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A review by crackedspines_
The Cruel Prince by Holly Black
5.0
The Cruel Prince is absolutely magnificent. It is dreamy, haunting, magical, and terrifying all at once. Holly Black writes like no other author I've read. I grew my vocabulary reading this book. The plot twists and surprises were completely unexpected, but didn't feel like they were pulled out of thin air. They made sense, and you cold trace the clues back. I could always tell when something big was about to happen, but I rarely knew what it was. The ending was a huge cliffhanger and left me yearning for more. Sadly, I have a few other books I need to read before I can read The Wicked King, but I know that TCP will be in a corner of my brain the whole time between now and the day I pick up The Wicked King. I am so glad that I decided to pick this book up.
PLOT: 5/5 stars. Full of lightly foreshadowed but perfectly logical twists and turns. Made me relate to and care about the characters.
STRUCTURE: 4/5 stars. At times, especially towards the end, it was a bit difficult to keep up with what was happening when and who was where, but overall it was very comprehensive.
WORLD-BUILDING: 5/5 stars. The details describing the setting, the Folk, and the differences between the mortal and fae worlds made Faerie a very realistic, immersive place.
THEME: 4/5 stars. The theme is a bit muddy and hard to discern, and the theme(s) I can discern are dark and not necessarily morally or healthily neutral. However, I don't much hold that against the book because, after all, it is a fantasy novel.
CHARACTERS: 5/5 stars. Each of the characters had depth and layers, and they interacted with each other interestingly. This also helped to enhance the plot, structure, and world-building.
DIALOGUE: 4/5 stars. A bit too formal at times, but that may just be because the book mainly takes place in a royal court. Regardless, I overall enjoyed the dialogue and found it to be realistic and dimensional.
PLOT: 5/5 stars. Full of lightly foreshadowed but perfectly logical twists and turns. Made me relate to and care about the characters.
STRUCTURE: 4/5 stars. At times, especially towards the end, it was a bit difficult to keep up with what was happening when and who was where, but overall it was very comprehensive.
WORLD-BUILDING: 5/5 stars. The details describing the setting, the Folk, and the differences between the mortal and fae worlds made Faerie a very realistic, immersive place.
THEME: 4/5 stars. The theme is a bit muddy and hard to discern, and the theme(s) I can discern are dark and not necessarily morally or healthily neutral. However, I don't much hold that against the book because, after all, it is a fantasy novel.
CHARACTERS: 5/5 stars. Each of the characters had depth and layers, and they interacted with each other interestingly. This also helped to enhance the plot, structure, and world-building.
DIALOGUE: 4/5 stars. A bit too formal at times, but that may just be because the book mainly takes place in a royal court. Regardless, I overall enjoyed the dialogue and found it to be realistic and dimensional.