Reviews with content warning for Violence - The Cruel Prince

Reviews tagging 'Violence'

The Cruel Prince by Holly Black

679 reviews

pgmoon's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious 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

4.0

This is a book I’ve been wanting to read for a while, as I've heard so much about it. I know it’s a bit polarizing, with some people loving the sequels more, but I have to say, I really enjoyed this first installment.

For me, the characters are the strongest aspect. They’re all flawed but fascinating. I really liked Jude and her journey from feeling oppressed and ostracized to realizing just what it takes to gain power. Vivi and Oriana were great side characters too—Vivi’s determination to escape and Oriana’s resilience after everything she’s been through really stood out.

I know Taryn isn’t everyone’s favorite, but I want to learn more about her,

as her flaws often were the center of the emotional core of the story.

And then there’s Cardan and Madoc—definitely not likable at first ~~or even by the end of the book~~, but by the end, you kind of understand them in a way that makes you want to sympathize… maybe?

The world-building was another highlight for me. The idea of the world of Faerie existing alongside our world, kind of like Narnia, is a intriguing idea. I’d love to see more mingling of the two worlds in future books.

I’ve seen some people say that this book doesn’t have a lot going on, but I’d disagree. The first half is more focused on the characters, and the plot really picks up at the end. The pacing felt fine to me, and there are some lovely, quotable moments in the prose.

The coup at the the end was so fun to read and the twist pulled on Cardan was jaw dropping (to me at least!)

As for minor drawbacks,

the kiss between Cardan and Jude toward the end, while fun, felt a little out of place

. I also wanted more development for some of the minor characters, but that’s often the case for me with the first book in a series.

Overall, The Cruel Prince was a very enjoyable read with well-written characters and an interesting plot. I’ll definitely be reading the rest of the series.

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baileybeloved's review against another edition

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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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pianokeys's review against another edition

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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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klynnie's review against another edition

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adventurous slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.25

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suerte_encantada's review against another edition

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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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vexillia's review against another edition

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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.

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indigo_fox's review against another edition

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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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