*Feature Friday is a meme hosted by The Tattered Page to feature YA books that have not yet been released by reviewing them.
*Warning: This review may contain spoilers. Read at your own risk.
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Release Date: January 2, 2018
Pages: 384
Source: ARC
The Story:
By #1 New York Times bestselling author Holly Black, the first book in a stunning new series about a mortal girl who finds herself caught in a web of royal faerie intrigue.
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.
via Amazon
Rating:
One-word Review: OBSESSED
Reading Tune: Gangsta - Kehlani
My Review:
I am utterly obsessed with The Cruel Prince!
I was fortunate enough to snag a copy of The Cruel Prince at ALA Annual 2017. And boy am I ever grateful! The Cruel Prince is actually only the second novel by Holly Black I have read -- the first being The Darkest Part of the Forest which I enjoyed. I loved reading The Cruel Prince!
Tag Line:
Of course I want to be like them. They're beautiful as blades forged in some divine fire. They will live forever.
Opening Line:
In Faerie, there are no fish sticks, no ketchup, no television.
Plot:
To be honest, I was more than a little in love with The Cruel Prince.
“I am going to keep on defying you. I am going to shame you with my defiance. You remind me that I am a mere mortal and you are a prince of Faerie. Well, let me remind you that means you have much to lose and I have nothing. You may win in the end, you may ensorcell me and hurt me and humiliate me, but I will make sure you lose everything I can take from you on the way down. I promise you this is the least of what I can do.”
The pacing of The Cruel Prince was a perfect for the unfolding of the plot, I believe. There was fantasy, realism, tension, passionate, aching and anger. The opening scene of the story completely hooked me. A Fey lord shows up at his human-ex-wife's house, slaughters her and her husband then takes their twins and his own daughter.
Jude grows up an outcast in another realm, host to a High Fey court, simply because she is human. While her twin is complacent and satisfied with life in Fey court, Jude is determined to prove herself. To show the Fey who torment her, she is not less than. She wants to prove she can be just like them.
But will Jude survive deadly subterfuge, and the political intrigue of High Fey court? Or the the betrayals from those closest to her? Her friends are her enemies and her enemies, her friends.
“I have lied and I have betrayed and I have triumphed. If only there was someone to congratulate me.”
The Cruel Prince was the package-deal. Holly Blacks' writing was magical. It was authentic and gripping. The Cruel Prince was its own world and I fully immersed. The story, the writing and the world-building was so captivated I could not put the book down. I was invested.
All in all, I loved The Cruel Prince and highly recommend it to anyone who listens; I recommended it to a few people so far and it was well-received. As a former anti-fey and fantasy reader, I encourage even those who are in the same I was in to definitely give The Cruel Prince a try. You will not regret it!
Character Breakdown:
Jude Duarte : If I had to choose a single word to describe Jude it would be: FIERCE. This girl is fierce in everything she does. She loves fiercely. She's fiercely loyal. She's a fierce warrior and strategist.
“If I cannot be better than them, I will become so much worse.”
“If you hurt me, I wouldn't cry. I would hurt you back.”
Prince Cardan: Cardan, oh, Cardan. He is the enigma you love to hate and secretly pine over the way he makes Jude's existence miserable but obsessing over her in the darkest pits of his loathing because he hates that he loves her . . .
“Most of all, I hate you because I think of you. Often. It's disgusting, and I can't stop.”
We know, Cardan. We know, you sexy, sadistic asshole. And we can't stop thinking of you either!
Here is one of my favorite quotes from The Cruel Prince:
“So I am to sit here and feed you information,” Cardan says, leaning against a hickory tree. “And you’re to go charm royalty? That seems entirely backward.”
I fix him with a look. “I can be charming. I charmed you, didn’t I?”
He rolls his eyes. “Do not expect others to share my depraved tastes.” -- Cardan to Jude
“I am tired of caring,” I say. “Why should I?”
“Because they could kill you!”“They better,” I say to her. “Because anything less than that isn’t going to work.” -- Jude to Taryn
About Author:
Holly Black is the author of bestselling contemporary fantasy books for kids and teens. Some of her titles include The Spiderwick Chronicles (with Tony DiTerlizzi), The Modern Faerie Tale series, the Curse Workers series, Doll Bones, The Coldest Girl in Coldtown, the Magisterium series (with Cassandra Clare) and The Darkest Part of the Forest. She has been a a finalist for an Eisner Award, and the recipient of the Andre Norton Award, the Mythopoeic Award and a Newbery Honor. She currently lives in New England with her husband and son in a house with a secret door.
***Check out Holly Black's website for more information about her and the The Cruel Prince: HERE
Happy Reading!