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cup_cake's review against another edition
adventurous
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
I liked it, it wasn't particularly good but entertaining nonetheless. Its quite easy to breeze through and there are parts that were genuinely funny and intriguing, though the plot twists were easy to figure out and the characters fall flat sometimes.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Slavery, Violence, and Murder
swally2005's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.0
This book is super slow and does not pick up until the second half of the book. I was listening to the audiobook version and it took until 65% was completed, before anything interesting happened plot-wise. I don't know why people hype up this book and the relationship dynamic between Jude and Cardan, maybe it changes in the later books; but in this book, Cardan and his friends are sadistic assholes who despise Jude for being human, and regularly torture her, going even so far as physical assault. There's nothing charming about Cardan's personality at all, and he doesn't even begin speaking to her like a human being, until after his entire family is murdered and she kidnaps him and ferrets him away for use in her power games. Even then, the attitude change is mostly brought along by the fact that she's constantly threatening to kill him, and she's also bound him to her commands.
If you can get through the first half of the book where it's basically Jude fluctuating from making reckless half-assed decisions out of murderous rage, to whining in self-pity when she has to deal with the consequences, you may find it worth continuing the series. Essentially the ending comes down to Jude playing Kingmaker, and in future books she'll likely have to find a way to deal with power games and intrigue in court, so hopefully that means for more interesting plots down the road.
An additional heads up for those who are listening to this via audiobook, this author's writing style is a bit verbose and weird; she also doesn't use many contractions for some reason, so when the narrator reads, the speech sounds very odd to the ear. Some people might find it a difficult listening experience.
If you can get through the first half of the book where it's basically Jude fluctuating from making reckless half-assed decisions out of murderous rage, to whining in self-pity when she has to deal with the consequences, you may find it worth continuing the series. Essentially the ending comes down to Jude playing Kingmaker, and in future books she'll likely have to find a way to deal with power games and intrigue in court, so hopefully that means for more interesting plots down the road.
An additional heads up for those who are listening to this via audiobook, this author's writing style is a bit verbose and weird; she also doesn't use many contractions for some reason, so when the narrator reads, the speech sounds very odd to the ear. Some people might find it a difficult listening experience.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Torture, and Toxic friendship
livaausma's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
inspiring
mysterious
medium-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
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Death, Blood, Kidnapping, Death of parent, and Murder
Minor: Torture, Toxic relationship, and Pregnancy
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.
I always knew I’d like this book I just didn’t know I’d love it as much as I do.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Kidnapping and Grief
deep_sea_fishie's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
it has now been a good 8ish months since I read it and have finally gotten around to reviewing it so i'll do the best I can :)
I really liked this book because I found that there was a lot of pretty interesting 'world-building' where we just got to kind of see jude's day to day life without too much BIG changes and wild plot-twists (well compared to the other 2 books especially. Though I kind of found Jude to be another boring mc (though bearable enough). I kind of liked cardan despite his actions, he is a silly (but mean) guy.
Personally i do think that cardan was really cruel in this book (and this doesn't make his actions excusable), after reading the rest of the books (and especialy after delving into how the king of elfhame learned to hate stories, we can see the roots of how he behaves and especialy why he treats jude the way he does. I also found jude's relationship/attitude towards MDOC kind of strange, I can both see where she's coming from with the whole 'he killed my parents' which I think makes perfect sense, but he also raised her for like, well alot longer than her parents did, and it's sort of in him to kill them, as he's a redcap. It's not like idk, an excuse, but Jude also should take into account that Madoc isn't a human, and that it's part of his nature and his race to do shi like that.
I really liked this book because I found that there was a lot of pretty interesting 'world-building' where we just got to kind of see jude's day to day life without too much BIG changes and wild plot-twists (well compared to the other 2 books especially. Though I kind of found Jude to be another boring mc (though bearable enough). I kind of liked cardan despite his actions, he is a silly (but mean) guy.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Blood, and Death of parent
Moderate: Death, Slavery, Suicide, Kidnapping, Murder, Pregnancy, Alcohol, and Classism
samiilg's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Gore, and Blood
Moderate: Alcoholism and Death
Minor: Infidelity, Sexual content, and Death of parent
hyunoic's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
slow-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
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Death, Blood, and Alcohol
I have never given a book 5 stars in my whole life. I really enjoy this kinda books. Not only is the story coming natural but also the relationships between characters. The first time a FC is not quirky and edgy and is thinking about her actions, despite wanting to reach her wish. Loving Jude especially for standing up for herself, makes me relieved to finally see someone who does not take it all, just because she is "too weak", simply because she wants to be respected, even if she has to earn it. She is smart and so far my favorite Female Lead in all books I have read so far. This book has a good mix between story line and character relationships, giving some time to the relationships to actually unfold, especially when we are talking about enemies to lovers. So thank you for finally giving us an ACTUAL enemies to lovers - and not "thehe you suck but you hot let's make out" bullshit.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
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Violence, Blood, and Classism
Moderate: Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: War
vexillia's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
medium-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
4.5
-plot-
The premise of the book is easy to follow and understand. Jude wants to be a knight and more over wants to belong with the Faeries. It's a great introduction to fantasy novels that isn't too overly complicated with dark themes balanced with mystery amd the occasional lighthearted moments. The twists are great in my opinion and was a intriguing read
-characters
I love Jude. Her attitude and humor (though unsure at times she meant to be funny, at least to me) was pleasant. It's easy to connect to being an outsider and wanting more for yourself and in the process possibly losing yourself. The other characters were fun and I'm intrigued to read the rest of the series to see what secrets they hide and more depth to their characters that don't meet the eye. Already I love Cardan and Oriana.
-world building-
Don't go into this thinking it's like Acotar or a typical fantasy. I would compare this more to the world that the ShadowHunter Series from Cassandra Clare comes from, it's a mix of the real world clashed with true fantastical magic. Toads and trolls and mermaids and imps and such. It gives a far more childlike fantasy that you'd find in a storybook. I found it a tiny bit jarring sometimes with mention of Target and such but it's a fun world.
-spice-
This book isn't very spicy with a little fluff here and there but one scene really had me wishing for more and a desire to see how far the author will go but I did enjoy the focus more on character building and the plot, not being too steamy but just enough to get a taste.
-readability-
I devoured this book and usua,ly if I enjoy a book I savor it. This was hard to put down once we got halfway thru the book. Again I think it's a easy to follow plot and interesting enough storybook type fantasy for beginners to delve their toes in but also a pleasant read for lovers of storybooks that created wonder for us as children and can enjoy that along with some of its dark undertones.
The premise of the book is easy to follow and understand. Jude wants to be a knight and more over wants to belong with the Faeries. It's a great introduction to fantasy novels that isn't too overly complicated with dark themes balanced with mystery amd the occasional lighthearted moments. The twists are great in my opinion and was a intriguing read
-characters
I love Jude. Her attitude and humor (though unsure at times she meant to be funny, at least to me) was pleasant. It's easy to connect to being an outsider and wanting more for yourself and in the process possibly losing yourself. The other characters were fun and I'm intrigued to read the rest of the series to see what secrets they hide and more depth to their characters that don't meet the eye. Already I love Cardan and Oriana.
-world building-
Don't go into this thinking it's like Acotar or a typical fantasy. I would compare this more to the world that the ShadowHunter Series from Cassandra Clare comes from, it's a mix of the real world clashed with true fantastical magic. Toads and trolls and mermaids and imps and such. It gives a far more childlike fantasy that you'd find in a storybook. I found it a tiny bit jarring sometimes with mention of Target and such but it's a fun world.
-spice-
This book isn't very spicy with a little fluff here and there but one scene really had me wishing for more and a desire to see how far the author will go but I did enjoy the focus more on character building and the plot, not being too steamy but just enough to get a taste.
-readability-
I devoured this book and usua,ly if I enjoy a book I savor it. This was hard to put down once we got halfway thru the book. Again I think it's a easy to follow plot and interesting enough storybook type fantasy for beginners to delve their toes in but also a pleasant read for lovers of storybooks that created wonder for us as children and can enjoy that along with some of its dark undertones.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Violence, Death of parent, and Murder
Moderate: Racism, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Classism