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.
*********
Title: The Cruel Prince
Author: Holly Black
Genre: Fantasy, Folklore/Fairytale, Young Adult
Published: January 2nd 2018 by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Stars: 4 Content Rating: 4 (for being a little dark/violent)
Synopsis:
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.
*******
Hello dear readers, If I thought May was busy June seems to be filling up just as fast and will be just as busy. Ugh. I remember when summer meant I could just read all the time. I loved summer because it meant reading outside. However, now that I am a mom, summer means being busy doing awesome and fun things with my kids! I just wish that it left more time for reading. To keep up with everything being fast paced I will be reading a whole bunch of “fast paced” books as well.
The Cruel Prince was NOT fast paced. I am happy I listened to it. I feel like if I had read it, it would have taken me forever to get into it. I don’t know if because of all the hype I had super high expectations .. or if I have just been easily distracted, maybe? I will say that I ended up liking it … ALOT. The beginning was really slow and then it became a little bit predictable. I enjoyed the folklore thought out. It was a little bit dark, almost like a Grimm’s Fairy tale. There are Goblins, Hobbs and all sorts of creatures, and out of all them Humans are the least favored. The author was really descriptive with things that I didn’t care about, which was hard to listen too. There is a fine balance between world building and talking about all the food on the table. That being said, I really did enjoy it. It was something a little bit different and once the ball got rolling I couldn’t put it down! Or in my case.. take my earbuds out.
When Jude and her sisters find themselves being raised in Faerie by her parents murderer, they don’t know if they should hate him or be grateful that they are being raised in such a magical place by faerie and are being protected by the King’s greatest general. Jude wants to fit in. She wants to make a name for herself and because of her cleverness and skills with a blade she forges one but not without making promises and enemies! This book ended with her final play and soon enough her bargain with Carden will be up and it will be his turn and I can not wait to find out what will happen next. Next book, titled: The Wicked King, will be out next January. I know.. it’s a long wait but I promise to give you some more recommendations to help tide you over!
xoxo,
Leave a Reply