Holy Moly Holly Black!
The Cruel Prince is a new release that came out Jan 2nd, 2018. I subscribe to OwlCrate and they included it in their subscription box (thank youuuu) and also were kind enough to provide it signed by the author ~ #fangirling #noregrets hahaha
This book follows the story of Jude, who was stolen from the mortal realm as a child and raised in the land of Fey. Did I mention the man raising her killed her parents? (warning: personal opinion) Oh and her twin sister is a little useless and her older sister is a little crazy but well meaning? All good things to start off an interesting plot~ <3 NOTE: This is the first book in a new series and the next books have not been released yet. (In case you’re a marathon reader, not a sprint reader haha)
“If I cannot be better than them, I will become so much worse.”
― Holly Black, The Cruel Prince
Let me start this review by saying that I actually wasn’t on the bandwagon for this book in the first part. Even the first couple chapters. Remember me mentioning I have an issue with ‘stupid decision making being made by smart characters’? Yeah, this has that. Literally the first couple chapters of this book had me rolling my eyes and glaring at Jude. She is a hard one to like. HOWEVER, they’re doing this for character growth. It’s hard to like her and relate to her but she starts to slowly develop and get better.
That’s when this book gets good.
Part two part two part two! You are all here and reading this book for PART AMAZING TWO. Excellent writing and twists everyone. Things hit fast and hard and the last 100 or so pages FLY. Stayed up late… Woke up early. Finished it. I needed more. *bites nails*
Side notes: Book Two & Book Three Titles have been announced:
(2019) Book 2 – The Wicked King
(2020) Book 3 – The Queen of Nothing
Let the wait game begin…. *cries in corner*
“Because you’re like a story that hasn’t happened yet. Because I want to see what you will do. I want to be part of the unfolding of the tale.”
― Holly Black, The Cruel Prince
Dialogue for this book is pretty well done, the character development is solid (thank you part two of the book), and the writing improved as we read on in the story.
Fey in this series are not like Maas’s Fey or fairytale Fey. This is more like the The Sidhe (Aos Sí) from Irish Folklore, where the highest Fey are gorgeous AND terrible in their beauty. These fey would eat you while you scream rather than grant you wishes or fairy dust. Make sense? We don’t want to meet these Fey in a back alley, much less at your front door.
Overall Summary:
- Overall Rating: 4 Stars
- Plot: 5 Stars
- Character Development: 3.5 Stars
- Dialogue: 4 Stars
- Writing: 4 Stars
Cruel Prince is slow to start but improves by leaps and bounds by the end of the book. I’m highly looking forward to books two and three and would recommend this to anyone that enjoys fantasy. It’s easily appropriate for YA (13+) but probably not under that age, as there is violence and implication to sexual items.
Go read it!~ <3
Ash
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