The Cruel Prince by Holly Black

 

Cruel Prince Book Blog: 

The Cruel Prince by Holly Black follows the protagonist, Jude Duarte, as she navigates the Faerie world of Elfhame as a mortal. When she was a young girl her parents were murdered by a fae named Madoc, who takes her and her 2 sisters- Taryn and Vivienne- back to Elfhame to raise them as his own. But being a mortal in Elfhame does not come easy, and she is constantly subject to dangerous enchantments and cruelties. Even at school she and Taryn are bullied by the crown prince Cardan and his group of friends. 

But Jude wants more than to be a feeble mortal for the rest of her life, she wants to be a knight for the royal guard. So, at one of the Fae’s annual festivals, she competes in an effort to gain the attention of one of the royal family members- in the hopes they will honor her wish. Her excellent performance does indeed garner the attention of the eldest prince Dain, but he bestows her with a far more treacherous quest- to be a spy for his Court of Shadows. Throughout her work, she discovers the darkest secrets of the fae and how she can use them to her advantage. 

Review: 

I would give The Cruel Prince at 5/5 stars. I thought it had excellent pacing and very rarely became dull. The plot was incredibly interesting and had me audibly gasping at all of the twists. I thought Jude was such a great protagonist who had a really intriguing character arc, going from a relatively defenseless mortal to a spy who has all of Elfhame under her control. There are also a lot of side quests/mysteries throughout that help keep you enthralled. I personally am a very slow reader, but I finished this book in a week because of how hard it was to put it down. Overall, this was a great read and I would highly recommend it to any fans of fantasy or adventure novels. 

*DISCLAIMER* This book does contain relatively graphic depictions of violence, so if that’s not something you feel comfy with I would recommend skipping this book :)

-Maryalice