The Cruel Prince by Holly BlackMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
"'I'm so tired,' I say out loud. 'So tired.' ...
'Tired of what, sweetmeat?' ...
I sigh and answer honestly for once. 'Of being powerless.'"
The Cruel Prince is set in the Faerie world, which is full of trickery, bargains, and magic. Jude Duarte is a human girl who lives there with her twin sister and half-sister. They were abducted as children from their home in the mortal world by their mother's angry, faerie ex-husband, who murdered their mortal parents right in front of them. Yeah, this book is a little dark.
Growing up as a mortal in the Faerie world means that someone is always out to trick, poison, curse, or humiliate you. This, along with her past, shapes Jude into an ambitious girl, set on making the faeries regret how they've treated her. She dreams of using her skill with a blade to become a knight, but soon enough her skills are noticed by another and her ambitions change drastically.
I liked this book because it felt pretty original. I was expecting this book to be a romance, and I was a little disappointed on that front, since there isn't a lot of romance going on here in the first book of this series. At least, not the traditional type. It's got that antagonistic love interest vibe that would definitely be toxic in real life, but hey, this is Faerie. There's a lot of strategy, reckless behavior, and detailed descriptions that make you feel like you're really there. I thought I would like it more, but I've already started the next books anyway and it definitely gets better.
Mature content: occasional profanity, sexual innuendo, death.
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