Review - The Cruel Prince by Holly Black

The Cruel Prince by Holly Black

Published 2nd January 2018 by Hot Key Books

Star Rating - *****

Goodreads Challenge - 3/75 

I received an eARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. 

Synopsis (from Goodreads)

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.

My Thoughts

I definitely think Holly Black is one of my new favorite authors! This is the second book I've read by her now and I loved it. Her writing is amazing, its somewhat whimsical but also dark and magical. This story was truly compelling and as I neared the end I couldn't put it down.

I loved the world that Holly Black created in this book, as I did with The Darkest Part of the Forest. As I said before it was quite whimsical and magical but there were lots of darker elements too. Her world building was great and I really felt immersed in the world. The story itself was also great. For about the first half of the book there wasn't anything that really happened in the way of big plot points but this was okay. Her writing style more than made up for this and I was fully invested in the world that she had created. After the half way point things definitely started moving. The pace picked up and there were so many twists and turns. I didn't see any of them coming and I often found myself gasping from shock at the turn of events. Holly Black sure knows how to surprise her readers.

I loved the characters too. None of them were perfect they all had their own flaws but often morally grey characters are the best. Jude was a fantastic protagonist, she was ruthless but loyal to everyone around her, even Madoc who she really just wanted to hate! I also loved Cardan. Despite how he behaved towards Jude, he was horrible, there was just something compelling about him. I really shoudn't like him but I so do and I feel like I'm going to be rooting for him in the next book. I like that there wasn't a massive emphasis on romance either, but there was some there. I will also say that there is a bi character in this book, with a female female romance which was great.

Overall I really enjoyed this book, I was completely captivated throughout the story. It was dark with a twisty, turny plot that kept you on your toes until the very end. Full of a complete cast of morally grey characters that you just can't help loving. I cannot wait for the next one! 

Overall Rating