The Cruel Prince by Holly Black // A Dark Fantasy Ft. Murderous Faeries and Heavenly Food

I finally read this book…and I’m not happy.

I mean, I’m glad I did, but let’s just say that I was disappointed with this.*

I have so many mixed feelings about this, but first, please transport me to Faerieland so I can do the following: stuff my face, smack Cardan, and dance until I can’t feel my legs.

*Warning: there may be spoilers. Proceed with caution.

THE CRUEL PRINCE

Holly Black ll January 2, 2018

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

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. 

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I’d heard so many good things about this one, and I finally gave in to the hype. Little did I know that it killed the book for me. I had extremely high expectations for TCP, but it turned out to be just good. That’s not what I wanted. I wanted my expectations to go through the roof. I wanted mind-blowing plot twists and A++ world building. I was mildly satisfied.

I like for things to happen, for stories to unfold. And if I can’t find a good enough story, I make one.

Jude is one of my top morally grey characters of the year, but also one of the most annoying. I mean, I did love her, but she was so ugh (just go with it). She never ever stopped complaining about being mortal and wishing she was faerie to the point where I was practically sick of her.

She’s also very short-tempered (like me), but she just gets so angry at the tiniest things. When she gets angry, she gets angry. 

Another reason I dislike Jude: some of her actions were just so reckless, and I like! reasonable! characters! Maybe she isn’t for me after all.

If you hurt me, I wouldn’t cry. I would hurt you back.

Cardan. Everyone’s favorite cinnamon roll, everyone’s favorite fictional boyfriend. He’s literally a K-pop idol of countless YA readers. I don’t get all that. Let’s be totally honest here: he’s an absolute jerk. I don’t know why I don’t like him. I wanted to like him so badly. But I ended up hating him instead. Maybe I need his backstory to–I dunno– actually care about him?

One specific scene really rubbed me in the wrong way. So Cardan’s tied up in a chair, defenseless, and Jude’s pointing a knife at him, about to kill him. Then Cardan suddenly admits that he likes Jude romantically and I just passed out from disbelief. He’s such a fraud. Only admits that when he’s about to die. How romantic. And even more: JUDE. BELIEVES. HIM (only one example of her being stupid). And then she kisses him. wHAT. That did NOT just happen.

Overall, I liked TCP okay. Before I started this, I though it was a book you either loved or hated, but I guess I was wrong.

This book is one of those really overhyped ones, but I can see why so many people loved this. Originally, I was going to stop reading the series. But for the sake of Faerie, I’ll continue.

:: rep :: bisexual SC

:: content warnings ::

physical abuse, emotional abuse, bullying, violence, murder, suicide

have you read the folk of the air trilogy? does it deserve the hype? what other fantasy books do you love?

happy halloween, everyone!!

Credits for image in my featured image >> Photo by Ben White on Unsplash

Credits for side image >> Photo by Yeshi Kangrang on Unsplash