Book Review: The Cruel Prince (The Folk of the Air #1)

by Holly Black

Rating: ⭐5/5⭐

“If I cannot be better than them, I will become so much worse.”

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 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.

Review

*cough*~~Everything ACOTAR and The Red Queen wish they could have been.~~*cough*

Take those two books, add some Game of Thrones et voilà! The Cruel Prince is born.

Honestly, when a book is dedicated to a bestselling author, you already know it’s gonna be great. It was true for Verity (dedicated to Tarryn Fisher) and also for this book (dedicated to Cassandra Clare).

High fantasy—beautiful fairies included—court intrigue, enemies to lovers, deception, scheming, plotting and betrayals. A frankly unexpected amount of blood and death and an amazing FMC. Need I give you any more reasons to drop everything and go read this book?

Just in case, let me expand on why I loved it so much:

First, the writing was exceptional. It did a wonderful job at conveying a sense of dangerous whimsy. Everything was magical, beautiful, fantastical but with an undeniable intrinsic threatening quality to it. Lovely and deadly in equal measure.

I loved all the characters and how they were each developed and fleshed out. All of them were flawed and imperfect, multidimensional and with their own wants and fears. The dynamic between Jude and her sisters, Taryn and Vivi, was an aspect I especially liked. And Jude herself was magnificent. Her fighting spirit, her hunger for power and recognition, but also her inherently human vulnerabilities. She was plagued with insecurities, fear and guilt but refused to cower, and that was what made her so badass and incredible. She chose to be courageous even when she was terrified.

And then, of course, there was Jude’s enmity with Prince Cardan. It is a truth universally acknowledged that boys will relentlessly pick on the girls they have a crush on.

The enemies to lovers trope was ON POINT! Jude and Cardan were constantly at each other’s throats. He was a raging asshole and unapologetically cruel, and she refused to back down and relished in pushing every last one of his buttons, which in turn drove him even wilder. Their chemistry was uncontrollable and electric, the attraction between them undeniable. But because it went largely unacknowledged and denied by both of them, the tension between them kept ratcheting up to unimaginable levels. It was deliciously satisfying every time they clashed together.

This book was better than I could have ever imagined. It gave me chills. It had me holding my breath and on the edge of my seat desperately wanting to know what would happen next. It kept me guessing… It was a wonderful experience and I’m beyond excited to see what the next books will bring!