bhavanagurram22's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
mysterious
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
3.0
aayla_xiaan's review against another edition
3.0
⭐️⭐️⭐️,75/5
Jude’s cosplays:
- https://www.instagram.com/p/CYE1CKdqNtA/?utm_medium=copy_link
- https://www.instagram.com/p/CX_yKicKHOI/?utm_medium=copy_link
- https://www.instagram.com/p/CYPNjIdqedE/?utm_medium=copy_link
Un bon final.
Petite déception après le coup de cœur que j’avais eu pour le deuxième tome.
Le scénario est ici moins riche, plus facilement déchiffrable à l’avance, et l’histoire est donc plus lente. Si Jude reste authentique, Cardan s’adoucît trop et je ne retrouve pas le personnage que j’adorais, vil, cruel, des deux premiers tomes.
La partie qui m’a vraiment donné espoir en une fin coup de cœur a été la prophétie de Cardan qui se réalise. J’étais aux anges !
Et pourtant... je n’aurai pas imaginé une fin comme celle ci. J’aurai, en effet, aimé davantage une toute autre fin, plus « monstrueuse »...
Si cela avait été une saga moins dramatique, comme ACOTAR, j’aurai pu apprécier la fin à sa juste valeur, mais elle était trop téléguidée et pas à la hauteur de mes attentes face aux jeux de pouvoir et de stratégie qu’Holly Black nous a servi avec brio dans les deux premiers tomes.
[spoiler]J’aurai vraiment adoré que Jude devienne une reine cruelle après avoir achevé le serpent. Que sa prophétie de réalise vraiment et qu’elle reste seule mais mortellement mauvaise.[/spoiler]
Bref, un bon tome, sans plus, qui ne m’a pas franchement transporté.
Toutefois, je classe mes romans par saga et j’apprécie tellement Jude, Cardan, les complots de la saga de manière générale, le monde sanguinaire imaginé avec brio et le couple JUDAN que je ne peux pas me permettre de mettre moins qu’un classement « or ».
De plus, the wicked king été un gros coup de cœur (il mériterait ma liste de diamants pour le coup).
Je lirais tout de même « how the king of elfhame learned to hate stories », pudique je pense retrouver le Cardan que j’aime dedans.
Jude’s cosplays:
- https://www.instagram.com/p/CYE1CKdqNtA/?utm_medium=copy_link
- https://www.instagram.com/p/CX_yKicKHOI/?utm_medium=copy_link
- https://www.instagram.com/p/CYPNjIdqedE/?utm_medium=copy_link
Un bon final.
Petite déception après le coup de cœur que j’avais eu pour le deuxième tome.
Le scénario est ici moins riche, plus facilement déchiffrable à l’avance, et l’histoire est donc plus lente. Si Jude reste authentique, Cardan s’adoucît trop et je ne retrouve pas le personnage que j’adorais, vil, cruel, des deux premiers tomes.
La partie qui m’a vraiment donné espoir en une fin coup de cœur a été la prophétie de Cardan qui se réalise. J’étais aux anges !
Et pourtant... je n’aurai pas imaginé une fin comme celle ci. J’aurai, en effet, aimé davantage une toute autre fin, plus « monstrueuse »...
Si cela avait été une saga moins dramatique, comme ACOTAR, j’aurai pu apprécier la fin à sa juste valeur, mais elle était trop téléguidée et pas à la hauteur de mes attentes face aux jeux de pouvoir et de stratégie qu’Holly Black nous a servi avec brio dans les deux premiers tomes.
[spoiler]J’aurai vraiment adoré que Jude devienne une reine cruelle après avoir achevé le serpent. Que sa prophétie de réalise vraiment et qu’elle reste seule mais mortellement mauvaise.[/spoiler]
Bref, un bon tome, sans plus, qui ne m’a pas franchement transporté.
Toutefois, je classe mes romans par saga et j’apprécie tellement Jude, Cardan, les complots de la saga de manière générale, le monde sanguinaire imaginé avec brio et le couple JUDAN que je ne peux pas me permettre de mettre moins qu’un classement « or ».
De plus, the wicked king été un gros coup de cœur (il mériterait ma liste de diamants pour le coup).
Je lirais tout de même « how the king of elfhame learned to hate stories », pudique je pense retrouver le Cardan que j’aime dedans.
justanothernerdling's review against another edition
3.0
2.5
Full Series: 3/5 (2.5/5, 4/5, 2/5)
I'm going to take my time to write a full series review here - I have exams coming up, and I think that most of my comments are more relevant when taking into account the whole trilogy anyway.
Also, I really dislike writing reviews more on the negative side of things - I don't mean to insult the story or anyone who enjoyed the book. I'm just giving my honest opinion, which is only one opinion out of a lot.
The Cruel Prince was a book I found... petty, for the lack of better term. Cardan and Jude were obviously gonna be endgame right away, but they acted like middle school kids, just jabbing at each other because Jude was different and Cardan had power. It felt full of stereotypical bully-help-book sayings like 'If he is mean that's because he likes you', and 'being different is powerful'. Not saying it's not true, but I had read all that through middle school myself, and I didn't feel the need to read it again during my Master's degree.
I'm not sure about the title, either. Jude surprisingly felt a lot more 'cruel' than Cardan, who was just a typical bully. I mean, forcing him into becoming king so she could have power? I'm not going to lie, I may have adopted a similar idea for my D&D campaign's villain... However, the book had a quality to it I enjoyed, but I cannot pinpoint what that was, at the moment.
But after having read The Cruel Prince, something inexplicable compelled me to read The Wicked King. Pretty odd for a book I didn't like, but I fell to temptation and ordered The Wicked King. This book, to me, felt a lot more put together - it had a clear direction and felt more mature overall. There was deception and secrets being revealed and all kids of amazing plot twists that made me really enjoy the book! I truly loved the whole underwater portion of it, and the twist at the end, from the wedding onward, made the book absolutely impossible to put down!
Right away, I needed to know what happened, so ordered Queen Of Nothing and goodness, I am measuring my words when I say that I'm not sure I've ever read the ending of a trilogy that felt so much like fanfiction. Now that I think of it, none of the major actions done by any of the characters had any consequences - everything was solved overly quickly - even Cardan was only 'dead' for about a page. Yet, the events that happened were quite subtantial! Taryn killed Locke, the twins switched, Cardan broke the crown, turned into a snake, which was beheaded, and he walked up like nothing mattered. There were other more political intrigues that were skipped over. And none of these hand any lasting consequences. Yes, I'm one of those people who think that it's ok for main or secondary characters to die for real in books, or for authors to make you believe they are dead for way too long (I'm looking at you, Cassandra Clare, what you did in TID broke me but was 1000% worth it.)
The build up to the main conflict felt slow, there were suddenly tensions between side characters that were only briefly mentioned before, and overall I felt no sense of urgency, despair or even excitement that I was hoping for after that explosion of book 2. Also, where Wicked King really built up an intriguing, dark and all around FANTASTIC Cardan, he fell completely flat in book 3 - he was the good guy all along; don't judge a book by its cover - another life lesson.
What I DID find awesome to the point of maybe adding that mechanic in my campaign, was the fact that, since Jude was queen, nature healed her. I feel like that could have been exploited more in the book, but I found that concept novel and really fantastic! I also adored simply the relationship between all 3 sisters - it was a lovely little family unit that really deserve to go get that pizza!
All in all, I was hoping for more from this trilogy - had Holly Black fleshed out things like the system of the different courts and why they differ, maybe Madoc's story, Locke's death, and all the little side stories that were mentioned fleetingly, I believe this book would have packed a true punch to the gut. But it just wasn't for me, I guess.
Full Series: 3/5 (2.5/5, 4/5, 2/5)
I'm going to take my time to write a full series review here - I have exams coming up, and I think that most of my comments are more relevant when taking into account the whole trilogy anyway.
Also, I really dislike writing reviews more on the negative side of things - I don't mean to insult the story or anyone who enjoyed the book. I'm just giving my honest opinion, which is only one opinion out of a lot.
The Cruel Prince was a book I found... petty, for the lack of better term. Cardan and Jude were obviously gonna be endgame right away, but they acted like middle school kids, just jabbing at each other because Jude was different and Cardan had power. It felt full of stereotypical bully-help-book sayings like 'If he is mean that's because he likes you', and 'being different is powerful'. Not saying it's not true, but I had read all that through middle school myself, and I didn't feel the need to read it again during my Master's degree.
I'm not sure about the title, either. Jude surprisingly felt a lot more 'cruel' than Cardan, who was just a typical bully. I mean, forcing him into becoming king so she could have power? I'm not going to lie, I may have adopted a similar idea for my D&D campaign's villain... However, the book had a quality to it I enjoyed, but I cannot pinpoint what that was, at the moment.
But after having read The Cruel Prince, something inexplicable compelled me to read The Wicked King. Pretty odd for a book I didn't like, but I fell to temptation and ordered The Wicked King. This book, to me, felt a lot more put together - it had a clear direction and felt more mature overall. There was deception and secrets being revealed and all kids of amazing plot twists that made me really enjoy the book! I truly loved the whole underwater portion of it, and the twist at the end, from the wedding onward, made the book absolutely impossible to put down!
Right away, I needed to know what happened, so ordered Queen Of Nothing and goodness, I am measuring my words when I say that I'm not sure I've ever read the ending of a trilogy that felt so much like fanfiction. Now that I think of it, none of the major actions done by any of the characters had any consequences - everything was solved overly quickly - even Cardan was only 'dead' for about a page. Yet, the events that happened were quite subtantial! Taryn killed Locke, the twins switched, Cardan broke the crown, turned into a snake, which was beheaded, and he walked up like nothing mattered. There were other more political intrigues that were skipped over. And none of these hand any lasting consequences. Yes, I'm one of those people who think that it's ok for main or secondary characters to die for real in books, or for authors to make you believe they are dead for way too long (I'm looking at you, Cassandra Clare, what you did in TID broke me but was 1000% worth it.)
The build up to the main conflict felt slow, there were suddenly tensions between side characters that were only briefly mentioned before, and overall I felt no sense of urgency, despair or even excitement that I was hoping for after that explosion of book 2. Also, where Wicked King really built up an intriguing, dark and all around FANTASTIC Cardan, he fell completely flat in book 3 - he was the good guy all along; don't judge a book by its cover - another life lesson.
What I DID find awesome to the point of maybe adding that mechanic in my campaign, was the fact that, since Jude was queen, nature healed her. I feel like that could have been exploited more in the book, but I found that concept novel and really fantastic! I also adored simply the relationship between all 3 sisters - it was a lovely little family unit that really deserve to go get that pizza!
All in all, I was hoping for more from this trilogy - had Holly Black fleshed out things like the system of the different courts and why they differ, maybe Madoc's story, Locke's death, and all the little side stories that were mentioned fleetingly, I believe this book would have packed a true punch to the gut. But it just wasn't for me, I guess.
amymck99's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
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
5.0
zaina's review against another edition
4.0
i loved it but it was kind of disappointing for it is too short of a book to end the series, i expected a more grand and detailed book. nevertheless, it got me screaming in anticipation and tearing up in pain.
samdrys23's review against another edition
adventurous
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
4.0
emphil365's review against another edition
4.0
The ending was a bit meh.
It was good (the cruel prince was definitely better) and still an enjoyable read
It was good (the cruel prince was definitely better) and still an enjoyable read
warnersuperior's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
JURDAN OH MY GOD.
akari_mdevangel's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
reflective
helenlvsbooks's review against another edition
5.0
4.75* stars “Do not touch her. She's my wife. The rightful High Queen of Elfhame. And most definitely not in exile" I finished this in one sitting and I don't know what to do with my life now. By you I'm forever undone!!!