The Cruel Prince (The Folk of the Air, #1) by Holly Black Published by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers on January 2, 2018
Pages: 370
Goodreads
Of course I want to be like them. They’re beautiful as blades forged in some divine fire. They will live forever.
And Cardan is even more beautiful than the rest. I hate him more than all the others. I hate him so much that sometimes when I look at him, I can hardly breathe.
Jude was seven when her parents were murdered and she and her two sisters were stolen away to live in the treacherous High Court of Faerie. Ten years later, Jude wants nothing more than to belong there, despite her mortality. But many of the fey despise humans. Especially Prince Cardan, the youngest and wickedest son of the High King.
To win a place at the Court, she must defy him–and face the consequences.
As Jude becomes more deeply embroiled in palace intrigues and deceptions, she discovers her own capacity for trickery and bloodshed. But as betrayal threatens to drown the Courts of Faerie in violence, Jude will need to risk her life in a dangerous alliance to save her sisters, and Faerie itself.
The Cruel Prince is one of the best books I’ve read so far this year. I love tales of faerie cruelty and as this book literally starts with murder, I was taken in quickly and ready to find what else this book would hold. What I loved most about this book is that is very much focused on the love and loyalty of family, but also of making the best of a terrible situation. There’s only slight romance but it’s not a driving point and I really liked that aspect. For the most part, it’s about Jude, who is a human who has been taken in by her stepfather (basically) – her older sisters true father – who is the faerie commander. The three girls (two human and one half faerie) are growing up and need to find their place in the world that can be cruel but it is all they have known besides the few years they spent in the human world and the few hours their older sister will take them back there for.
There’s of course the bully character, a prince who finds pleasure in torturing Jude because she will stand up to him. Her human sister Taryn wants nothing more than to fit in – her dream is to fall in love and find a way to remain in faerie. Jude wants to be important – a knight’s guard even – her stepfather being a bloody murderous faerie – she strives to impress him and she does in a way. I love the twists and turns in this book, the intrigue, the way Jude finds her way to acceptance while still preserving who she is.
Verdict:
Definitely one of my favorites so far this year and I cannot wait for the next book!
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- Book Review: One Last Shot + Giveaway - May 14, 2020
- Book Review: Air Awakens - May 13, 2020
The next book is more intense, more heartbreaking, more betrayals, just more. I love this series.