Reviews tagging 'Emotional abuse'

Il principe crudele by Holly Black

202 reviews

aksolotli's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.25

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Content Warnings

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

solarmatrixcobra's review against another edition

mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

This is a romantic fantasy as opposed to fantasy romance. Those looking for a romance-focused story will be disappointed. It was written and structured well, but I did not like how angsty the protagonist was and how little romance there actually was on the page. I also did not appreciate how some characters do some pretty disturbing stuff to the protagonist, but throughout the story it's referred to as "bullying" as if they just pulled a couple of innocent pranks on her. Definitely not my thing, but I can see why others might like it, and I wasn't struggling too much to finish it unlike some other books because it had a well-structured plot.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Bullying, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, and Violence

Minor: Murder and Sexual harassment

sizzlesteaks's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Slavery, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Alcohol

glddstwmn's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, and Classism

Moderate: Bullying, Infidelity, Racism, Torture, Toxic relationship, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Gaslighting, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Child death, Emotional abuse, Kidnapping, Pregnancy, and War

clarification for CW tags: racism towards humans vs fae, not POC. Sorry if this is misuse of the tag ❤️

uselesspirateraven's review against another edition

adventurous dark informative inspiring lighthearted 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? No

3.5

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Child abuse, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Torture and Toxic relationship

pianokeys's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Death, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, War, and Injury/Injury detail

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