A review by rabeekster
The Cruel Prince by Holly Black

adventurous mysterious tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Definitely slow-paced for 65% of the book but the payoff in the end is good. The Locke subplot was dragged on for too long and those pages would've been better off spent on some of the politics in the book which felt a bit weak. Obviously, the title of the book is The Cruel Prince but I do think some of his behavior is excessive and unjustifiable; however, the book does a good job of setting up a position for Jude to be in power (so that after a year, there is no power imbalance between the two (I am not sure if this will be the case but perhaps). Nevertheless, Cardan was definitely not as cruel as the other members of his group and I believe this was done deliberately but did end up making the readers have more empathy for him. I liked the Oak plot twist. I liked how the relationship between Jude and Madoc was written. I liked how the three sisters had different relationships with the world. Jude's character herself is very flawed but done in a realistic way and I am interested to see the direction of her character. 
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