Title: The Cruel Prince
Author: Holly Black
Publisher: Little Brown BFYR
Release Date: January 2, 2018
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've read my fair share of Holly Black books. Especially her faerie books. It would be correct to say that she is the reason I love faerie books so much, so you can imagine how excited I was when I learned she was returning to the world of the fey.
One of the things I loved so much about The Cruel Prince was the little easter eggs and references for her previous readers. Those who have read the Modern Faerie Tales and The Darkest Part of the Forest will definitely recognize some things, and I know most people probably missed these little things. But it was fun, since I caught them. It kind of makes you feel like you're in on a secret, because I know this book was crazy hyped, and a lot of the readers likely haven't read all of her books before.
Which is, of course, fine. But it was awesome being able to catch everything.
So we have Jude, a human girl who was whisked away to Faerie when she was seven, because of some strange sense of honor her parents' murderer had. And so she and her two sisters grew up among the Folk, hated by those with more power.
I will refrain from spoiling you, but I will say that there are twists along the way. Most of them I guessed eventually. But I could see them being pretty shocking to a lot of people.
So let's talk about this Prince Cardan fellow. The one everyone is obsessed with, including me. Because he's awesome and he's an ass. And yet, he's not nearly the ass that some characters in this book are. Who shall remain nameless for spoilers-sake. And even if the Cardan/Jude ship weren't a real thing (like, you know, Darklina), I would still be all here for it. Give me all the dark and broody boys with questionable morals.
I know some people weren't thrilled with the ending, but I loved it. I think it fit perfectly, and it is so Holly Black. I cannot wait for the next book.
Overall
I could really talk about this book all day, so I'll just cut it off here.
5 stars
No comments:
Post a Comment