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Tuesday, October 1, 2019

The Cruel Prince by Holly Black (Review)


There's been a lot of hype about this trilogy and I wanted to read something different. It was different for sure, but it did not impress me as much as I thought it would.

Book Details:

Book Title: The Cruel Prince (The Folk of the Air #1) by Holly Black
Category: YA Fiction,  370  pages
Genre: Fantasy, Faerie
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Release date: January 2, 2018
Content Rating: PG-13 for violence

Book Description:

By #1 New York Times bestselling author Holly Black, the first book in a stunning new series about a mortal girl who finds herself caught in a web of royal faerie intrigue.

Jude was seven years old 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.

In doing so, she becomes embroiled in palace intrigues and deceptions, discovering her own capacity for bloodshed. But as civil war 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.

My Review:
Reviewed by Laura Fabiani

I had a copy of this book in my library that I acquired at BookExpo a few years back. There's been a lot of hype about this trilogy and I wanted to read something different, so I decided to read it. Let me begin by saying that although I enjoy YA fiction I had not read any faerie fiction, so I was looking forward to doing so. Holly Black sure opened up this fantasy world to me and I must say that it was a fascinating world. The world-building was excellent.

Although I enjoyed the novelty of this genre, I cannot say I loved this book. Jude is a complex character and her transformation from a scared mortal to one who learns to manipulate and wield power was well executed. But I could not connect to her relationship with Prince Cardan, who I disliked throughout the novel.  And there were times when I seriously questioned her judgment.

There is brutal violence in this novel, and most of it done without the exploration of what it does to those affected by it. At times the lines between good and bad were blurred, and although I agree that life is never black and white, it's hard to remain ambivalent, which is how this book seemed to want to make me feel. 

In the end, although I was pulled into this fae world, I'm not compelled to continue the series. I don't care enough about the characters to want to know how it all pans out. However, I think that die-hard fans of faeries will enjoy this trilogy with its royal faerie intrigue and touch of romance.



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About the Author:



Holly Black is the bestselling author of contemporary fantasy novels, including Tithe: A Modern Faerie Tale and the #1 New York Times bestselling Spiderwick series. She has been a finalist for the Mythopoeic Award and the Eisner Award, and the recipient of the Andre Norton Award. Holly lives in Massachusetts with her husband, Theo, in a house with a secret library.

Connect with the author: Website


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8 comments :

  1. This is not my kind of book but I like that she gets teens excited about reading.

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  2. oh no. every time i try something different, i cross my fingers, but keep an open mind. sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't but i am glad you gave it a shot. better luck with your next selection
    sherry @ fundinmental

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  3. I've heard alot of good things about this one and it's not a genre either I tend to read but it does sound interesting. Great review.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It was interesting and a novelty for me so I'm glad I read it.

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  4. Good review. I appreciate your comments. Although I enjoyed it okay, I am not rushing to get the next in the series.

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for commenting! I appreciate your feedback.

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