Reviews tagging 'Confinement'

The Cruel Prince by Holly Black

18 reviews

noellegrace8's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

It took me about 25% of the way through to start truly enjoying this book. Because it takes the path of a slow reveal of situations and motivations, the beginning groundwork can be almost frustrating because you don't know why some people are acting the way that they are. Also, for a book with so much death and otherwise adult themes, the characters and the writing style both are a bit juvenile at times. I struggled at first with the incongruency of a lack of contractions in dialogue mixed with colloquialisms like "that sucks," but I eventually got used to it and do recognize that it makes sense given the setting. I also really hate first person present tense because it feels overdramatic and impractical, and this book uses it throughout.

That being said, I really like the main characters. Some of the side characters are a bit flat, but Jude, Cardan, Maddoc, Vivvie, Dain, Taryn, Oriana... none of them are "good" or "bad." They just are. They make decisions, they have instincts and natures that make those decisions difficult. I love the complexity! I also think this book set up a series (trilogy) well, so I'm hoping to like the next two even more! The worldbulding is awesome. Holly Black has created a very interesting mix of "fae" and "mortal," complete with rich history and quirks and physical descriptions.

I don't factor audiobook reader into my overal star rating, but I give Caitlyn Kelly 3.5/5⭐️. Honestly, I think she was part of the reason I struggled to get into this book, but there's no telling for certain. She oftentimes doesn't seem to read with the same cadence that the words on the page suggest. She also has a cheesy tone when voicing male characters and over-acts when it comes to emotional (and even sometimes non-emotional!) scenes.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Death, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Child death, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Self harm, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Kidnapping, Abortion, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, and War

Minor: Ableism, Body horror, Child abuse, Cursing, Incest, Infertility, Miscarriage, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Xenophobia, Excrement, Grief, Lesbophobia, Gaslighting, and War

hematthews's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Confinement, Kidnapping, and Death of parent

Minor: Slavery

philosofreaky's review against another edition

adventurous dark fast-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Bullying, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Suicide, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Classism

jque97's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny mysterious tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Torture, Blood, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Confinement, Physical abuse, Kidnapping, and Alcohol

Minor: Child abuse, Sexual content, and Death of parent

alliemikennareads's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

4.0

This book started off slow and it took me about 1/3 to get invested, but once it finally picks up I was hooked and loving the characters and the slow build to all the threads. There’s some really great banter amidst this slow burn enemies to lovers (ish) trope with lots of lying, betrayal, strategy and trickery befit for a faerie world. Can’t wait to dive further into the series! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore and Violence

Moderate: Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Slavery, Blood, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Alcohol, War, and Injury/Injury detail

dhutton1997's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

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

5.0

I loved this book. I fell in love with the characters so quickly.

I thought that Jude and Carden was such an interesting dynamic and had I not known that they were getting together from a spoiler, I would have never guessed it. I think the story line between Locke and the twins was so twisted. He is the villain in plain sight. Black was so talented to make me love him and then get the rug pulled out from underneath me. Taryn made me so sad and mad. How could she not care more? I

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Death, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Murder, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Confinement, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Misogyny, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, and Alcohol

druzyquartz's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny relaxing sad 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Slavery, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Alcoholism, Incest, Infertility, Suicidal thoughts, Trafficking, and War

theintrovertsbooks's review against another edition

dark tense medium-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Confinement, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Slavery, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Body shaming, Child death, Cursing, Infertility, Miscarriage, and Abandonment

Minor: Homophobia, Incest, and Pregnancy

becca_w_'s review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Body horror, Bullying, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Hate crime, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Child death, Incest, Xenophobia, and Abandonment

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Cursing, Miscarriage, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Vomit, Police brutality, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, and War

vaguely_pink's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious tense 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Death, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Alcoholism, Physical abuse, Violence, Blood, Grief, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

Minor: Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Incest, Infertility, Infidelity, Kidnapping, Pregnancy, Abandonment, and War