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

by Holly Black

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 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.

• ISBN10: 0316310271
• ISBN13: 9780316310277
• Publish Date: 2 January 2018
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Little, Brown & Company
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 384
• Language: English

Reviews

[leahrosereads]

You can @ me if you want, but rating a book 3 stars ISN'T a bad thing. I genuinely liked this book and will continue with the series.

I liked that Jude was a selfish heroine, that she wasn't this perfectly good and perfectly neat and perfectly proper main character. She's not a completely developed character, but that's OK for a first book - for me anyway. She's definitely going to be an interesting character to see grow.

I liked Cardan - the fantastically cruel prince. Again, he's another damaged, selfish character, and I like that.

I liked the story - the hows and whys that Jude and her sisters came to be in Faerie. And I liked what happened once they were there.

I liked Jude's older sister - Vivienne, but not Jude's twin. Vivienne BTW is an LGBTQIA+ character and repped well (to me). Taryn (the twin) was lame, and I kinda hope she gets killed off - she was a useless plot device of a character.


But, as you can see - I liked a lot of things, but I didn't LOVE any of it.


I particularly didn't love that Holly Black just told a lot about the fae world. I don't read a lot of fae books, so I don't know if what Holly Black wrote in THE CRUEL PRINCE is typical lore and by reading up on it, I'll know her world, or what. But, I didn't enjoy not being in the know, especially when all it would've taken was a couple of paragraphs expanding upon what was going on.

But that never happens here.

And, I didn't particularly like the love interests outside of Vivi and her girlfriend (and there's not enough of that relationship, but I'm hoping for more in the future). Relationships were stuffed down my throat, and I didn't appreciate it, and I didn't believe them most of the time. I hope it gets better in the next book.

Like I said at the beginning, I'm definitely planning on continuing with the series. I'm hopeful that I'll end up really enjoying what these characters have to offer. But right now, I just like it, and I don't mind waiting a year or so until the next book arrives.

[Leigha]

A young woman deals with the political intrigues of Faerie court in this thrilling young adult novel.

If you know anything about my reading tastes (fae! broody guys! gutsy ladies!), you'd think I would be all over Holly Black. I tried reading several of her books over the years, but none of them captured my attention until The Cruel Prince. I saw so many five star reviews from bloggers I admire that I had to give it a shot. I'm glad I did!

The protagonist, Jude, reminds me a lot of Cersei Lannister from Game of Thrones - not always likable, but always understandable. She's ambitions and ruthless in attaining her goals, putting her at odds with her family and the faerie court. She's not completely self-serving, but her lack of supportive relationships means she usually has to look out for herself. The last third of the novel is action-packed with plenty of twists as Jude manipulates the people around her in order to attain control of her life in Faerie.

I thought romance would play a bigger role in this story. While hints of romance are woven in-between certain characters, it's by no means a novel driven by romance. I'll be interested to see if a healthy romance develops for Jude. Key word - healthy. For that matter, I'll be interested to see if Jude develops any healthy, loving, supportive relationships.

tl;dr A novel driven by an ambitions woman and surprising plot twists make this a fun read.

I am OBSESSED!! This book reminded me so much of A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sara J Maas and is the perfect way to get over a “Fae” book hangover! I can’t wait to see what else Holly writes in this universe!!

[liz089]

Re-read 2019.
Even though it has only been a year and a half, I did forget some things. Very happy I choose to reread this one for starting on the next ones. LOVED IT (again).


First read 2018.
AWESOME !! Woow this novel was REALLY GOOD. Like, scary really really really good.
I LOVED it, I could not stop reading it, I devoured it.

Such great world-building, an amazing plot and very realistic and intriguing characters... I can not wait for the second novel !!!

[littleread1]

See this and other reviews at Little Read Riding Hood.

I love Holly Black's writing style. I can't quite put my finger on what EXACTLY it is that draws me in, but I have yet to be disappointed. 

Like many of her stories, The Cruel Prince is pretty messed up. Murder and kidnapping and magic - all in the first chapter. While not unnecessarily graphic, Black doesn't pull any punches or sugar coat anything. There is bullying, assassination, and suicide, in addition to the murder and kidnapping I already mentioned. While I think these things are all well written, I thought it only fair to mention them at the beginning of my review in case you are sensitive to these issues. 

The best way to go into one of Black's books is, in my humble opinion, blind. I see her name as the author and I know I will be entertained and taken on a journey. Because of that, this review is intentionally vague. I don't want you to accidentally guess something based on what I say here. 

I did basically guess where the story was going, but the how of it was not something I saw coming. With as much as I read it is almost impossible to totally surprise me, but Black keeps me on my toes, and really makes you feel for her characters. Love them or hate them or any of the grey area in between, her people always seem to evoke a strong emotional response for me. 

Basically, if you like the darker side of the fae, then pick up The Cruel Prince, and let me know what you think. 

[jesstheaudiobookworm]

5★ Audiobook⎮I enjoyed every single second of this audiobook. From start to finish, The Cruel Prince was the kind of wild ride I’ve come to expect from Holly Black. Just thinking back on it makes my head want to explode. My tiny human brain can’t handle all of the faerie awesomeness. Even while listening to it, I couldn’t string together in the right words to describe the amazingness of what I was hearing.

The Cruel Prince was easily the best audiobook I’ve heard in a very long time. It was the last thing I heard before falling asleep at night and the first thing I turned on in the morning. I didn’t want it to end.

Story-wise, I was riveted. The atmospheric setting was highly reminiscent of The Darkest Part of the Forest, but better because almost all of it took place in the faerie world. Before hearing The Cruel Prince, The Darkest Part of the Forest had been my favorite tale from Holly Black. I’ve heard several other of her titles, but this was better than them all. Holly Black obviously knows that she excels at writing faerie stories. She’s also creative enough to be able to stick with the subject without giving the impression of stagnation.

While I prefer the plot of The Cruel Prince, I do think there were a few things Black did better in The Darkest Part of the Forest. When reviewing The Darkest Part of the Forest, I praised Black’s ability to create such a multi-dimensional main character in Hazel. Hazel was an ordinary teenage girl during the day and a Fae warrior at night. By contrast, The Cruel Prince’s protagonist Jude felt more one dimensional. In The Cruel Prince, it seemed as though Black split the characteristics of Hazel into two separate characters, the twins Jude and Taryn. I believe doing so flattened each twin into a less dynamic and less interesting YA trope. I disliked Taryn, tolerated Jude, and adored Hazel.

Taryn was the most stereotypical of the sisters and I began to dislike her increasingly as the sisterly bond was sacrificed at the expense of the plot. Having a boy come between two sisters seemed so unoriginal and overplayed. I can see where that sub plot is leading because I’ve seen it so many times before. But that was the only part of Black’s tale that dared to disappoint me. If the character of Taryn was flat and shallow, Cardan was a layered onion.

I will admit that I judged Cardan completely wrong. I’ve never bought into the whole “boy pulls girl’s pigtail because he likes her” thing– seriously, don’t teach your little girls to put up with that– but Holly Black gave us a valid underlying cause for his behavior. Once I understood his situation, it put his behavior into perspective. It still didn’t excuse it, mind you, and I hope the issue continues to be addressed later in the series. But it’s the equivalent of “boy pulls girl’s pigtail because he likes her and doesn’t know how to appropriately handle such feelings because he has never been shown affection”. See the difference?

Holly Black has addressed psychological abuse in a story about faeries. It’s not a fairytale, it’s a tale about faeries. In my opinion, Holly Black is redefining this section of the genre and we are all benefiting from it. Fantasy genre, this should be the bar to which you all try to measure up.

I know it’s only January, but this may end up being one of my favorite books I hear this year. I’m partially devastated that I’ll have to wait until 2019 for the sequel, but I also know that it will be more than worth the wait.

Narration review: I’ve heard (and interviewed) Caitlin Kelly before, but never like this. Caitlin, congratulations on being able to lend your amazing voice and talents to such an incredible story! Tonally, Caitlin was a perfect match for a faerie story. Her voice has this light, airy quality typically associated with the fae and fantasy, in general.

Kelly’s characters completely hit the mark. I particularly loved her voicing of Oak, the young fae child. She also gave appropriate distinction to Jude and Taryn. The differences in their personalities really came through in the audiobook in a way that should make traditional book readers envious. And Cardan’s emotional depth was intensified to the max. It’s performances like this that make me so grateful to be an audiobook listener. ♣︎

[verkaskodova]

Nějak postrádám slov. Trošku mě to vrátilo do dob, kdy v knihách nebyl všudypřítomný foreshadowing a postavy nebyly to hlavní, na co jsem se těšila. Tedy, ne, že bych Jude a Cardana nemilovala, ale jsou jen dva, není to Dvůr snů, ani Šest vran.

Vystavěný svět neměl chybu, Holly Black neopomněla šaty, účesy, jídlo, nábytek, ani náhodné reference na seelie a unseelie faeries (jo, trvalo mi zhruba 300 stránek, než mi došlo, že to bude reference na folklór a vygooglit bych si to měla, ale za velký úspěch považuji znalost slovíčka acorn, tahle mrška se vyskytovala pomalu na každé dvojstraně). K tomu připočítejte nenucenou všudypřítomnou velmi temně "pohádkovou" hrozbu, ještě větší množství mrtvolek a máte něco, proti čemu universum Srarah J. Maas vypadá jako pohádka s jednorožci. Nic proti Maas, Dvory miluju. Dlouho jsem nebyla takhle překvapená, obzvlášť po vlažných reakcích, které v posledních dnech vídám.

Miluju to a miluju a potřebuju další díl a potřebuju.

[bookishzelda]

The Cruel Prince by Holly Black definitely does not skimp on the word cruel. This was a twisty dark tale, where every character has a dark side. I loved the story and how intriguing it was. I admit it left me sad but also wondering how it will turn out in the end.

Jude’s character is interesting because if her upbringing had been different maybe she would be different. There is no way to really tell that though. After witnessing her parents murder and being whisked away to Faerie, she needs to harden herself in order to survive. Mortals are not celebrated in the Fey realm and many don’t appreciate their existence. Jude is not a perfect person and she finds that there is definitely pockets of darkness inside her. She deals with a lot of hating and loving her adoptive father, hating and loving Faerie. A need to belong and find a place and the fact that she can’t deny she is still mortal. There are things that will always be different about her. It was interesting to see her develop and almost find an understanding of herself along the way.

I was fascinated with Cardan because he is pretty much awful but there are moments. Moments that you kind of wonder. He never becomes a Knight or a bad boy with a heart of Gold. Of course not. He lives in this cruel world as well. There were just instances where his actions weren’t as they seemed and as we plunge more into Jude’s story, we see a bit more of his.

Taryn is Jude’s twin sister. They love each other with all their hearts I’m sure. There were many actions that Taryn chooses to take that made me not completely fond of her. If I had to pick of favorite sisters, it would have to be Vivi. Her love of her sisters almost seems the most human despite the mix of her blood. This is what makes these characters so interesting. There are so many good and bad things about them.

The story is full of Faere politics. Which often requires an awful lot of bloodshed. There are three princes. All of them are their own kind of cruel and the princesses, which we don’t get to know as well. The plot involves the coronation of a new High King of Faere and of course it’s no easy process. The courts are full deceit and suspicion. Jude finds herself sucked into all of this, having her adoptive father being the General. Fighting for her own place and life, she finds her ambitions intertwined with others.

The ending made me sad. I can’t say all the ways it made sad because I don’t want to give anything away. I was mostly sad for Jude. This strong, clever and foolish girl all rolled into one.

[Stephanie]

Ah, yes. Terrible, backstabbing faerie politics. Go Jude, get it.

[Joséphine]

January 11, 2018

Full book review is up on Word Revel.

____________

January 3, 2018

Initial thoughts: While I expected to like The Cruel Prince, I didn’t expect to love it quite so much! It’s a book filled with delightful schemes. No matter how many plot points I easily predicted, there were many, many more that surprised me. As for the cruel prince, I find that’s up for debate as one was crueler than the next — that really upped the stakes in the Faerie court, which kept me guessing right to the end.

I can’t wait for the sequel!

Note: I received a review copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.