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A review by liz123_
The Cruel Prince by Holly Black
5.0
[bc:The Cruel Prince|26032825|The Cruel Prince (The Folk of the Air, #1)|Holly Black|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1574535986l/26032825._SY75_.jpg|45959123]
SPOILERS BELOW
Summary
Jude was seven years old when her parents were murdered by High Fae, Madoc, 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 the fey despise humans. Especially Prince Cardan, the youngest and wickedest son of the High King.
“If I cannot be better than them, I will become so much worse”- Jude Duarte
Holly Black illustrates a viciously gorgeous world which follows the 17-year-old mortal, Jude Duarte, who becomes embroiled in the perilous political conspiracies in the immortal Faerie realm.
The Cruel Prince is a story of three sisters: Vivienne, Taryn, and Jude. Vivi, the eldest daughter, is the half-blood of a mortal mother and a fey father (Madoc). Jude and Taryn are the younger sisters–twins in fact–and full-blooded mortals, born after their mother deceived, eluded her faerie husband, and slipped back into the mortal realm with her human lover. Together, the sisters lived contentedly with their human mother and father–until Madoc arrives, hungry for blood. Discovering his mortal wife’s deception years later–she and his daughter did not die in a fire but are alive and well in the mortal realm–Madoc takes his revenge, killing mother and father. But Madoc is an old creature bound by the rules of his kind: he does not kill or leave his child, or his slain wife’s children, behind.
For Jude, life among fey is full of danger, however, it is the life she has always known. Jude trains as a warrior and a strategist for all her life yet she still felt she would never become as powerful or gifted as the fey around her(Jude loml). Taryn takes a different tack, choosing to assimilate as much as possible, embracing her almost certain eventuality that she will become a bride and peace offering to another faerie court(i dont like Taryn, she can go rot for all i care tbh). As for Vivi, the only faerie child of the three, she chooses to rebel against her mother’s killer, determined to do the exact opposite of what Macon desires for her, consequences be damned.
As the years pass, the three girls grow more firmly into the roles they invent for themselves–Vivi the defiant, Taryn the kind-hearted, Jude the ambitious. All that changes again, though, when the High King of Faerie announces that he will be leaving his throne and the realm: Jude seizes the opportunity to enter a competition that could win her a shield as a warrior under another Faerie’s banner. She also breaks another rule by drawing attention to herself–this time, when Prince Cardan! (dnwudhweiwjeiwjeiwejwoejoejowek) (youngest, cruellest son of the High King) and his comrades tease and taunt Taryn and Jude, Jude fights back(jude girlboss fr).
This new novel hearkens back to those tales, conjuring images of terrible and beautiful faeries and the mortals who dare to live alongside them. Per usual, Holly Black delivers!; the fey are strange and otherworldly. But there are books that have done this in the past–What is the difference? Where The Cruel Prince differentiates itself is with its relationships, its focus on family, greed for power and all the lines one might cross in the name of 'family'(no cause this is a genuine problem we face till today and thats so upsetting to see family treating each other like that, sickening). This is not just a book about a young girl falling in love with a beautiful faerie prince who is mean to her(ahem enemies to lovers fans I see you and understand you completely); this is the story of a determined young mortal woman who knows she is out of her depth and refuge and comfort but still desperately wants to do what is right for her sisters and brother, and her adoptive kingdom and fight for her place.
The Cruel Prince is Jude’s story–she is the one who uncovers the secret plots that would doom or save faerie, and strategizes how to win the game, though it costs her dearly. She has always learned to protect herself and the people whom she loves from attack. Her vulnerability and stubbornness are the characteristics that define her narrative; I LOVED JUDE IN THESE MOMENTS.
CARDAN GREENBRIAR
JUST HIM. omfgdwuhdiwjdiwjdij do u hear me screaming. Im rendered speechless everytime someone mentions Cardan. HE IS JUST, i have no words, i just want to punch the wall and squeal so hard. like im not even kidding even while typing this review all that is running in my is "omfg he is jehiwrhiuehrwrhoije can he like step on me". so yeah
SPOILERS BELOW
Summary
Jude was seven years old when her parents were murdered by High Fae, Madoc, 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 the fey despise humans. Especially Prince Cardan, the youngest and wickedest son of the High King.
“If I cannot be better than them, I will become so much worse”- Jude Duarte
Holly Black illustrates a viciously gorgeous world which follows the 17-year-old mortal, Jude Duarte, who becomes embroiled in the perilous political conspiracies in the immortal Faerie realm.
The Cruel Prince is a story of three sisters: Vivienne, Taryn, and Jude. Vivi, the eldest daughter, is the half-blood of a mortal mother and a fey father (Madoc). Jude and Taryn are the younger sisters–twins in fact–and full-blooded mortals, born after their mother deceived, eluded her faerie husband, and slipped back into the mortal realm with her human lover. Together, the sisters lived contentedly with their human mother and father–until Madoc arrives, hungry for blood. Discovering his mortal wife’s deception years later–she and his daughter did not die in a fire but are alive and well in the mortal realm–Madoc takes his revenge, killing mother and father. But Madoc is an old creature bound by the rules of his kind: he does not kill or leave his child, or his slain wife’s children, behind.
For Jude, life among fey is full of danger, however, it is the life she has always known. Jude trains as a warrior and a strategist for all her life yet she still felt she would never become as powerful or gifted as the fey around her(Jude loml). Taryn takes a different tack, choosing to assimilate as much as possible, embracing her almost certain eventuality that she will become a bride and peace offering to another faerie court(i dont like Taryn, she can go rot for all i care tbh). As for Vivi, the only faerie child of the three, she chooses to rebel against her mother’s killer, determined to do the exact opposite of what Macon desires for her, consequences be damned.
As the years pass, the three girls grow more firmly into the roles they invent for themselves–Vivi the defiant, Taryn the kind-hearted, Jude the ambitious. All that changes again, though, when the High King of Faerie announces that he will be leaving his throne and the realm: Jude seizes the opportunity to enter a competition that could win her a shield as a warrior under another Faerie’s banner. She also breaks another rule by drawing attention to herself–this time, when Prince Cardan! (dnwudhweiwjeiwjeiwejwoejoejowek) (youngest, cruellest son of the High King) and his comrades tease and taunt Taryn and Jude, Jude fights back(jude girlboss fr).
This new novel hearkens back to those tales, conjuring images of terrible and beautiful faeries and the mortals who dare to live alongside them. Per usual, Holly Black delivers!; the fey are strange and otherworldly. But there are books that have done this in the past–What is the difference? Where The Cruel Prince differentiates itself is with its relationships, its focus on family, greed for power and all the lines one might cross in the name of 'family'(no cause this is a genuine problem we face till today and thats so upsetting to see family treating each other like that, sickening). This is not just a book about a young girl falling in love with a beautiful faerie prince who is mean to her(ahem enemies to lovers fans I see you and understand you completely); this is the story of a determined young mortal woman who knows she is out of her depth and refuge and comfort but still desperately wants to do what is right for her sisters and brother, and her adoptive kingdom and fight for her place.
The Cruel Prince is Jude’s story–she is the one who uncovers the secret plots that would doom or save faerie, and strategizes how to win the game, though it costs her dearly. She has always learned to protect herself and the people whom she loves from attack. Her vulnerability and stubbornness are the characteristics that define her narrative; I LOVED JUDE IN THESE MOMENTS.
CARDAN GREENBRIAR
JUST HIM. omfgdwuhdiwjdiwjdij do u hear me screaming. Im rendered speechless everytime someone mentions Cardan. HE IS JUST, i have no words, i just want to punch the wall and squeal so hard. like im not even kidding even while typing this review all that is running in my is "omfg he is jehiwrhiuehrwrhoije can he like step on me". so yeah