Review: The Cruel Prince – Holly Black

My rating: 4/5 stars

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Jude was seven 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.

As Jude becomes more deeply embroiled in palace intrigues and deceptions, she discovers her own capacity for trickery and bloodshed. But as betrayal 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.

My thoughts

I feel like The Cruel Prince was at a bit of a disadvantage because I read this quite soon after I had finished A Court of Thorns and Roses and if you haven’t read my review for it, just know I LOVED it. Although they are different, the concept of faeries is similar enough for me to keep comparing the two whilst I was reading.

The world of Faerie is set out well by Holly Black although it is something that is built on throughout the novel which helped. Not everything is made clear at the start so the development of the world throughout was needed. I think this world just took slightly more working out than others.

Jude was such a complex character and I loved her. At the start I was confused about her feelings towards the ‘man’ who murdered her parents as I expected her to have stronger emotions against him. Jude was a headstrong character and although I was expecting more romance in this novel, by the end I was glad it wasn’t there as much because it allowed her character to truly shine. I do see a romance blossoming in the second novel.

The character and plotline development was so interesting. Throughout the novel I felt that Jude got stronger and more self-assured and I loved it. The plot developed quite quickly towards the end and this is what made a lot of things fall into place for me. Holly Black wrote Jude’s character so brilliantly and the plot was very well thought out; everything fit together so well.

As I mentioned, while I was reading The Cruel Prince I was constantly comparing it to the A Court of Thorns and Roses (ACOTAR) and yet the two were very different. You can tell that A Cruel Prince is aimed, and more successfully marketed, towards a Young Adult audience whereas ACOTAR I felt was more of a New Adult/adult fantasy novel that is mistakenly labelled Young Adult. However, even reading The Cruel Prince as an adult I thoroughly enjoyed it adored Jude and Cardan as characters and I can’t wait to see how they develop.

I have ordered Wicked King which is the second novel in the Folk of the Air series. I am not in such a rush to read it so I have ordered it from the library. I think the second novel will be where a lot more of the action takes place and maybe even some romance.

This novel, along with ACOTAR, has definitely restored my faith in fantasy series and I look forward to reading more of them. I would recommend this novel to those who want to escape to another world as I really was transported. For those who are fans of a strong female lead character I wouldn’t hesitate in recommending you this novel.

Do you have a suggestion for the next book to add to my bookshelf? Let me know in comments.