Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

The Cruel Prince by Holly Black

181 reviews

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

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

mirarreiro's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Bullying, Child abuse, Toxic relationship, and Death of parent

hagwife's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

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

3.25

I think this novel is indicative of how I feel about Holly Black as a writer: when it's good, it's great, and the rest of the time its a bit lackluster.

The first half of the book is a mess of different threads, and while I'm not against complex stories and layers, there's so little but Jude's anger at the beginning to pin it all together. You can add bits of information in without revealing their importance and without making them seem extraneous. Jude's anger is also too unfocused for me for most of the book. I get that we're supposed to watch her carve out a place for herself in Faerie, but she has so little follow-through for the first half. Maybe that's meant to be her humanity warring with her desires. There are few fun dynamics to sort out, even if the reveals aren't earth-shattering (

intensity like Cardan's almost never translate's directly to hate and as if Locke isn't playing a long game for the matched set

).

I do enjoy Madoc's character a lot, if only because he's one of the few fae who really feel like a fae. He's true to his instincts and his passions: war, family, loyalty, and power. Everything he does revolves around those in excess, excess that matches his intensity. Most of the fae feel a little too human or watered down, more like spoiled magician's than faeries.

What is utterly remarkable is the end of the first book,

because even though you know that Jude has to have a way to keep the throne for 7 years, you don't expect her to crown Cardan to do it.

That we don't know about it is a trifle annoying. (It's a pet peeve of mine when we're in first person and something is deliberately hidden from the audience, because why would the narrator hide that from their inner monologue?) However, that twist and the clashing of your glee as the reader and

Cardan's fury

is priceless. Up until the twist I wasn't sure I was going to read the rest of the series, but I am now officially intrigued. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying and Death of parent

Moderate: Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Murder, and Toxic friendship

dlsmk's review against another edition

slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

luziebohnel's review against another edition

medium-paced

• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

because I think the book is written too simply. It's not engaging and there are too many characters and names to digest in the first 20 pages. I also don't think the death of Jude's parents is portrayed as sad. I also find it strange to describe how they die.Furthermore, some of this book borders on abuse. Just the scene where they practically drug Jude (an apple) and then force her to take off her clothes is not okay. “Enemies to Lovers” is fine to a certain extent, but I think that’s where it ends. In the first 100 pages alone, Jude is almost killed by him twice and he enjoys it in the most disgustingly perverse way. In addition, Jude is somehow strangely sexualized by the author. For example. 
she  doesn't wear underwear under her clothes to appear more "real"?! All in all I'm very disappointed with the book because Holly Black can write really good books (Spiderwicks)but this one was not it,It seems like one of those Wattpad stories



( read the german Version )

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug abuse, Hate crime, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Gaslighting, and Toxic friendship

readwithria's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

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

4.0

The Cruel Prince was a great start to this YA fantasy series! It did a great job of getting me hooked on the world and the story, and I’m excited to read more!

Jude is such a force to be reckoned with! Her pivot from wanting to be a knight to embracing her newfound skills was so great, and I really enjoyed seeing her grow into her strength. 

The political maneuvering was so interesting! I love tactical plays in books like this, and The Cruel Prince was full of them. The planning, the manipulation, the betrayals 😩 SO GOOD

I will definitely be continuing the series asap. 4 stars.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Blood, and Murder

Moderate: Death, Domestic abuse, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Toxic relationship, Kidnapping, Suicide attempt, and Alcohol

oddpilot97's review against another edition

challenging mysterious 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

I think I might be obsessed with this book. It’s the first novel I read as an adult that gave me the same feeling as when I read as a child. 

 

Enemies to lovers is one of the best tropes in my opinion. And this book did not disappoint. I appreciated that both characters were complex, with dynamic motivations, and that there wasn’t an uncomfortable power dynamic.

The only tiny critique I have is that the audiobook narrator got a bit whiny at times of high tension. It was a tad grating/melodramatic.
 

The main character isn’t a goodie two shoes, and I loved that. The plot had excellent twists and turns without being predictable, and never got too dull. The twists were well established in advance as well, which I appreciated. It's got my favorite parts of YA without feeling immature.

 

Read this! It’s amazing. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery and Death of parent

Moderate: Bullying, Child abuse, Infidelity, Self harm, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Suicide attempt, Murder, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

adoptedbuttons's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

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

3.25

Didn’t think I would finish until like page 250

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and Abandonment

Moderate: Bullying, Racism, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Murder, and Alcohol

Minor: Torture, Toxic relationship, and Abortion

seapotatohowisitalrtaken's review against another edition

adventurous medium-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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Death, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Murder, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Body shaming, Alcohol, and Classism