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A review by ladypalutena
The Cruel Prince by Holly Black
adventurous
dark
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? Yes
4.25
The last time I read a book by Holly Black, I was in middle school. It was Tithe, and I found myself unable to wrap my head around her writing style, so I've sort of avoided everything else by her since. I'm now more than 15 years older (man, that hurts to say) and I've found that after reading a ton of other fae-related books lately, this one is easier to understand.
It was a struggle through the first 20% or so of this book, but after that, I was able to wrap my head around the world and I settled down to read. I guess I've been on a "crotchety female lead" kick here lately, because this is the third series I've started this year with a main character that starts off unlikable (the other two being El from The Scholomance and Celaena from Throne of Glass). I was really frustrated with Jude in the beginning of the book - she had seen this fairy general murder her parents in front of her and take her away, and yet she's somehow never left? Even when Vivi, her older sister, attempted to take them back to the mortal realm, she begged to go back. And it makes sense - she was only seven when it happened, and kids of that age don't have too much object permanence.
Which is why I was surprised to find that Jude is really only here for revenge. There's a deep anger underlying everything she does, a way to get back at those who hurt her, a way to rise above being "just another mortal" and wanting to prove herself to the fae, and become a knight in one of their households. I can work with this, I thought.
And then halfway through the book, everything goes completely sideways.I had only figured out the twist a few pages before it was to happen, and was still shocked. And every time something else happened and Jude had to work her way through "Wait, what was that?", I was on the edge of my seat, because I found that even though I was working it out ahead of her, I was only just ahead of her.
The writing itself is a little simple, and it's easy to follow, and this is solidly in the YA category, so you do have some teenage shenanigans, but the last 30% of the book had me on the absolute edge of my seat. I don't know what I would have done if I wasn't reading this years later, and had to wait for the next book to be written. As it stands, I have to wait for the next one to be available on Libby, but that's a small price to pay instead of waiting years.
It was a struggle through the first 20% or so of this book, but after that, I was able to wrap my head around the world and I settled down to read. I guess I've been on a "crotchety female lead" kick here lately, because this is the third series I've started this year with a main character that starts off unlikable (the other two being El from The Scholomance and Celaena from Throne of Glass). I was really frustrated with Jude in the beginning of the book - she had seen this fairy general murder her parents in front of her and take her away, and yet she's somehow never left? Even when Vivi, her older sister, attempted to take them back to the mortal realm, she begged to go back. And it makes sense - she was only seven when it happened, and kids of that age don't have too much object permanence.
Which is why I was surprised to find that Jude is really only here for revenge. There's a deep anger underlying everything she does, a way to get back at those who hurt her, a way to rise above being "just another mortal" and wanting to prove herself to the fae, and become a knight in one of their households. I can work with this, I thought.
And then halfway through the book, everything goes completely sideways.
The writing itself is a little simple, and it's easy to follow, and this is solidly in the YA category, so you do have some teenage shenanigans, but the last 30% of the book had me on the absolute edge of my seat. I don't know what I would have done if I wasn't reading this years later, and had to wait for the next book to be written. As it stands, I have to wait for the next one to be available on Libby, but that's a small price to pay instead of waiting years.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Death, and Death of parent
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail and Self harm