A review by oliverreeds
The Cruel Prince by Holly Black

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

3.5

eh. lots of straight peopled doing straight people things. the characters are repetitive and the situations are as well. the writing style is enjoyable but the plot was a little too predictable for my taste. sometimes it seemed as if there was just cruelty for cruelty's sake instead of actually being a motivator. i also didn't like how almost every character was white... they're fairies, mythical beings, and you choose caucasian? the fairy characters also don't act much different than humans. there's honestly nothing keeping them apart except for eternal life, and i wanted to see more from that. the conflicts seemed to be heavily teen drama centered instead of political conflict based, the actuality of saving a kingdom, or heavier themes. i feel like the author created an interesting world but then failed to adequately utilize it.
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