The Cruel Prince (The Folk of the Air) (Folk of the Air, #1)

by Holly Black

First in the bestselling Folk of the Air trilogy. The sequels - The Wicked King and The Queen of Nothing - are the winners of/won the Goodreads YA Best Fantasy in 2019 and 2020.

Nominated for the CILIP CARNEGIE MEDAL 2019. Winner of the silver INKY for best international YA book.

"A dark jewel of a book . . . intoxicating" - Leigh Bardugo, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Six of Crows

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 hate him so much that sometimes when I look at him, I can hardly breathe.

One terrible morning, Jude and her sisters see their parents murdered in front of them. The terrifying assassin abducts all three girls to the world of Faerie, where Jude is installed in the royal court but mocked and tormented by the Faerie royalty for being mortal. As Jude grows older, she realises that she will need to take part in the dangerous deceptions of the fey to ever truly belong.

But the stairway to power is fraught with shadows and betrayal. And looming over all is the infuriating, arrogant and charismatic Prince Cardan . . .

Dramatic and thrilling fantasy blends seamlessly with enthralling storytelling to create a fully realised and seductive world, brimful of magic and romance.

• ISBN10: 1471407713
• ISBN13: 9781471407710
• Publish Date: 2 January 2018
• Publish Status: Out of Print
• Out of Print: 17 August 2021
• Publish Country: GB
• Imprint: Hot Key Books
• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English

Reviews

[herseriallife]

I loved this book so much, I can't wait to read the rest of the series. I'm a a twin and I really love the way the twin relationship is developed. It's the most realistic have ever read so far. It's my first Holly Black series and definitely not my last.

[jen20]

I thought I was going to love this book as it was very hyped up. It was a good book but not something I would read again, I did get bored throughout the book, and dragged myself to finish it. I admit, I was mostly there for the romance between the two main leads which did not happen/as developed as I expected it. On top of that, I just didn't care for the main character, Jude. I found her older sister and the other side characters more interesting. Maybe I will like the next book better.

[Katie King]

2/5 stars

very conflicted about this book. yes, it's slow af to get going. you trudge through contrived teenage
dramas looking for that sweet action payoff. it comes, but so swiftly and succinctly that you're left deeply unsatisfied. where was the REAL build-up to this? why did it only occur in the last TWENTY PAGES?????

yes, there are a lot of unexplained creatures/concepts that are utilized so naturally that you wonder if you're only confused because you've missed some prerequisite companion novel. you didn't; it's the book, not you.

the ending...jfc. the love triangle? the sister drama? the plan for the crown? give me a fkn break. what a joke. honestly could just end the series here because even after all that, i don't really care what happens next. but fk me, i already ordered the next book.

it's not bad, just boring. also...wow, a pure virgin MC? LOL.

[Chelsea]

Exactly what I expected from Holly Black. She hasn't written a bad book yet.

[ladygrey]

So I totally gave in to peer pressure with this one. All the book quotes on pillows and graphics on Instagram, all the authors at panels who said Holly Black is so fabulous with plot. I was curious what all the hype was about.

And that’s the thing with hype, almost nothing lives up to it. This wasn’t a bad book, but I don’t think I’d have loved it even without all the hype.

Hype problem 1 - I know it’s a trilogy and while I’m not entirely spoiled I have an inkling off a few things to come. So a few plot points in this one like all the “I hate you, you hate me” with Cardan and her power plays I didn’t really buy into.

Non-hype problem 2 - I’ve read a few fairy books. So while I hasn’t quite worked out all the details, I wasn’t supposed by much. Faries can’t be trusted and the helpless assumptions are pretty much always wrong. So the good guys are obviously the bad guys—I didn’t believe Locke’s intentions for a second. Or Dain’s. The bad guy isn’t really the bad guy—of course Cardan is attracted to her and all her ideas about what he most be thinking are off base. Ok, Balekin was actually bad so that wasn’t a surprise. Cryptic messages never mean what you think they mean—so Oak was not a surprise at all. And when you don’t get caught in the misdirects in a story there’s not a lot of tension.

So your characters had better be good enough to carry the story without it. Jude worked well enough for this. I liked that she was both kind of naïve but also clever. I liked that she was a bit ferocious and determined.

But like most books, the interesting parts are when she’s interacting with Cardan and there’s not a lot of that. The first pay of the third act when they finally start talking for real and kind of working together was really the best part of the book and no her double cross of him want a surprise—in part because Black tips her hand with Jude trying to figure out how to hold the throne in Oak’s absence and also I knew a little about the second book. I will day that Card as n’s genuine hatred of Jude rather than the typical attraction making as hate and his contrasting desire for her was a good surprise.

While I definitely don’t think this is YA (from a content perspective), and it reminded me a lot of Julie Kagawa’s Iron King series (because they both draw from the same fairy lore) and it’s not bad but it’s also not spectacular— I have the whole trilogy from the library so I’ll keep reading to see how it ends.

I wish I could give this book four or five stars. I was hooked from the beginning and the setting is very interesting. However, around halfway of the book, everything falls apart. Political intrigue that isn’t executed well, tons of plot holes, and who does Jude even think she is?
I liked it, but I think the quality is not good enough. The political intrigue and the attempt at character development made no sense at all. However, I did have a good time and am curious to see what book two is about.

Also, I am really confused about Jude and Cardan’s relationship. Do they hate each other? Are you attracted to each other? When did Jude become attracted to Cardan? When did he change how he felt about her? I don’t know.

[whisperingchapters]

Wow wow wow! This exceeded my expectations! I was glued the entire day to this book. I can't wait to pick up the second one!

[llamareads]

I hate all the characters except Oak, but I couldn't put the book down and I'm still desperate to know what happens, so... props to the author!

[Vicki]

3.5 stars

[vagasker]

I started reading this book in the beginning of July and almost finished it in a few days. But then I put it down and almost didn't pick it up for a month. This might explain my three star rating, because I was very much interested in the book when I was actively reading it but as soon as I put it down for a while I didn't really care about what happened next.