Reviews tagging 'Gaslighting'

The Stolen Heir by Holly Black

14 reviews

saucy_bookdragon's review against another edition

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

4.0

First of all, y'all need to get over the hooves. Y'all are willingly reading the monsterfucker books and are upset when there is the absolute lightest of monsterfucking!

Second of all, The Stolen Heir is really not a repeat of Folk of the Air. It's way less focused on the court intrigue and follows a completely new character in Suren who is very much not Jude, though both of them are stabby but in different ways. Jude was calculating and vicious while Suren is simply feral and I love her for that! I also loved her dynamic with Oak, they've got kind of an angsty childhood friends to lovers thing going on that was the highlight of the book.

It also still has the dark folkloric fantasy world building where the fae are untrustworthy and wicked creatures. Though I found the plot not as interesting as FotA, this is more journey based and a bit slower and I wish it was a little more memorable. Overall this is another enjoyable romp through the world of Elfhame! I had a great time with The Stolen Heir and I'm very excited for the The Prisoner's Throne!

TWs: violence, trauma, gore, child abuse, abandonment, torture, kidnapping, death. 

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qgg's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious 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

4.75

Read Jan 2023 and March 2024

I love Holly Black’s Folk of the Air books so much. Wren’s character was tragic in that trilogy, , so it was easy to empathize with her, especially since this title was written from her POV. Wren has really low self-esteem, so it’s easy to see that she’s not a reliable narrator, but I’d have liked to see some of Oak’s POV. I would have been happy with Maddock rotting in prison, too, but that’s just me. The cliffhanger ending is tough. 

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black_cat_iiix's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • 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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bookishgoob's review against another edition

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adventurous dark 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? It's complicated

5.0


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