Reviews tagging 'Violence'

Il principe crudele by Holly Black

500 reviews

cosmicoffee's review against another edition

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adventurous dark tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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gattolinos_nerdy_nook's review against another edition

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

3.75

This book took me a while to enjoy. I almost DNF'd this at the beginning as it was not gripping me like I wanted it to. I just had no interest in the characters and having known the end pairing of the series, which I thought would happen by the end of this book, I couldn't see how this was going to work.

The issue I found was that every time I have heard this book it was talked about as a enemies to lovers, which is not doing it justice. This is a fantasy book with some romance but not a romance fantasy book.

Once i got a bit more into the book and into the right mindset for it, it defiantly became more enjoyable. I do love the Court of Shadows. I think most of their scenes were my favourite in the book, and the ending intrigued me enough to pick up the next book.
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annamay1021's review against another edition

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

4.5

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mcc1210's review against another edition

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I didn’t like the
Spoiler toxic relationship dynamic between Jude and Cardan. I didn’t like that he almost kills her several times and she’s still attracted to him.
just not personally for me. 
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icedlemonade's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring mysterious 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

4.5

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winterfall's review against another edition

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

4.0

I wasn’t too sure on this when I first picked it up. I’m not too fond of first person perspective, but this book really grew on me. Don’t get me wrong, the main character is 100% a Mary Sue. But she’s actually written well? Holly made her come to life in a way that I didn’t expect at all. Jude has flaws, wants, desires, goals that aren’t impossible but are challenging enough that you are also rooting for her. These goals change as the plot progresses, but the overarching theme stays the same in the sense that she wants power, and holds onto it as much as she can. From the start, her powerlessness at seeing her parents die gives her reason for her motives, rather than feeling stale and forced, and this theme continues as we see the sisters’ lives in Faerieland - not only how they are looked down on as being mortal, but how their physical differences inhibit them from their dreams. Everything that Jude does is for power, for control, and I love how Holly keeps her consistant throughout the entire book. 
Not only did I find myself falling in love with Jude, but with the entire cast. I really loved the comparison between Jude and her twin sister, Taryn. Taryn is the polar opposite of Jude - nurturing, demure, but also ruthless when needs be. Despite this, it is clear that Taryn’s main motive is also power, though she goes about it in a completely different way. 
At first I felt that Vivi was completely unnecessary for the plot, but as time progressed, I understood why she was included. Vivi represents everything that Jude and Taryn cannot have - power without consequence, and humanity. It is extremely ironic since Taryn and Jude are fully human, but they lost their humanity as children. Vivi embraced hers the second Madoc murdered her mother. It was refreshing to see this alternate perspective. 
Since this is only the first book, we don’t get a lot of romance between Cardan and Jude, but I loved the dynamic between the two of them. It is not a healthy relationship, and Holly Black fully exploits that. Cardan isn’t human, and so this relationship will be anything but - it is nasty, dark, built on lies and manipulation and I love everything about it. However, Holly does well in planting the seeds for eventually developing their romance into something less harsh, and I liked seeing the various ways that Cardan can vague around his true feelings for Jude while still maintaining his distance. I’m excited to see where this goes! 
Overall, I enjoyed The Cruel Prince. I never thought this would be the series to get me back into reading. It is a little predictable in places, but entertaining enough to keep me engaged, and I loved the world Holly has built up and the complexity of its characters. 
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schnoeflaki's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional informative mysterious sad tense medium-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? Yes

4.5

I really enjoyed the writing style. The book had beautiful descriptions and details about the world building but also what the main character was thinking. 
Spoiler I was a little confused about the one time the protagonist talked to the reader but yet fooled us too at the end. Despite understanding that Cardan was not the main bully, he was, however, a bystander. Him and Jude being the about to be romantic partners, not sure if I like that. Bully to Lovers should not be a thing.

Overall, a well written book.
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emmiewrites_'s review against another edition

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adventurous medium-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

3.5

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itsaas_r's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny mysterious tense fast-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

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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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