Reviews with content warning for Violence - Il principe crudele

Reviews tagging 'Violence'

Il principe crudele by Holly Black

663 reviews

abrielleemory's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.0

This was a bit of a letdown after all of the hype on IG and TikTok. I listened to this on Spotify, so please don’t judge me for how I spell the names of characters.

I thought Jude was insufferable. She did the classic. I’m a strong, independent woman thing while also being too scared to stand up for herself half the time her obsession with her twin sister was so weird to me and that twist at the end made me very proud of Taryn. Vivienne was SO ANNOYING like she really tried to be the disinterested, cool older sister but was so removed that she had no character development.

I know this is framed as an enemies to friends situation, but I wish they would’ve stayed enemies the weird love thing just really didn’t click for me.

The authors overuse of descriptive language was really distracting. I understand she was trying to describe the world or do some world-building, but it kind of fell flat for me and was really over exaggerated.

I thought her becoming the spy was cool and I liked the other spy characters, but she just really annoyed me as a female main character.

I don’t think I’ll be reading the next books and I’m kind of glad that I listened to this as a free audiobook.

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imgoingonanadventure's review against another edition

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adventurous dark 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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kailynreads'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? It's complicated

4.5

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hagwife's review against another edition

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adventurous dark tense medium-paced

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

3.25

I think this novel is indicative of how I feel about Holly Black as a writer: when it's good, it's great, and the rest of the time its a bit lackluster.

The first half of the book is a mess of different threads, and while I'm not against complex stories and layers, there's so little but Jude's anger at the beginning to pin it all together. You can add bits of information in without revealing their importance and without making them seem extraneous. Jude's anger is also too unfocused for me for most of the book. I get that we're supposed to watch her carve out a place for herself in Faerie, but she has so little follow-through for the first half. Maybe that's meant to be her humanity warring with her desires. There are few fun dynamics to sort out, even if the reveals aren't earth-shattering (

intensity like Cardan's almost never translate's directly to hate and as if Locke isn't playing a long game for the matched set

).

I do enjoy Madoc's character a lot, if only because he's one of the few fae who really feel like a fae. He's true to his instincts and his passions: war, family, loyalty, and power. Everything he does revolves around those in excess, excess that matches his intensity. Most of the fae feel a little too human or watered down, more like spoiled magician's than faeries.

What is utterly remarkable is the end of the first book,

because even though you know that Jude has to have a way to keep the throne for 7 years, you don't expect her to crown Cardan to do it.

That we don't know about it is a trifle annoying. (It's a pet peeve of mine when we're in first person and something is deliberately hidden from the audience, because why would the narrator hide that from their inner monologue?) However, that twist and the clashing of your glee as the reader and

Cardan's fury

is priceless. Up until the twist I wasn't sure I was going to read the rest of the series, but I am now officially intrigued.

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natasha_dean's review against another edition

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adventurous dark tense medium-paced

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

4.0

This is the first book I’ve ever read with faeries in it and I wasn’t sure how I would feel about it, but I really enjoyed it. I loved the writing style and can’t wait to continue the series.

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nimzipow_reads'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

3.75

Characters - 8
Atmosphere/Setting - 9
Writing Style - 7
Plot - 7
Intrigue - 7
Logic - 8
Enjoyment - 7

= 7.6/10

This book was darker than I expected! I thought the characters were really interesting and not stereotypical. The twists were a mixture of predictable and unexpected which made for an intriguing read. I enjoyed the dark atmosphere of the books and characters.

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