Reviews tagging 'Suicide'

The Cruel Prince by Holly Black

169 reviews

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.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Blood, and Death of parent

Moderate: Death, Slavery, Suicide, Kidnapping, Murder, Pregnancy, Alcohol, and Classism

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

k3nzi3's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny reflective 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

4.0

very entertaining but i would also not put this in the young adult book section like it was in my book store. (both jude and cardan's families are fucked up) 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence

Moderate: Death, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Suicide and Suicide attempt

katharina90's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No

2.5

Not half bad for YA fairy fantasy. The main character was a little annoying, but I cared enough to keep reading. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying and Murder

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Suicide, and Death of parent

Minor: Infidelity

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

aralalala's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

As a romcom girly, I picked this up because of swoony bookstagram reels, only to be met first with a whole lot of blood, bullying, political conflict, violence, and complicated family relations before the very little romance around the last quarter of the book.

Nonetheless, I devoured this in one sitting.

It’s a complicated and complex tale, and the characters, even more so. They’re all questionable, but it was a thrilling ride despite it not being romance-heavy (again, as a romcom girly). 

It’s not lighthearted at all and it’s not for  days when you’re just looking to turn off your brain. It has really dark themes and intense scenes, but overall, it’s not as emotionally heavy as others that share similar themes (at least, I don’t feel that way).

The writing is so well done from a technical standpoint. It wasn’t dragging and you had the necessary details you need when you needed it. There were no plot points that did not make sense, and if there were plot-holes, I didn’t notice.

It was very easy to get sucked into its universe, and the plot was compelling enough to keep me turning the page.

Jude is a very strong and lovable character. As complicated as she is, it was somehow very easy to relate with her complexity. It was an exciting ride and I look forward to how the rest of the story unfolds in the series!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Death, Physical abuse, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, and Murder

Moderate: Emotional abuse and Grief

Minor: Cursing, Infidelity, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and War

imgoingonanadventure's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Racism, and Violence

Moderate: Suicide

kailynreads'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? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying and Violence

Moderate: Suicide, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, and Alcohol

Minor: Slavery and Abortion

natasha_dean's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

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

4.0

This is the first book I’ve ever read with faeries in it and I wasn’t sure how I would feel about it, but I really enjoyed it. I loved the writing style and can’t wait to continue the series. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Violence, Blood, and Murder

Moderate: Death of parent and Alcohol

Minor: Suicide

yasaman's review against another edition

adventurous lighthearted mysterious 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, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Infidelity, Self harm, Slavery, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Alcohol, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Alcoholism