The Cruel Prince (The Folk of the Air, #1) by Holly Black
Genres: Fantasy (YA)
Pages: 384
Goodreads
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.
Y’all. This might not be the most eloquent review because I have thoughts. BEWARE OF SPOILERS.
I bought this book 100% because of Bookstagram. I knew nothing about it going in other than that everyone and their brother loved this thing and
I. DON’T. GET. IT.
I disliked this so much and it took me ages to get through. You might be asking why I just didn’t DNF…well, because I was hoping it would suddenly get really good and explain the infatuation with it. So, here are my thoughts:
There is no political intrigue.
Here are quotes from the synopsis:
“In doing so, she becomes embroiled in palace intrigues and deceptions…”
&
“But as civil war threatens to drown the Courts of Faerie in violence…”
Let’s discuss. First of all, both of those lines are so misleading. ‘Deceptions’ and ‘civil war’ imply some sort of scheme, some sort of battle of policies, something to explain why there is this battle between courts. There is nothing of significance other than the fact that selfish brats want to be king. There is no discussion of policies, there is no discussion of how ‘cruel’ people are (which I will get to later, sort of), and there is no mention of those that live in Faerie other than the brats I mentioned above.
Which brings me to what I think is significant in those quotes…’drown the Courts of Faerie in violence…”. Why is that important? Because this book is literally only about the courts. You get no idea of how the non-privileged faerie live because the world of Faerie you’re exposed to feels like the size of a small town or high school.
The story also feels like high school on steroids. They go to classes and the popular kids tease the poor kids. That is essentially the plot.
Oh, but then our MC begins working for one of the princes (which, by the way, you literally see her do a task like once or twice in the whole book) …for no reason other than she wanted to not be glamoured or whatever by the people bullying her. There is no reason whatsoever for her to support one prince over the other because, again, no discussion of actual policies or politics. She just blindly supports someone who dangles a carrot in front of her. Which means, why should WE, the readers, care about who ends up on that stupid throne? Who the hell are they ruling? Their bratty kids/friends/other royals?
Don’t even get me started on “the cruel prince” which is described as this in the synopsis:
“Especially Prince Cardan, the youngest and wickedest son of the High King.”
HAHAHAHA. No. More like another angsty brat with daddy issues. That’s all I’ll say.
A few more things I disliked:
- It was so cliche. Some of the things that happened. Just ugh.
- The fantasy names were ridiculous and overabundant.
- Corny AF lines like “…taking my breath with him” or really vague descriptions like “I made a face.” WHAT KIND OF FACE DID SHE MAKE?
I could vent more but here, read my Goodreads updates 😆
Please tell me at least one of you didn’t like this book? Or, if you liked it, let me know your thoughts!
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| Overall: | 1 / 5 |
25 Comments
ohwow, I’ve been seeing this A LOT lately and I don’t care about all the hype because I’m VERY picky with fantasy since I’m not a big fan of the genre. I’ve only read 1 book by Holly Black (and I cannot even remember the title now. lol) and I’ve avoided her books since. Thanks for this review! Gotta pass this one now then.
This is my first Black book. I’ve heard great things about her stories so I might give another one a try. But I don’t think I’ll be reading the sequel of this one haha
I’ve been on the fence about picking The Cruel Prince up because bookstagram too. The cover is so gorgeous and there’s two other exclusive editions floating around and everyone seems so in love with this book. Thank you for talking me out of it. This does not sound like something I would want to read at all. I love your Goodreads updates; they were lots of fun to read! Happy reading!
http://www.thebucketlistbookblog.com
eeeep, yes bookstagram is a dangerous place lol
I loved the cruel prince but you make a lot of valid points. I am not a big fan of politics so I thought that what was included was plenty. There was some politics based on what side everyone was on and getting the rest of the courts to swear fealty. Also I feel like she thought the prince she enlisted with was the good guy. It explained the differences between the brothers and on the outside she picked the one who she thought would be best suited to rule.
I just didn’t think it explained enough for me. Like it was just who was the “nicest” but also, the one she helped clearly wanted something out of her and that was WHY he was nice to her. I wanted more but if someone isn’t into politics in books, I can see why you wouldn’t want more 🙂
I was wondering if you were going to read The Cruel Prince! I have to ask… It is like Wintersong!?
I don’t know if I’m ever gonna be ready to go back in faerie territory. 🤣 🙈
I would say they’re different. The plots are different and the setting is different too. BUT there are similarities. Human girl in a faerie world. Cruelty. and all that. I hated both books. haha I hope that helps >.<
Different, but with similarity? Well, at least now, I know I’m in no rush to read it! 😅 Maybe in a far away future. Thank you, Molly! 🙂
Yes, someone who didn’t like the book! I actually DNF’d it a 9sih chapters in the other day. I really wanted to finish it because of all the good reviews but damn I hated this book.
I ALMOST DNF’d it but I just wanted to see if it got better hahah
don’t you just hate when you get excited to read a book because you have heard nothing but good things only for it to let you down?
Ugh yes, it’s the worst.
tbh i really loved this book, bUT I COULD COMPLETELY GET WHERE YOU WERE COMING FROM??
i also expected a lot more romance w/ cardan but literally nO THERE IS ONE KISS AND THEN THAT’S IT
cardan doesn’t go through much of a redemption arc except for his traumatized side, but he’s really horrible which sucks 🙁
great review!! i loved reading your gr updates lmao
OK YES. There is NO romance..??? And then when it is “revealed” I’m just like DUHHHHHHHHHHH how did you not put that together chick? haha
Wow opinions. XD I haven’t read this book yet but too bad you really didn’t enjoy it. I’ve had this happen with other books too. So bad that you just can’t wait to write that review because of how infuriating it was. Hope your next read is better!
hahaha yes..I had some thoughts >.< Negative reviews are fun to write sometimes ;)
ooh finally a blacksheep review! everyone seems to be LOVING this book and finally i got to see the other side. hmm it’s interesting bc i want to read this because of the so called ~political intrigue~ but now that you mentioned that they don’t really discuss it, i can lower my expectations. it’s dissapointing when the so called political intrigue only involves some betrayal and assasination, without any actual explanation of the system and motivation of players embroiled in the intrigue. great review molly!
They briefly mention the personalities of people and some conflict between courts…but not why there is conflict. It lacks a lot in that political intrigue department to me.It could have been great!
And this is why I’ve only read Holly Black’s Valiant to date. It’s an earlier work and actually good, but any sample chapter I read of current novels from her just makes me cringe. I feel an urge to run back to my copy of Valiant and apologize profusely for forsaking it for other books she wrote. An author should not make someone feel like that and I have no clue what went so wrong.
Maybe give Valiant a try, Molly?
I’ve never heard of Valiant before! I’ll check it out 🙂
Oh wow – well believe it or not, it’s actually pretty nice to read a negative review of that book, for once haha. I feel like everyone fell in love with that book earlier this year and it has been SO hyped, it’s crazy. I’m glad to hear not everyone is head over heels with that one haha 🙂 I hope that your next read will be better! <3 <3
Honestly, I felt like I was the ONLY person who didn’t like this book haha
First time here and I have to say, “Wow!” What a great review and breakdown of your reading experience! I hope to see more of this.
Thank you!