Reviews tagging 'Murder'

A Court This Cruel and Lovely by Stacia Stark

26 reviews

katharina90's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious tense medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No

2.0

This was okay. The writing was pretty bad, the plot predictable, and the characters underdeveloped. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Sexual content, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Confinement, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, and Classism

Minor: Rape, Suicide attempt, and War

one_more_chapter96's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious sad 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? No

4.25

Enjoyable fantasy romance with slightly different takes on the typical plot and tropes which was refreshing. Loved the two main characters slowly getting closer together over the book & enjoyed the side characters and family histories. Some good plot twists and a touch of spice. At times a little cliche but overall enjoyable! 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Kidnapping

Minor: Torture, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, and War

smartcookiesca's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective sad 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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Violence, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, and Murder

Moderate: Sexual assault

nonotyoshi's review against another edition

adventurous 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Sexual content, Violence, Grief, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Bullying, Xenophobia, and Fire/Fire injury

areaderofruin's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful lighthearted mysterious 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? It's complicated

5.0

Okay Stacia Stark, you’ve blown me away. I was really struggling with a book slump and decided to listen to the audiobook on my way to work. THE BEST DECISION I MADE ALL WEEK!

Where do I even begin?! You gave us:

🔥 an epic slow-burn that was anything but painful. I was INVESTED!
⚔️ enemies-to-reluctant allies-to- lovers (I don’t care if it’s not a real trope, it is now)
🥸 secret identity
🥵 touch her and die
✨ hidden powers
😈 possessive MMC
🦄 unique magic system
💪🏻 strong FMC
🌶️🌶️🌶️: spice (the dominate kind)

And the banter between Prisca and Lorian is immaculate. I found myself completely engrossed by their budding relationship from the moment they cross paths and stared daggers at each other. The anger, the manipulation and the scheming was intriguing and well-written.

I’m one of those readers that can typically predict what’s going to happen next, and this was the exemption to the rule. My heart rate was erratic for the last 50 pages and the TWISTS have left me bereft for the next book in the series.

I HIGHLY recommend this for anyone who loves a true enemies-to-lovers story with a well-developed plot. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder

Minor: Sexual assault and Vomit

noetical's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring 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? No

5.0

If you like well written Romantasy books this one’s for you. 
My favorite elements:
• Kick ass heroine, with superb growth arc
• Enemies to lovers trope 
• Mysterious background trope 
• Super hot chemistry between main characters 
• Male POV during key moments 
• Complex character development 
• Made me laugh and cry 

This is the first book in the series. It ends with a resolution to the current plot arc but, you’ll have to read the next book to see what happens to the main characters. Fortunately, the series is complete, as the fourth and final book was just released. In other words, no waiting for the next book to come out. Highly recommended.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, and Murder

Moderate: Cursing

Minor: War

marlenareads's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Confinement, Death, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Genocide, Physical abuse, Torture, Kidnapping, Suicide attempt, Fire/Fire injury, and War

avacyn731's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, and Murder

druzyquartz's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Genocide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Sexual assault, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment

hapalyn's review against another edition

adventurous funny tense slow-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

4.75

Were there some cliche plot points? Yes. BUT-

The way I loved the adventure and build up to a bigger plotline, and I really enjoyed the found family aspect with the "mercenaries". The FMC is intelligent and I love the heart of gold she has! I also really enjoy the magic she possesses, it's really unique compared to other fantasy FMCs I've read lately! 

A couple of reveals lined up to be a little too coincidental for me, but I think the enjoyment I experienced throughout the read made up for the lack of believability in some areas (and, well it's fantasy so it's not necessarily believable anyways). The twist with the MMC had me intrigued because while I somewhat expected it, I think part of me didn't want to at the same time. I'm very interested to see the resolution between FMC AND MMC, but I'm not looking forward to reading 500 pages to get there... lol. 

I will be continuing with this series and enjoying the different characters!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Violence, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Sexual assault, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Rape, Vomit, and Death of parent

For fire injury: there are people executed by being burned alive For rape/sexual assault: there's implications of side characters being rapists, and there is an attempted sexual assault/rape + attempted murder of FMC towards the first half of the book

she is not assaulted and kills the guy

For murder: couple of different deaths by beheading, stabbing, pushed into a river, etc.