Reviews with content warning for Gore - The Cruel Prince

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The Cruel Prince by Holly Black

117 reviews

winterfall's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I wasn’t too sure on this when I first picked it up. I’m not too fond of first person perspective, but this book really grew on me. Don’t get me wrong, the main character is 100% a Mary Sue. But she’s actually written well? Holly made her come to life in a way that I didn’t expect at all. Jude has flaws, wants, desires, goals that aren’t impossible but are challenging enough that you are also rooting for her. These goals change as the plot progresses, but the overarching theme stays the same in the sense that she wants power, and holds onto it as much as she can. From the start, her powerlessness at seeing her parents die gives her reason for her motives, rather than feeling stale and forced, and this theme continues as we see the sisters’ lives in Faerieland - not only how they are looked down on as being mortal, but how their physical differences inhibit them from their dreams. Everything that Jude does is for power, for control, and I love how Holly keeps her consistant throughout the entire book.

Not only did I find myself falling in love with Jude, but with the entire cast. I really loved the comparison between Jude and her twin sister, Taryn. Taryn is the polar opposite of Jude - nurturing, demure, but also ruthless when needs be. Despite this, it is clear that Taryn’s main motive is also power, though she goes about it in a completely different way.

At first I felt that Vivi was completely unnecessary for the plot, but as time progressed, I understood why she was included. Vivi represents everything that Jude and Taryn cannot have - power without consequence, and humanity. It is extremely ironic since Taryn and Jude are fully human, but they lost their humanity as children. Vivi embraced hers the second Madoc murdered her mother. It was refreshing to see this alternate perspective.

Since this is only the first book, we don’t get a lot of romance between Cardan and Jude, but I loved the dynamic between the two of them. It is not a healthy relationship, and Holly Black fully exploits that. Cardan isn’t human, and so this relationship will be anything but - it is nasty, dark, built on lies and manipulation and I love everything about it. However, Holly does well in planting the seeds for eventually developing their romance into something less harsh, and I liked seeing the various ways that Cardan can vague around his true feelings for Jude while still maintaining his distance. I’m excited to see where this goes!

Overall, I enjoyed The Cruel Prince. I never thought this would be the series to get me back into reading. It is a little predictable in places, but entertaining enough to keep me engaged, and I loved the world Holly has built up and the complexity of its characters.

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wrappingpaper's review against another edition

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adventurous funny mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

Going into this I didn’t expect to enjoy this nearly as much as I did. This was my first time ever reading anything to do with fae - I’m definitely going to read more.
This book is essentially perfect to me - it felt so magical yet easy to read and the stakes felt high and I was rooting for the romance so much. I wish there was more of Cardan and Jude interaction - the only reason I didn’t give it 5 stars.
Overall I think this book helped me solidify my favourite trope ever -enemies to lovers prince romance. I can’t wait to dive into the second and third books where hopefully their relationship will bloom even further and the tension will get even stronger.
I fully recommend!!

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aysha_blake's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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its_kievan's review against another edition

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emotional fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.5

Even going into The Cruel Prince knowing that it wasn’t my kind of book, the first half draaaagged. Jude is a frustratingly passive character, which makes sense as someone living in a constant state of fear but also doesn’t make for a very compelling story. But when the plot finally kicks in, and Jude starts actually doing things instead of just talking about them, I was genuinely engaged in what was happening. Not enough smut, though (rest in peace ACOTAR).

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sop17hie's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No

3.0

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thelibraryofjen's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

Jude is my new favorite character and I get the hype about Cardan. THE TAIL WAS CRAZY THOUGHHHH. The only reason why this isn’t 5 stars is because I was expecting enemies-to-lovers, but this is more like bully to friend to
lovers. I loved the plot and the overall political intrigue which really kept me entertained. Some people find this book boring because of that aspect but personally me I really enjoyed it. I will be continuing on to the second book whenever I get around to that.

Jude was an absolute badass and I was rooting for her through the whole book

why tf would Tyran do that to her SISTER?!!! I was utterly shocked and betrayed when that happend and Locke is an ick in itself. I loved the little found family with the Bomb, Roach, and Ghost that was very heart warming to see. The ending was ABSOLUTELY NOT EXPECT and I have to say I didn’t see it coming I really though Oak was going to be crowned. I really got immersed into the story and I just loved the characters and the world.

If you Love:
-found family
-bully-to friends-to lovers
-knife to throat
-batter
-lots of tension between love interests

Genre/Type: Fantasy Fiction 15+
(paperback)
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
Spice: 🌶️
Series or Standalone: First book in a trilogy (has a spin off series with oak this needs to be read first in order to understand the spin off series)

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annierrra's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

4.0

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starryeyedreads's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

Non-spoiler bit: The book is great. If you like Holly Black's other fae books then you will like this. If you haven't read anything by Holly Black, I would recommend starting with the Modern Faerie Tales series, because it chronologically happens before this series does.

The spoiler bit:

expect betrayal, trying to figure out what's going to happen next only to be wrong cause the book sets up for multiple unexpected plot twists. Enemies to lovers trope is present. Some of the characters are just down right evil, but well written. In terms of diversity, there isn't much in the way of POC representation, but there is LGBT+ rep, and the folk are very diverse and you can definitely find yourself in the characters regardless of their appearance.

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wrensreadingroom's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional funny mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

5.0

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cosy_armchair_reader's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

A wonderful book despite being a huge booktoc book it really is dark and has some great twists. Love the otherworldly clash with the "mortal world" setting. Definitely would recommend, this is my second time reading and I would suggest people do reread this as new things come to life but so do the characters and I really enjoyed reading this. Praise to Holly Black for creating such a beautiful book. Am looking forward to reading the Wicked King and seeing some more of

Jarden

5 stars

Updated 10th August 2023
Looking back on this book after reading the sequel ( The Wicked King ) I have to say that this book did have some faults. It was a very slow process to start and ramp up after that bombshell of a prologue. It was also very political and the book seems to spend a lot of time making sure the scene is set right for the rest of this series. Which I will praise Holly Black for because it means you don't have to read a lot of that in the sequel
Can I also address Cardan's group:
I found Locke to be your classic manipulator

and found myself screaming at Jude for being so blind and then for losing her sister because of him. A boy nonetheless.

I found Nicasia to be a little whiny at times and at others your stereotypical 'mean girl' antagonist

( her character definitely improves in the sequel )

Valarian was going about everything in the wrong way

and Cardan's intentions seemed blatantly obvious after a re - read.

I don't want to put people off reading this incredible book ( please read it ) but I also want to console those who had a hard time reading this / didn't finish this I reccomend you read the review by solislibro on the Wicked King.
4.5 stars

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