Uptown Oracle Reads… The Cruel Prince

Seven year old Jude 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 cruel prince. 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.

One of the best things about this book is there are multiple princes. And you are always second guessing about which prince the titular prince is. I spent about half the book thinking ‘oh yes I’ve out thought Holly’ and then realised she knew exactly what she was doing when writing this. Of course, as queen of Faeries, how could she not?

The Cruel Prince is an amazing start to the series. I just couldn’t put it down as I wanted to know what was going to happen at every moment. The only real issue was that a couple of places at the start had quite repetitive descriptions when Black was building up this world. This dragged me out of the book for a bit as a sense of deja vu overcame me when reading. But other than this I was completely enthralled.

The characters throughout were complex. They all had their own opposing opinions, thoughts and instincts which were clear through their actions. I loved that there’s not a clear ‘side’ to pick in this book. This isn’t good vs evil, this is morally grey vs evil and you’re never quite sure which side is truly evil… We focused on Jude as the main character but we also got to observe many different fey and how they work as a society. I think there was a lack of focus on Jude’s twin, although I will assume she will become a bigger part in future installments.

As I have loved Black’s writing since I was a child, I felt quite nostalgic towards the worlds she builds. (I have an urge to binge read the Spiderwick series now!) As I delved into this world of fey which was both new, but also felt like I already knew aspects, I was captivated. Then it ended, abruptly. This shocked me, but also made me want to read the next in the series as soon as it is published so I guess it works.

Positives

+ You’re never quite sure who the titular prince is…

+ An amazing start to a series

+ Characters were complex

+ I have loved Holly Black’s writing since I was a child

Negatives

– Some repetitive descriptions which pulled me out of the book

– Although twins, we never really explore the other half to our MC

– Ending felt abrupt

I received The Cruel Prince* by Holly Black from the publisher via NetGalley. This is an unbiased and honest review.