Reviews tagging 'Sexual assault'

The Wicked King by Holly Black

27 reviews

stitchodonovan's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious tense fast-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

4.5

A divergence from a human making it in an unfair Faerie world, we have a lot more moving threads and political intrigue compared to the previous entry. We get to know the characters closer and more intimately, and we learn to hate some of them even more than we did before.

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ashleybakerwrites's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Honestly, the second was better than the first. The twists always get me. I love a good underdog story. I also love when my fmc gets a little traumatized. The twists at the end boiled me. Loved it.

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elderwoodreads's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Normally I feel like sequels can't help but fall a little flat. This, however, is an exception to that rule. Black did an amazing job keeping the energy and excitement from The Cruel Prince and I was clinging to every page. She does a great job with foreshadowing, where one the last piece clicks into place you realize everything you missed on the journey there. I absolutely cannot recommend this enough. 

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phantastic's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional tense 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

5.0

Breathtaking. 

P.S. I will kill Taryn and Locke with my bare hands if I must.

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faitherslibrary's review against another edition

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

3.25


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onefineelephant's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging 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? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

7/10. Much of what I didn't like about the first book carried on to this one, but I liked this one more because the plot seemed more cohesive and the romance aspect came more into focus. However, the romance isn't as fulfilling as I expected or wanted from this type of high-fantasy book. I don't like that Jude doesn't have a confidant, someone she trusts that she can talk to. I also really didn't like the ending because it seemed to erase all of the major plot points of the book in like 15 pages. I will say that there are some good lines throughout the book.

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lapis_lazuli's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

OMGGGGGG THE ENDING I CANT-

SCREW HIM OH MY FUXKING GOD I WANT TO KILL HIM MY GOD


Really good book tho, I was driven by it, wondering who was the traitor, who betrayed her. My attention was kept at every word. Extraordinary book.

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martiannadoor's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny 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

4.25

I read the first book in this trilogy and while I mildly enjoyed it, the last few chalters got me hooked, so I read the second one, and I found The Wicked King to not only be an excellent sequel, but also a lot more entertaining than the first installment. We see a lot more of the dynamic between Jude and Cardan, which gives more room for the characters to develop independently, and also with each other. I find the fantasy political aspect of Elfhame fascinating in this series and this books went even more in depth to it. 

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teagstime's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional 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
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Honestly I feel a little bad rating this <4★s, but I can't rationalize going any higher knowing I enjoyed the first book so much more! 

Wicked King is a solid enough book, I just didn't really click with it until the final third 😔 I missed all the intrigue of the first novel!!! Plus, there was mostly just lot of frustration concerning Jude's thoughts/actions. Meanwhile, I was obsessed with... Pretty much all the non-Jude characters. Cardan was incredible, for example! Absolutely adored him and every scene he was in... I'm glad we got to see more of him being clever and competent! Other significant characters I found incredibly interesting were Madoc and Balekin, actually! I've always loved Madoc, but Balekin was a surprise... I really wanted to get inside his brain 😅

But anyway! Yeah! A nice read overall, but not as great when compared to the first imo ❤

[Star rating changed from 4 -> 3.5 after finishing the series]

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urlocalvocaloidstan's review against another edition

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adventurous dark tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

After finding out her younger brother Oak is the next Faerie king, Jude Duarte has to keep him safe, by making Cardan Greenbriar king. As the new high king seneschal, Jude now has to navigate Faerie politics and try to control Cardan at the same time. And now someone close to Jude is threatening to betray all the Faerie, so she must find the traitor while sorting her growing feelings for Cardan. 

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