The Cruel Prince by Holly Black

Synopsis

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 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.

As Jude becomes more deeply embroiled in palace intrigues and deceptions, she discovers her own capacity for trickery and bloodshed. But as betrayal 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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Review

Characters: 4 – LOVED Jude.  She is pretty much a badass, and just yes!  Also, Vivi is no-nonsense.  The other supporting characters were great as well, if slightly underdeveloped. 

Plot: 4 – Very enjoyable plot!  Certainly not your typical faerie story.  Adding in the politics went a long way to keep the story interesting. 

Writing: 3 – The writing was good, I always enjoy Holly Black’s style. 

Originality: 4 – I was all set for a “typical” humans in Faerie, they can’t lie, don’t eat anything, but that was not what was going on, at all.

Predictability: 4 –Well that’s not where I thought this was going at all!  Some of it yes, I saw that coming, but there were enough twists and turns to make me happy.  

Romance: 4 – Hmmm… that was interesting.  And, yes I hope they go there in the next book.

World Building: 5 – I am a stickler on the world building, if you are going to have your book set in some place that doesn’t exist, or at least we don’t know it does, then please, please, please, explain this world to me.  Well, this book was great!  It was by far one of the best explanations of Faerie and done in a way that was so natural to the story.