Skip to main content

The Cruel Prince by Holly Black- 3/5 stars

I am a big fan of Holly Black's work, and I think that is a big part of why this was not a 5 star read for me, I expected better... 
Whoever was behind promoting this book did an amazing job, Holly Black was well known (thanks mostly to her work with Cassandra Clare) but not all that popular, at least not on my Instagram circles...
Anyway, here is what I have always liked about Holly Black: her stories are original, defy the norm, and are always full of surprise and exciting twists and turns. Her style of writing is poetic, lyrical, and fun! And the worlds she creates are always the most interesting and intriguing. 
And it is with all that in mind, all that expectation, that I began reading the Cruel Prince...

The start of the story is promising. How many books do you know that begin with a Fae -Madoc- murdering his runaway wife in front of the children? Holly Black has never shied away from gory scenes and I was so glad she was keeping it true to her known style of writing here. 
The children are: Vivi, who is Madoc's daughter; and Jude and Taryn, twins their mother had with the man she run away with. 

After that the story skips 10 years, with the girls all grown up leaving with Madoc, he has brought them up as his own. Vivi still hates Madoc and wants to go live in the human world, but she is fae; Jude wants to be a fae warrior, but her humanity stands in the way; and Taryn wants to fall in love and marry a fae. 

The Cruel Prince mainly focuses on Jude and Cardan, one of the Princes. Cardan is cruel and treats her the worse way possible. He is always reminding her of how weak her humanity makes her, both with words and actions. 

The world Holly Black created was fascinating, it very much reminded me of The Darkest Part of the Forest, another book by her and one I LOVED. Everything about the fae is written well and in great detail. It is a scary world and yet also magical and fun. It was pure perfection!

I loved Jude as well. The main character was fearless and afraid, weak and strong, clever and so very silly... a perfect portrayal of humanity! 
Cardan was also written super well. A boy that has a family like his is bound to be a bit cruel. I felt for him and I got angry at him.

Where the story falls short is predictability. Nothing surprised me. 
I could have told you from the beginning what Locke (one of Cardan's friends who courts Jude) was up to, that Taryn and Jude's relationship would change, that Cardan was not all he seamed, that his siblings plans wouldn't quite work as expected, etc... Everything was sooooo predictable. And it turn, the story became boring fast. 

Will I read the next book? Sure am. I love the worlds Holly Black creates and this is no exception. But I sincerely hope that the next book has some more of the witty twists I am used to from her.

Here are my reviews for two other books by her: The Darkest Part of the Forest and The Coldest Girl in Coldtown

Find the book:  Goodreads - Amazon - Barnes and Noble - Holly Black 


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Radiant Sin (Dark olympus) by Katee Robert [arc review]

This is sadly, not going to be a very popular review. I adore Katee Robert. But this one just wasn't for me. It wasn't a terrible book or anything like that, it just left me wanting more and very puzzled. Every one of the books in this series follows a certain trope and/or subplot genre. Neon Gods is very much a Greek Mythology retelling;  Electric Idol  has the plus size influencer and the sweet bad boy, it is a very modern contemporary romance;  Wicked Beauty , and my favorite so far has that hunger games/dystopian vibe. Radiant Sin  is a murder mystery. The 'one house'/'one train' style that has always been so popular. Here lies problem number one for me, because I don't like murder mysteries at all. Even on my teen years when I read a lot of mystery it was never those. Problem two- there were way too many characters in that house, and they all got their time on the page making it one very confusing mess. It was very hard to follow at times. I think this

The Book Hater's Book Club by Gretchen Anthony

The Book Hater's Book Club  at first appears to be about a struggling bookstore and its imminent sale. Elliot, the co-owner of Over the Rainbow Bookstore, started  The Book Hater's Book Club , a newsletter of reading recommendations for the self-proclaimed non-readers of the world, because he believed there was a book out there for everyone. Something I wholeheartedly agree with! For years he and Irma have kept the store going and always had a recommendation in hand. When you finish this book, you will have yet another list of books to read.  However, this book is about more than just books and a struggling bookstore. It is also about grief, the price of secrets, and a little more grief.  You see, Elliot is gone, and his grief-ridden business partner has agreed to sell the store to developers. Problem is, she didn't tell that to anyone until the deal was almost done. Which is making her daughters ask questions. Why is she selling? Is it grief alone? Is there something else

Promises and Pomegranates (Monsters & Muses #1) by Sav R. Miller

I was very excited about this read. The reviews are good, the people recommending it were people whose recommendations I have liked in the past. And in the end, at did like this one. But I will confess from the start that Promises and Pomegranates  did not blow me away. Blurb: Elena To most, Kal Anderson is a villain. Harbinger of death, keeper of souls, frequenter of nightmares. Doctor Death. Hades incarnate. They say he stole me. Usurped my fiancĂ© and filled the cracks in my heart with empty promises. Imprinted his crimson fingerprints on my psyche and tried to set me free. They’re not wrong, per se. Except it was my choice to stay. Kal To most, Elena Ricci is an innocent. Goddess of springtime, lover of poetry, angel of my nightmares. Little one. Persephone personified. They say I ruined her. Shattered her virtue and devoured her soul like a succulent pomegranate. Embedded my evil as deep as I could possibly get and tried to set her free. They’re not wrong, per se. Except it was she