Title: The Cruel Prince (#1)
Series: The Folk of the Air
Author: Holly Black
Genre: YA Fantasy
Publisher: Little Brown Books
Format: ARC Paperback
Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
Pub. Date: January 2, 2018
Synopsis:
Of course I want to be like them. They’re beautiful as blades forged in some divine fire. They will live forever.
And Cardan is even more beautiful than the rest. I hate him more than all the others. I hate him so much that sometimes when I look at him, I can hardly breathe.
Jude was seven years old when her parents were murdered and she and her two sisters were stolen away to live in the treacherous High Court of Faerie. Ten years later, Jude wants nothing more than to belong there, despite her mortality. But many of the fey despise humans. Especially Prince Cardan, the youngest and wickedest son of the High King.
To win a place at the Court, she must defy him–and face the consequences.
In doing so, she becomes embroiled in palace intrigues and deceptions, discovering her own capacity for bloodshed. But as civil war threatens to drown the Courts of Faerie in violence, Jude will need to risk her life in a dangerous alliance to save her sisters, and Faerie itself.
***thank you to little brown books for providing an arc***
Trigger Warnings: Suicide, Graphic Scenes
At the age of 7, Jude, her twin sister Taryn, and older sister Vivienne witnessed their parents murdered and were stolen away by Vivienne’s biological father Madoc. All three girls went from living in the human world to Elfhame. 10 years later, Jude and Taryn are trying their hardest to belong in Elfhame, more so Jude where she’s trying to become a Knight. Vivienne could not care less about the place and will forever hold a grudge against her biological father, Madoc. While Jude tries to fit in a world where she is not wanted and obtaining a place in the Court, she has to deal with the cruelest son of the High King, Prince Cardan and his gang of friends. However, as soon as she starts dabbling with the palace and her inner turmoil, secrets start spilling and so does blood. Jude will have to choose her humanity or Faerie.
This will come as a surprise to many of you but this is my first Holly Black book. I have passed her books many many times as a teenager when I spent my time at the library. I am so happy that I finally picked up her book because her writing is phenomenal. She dances with a lot of themes but handles them with grace and eloquence. She knows how to write a rich detailed dark world without feeling like it’s too much. Someone should name her the Queen of Faerie because she definitely knows how to write a world. Holly Black also knows how to write the most complex characters ever. I didn’t know who I was rooting for at one point lol.
Holly Black presents a lot of characters to us in the most complex way. We meet the main character Jude which her story is told from her point of view. Jude the fighter and the one who tries hard to fit in, she doesn’t take crap from anyone especially the son of the High King. She knows exactly what she wants and she will not give up until she has it. She will push and shove and go to deep lengths to obtain her wants. We also meet her twin sister, Taryn, who is the opposite of Jude. Where Jude is rough, Taryn is soft. Where Jude is loud, Taryn is quiet. Where Jude is being a rebel, Taryn is being compliant. Although twins, they differ in many many ways. This is a non-spoiler review, you will have to read the book to know where I’m going with this hehe.
Holly Black gives us an older sister, Vivienne. Vivienne is technically the twins half-sister, they have the same mother and different fathers which is why Vivi is fae. However, to all three they are sisters no matter what. I love Vivienne’s “don’t mess with me” rebel attitude. She definitely has an older sister syndrome, the protector of them all, the fighter and the rebel. I hope I see more of her in the next book to come.
Cardan, one of the High Kings son, a true douchebag. I always cringed with what he was going to do next but I loved him. There was something about him that kept me intrigued. Cardan has many aspects of him that we learn throughout the book. There was also Locke, lover of stories. He loved stories so much that he would create them, it didn’t matter to him who he was hurting or intertwining with. There are many other important characters that we meet, however I would be here all day. (please read the book)
Overall, I loved this book and I cannot wait for the continuing books in this series. Holly Black knows how to write!!!! She gave me plot twist, surprises, darkness, and an amazing expanded world. Although we meet many characters, she definitely flushes them all out while still keeping the complexity. This isn’t the happy dandy book which I actually tend to love more when it comes to Fantasy. Holly Black really has me wondering what she will come up with in the next books.
My twin Lilly @ Lair Of Books also read The Cruel Prince and you can check out her Spoiler-Free Review here! We asked each other the same 5 questions. And while chit chatting about the book through our FaceTime dates, I found that we felt the same and loved The Cruel Prince. Just like me, this was her first time reading a Holly Black book. In asking what was her experience like reading Holly Black for the first time, Lilly responded that she had a great experience. She enjoyed the dark writing, the lush world building and complex characters. Trust me bookish peeps, you should’ve heard her talking about this book, she was really ecstatic! I then asked her who was her favorite character and she responded with Jude! I mean it’s not that hard to love Jude, she’s pretty awesome. We then started talking about fae books and comparing it to other fae books we’ve read, we asked one another what made the world of Elfhame stand out. Lilly responded that the characters in The Cruel Prince were flushed out and there were also many descriptions in the story such as lush food, the laws, the do’s and don’ts of humans in Elfhame, and there was also political intrigue. In Cruel Prince, we meet Vivi who is the main character’s fae sister and opposes the idea of living in Elfhame. We asked one another if given the choice, would you live in the human world as a fae or would you live as a human in the fae world? Here is where Lilly and I started a fit of giggles! Twin said that she would live as a human in the fae world so she can figure out how to become a fae. She would network her way in similar to Jude and get to know the undergrounds of Elfhame. Lilly, you smart. Lastly we asked one another a vey important question. Do we plan on reading any of Holly’s other books? And the answer to that is OF COURSE!! Lilly definitely wants to read The Darkest Part of the Forest as her next Holly Black book.
that is all for today book nerds! have you read the cruel prince or plan on to? what are your thoughts? i would love to chat in the comments!
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Synopsis:
I recently finished Stalking Jack the Ripper by Kerri Maniscalco and I really liked this book! I rated SJTR a 4 star and I am hoping to have a non spoiler review up sometime this week, fingers crossed. I love the main character and how bad ass she is, especially in an era where misogyny is huge. She loves science and isn’t afraid to admit that she does even when people frown upon her for it.
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Synopsis:
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chicnerdreads 