Reviews with content warning for Sexual assault - The Cruel Prince

I will give two stars because I appreciated certain points of the book. Like, the portrayal of faerie lore and the malicious attitude towards mortals? I did like that. I also liked that there were certain niche memories of Jude’s that felt relatable, like the sticky fingers and television childhood, as well as different descriptions of emotions she was feeling.

However, this book’s pacing was hell on my ADHD and it truly felt like a chore to read. There were parts that were engaging and I had no problem getting through chapters, and others were so slow that I would lose focus and go do something else. This book took me a month to read, which is atrocious and I wish I had a the habit of DNFing a book without feeling guilty, but I don’t so here I am now.

The characters as well, while relatable at certain points, are infuriating. Jude makes absolutely no sense. Why stay in Faerie if she’s angry and terrified all the time? If the people around her are all fucking terrible? Because you were raised there? You want power? Even though you are viewed as inherently inferior?

Spoiler

You gonna go ahead and fall in love eventually with someone who ripped another’s wings right off and participated in sexually assaulting you?

Bullshit, sounds like torture porn.

Vivienne was the only engaging character. I would read three books about her romance with Heather and her grappling with her identity and her hatred, but her determination to love a mortal and live there.

I didn’t care for the romance either (I mean, I’m gay, so I would never have cared for the het romance anyway) but I bought the book because people were mad about the lack of it, only to find political intrigue. I love political intrigue, but this book was vague at best with the world building and system descriptions. So I found that to be lacklustre as well.

I hear that Wicked King and Queen of Nothing were better, but I don’t think they might be better enough to give a shot, also it will be the last time I take book recommendations from heterosexual booktokers.

Content Warnings

kagey's review against another edition

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adventurous dark tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

Content Warnings

adeliab's review against another edition

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dark mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.0

I am really conflicted on how to rate this books. On one hand I enjoyed myself and there were some elements pertaining to mortality that I thought were interesting. On the other I take issue with some of the plot beats relating to the romance and with the overall pacing.

This book is just flat out addictive. I started listening to the 13 hour audiobook yesterday and am finished with it today. I did not put the book down. My favorite fantasy novels are those that focus on interpersonal relationships, but have fantastical and sociopolitical elements to spice it up. Luckily for me, that is what this book does. It focused on the relationships between Jude, her family, and the rest of the court all within the setting of this fantasy world.

The strongest element of this book, in my opinion, is the exploration of morality. All of the main cast of characters are morally complex. Whether is be the Jude's adopted father Madoc,

Spoiler

who kills Jude's biological parents, but clearly loves Jude and the rest of the family

or Taryn Jude's sister

Spoiler

who lets Locke, the boy Taryn is engaged to, court Jude because she want so badly to be accepted by the fae

or even Jude

Spoiler

who is tries to secure peace for the human and fae people while you the reader can tell she is brimming with violence and desire for power

. I appreciate this book for exploring how one can both love someone and disdain them for their actions.

Further, the books focus on making all of the characters morally ambiguous ensures that the characters are dynamic. Oriana Jude's step-mother, for example

Spoiler

seems to occupy the niche of evil step mother, a relatively static role, but is later revealed to have acted out of caring. She may have lectured and been suspicious of the girls, but it was because she was influence by her own experiences as the concubine of the king to protect the girls from evils of the court. Oriana, could have remained a static character, a foil for the plot, but I believe because of the book's commitment to exploring mortality she was given more depth

.

Yet, when it comes to Cardan (finish review later)

Content Warnings