He looks like a faerie lover stepped out of a ballad, the kind where no good comes to the girl who runs away with him.
Hello friends, welcome to yet another review, this is an extra post this week and it is all about Holly Black, one of the most well-known writers of the Young Adult genre. It has been a good while since I’ve read the book but since I read the second one recently, I wanted to write the first book’s review no matter what so that I can write a review for each book. The Cruel Prince is nothing new for us, Bookstagram going crazy over Carden and our femme fatale June Duerte and I completely get the hype! I even enjoyed the second book even more than this because things got a darker turn, it felt less childish and included a great amount of politics. But that’s all talk for the second book, for now, let’s focus on the first book and get into the review. 🖖🏻✨
This was a good read, considering that these characters are actually teenagers from wherever you look, I thought I would cringe a lot throughout this book but it didn’t seem to happen. At the beginning of the book, I didn’t know what I felt because I didn’t seem to enjoy any of the characters, at least for the first fifty pages. The first part of the book was a great setup for the universe, for fae and their ways, and for us to get to know our characters, not only our main leads but also the side characters as well. We have a lot of side characters who have a lot to say in the plot; which is great if you ask me, mainly because our main characters needed some build-up for the second part of the book. This variety of characters provided a great deal for us. The relationship between sisters, especially the twins and the half-fae, the relationship between Cardan and his gang of bullies, the politics ruling the kingdom and the species between fae. It was clear that Holly Black wanted to create a universe in which she could make sense of everything she wrote and she outdid herself. The world is very detailed and open for upcoming stories, similar to Cassandra Clare’s Shadowhunter universe. I am sure that we will see more and more in this universe and when it Holly Black and fae, I am 100% sure that we will not be disappointed.
Before the characters, let me talk about what I actually loved about this book. I love it when I read a fantasy book including some politics. I love seeing the idea of a country or a kingdom with a possibility of corruption, and I love how versatile certain characters can get and how much they can change over time when they unfold between the pages. The kingdoms of fae are not all so innocent and sweet, they obviously cannot lie, so it makes the idea of politics a little more interesting to me. The fact that these creatures had found a way to corrupt the words and wills of others amazed me. And again in the first book, we have a very solid enemy, a brother, a prince, who seems quite off from the beginning of the book and manages to annoy the hell out of you until the first few pages. General was also quite well and though I did not like his ethical choices a bit, his character was meant to be that way so I salute Black for achieving it.
Our main character Jude is a human in the fae realm, she wishes to be like them because she finds them powerful, beautiful and bewitching. She is not the only human there, and though she is a human, she lives among them pretty nicely, being able to go to “school” with them is a mad thing as it is. She is described as a strong-willed character and I can tell you that she has some balls there. The fact that she is so fearless and could get as manipulative as fae is amazing. We always love a girl with brains, don’t we? Our “cruel” prince Cardan is one of many princes, not really interested in the throne or anything related to the politics of the kingdom. He is a complete bully and loves tormenting particular someone: Jude Duarte. We read the entire book with the tension between them and I was quite unsure how things would eventually turn out, especially knowing that Jude had the brains and always put her logic before her heart and emotions. Yet still, the squeaky fangirl part of me really enjoyed enemies to “possible” lovers’ troupe. It was fun to read, and I must accept, while the side characters stayed as they are -not really happening a lot regarding their characters- our two did get a lot. I guess constantly being threatened in one way or another eventually grows you up?🤷🏻♀️
It was just amazing to watch how human these characters could get over time even though they are something other than human. Overall, I enjoyed this book very much, it didn’t blow my mind or anything but it was nice to read and I am excited for this series to get more detailed. A little spice would also be great, hopefully in the next books though! See you in my next post! 📖🌸
Luster of Books 