Reviews tagging 'Suicide'

Il principe crudele by Holly Black

169 reviews

arisyes's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional medium-paced

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

4.5

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dramagirl2003'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? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I was a little worried that I would find the world-building too confusing but I clearly loved this even more than I thought I did since I finished 50% of it in a day! now this is a real enemies to lovers, my first, and i liked it

thoughts while reading

p20: IT'S CARDEN
p33: love jude's imagination
p35: well that is a surprise
p39: i can just see jude quickly becoming a killer just to prove madoc wrong. i don't think she'd dare to sneak into the running for knighthood without his approval
p77: based on trope norms, i suspect this is the point that carden starts to secretly admire jude
p88: I'm scared dain is gonna abuse her in some way. faeries are mischievous at heart, no matter how supposedly honourable they are. but then maybe carden will save her, and then it might be alright
p96: hmm bet scattering jude's salt is just a cover for saving her
p100: HE DID THAT ON PURPOSE
p118: oh. my. gosh. no wonder carden is so cruel!
p197: i could never
p200: well due to spoilers i think i know that

carden eventually becomes the high king, so I'm very curious to see how this pans out, cause i don't see it happening tomorrow

p211: interesting. and all of a sudden, now she's a killer
p245: CARDEN KNEW I SWEAR HE MUST HAVE KNOWN AND THAT'S WHY HE'S MISSING
p275: well i did think that

taryn and locke had a thing for each other right from the start

p292: that makes so much sense
p307: well this is a mysterious turn of events. i feel so much more sorry for carden because jude is a badass manipulator who will break him with any fraction of vulnerability he displays
p353: what. a. badass. move.
p358: ah meirda
p365: now that i was not expecting. i'd actually forgotten all about the spoilers after i getting fully invested in the story

quotes

I draw my sword, and he does, too, the scrape of metal loud in the room. I hear distant laughter, but here in the hall, we are alone.
My hands are sweating, but this had the feeling of inevitability, as though this is what I was careening toward the whole time, my whole life.
"You can't beat me."
"I already have."

"I imagine you're not feeling quite yourself," I tell him.
His sword sags a little, and he looks at me in sudden comprehension. "What have you done?"
"I poisoned you. Don't worry. It was a small enough dose. You'll live."
"The cups of wine," he says. "But how did you know which one I would choose?"
"I didn't," I tell him. "I poisoned them both."

"Have I told you how hideous you look tonight?" Carden asks, leaning back in the elaborately carved chair, the warmth of his words turning the question into something like a complement.
"No," I say, glad to be annoyed back into the present. "Tell me."
"I cannot."

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miss_berry315's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Re-read review. Changing rating to 4⭐
Love how strong and badass Jude is.
The writing and flow of the story are something to get used to, but it works well.

it feels almost like an unreliable narrator in the way that since we are in Jude's mind, we get everything the way she interprets it. She sees what she wants to see and tells the reader what she wants us to know.
Poor Cardan is just a sad, hurt lil dude who admires the way Jude handles her shit. He's just bad at flirting bc he's scared to get close to people and he deserves a hug and kiss on the forehead and to be told he's doing a good job!!

Original review:
This book had kind of a slow start to it, but about 30% in, I was hooked.
The characters are complex and feel (mostly) realistic, the courtly politics kept me guessing. I wanted to slap Jude the whole damn book, but her decisions make sense for who she is, and that's what makes it so good!
So glad the next books are out so I can keep reading!

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diana_raquel'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? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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erins_bookshelf_'s review against another edition

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fast-paced

4.0

The hype around this series honestly kind of stopped me from picking it up for a while but after reading this first book I can officially say that I am a fan! I was expecting more of a focus on the romance but honestly I love that it’s not a focal point and that the political drama is the main thing here. It was super interesting and I’m really glad that I finally read it; now I’m ready to get to the next one (as soon as my library has it available)!!

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nexusthegreat'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? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Solid introduction into the series. I always love a badass main character! Plus the world of Faerie is so interesting to learn about :O. As of this book my favorite character is Vivi and I won’t disclose my least favorite for spoiler purposes…

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piiiiiper's review against another edition

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adventurous dark fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix

4.5

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curselia's review against another edition

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adventurous dark tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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harmshoney's review against another edition

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adventurous dark medium-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? It's complicated

3.0

well, this was incredibly underwhelming. I was expecting so much more 😕 I'm having a hard time compiling my thoughts, so I'm going to try this in a list format.

the lovely ♡

• I enjoyed the fantasy elements. I feel like most fantasy books don't involve enough of them, & I liked that there was a plethora of childlike wonder.

• the world sounds beautiful & whimsical.

• cardan is an amazing character. though he is unpredictable & hard to get to know, his attitude & mystery is intriguing.

the ugly ෴

• while I did enjoy having a lot of fantasy elements, after the first few chapters it became *too many*. it's like the author just started adding in every thing from every fantasy story ever. for me, it didn't add intrigue, it just felt fake (the irony, I know lol).

• yes, the world *sounds* beautiful, but like literally nothing else was described very well. no idea what the buildings, rooms, courtyards, etc. looked like. I enjoy world dumping!

• Jude actually annoys the absolute heck out of me. there were some scenes I liked, but mostly I was annoyed by how much of a "try hard" she was. whenever something bad happened to her I literally just didn't care 😅

• HOW in the world did a fantasy book manage to take a stab at conservatives?? WHY is this a thing?? one of my biggest pet peeves is fiction books doing this & I wanted to throw this book across the room.

• vivi's character was so unnecessary.

• the romance twist was just too predictable for me.

• also, what do the characters *actually* look like?? there were animal features?? but like are they still human/fae looking? is locke actually a person? I was so confused lol

• I *feel* like the author tried really hard to create a complex political system, & it just became an unnecessary mess.

• I was expecting this to be a slow burn romantasy, buuuuut cardan & Jude literally have nothing until the last 8% of the book?? lame.

overall: ⭐⭐⭐ I do plan on finishing the series because I do like cardan & I hear the last book is the best.

content warning ⚠️ this book is a lot darker than I expected. it literally starts & ends with murder, & there is even a suicide which I was not expecting. this is most certainly not a wholesome fantasy story lol personally would not recommend.

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cloudysky123'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

The book is a must read for fantasy lovers my fav fantasy read so far this year this is epic shit really!!! Pls I'm begging everyone to read this atleast once guys

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