The intoxicating and bloodthirsty finale to the New York Times bestselling The Cruel Prince, nominated for the CILIP CARNEGIE MEDAL 2019, and New York Times bestseller The Wicked King, winner of the Best YA Fantasy category in the Goodreads Choice Awards
After being pronounced Queen of Faerie and then abruptly exiled by the Wicked King Cardan, Jude finds herself unmoored, the queen of nothing. She spends her time with Vivi and Oak, watching reality television, and doing odd jobs, including squaring up to a cannibalistic faerie.
When her twin sister Taryn shows up asking a favour, Jude jumps at the chance to return to the Faerie world, even if it means facing Cardan, who she loves despite his betrayal. When a dark curse is unveiled, Jude must become the first mortal Queen of Faerie and break the curse, or risk upsetting the balance of the whole Faerie world.
Jude returns to Faeirie Court to help her sister in the conclusion to the epic Cruel Prince trilogy.
Lots of people loved the ending to this trilogy…but not me, dear reader. It’s not a bad ending. With a fast paced-plot and engaging characters, it’s a quick and fun read. But the two things I found fascinating in the first two books – the world building and the relationships between characters – felt forced. The fey world felt too human, while Jude’s antagonistic relationships with her family disappeared.
For fans of the romance between Jude and Cardan, you will not be disappointed. While I enjoyed their banter and love/hate relationship throughout the trilogy, this ending felt unrealistic. Some more time spent developing their romantic relationship outside of the politics would have benefited the story.
tl;dr While I didn’t love the ending to the trilogy, it’s still a fast-paced book with interesting characters.
