it has now been a good 8ish months since I read it and have finally gotten around to reviewing it so i'll do the best I can :)

I really liked this book because I found that there was a lot of pretty interesting 'world-building' where we just got to kind of see jude's day to day life without too much BIG changes and wild plot-twists (well compared to the other 2 books especially. Though I kind of found Jude to be another boring mc (though bearable enough). I kind of liked cardan despite his actions, he is a silly (but mean) guy.

Personally i do think that cardan was really cruel in this book (and this doesn't make his actions excusable), after reading the rest of the books (and especialy after delving into how the king of elfhame learned to hate stories, we can see the roots of how he behaves and especialy why he treats jude the way he does. I also found jude's relationship/attitude towards MDOC kind of strange, I can both see where she's coming from with the whole 'he killed my parents' which I think makes perfect sense, but he also raised her for like, well alot longer than her parents did, and it's sort of in him to kill them, as he's a redcap. It's not like idk, an excuse, but Jude also should take into account that Madoc isn't a human, and that it's part of his nature and his race to do shi like that.

Content Warnings

spatterson7's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious 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

4.0

Content Warnings

noellegrace8's review against another edition

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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.

Content Warnings

elisabethstre's review against another edition

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dark mysterious 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? It's complicated

4.0

junge dieses buch war not at all what i expected, but I LOVED IT

THE DARK MYSTERIOUS FANTASY? THE POLITICS??? i ate that shit up!! alterrrr die intrigen und plotttwists, das war alles SO GEIL, ich habe so viel nicht kommen sehen!!!! war geschockt

die ganze welt war so magisch und brutal; ich war so froh, nicht von einer heilen schönen feenwelt zu lesen, sondern von dieser abgefuckten grausamkeit und diesen komischen gestalten?? geil

jude war ganz anders, als ich sie mir vorgestellt hab! SHE WAS AN ICONIC, MORALLY GREY ANTIHERO and i love that for her!!!

ihr charakter war manchmal leider nicht soo richtig greifbar; ich hab es aber so gedeutet, dass sie die meiste zeit selbst noch nicht richtig wusste, was sie will und sich noch sucht; wenn das in den folgeteilen besser ist, hab ich nichts gesagt. i love her already!!

wirklich keine person in diesem buch ist ein guter „mensch“, alle waren irgendwie SO BÖSE und haben irgendwelche geheimen schemes gehabt, i ate that uppppp omg. jude auch nur bedingt sympathisch (bin mir nicht so sicher, ob ich sie mag?), but i was rooting for her, she was a queen and she was the moment!!!

das buch war fr 80% fantasy politics, es erinnerte mich stark an game of thrones, aber das hats auch so geil gemacht. it kept me guessing, wer der wahre feind ist und ich LIEBE DAS!! brauche sofort den zweiten teil

Content Warnings

lottebluebird's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional inspiring mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This book kept me on the edge of my seat.
I do not know, but many plot twists were no secrets for me, but I liked it maybe even more because of it.

The writing style was so good, that I wanted to read almost the whole book, even English isn’t my mother tongue, in one seating.

Jude and her story.. the cruel prince and the subplot with her twin sister. I loved it all the way, even if very dark things happen in the plot.
And can I have those elaborate gowns the fey wear at parties? The descriptions of them were stunning!

You’ll find me ready the sequel 🤭

Content Warnings

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."

Content Warnings

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

Content Warnings

_ao_'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? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I wanted to give up early on, but told myself I'd give it until the end of the first third. It picked up right around 1/3 of the way through, and wound up being better than I had expected.

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