Reviews tagging 'Grief'

The Wicked King by Holly Black

23 reviews

noellegrace8's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad 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

5.0

As stated in my review of The Cruel Prince, I really struggled to get into that first book. But I guess I got used to all the oddities, because I couldn't put this one down. There was less fluff, more politics, and it finally felt like the characters were the correct age for the things that are happening. They are adults now, making adult decisions and playing a dangerous adult game of power, authority, and death. I would no longer categorize this as "teen" literature, but "young adult." What really impresses me is that Holly Black manages to make me root for characters that are truly not good people, which is not typical for me. I wanted Jude to win in the first book. I was smug when she turned her knife on Cardan. But now in this one, I wasn't sure who to vie for. It seems like every time a character does something worth celebrating, they also do something that makes you hate yourself for liking them. The betrayals are painful but enticing. Also the cliff hanger??! My library is backed up 10 weeks for the last book and I am REELING about it. I don't know how I'm going to wait that long. This is fantasy done right, and true enemies to lovers (hopefully? Jury is still out on whether "lovers" is true...).

I don't factor the audiobook performance into my rating of the material itself, but I give Caitlin Kelly 4.5/5⭐. Again, by the second book in a series, I tend to get used to whatever problems I had with the voicing in the first. But honestly, there didn't seem to be as many parts where I felt the narrator wasn't portraying the correct emotion or tone of voice. A good performance, overall.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Violence, Blood, Murder, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Bullying, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Self harm, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Kidnapping, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, War, and Classism

Minor: Ableism, Alcoholism, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexual assault, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Xenophobia, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

matildasouthern's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny lighthearted mysterious sad tense fast-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Physical abuse, and Kidnapping

Moderate: Bullying, Grief, and Murder

Minor: Violence, Blood, and War

diana_raquel's review against another edition

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Gore, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and War

Minor: Drug use, Infidelity, and Sexual content

orakuruno's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional tense fast-paced

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

4.5

Now this is an enemies to lovers

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Toxic relationship, Murder, Alcohol, and War

Moderate: Bullying, Confinement, Drug use, Gore, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Sexual content, Slavery, Torture, Trafficking, and Kidnapping

shelvesofivy's review against another edition

adventurous tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

4.5

I know that sometimes sequels suffer, but I personally found this one leagues above the first book in terms of tension, intrigue, and overall pacing. God these characters now have me in a chokehold <3

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Torture, Death of parent, and Alcohol

Minor: Drug use, Self harm, Sexual content, Vomit, Grief, and War

depictions of drowning

bookmark3brodi's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark funny mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

aysha_blake's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Confinement, Death, Drug use, Gore, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

20sidedbi's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Bullying, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

laneys_library's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense fast-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

5.0

This books is AMAZING! I couldn’t stop reading! I think it might just be my favorite book I’ve ever read. The ending shocked me and I can’t wait to start the Queen of nothing!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Torture, Violence, Blood, Trafficking, Death of parent, Murder, and Alcohol

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Kidnapping, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Cursing, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Toxic friendship, and War

wrensreadingroom's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body shaming, Bullying, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual content, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Deportation