Reviews tagging 'War'

Il principe crudele by Holly Black

121 reviews

elliott_the_clementine's review against another edition

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

4.0

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green_mm's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious sad tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.0

Was there worldbuilding? Technically yes. Was there a cast of unique characters? Technically yes. Was there a plot? Technically yes. Was this is a memorable book? Literally no. I kept waiting for something interesting to happen, but it never did; sadly, I feel like I roved over 370 pages of nothing. Jude was so flat as the protagonist, her only personality trait being resentment. The story was so slow that you could remove chapters 11 through 17, which account for 103 pages and arguably did not advance the plot in any meaningful way, and still just have a barely medium-paced novel with a lackluster plot. I finished the book not really feeling favorable of anyone and not caring what happens next.
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anna724's review against another edition

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

3.5

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rebecca_simard's review against another edition

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

4.5

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religiousmom666's review against another edition

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

3.5

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alliemikennareads's review against another edition

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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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2blueshoes's review against another edition

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

3.5


1. pacing is slow for most of the book, but there is enough complicated intrigue and weird world building to keep you reading. 

2. It does not feel like a story or world that I have read in fantasy before, and that’s hard to do. I enjoyed that. 

3. Romance is basically non-existent in this book, but it does feel like a very long and elaborate set up for future romance in other books maybe? If anything this is really a political intrigue book with a very subtle romance subplot. If that’s your jam, you’re going to love this. 

4. The person I am fairly sure is the future hero is A LITERAL ASSHOLE for 99.9% of the book. Like zero redeeming qualities, not even described as attractive? If you aren’t patient with very long redemptive arcs for characters, or if you can’t tolerate not knowing who the true love interest is, maybe skip this book. 

5. The heroine feels really young and also not particularly moral???  Like she is decidedly not justice-motivated. She seems really immature and self interested at times. This makes for a surprising read if I’m honest and I think we will watch her develop a lot in the books. This book feels a bit like a prequel somehow?

6.
The hero has a tail
and it is unforgivable. Although I guess it has some sort of symbolic meaning in future books, but to me it’s just a step too far. Yuck. 

7. I would have given up on this book entirely if it wasn’t for some really surprising shit that goes down around the chapter 26 mark that had me WTF-ing all over the place. It’s like it suddenly turned into the book I wanted it to be. The last four chapters are, in my opinion, amazing. They had me on the edge of my seat. I hope they reflect what future books will be like. 

Oh, final thought: I think listening as an audiobook kinda made this book worse for me than it was, because the narrator didn’t do distinct voices for the characters, and it made it really confusing. Would recommend reading it as a book.

Lots of content warnings on this one. 
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tinyarthoe's review against another edition

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

4.0

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nonidude's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.25

A good series start! I knew a twist was coming, but didn't have it figured out, so that's fun. :) The violent scenes are done well and explain the situation clearly without being overly grotesque. Excited to see how things progress!
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patchthecat's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional 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? It's complicated

5.0

This book is my favourite book. I hadn't read fantasy in a long time, so this one being my first in a while made me fall in love with it again. Absolutely loved the characters. I really can't describe the love I have for this book, Holly Black's writing, and the plot twists.
The plot twist at the end of Cardan being crowned surprised me. I honestly didn't see it coming.
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