Holly BlackFantasy · Fiction·b. 1971
The Cruel Prince
Synopsis
Jude was seven years old when a faerie knight murdered her parents and carried her and her two sisters across the sea to live in the treacherous High Court of Faerie. Ten years later, Jude is a mortal girl raised among immortals — and she wants nothing more than to belong, even though the fey despise humans and take cruel pleasure in reminding her that she does not.
Chief among her tormentors is Prince Cardan, the youngest and most vicious son of the High King. To secure a place at court and protect herself and her sisters, Jude defies him — and is drawn into a dangerous web of palace intrigue, shifting alliances, and outright treason. As rival factions maneuver for the throne, she discovers she is willing to do almost anything, and become almost anyone, to survive and to win power in a world that was never meant to be hers.
The first book in Holly Black's bestselling Folk of the Air trilogy, The Cruel Prince is a sharp, seductive fantasy of ambition, betrayal, and the fine line between hatred and desire.
How it reads
- Writing5.0
- Impact5.0
- Characters5.0
- Plot5.0
- Atmosphere5.0
Prose complexity 4/10
Spice level
5.0 avg spice
- between 3.5 and 4 stars. i've been reading this for the past two days and at first i was sure i'd give it 3 stars, but ended up giving it more because of that ending. <br><br>things i disliked: <br>- slow paced. the first half of the book went by without much happening and it was even a bit boring sometimes. it paced up in the second half, and especially in the last third of the book, which is when most of the action happened. <br>- i didn't think that the characters were round enough, and sometimes they lacked some emotions that would normally have more importance in a plot like this. but they were charming and i came to care for some of them. <br>- that there wasn't much world building, which felt a bit superficial.<br><br>what i liked: <br>- FAIRIES. JUST FABULOUS. <br>- that the main character wasn't the typical "i live for a certain moral code and i'd die for it" girl. she is actually awful at some points: she is a liar, a cheater, an egotistic and selfish woman who is ready to do anything for power and the things she wants. i liked that a lot. <br>- the plot, which might be contradictory to what i previously said about it being slow paced, but the story itself was interesting: i liked the plot twist at the end and i like that the last chapter made me want to pick up the second book to fin out how things will turn out. <br>- i am assuming this follows the "enemy-to-lovers" trope, and i'm all in for that, even though i don't see how those two can end up together when they are both awful and they've both done terrible things to each other. but i'm invested in this now and there is no turning back.
- 4 stars Male Lead: Cardan Greenbriar Female Lead: Jude Duarte (make sure to check out the official art of all the characters; @frostbite.studios on Instagram) I got introduced to this book by my friend. Ngl, this is my first English paperback book I owned since I don't read books in my own language. This book really got me out of my cringey, wattpad era. Kinda crazy the first book that I picked up was a fantasy book and it's a freaking trilogy. It was kinda surprising too knowing most of fantasy books provided a map inside them to make it more convenience for us readers. At the very early chapters, I was so dumbfounded and confused about the characters. It was kinda boring at first but then the bullying scenes were the reason I try to keep up my reading pace to finish it. The politic plot were no joke, I understand nothing. For the sake of enemies going to be lover soon in the next book maybe, I decided to force myself to finish this book. I was not expecting Cardan's behavior to be that bad though but I guess the title itself is a warning, not just a fun display. So far, I really loved Jude. Tell me why is she so mommy coded. Urm, I'm weak for a strong and tough woman. Cardan on the other side was an arsehole and a loser. I was contemplating on how many stars this book deserves. At first, I was thinking to give it maybe 3-4 stars but to give my first book a low rating just don't sit well with me. So, 4 stars is it then.
- DNF Lo he dejado en el capítulo 11. No me gusta la toxicidad que hay entre los dos protagonistas que claramente tendrán un romance. No me gusta que se romantize el abuso ni la toxicidad, asi que este libro ni lo he podido acabar, ni llegar a la mitad, sinceramente. La protagonista tampoco me gusta. En mi opinión no está bien escrita desde el prólogo, y honestamente, la historia no me ha enganchado. No me ha hecho acabar un capítulo y querer seguir leyendo, sino al contrario: leía 30 páginas y parecían como 200. Once capítulos y se me han hecho muy pesados. Honestamente me he llevado una decepción: pensaba que la autora habría escrito un buen "enemies to lovers", pero no. Para mí, no lo es. Es simplemente una historia que romantiza el abuso. Y honestamente, no es de mi agrado. Ha sido toda una decepción. Honestamente no continuaré con la saga, y sinceramente ahora tengo dudas en ver las demás obras de la autora.
- This trilogy is pretty famous online, and the main reason of why I wanted to read it, is because I love literary experiments from time to time, to see what the fuss is all about! This might be my biggest literary surprise since... I can't remember! Not a single eye roll while I was reading, not a cringe moment, NOTHING! I just devoured it and loved every bit of it! Yes, it's YA, but sooooo good! For once an easy, entertaining fantasy without romance being the main trope, here everything is more political, court machinations, scheming, power struggles. The main character, Jude, is everything but a weak young lady waiting to be saved, she is brave, smart, rebellious, complex! This was so enjoyable, a perfect summer read!
- I was definitely expecting more considering how popular this is. I like the plot - meaning the intrigues and discovered secrets - but I also dislike how just... wattpadey and cringy some parts were. Especially the main couple and their dialogues are such bad cliches. <br>Most of the time I dislike female protagonists but Jude surprisingly isn't one of them. She can be unreasonable, self-centered and throws pity parties for herself constantly so she's irritating sometimes but other than that she actually /does/ anything with what live throws at her.
- This book is the CEO of enemies to lovers Also I tried to guess what would happen but literally in the prologue I guessed the main character wrong ... To say the least, a great page turner, loved the main character and the story but i need to read the next book to form better judgement on several characters I mean they are all fae... hard to be trusted
- I really enjoyed this way more than I thought I would. It’s definitely a slow one and way more focused on the politics of the Faerie world than the enemies to lovers story of Cardan and Jude but that’s what I expected going into it. Definitely one of the best YA fantasy books I’ve read for a long while. Highly recommend it
- This book was AMAZINGGGGGG. OMG. I LITERALLY SCREAMED!!!!!! My heart was and still is pounding, and at one point I hold my breath. insert claps "Because you’re like a story that hasn’t happened yet. Because I want to see what you will do. I want to be part of the unfolding of the tale.”
- אנטישמית מסריחה והספרים שלה גרועים
- Perfect