An instant bestseller!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. Of course I want to be like them. They’re beautiful as blades forged in some divine fire. They will live forever.And Cardan is even more beautiful than the rest. I hate him more than all the others. I … forever.
And Cardan is even more beautiful than the rest. I hate him more than all the others. I hate him so much that sometimes when I look at him, I can hardly breathe.
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.
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Oh lawdddd. I love a good love-hate relationship and this one packs a punch. Cardan and Jude y’all. Cardan and Jude…
I picked up a hard copy of this book at WorldCon in Dublin – and got the lovely Holly Black to sign it! – because so many reviews of The Orchid Throne had compared this series to mine. I read it on subsequent vacation in Ireland (and offline) and just *loved* everything about it. I’ve been meaning ever since to work my way back around to recommending it…
I loved this view of Faerie as both whimsical and cruel. The worldbuilding is wonderful and the characters compelling. I know there were complaints about the bully becoming the romantic interest, but I thought this was deftly handled. I’m not sensitive to bullying stuff, so that could play in, but I found the hero’s behavior nuanced all along. I had no problems with his redemption – or comeuppance – and very much look forward to reading more. Highly recommend!
Hyped up and cant live up to it. How my fellow readers out there liked this so much, I don’t know…..The story just didn’t make sense…was it Fantasy? Urban Fantasy? They leave fairyland to go to the mall, but come back to fairyland and ride around on horses and fight with swords. The MC is so insecure she falls in love with bullies.
Really good read! I haven’t read a book that quickly in ages.
My first Holly Black, and I’ll definitely read more! Can’t wait for book 3 to come out. I enjoyed this world and highly recommend for fantasy lovers. I’m a romantic fantasy lover and I’ll say this one does it for me, even though there’s absolutely not a completed love story here. I’m not at all confident the trilogy will see that satisfaction but I’ve enjoyed Black’s set up.
I love it!! And I am so excited to finish this series but at the same time I don’t whatnot it to end I’m so excited for “Queen of nothing”!!!!!!
Wow, just wow.
I‘ve been curious about this series for a while. The fandom is very much alive to speak of its greatness. But when everyone told me this would be good, I didn’t let it get to my head. No way am I setting myself up for disappointment. So believe me when I say that I was truly blown away.
I have to be honest with you. I read this for the angst, for the OTP that everyone can’t seem to stop talking about. I went into this thinking it would be mainly about the romance — of the push and pull between them — with a sprinkle of Faerie story in between. But this book offered so much more and nothing could have prepared me for it.
I think we can all agree that Holly Black is a gifted writer. She has a way with words, providing you with a luscious imagining of a magical world. It is the kind that makes you wish you were living in it. She drives the plot into paths you never would have imagined. I cannot, for the life of me, guess correctly where it will go. She makes you think you’re heading into a certain direction, only for you to realize in the end that you’ve been blindsided.
Jude is one of the best characters I have ever read. I think she might now be my favorite. She is strong and ambitious and she never lets anyone look down on her. But what I loved most about her is that although she’s afraid, she doesn’t let it stop her. She is what it means to be brave.
Cardan, on the other hand, is who you’d expect him to be. A mean and cruel prince. I admit I wasn’t entirely sold on the idea. I was afraid I would end up hating him. But what I did not expect is how charming he could be. He has reasons for the way he is and although they are not the best, he is a character you can never truly hate. In fact, he will work his way into your heart without you realizing it.
The Cruel Prince is an amazing book and now I can see why so many people love it. It reminded me why people read fantasy: because it is the stuff that dreams are made of.
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This book…IS…SO…AMAZING! I was excited about a new fae book after reading Maas’ work, and don’t really find many that I fall head-over-heels in-love with, but this one delivered all I hoped for, and so much more! I even kinda of cheated, and after reading a few chapters, I glanced at the last sentence(Something I never do!), so I thought I knew how the book would end…I was WRONG, and couldn’t be happier about that! Once things started falling, horribly, gloriously apart, I couldn’t stop reading, and read the last half in one large gulp!
I’ve meant to read Holly Black’s work for a few years now, but this was my first time reading her work. I honestly don’t know what took me so long, and I can’t wait to read more of her work!
My favorite book of 2019!
I listened to The Cruel Prince via audiobook and once I started, I could not stop.
Holly Black is a talented world builder and she creates characters you love and loathe.
I love the world of fae and Holly Black is one of my new favorite authors!
Every time you read it you find more to love the characters, the setting, the storyline, the development. I cannot stress it enough to read this book it is amazing!
What a fascinating story! It’s whimsical, yet dark and treacherous—everything you imaging Faerie to be!
There is a phase early in the book where we are introduced to the protagonist, their world, and their life. While I was reading this it seemed a little, slow, but there are some ideas introduced there that are integral to the rest of the story. By the time I finished the book I realized how important this all was. Keep reading, trust me!
Black presents us with a cunning protagonist who is totally relatable, yet manages to shock and surprise us at every turn. She’s brave, witty, and most of all determined, which helps propel her onward through each new obstacle she faces. There are so many layers of complexity to her struggles both external and internal that she simply seems real. All she truly wants is to make her own choices and stand up to her enemies—but how far is she willing to go? And what is she willing to risk?
Once you start reading, you won’t want to stop! I’m seriously planning a trip to the bookstore tomorrow so I can get The Wicked King. I have to know what happens next!
I was intrigued from the beginning. Hard to hate Cardan, but loved all the characters. Holly Black really has unique and convincing story telling abilities. Truly enjoyed this reading.
Jude and her sisters were very young when her parents were murdered in front them. The three sisters were then wisked away to the High Court of Faerie. Growing up as a human in the magical world had many disadvantages for Jude, including the inability to resist faerie charms and the affects of their unique foods.
Having to stand up for herself many times, Jude creates problems with the youngest prince, Cardan, who also happens to be one of the most cruel in the royal family. The real reason behind Cardan’s hatred towards Jude comes forth and creates trouble for both of them.
When tragedy strikes, Jude must work alongside Cardan to save the kingdom that they both call home. Can Jude and Cardan put aside their differences and work together to save all that they hold dear? Or will their kingdom fall to ruin before their eyes?
The Cruel Prince is very different from what I was expecting it to be. The variety of creatures and magic creates a wonderful world for which the story is set in. As the book progresses we see sides of characters that weren’t expected, which makes for a fun read. I look forward to reading more of this series!
I absolutely adored this book. Fave YA fantasy read so far for 2019.
Oh how I loved this!!! This was utterly brilliant!! It’s breathtaking, it’s suprising and even a bit beautiful!! I loved the twists and turns of this. Life is filled with surprises and being human among the Fae is no easy task. Jude makes her own rules in order to contain her chaos! Cardan is a master of disguise and he has Jude so deeply layered under his skin. The dance that these two partake in is a back and forth of deception and desire. It’s quite entertaining and exciting to watch. When you add the rest of the characters to this story, you get a mix that keeps everyone upon the tips of their leather slippers. I kept seeing new sides to these memorable characters. I never wanted this book to end!! I’m so very excited to begin the next one!!! I cannot wait to see just how Cardan will scheme to punish Jude. What shall Jude require of him next? She’s so very clever but so is he!!!
This review MAY contain spoilers.
This book was definitely not what I expected. I was only vaguely familiar with Black’s work prior to reading this. Before I started this book I had only read the first book of her collaboration with Cassandra Clare, The Iron Trial (Magisterium, #1), her series of graphic novels, The Good Neighbors, and the first trade paperback volume of Lucifer comics. As graphic novels and comics tend to read differently than novels and because novel collaborations don’t always reflect a single author, I didn’t really know what I was getting myself into.
The first thing that the reader will notice going into this book is that it is very dark. There is an ominous undertone throughout the entire book. Even from the first scene of the book where there is a life-changing event for the main character. This scene certainly set the mood for the duration of the book. It lodges inside of you and refuses to let go.
The plot of this book is brilliantly compelling. You honestly never know who is friend or foe to the main character. And this includes herself. More on that aspect in a moment, but generally speaking, the story is crafted masterfully. I was on the edge of my seat with anticipation. I devoured this book! I needed to know who was going to betray whom and who was going to ally with whom. There are secrets uncovered and plots unearthed. I didn’t see things coming at all at the end of this book. I had no idea what was going to happen and there was no way to anticipate it. This book will really shock you in all of the best ways.
The world building is so breathtaking. It is literally the best! I could feel myself living in this world right along with the main character. Black describes everything in Faerie in such a powerful way. You can smell the smells, taste the tastes, and feel everything. The descriptions of the different types of Faerie creatures are so vivid and detailed. There was one scene where I felt there was a little more telling than showing the reader, but after reading the book I feel it may have been necessary to know what was going on in the story.
The writing style is very eloquent. The words flow magically together to create quite a masterwork of storytelling.
The only thing about this book that didn’t have a positive impact was the character development. I did not connect with the main character one tiny bit in this. Quite plainly, her character was kind of annoying. Sure, there were times that I was rooting for her and living right alongside her, but my overall impression of her is less than flattering. While some of her ambitions and actions felt right, others did not. The felt contradicting at times. The entire time that I was reading the feeling that I got from the main character was that she was self-harming. Not literally causing her body affliction, but doing things that she knew would hurt her. Physically and otherwise. She kept ending up in life-threatening situations and she never had any true fear of consequences. She always acts like she has no feelings. Like she is a husk. Her character really was maddening to me. This book would have been a 5 Star read for me had the main character been different.
Overall, this book was really something special. It was better than good, but not perfect. I did have issues with the main character, but not enough that I didn’t enjoy the book and not enough that I won’t continue the series! I would very much recommend this one to others, but if dark political plots are not your thing then this might not be the read for you. This is not a happy book. Now to play the waiting game until the second book of this series it out!
Overview:
The Cruel Prince drew me in right away with a scene that was both exciting and emotionally powerful, and that set the pace for the entire book. The plot was good, but it was the character development and interaction that really carried the story through to its satisfying conclusion.
Character & Voice:
I loved the cast in this book. Each character is painted with unique, deep detail, and the character interactions are what make the story really pop.
The main character, Jude, is stolen from the mortal world along with her two sisters, and raised by the man who murdered her parents right in front of her. Talk about a complicated family dynamic. She was a child when her parents died, and while she never forgot what her foster father had done, she couldn’t help but grow attached to the man who raised her. Her sisters have similarly skewed views of their place in the world, and each handles the problem very differently.
Jude is hardly typical, but as a narrator she’s about what you’d expect from a teenage girl. I guess hormones are hormones no matter where you are. So, of course, there were times when I wanted to slap her or was left scratching my head at her decisions. But, in general, I found her actions and reactions believable and could empathize with her choices even when I didn’t agree with them.
Jude’s family isn’t the only messed up bunch in the story. As the book progresses, many relationships are brought to light that deepen the mystery of developing events and help shape Jude’s path.
Language & Mechanics:
The book is written in present tense, which I tend to have trouble with. I’m not sure why, but it just never reads as smooth as past tense for me. Other than that little hiccup, the prose was clean and smooth, with lots of lovely, descriptive phrases.
World-building:
This story takes place mainly in a world that is connected to–yet separate from–ours, and the author pulls in lots of rich mythology to create a beautiful, terrible place for Jude to grow up. The characters cross over a time or two, back to the mortal world from which they were stolen. But Jude and her sisters are children of both worlds, and part of her internal conflict is that she doesn’t really fit comfortably in either.
Beautiful high fantasy, fae-based story. Romance and political intrigue and faeries are always a good combination.
Amazing book, really good for people who want a little darker subject.
Complete page turner.