Release Date: January 2nd, 2018
Genre(s): Young Adult, Fantasy
Pages: 384
Source: Amazon
Rating:
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.
I fell into countless slumps, was DNF'ing titles I knew had the potential to be great, and the little motivation I had left to blog was squashed down to nothing. I just wasn't in the mood. On average, I typically knock down 65-75 books per year, pathetically, I finished 2017 with a measly 33 books under my belt, some of which I don't even recall getting through. Shameful, I know . .
2018 is my year for redemption though.
My urge to blog hasn't been this strong in ages, and since I've recently devoured two amazing titles, why not kick my year off right?
I am weak. I am fragile. I am mortal.
I hate that most of all.
I went into this story not really knowing what to expect at all. Entertaining the idea of reading about " Faeries, " who at that time I believed were Tinkerbells on crack, didn't actually come about until I discovered and devoured both the TOG and ACOTAR series. Sarah J Maas was basically all that I knew when it came to Fae. I had become quite accustomed to her winged people with their fangs-and abs-and nice hair that smelled like pine-and snow-and male-and amethyst-and sweat-and wind from northern hemispheres, with their broody attitudes and panty dropping looks. Never did it dawn on me that there may have been more to Fae than just this. Now don't get me wrong, I feel as though my introduction to the Faerie world was a damn good one, (point me to someone, anyone who tops the Night Court) but what Holly delivered really has me second guessing who I originally crowned queen.
As my very first title from Holly Black, I didn't have any previous works of hers to compare it to, but I knew from the very first chapter it would be a hit for me. The writing was just so damn imaginative, and it wasn't difficult at all to envision the many creatures she created within this world. Amongst the half human/half animals (Faerie folk I believe they are called) were ogres, creepy things called Nixies, frogs used as carriages, magical forests . . . just so many different things to be intrigued by, which added to the whimsical vibe of the story.
What I enjoyed the most about The Cruel Prince, was that you couldn't really trust a soul, including our main character Jude. She wasn't necessarily unreliable, but I found that her being so head-strong and determined to be better than the Faerie folk, made her quite unpredictable -- you never knew what she was planning next. I adored how fierce and clever she was when standing up to Cardan and the rest of her bullies, never backing down from any challenge they threw her way, however, there's a part of me that expected more development from her character. From the very beginning we witness just how desperate she is to become a knight, to dance with a sword against anyone that crossed her, yet, she never actually received that opportunity. Jude had so much fire within her that I felt was being suppressed and as I continued to read, I noticed just how similar she was to Feyre. Both were sort of held back from their true potential in book 1, but since 99% of the time this is intentional, I'm pretty fucking excited to see just how our skilled swordswoman will roll some heads in the second.
Cardan was a character that I initially hated, but I'm a sucker for anti-heroes aka fuck boys, so it didn't take very long for him to grow on me, especially when I figured out the " why " behind all of his actions. This doesn't mean that his choices are forgiven because lord that asshole did the most, but I'd be lying if I said he hasn't managed to squeeze his furry tailed ass into the most tender side of my heart. Like Jude, he's another character I hoped to see more development from, (a perspective in his narrative would've resolved this IMO) so I'm banking on a POV from him in the next installment and some sexy times while we're at it.
There is quite a bit that I wanted to discuss, but to keep the review as spoiler free as I could, I thought it best to only touch basis on just a few minor aspects. The Cruel Prince was deliciously dark, full of enough scandalousness, politics, betrayal, and gore to keep me on the edge of my seat. I have seen the light and am now ready to be lured from under The Night Court to slaughter some hoes alongside Jude come the sequel. As everyone stated, this was the perfect introduction to Holly Black, I'm just salty af it took me so long.
I'm putting the blame on ya'll of course. LOL
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