The Cruel Prince – Holly Black
Fairies, sisters, orphans, princes, courts, courtiers, young adult, fantasy, fiction.
Rating 9/10
Jude and her sisters were taken away from the human world and witnessed someone kill her parents at a young age. This person takes care of them out of respect and care for the young girls as well as keeping them away from the human world by keeping them in Elfhame. She goes to school with the rest of the nobles’ children. Often, she gets bullied by the princes and princess. She is approached by Prince Dain who wants her to become his spy and in exchange protection. Jude pledges herself to him. Her work begins with spying on Prince Balekin and she learns an awful a lot. Jude will learn that being a spy was more than she had thought she made a deal with. This comes with a lot of revelations and a dangerous road ahead for Jude and Cardon.
I saw this on TikTok and wanted to give it a read. I am so glad that I had done so. I enjoyed reading this novel and somewhat understand the hype. Also, the fact that this is different than the usual young adult fiction I read was a fresh breath of air. The idea of a human living in the faery world and being a part of something life altering was intriguing. It would make sense for the human to be a spy in the faery court. She is unseen and seen as unimportant so no one will think nothing less. I do love the author’s thought process and how she beautifully developed the world as well as the characters. A lot of thought went into creating this and there are so many twists that are subtle yet shocking.
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