The Cruel Prince

The Cruel Prince by Holly Black is the first of The Folk of the Air series.

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.

The Breakdown:
1. It is has been some time since I read a good deceptive Faerie novel.  This is an excellent example novel of why not to trust the Faeries. There are so many schemes going on in this novel, it is hard to keep up with who is with who and who is backstabbing who. 

2. Speaking of which, Jude is a human who has spent most of her life in the realm of the Fae.  She has had to learn to be smart and brutal in order to make her way.  She also shows that maybe you should not trust humans raised by Fae either.

3.  So interestingly to me, is that it is inferred that Cruel Prince refers to Cardan, but as the book progress he does not seem nearly as cruel as his brothers.  He is not a nice guy but, he, also, does not seem to have this great hidden agenda.  Plus,  he has had a very rough life, so it is no surprise he has some issues.

4. Holy Moley, that ending!  There was so much craziness happening and so much backstabbing.  It was amazing the plan that Jude brought together and cannot wait to see how things play out in the next book.

To Read or Not to Read:
Read