them both dearly. Don't get me wrong, they have good points in their personalities but I'm just loving how they are flawed. In life, nobody is perfect so why should it be any different in a story? 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Blood, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Violence