A review by k_dorner
The Cruel Prince by Holly Black

Did not finish book. Stopped at 56%.

For me, characters are key. Even if the plot is somewhat boring or chaotic, as long as I care about the characters I can find something to enjoy. 56% of the way through this book and the ONLY character I cared about even a little was a human servant that was in the book for like 5 minutes… The “plot” stuff just kind of happens out of the blue, no real explanations or nuance.

Ok and I have to have spoilers to talk about the thing I disliked most about this story so far. I cannot stand how the bully characters and the MC interact. Like the fact that she and Locke are a “thing” now?! Are you kidding?! He barely even objects when the main bully guy, Cardigan or whatever, does things that could LITERALLY kill her! And the moment I decided to stop was when she killed Valerian. That b*tch broke into YOUR room with a KNIFE to ACTUALLY KILL YOU and when you kill him in self defense you’re blaming it on YOURSELF?!?! Absolutely not.

Definitely will not be re-trying and will not continue with the series.