Name: The Cruel Prince
ISBN: 9781471406461

Holly Black

"Lush, dangerous, a dark jewel of a book . . . intoxicating" - Leigh Bardugo, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Six of Crows 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. One terrible morning, Jude and her sisters see their parents murdered in front of them. The terrifying assassin abducts all three girls to the world of Faerie, where Jude is installed in the royal court but mocked and tormented by the Faerie royalty for being mortal. As Jude grows older, she realises that she will need to take part in the dangerous deceptions of the fey to ever truly belong. But the stairway to power is fraught with shadows and betrayal. And looming over all is the infuriating, arrogant and charismatic Prince Cardan . . . Enter the dramatic and thrilling world of the Folk of the Air, brimful of magic and romance from New York Times bestselling author Holly Black.

The Folk of the Air #1

The Cruel Prince

Erin McDonald

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

Isobel cusack

Nikola

Avery

Pia 

In Faerie, there are no fish sticks, no ketchup, no television.

Penelope

Luna✨😃

Cassidy Nolan

Anna Stewart

I want to win. I do not yearn to be their equal. 

Anda

rose.

Jayla Poindexter 

Lexi D

Beyza

angie

"Have I told you how hideous you look tonight?"

 Cardan asks, leaning back in the elaborately carved chair, the warmth of his words turning the question into something like a compliment.

 I say, glad to be annoyed back into the present. 

Kristina Cole

nyssa <3

Taylor Grace

Audrey |  Bookstagrammer 

luca marie

Anna

Have I told you how hideous you look tonight?” Cardan asks, leaning back in the elaborately carved chair, the warmth of his words turning the question into something like a compliment.

“No” I say, glad to be annoyed back into the present. “Tell me.”

Sara Vasilescu

Only idiots aren’t scared of things that are scary.

Elin Hakvoort

I hate him more than all the others. I hate him so much that sometimes when I look at him, I can hardly breathe.

donits ~inactive

Faerie might be beautiful, but its beauty is like a golden stag’s carcass, crawling with maggots beneath his hide, ready to burst.

Instead of being afraid, I could become something to fear. 

Sophia 

Children can laugh all day and still cry themselves to sleep at night. 

By #1 New York Times bestselling author Holly Black, the first book in a stunning new series about a mortal girl who finds herself caught in a web of royal faerie intrigue.
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 years old 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. 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.
"I require book two immediately. Holly Black is the Faerie Queen." - Victoria Aveyard, bestselling author of the 'Red Queen' series
"Complex, nuanced characters, frank sensuality and thorn-sharp intricate storytelling all conspire to ensnare." - Guardian

not really sure what the hype is about. I couldn't finish it. Very "Not Like Other Girls" and "I'm 13 and this is deep" to me. 

Olivia Hughes

o cardan amarrado falando oi pro barata </3

I was highly entertained as soon as this book left behind the high school setting, it is not a human/common school, but the whole build up of how and why Jude and Cardan were enemies bored me a bit. Although, I'll admit the banter between them was highly engaging. I think my main problem was the necessity of including the Locke plot because after reading I just felt like it was a way to justify why we cannot have a twin unstopping duo, like I saw the potential of a ying and yang heroines, even if one of them wasn't the main.

I found interesting the politics, and the fact that these faeries cannot lie but they had to find a way of charming their way through it.

I think right now I'm not in a good place to continue reading, so yeah.

A solid 4 stars.

I was highly entertained as soon as this book left behind the high school setting, it is not a human/common school, but the whole build up of how and why Jude and Cardan were enemies bored me a bit. Although, I'll admit the banter between them was highly engaging. I think my main problem was the necessity of including the Locke plot because after reading I just felt like it was a way to justify why we cannot have a twin unstopping duo, like I saw the potential of a ying and yang heroines, even if one of them wasn't the main.

I found interesting the politics, and the fact that these faeries cannot lie but they had to find a way of charming their way through it.

I think right now I'm not in a good place to continue reading, so yeah.

I was looking for a fantasy book that was heavy on the fantasy and light on romance. This met the memo somewhat and got me back into fantasy. The dialogue is very YA, I'm not sure if I will be able to make it through the entire 6 part series but definitely keen to check out book 2.

Saffia

୨ৎ : 'if i cannot be better than them, i will become so much worse.'

to be honest i didn’t walk into this expecting to like it as much as i did. i loved the way jude was portrayed and changed during the book and i can’t wait to read more about her. she’s definitely my favourite character, and i can tell she’ll be strong and not need anyone but herself to save her.

*** updated: just reread this and it made me realise how much i genuienly adore this book and the characters. while cardan still annoyed me, i cant help but love him. vivi, oak, roach, ghost and bomb were such intricate side characters and i adore how much they add to the story. and of course my sweet baby jude. she can do no wrong and i support everything she does and will do. ***

୨ৎ : 'if i cannot be better than them, i will become so much worse.'

— ☆ 5/5 (was 4/5)

to be honest i didn’t walk into this expecting to like it as much as i did. i loved the way jude was portrayed and changed during the book and i can’t wait to read more about her. she’s definitely my favourite character, and i can tell she’ll be strong and not need anyone but herself to save her.

*** updated: just reread this and it made me realise how much i genuienly adore this book and the characters. while cardan still annoyed me, i cant help but love him. vivi, oak, roach, ghost and bomb were such intricate side characters and i adore how much they add to the story. and of course my sweet baby jude. she can do no wrong and i support everything she does and will do. ***

this flowed impressively smooth. the story and the events jude was going through felt natural and not forced or rushed. the plot twists had me LOSING IT in the best way possible. the descriptions of the settings/clothing were rich and helped to set the feeling of the surroundings, even when they took a minute to piece together. i should have knew locke was being too shady for his own good… (adoption with locke ended, cardan is my new son) but THE END TOO hello??? i love this book so much, i’m glad i finally gave it a chance. excited to get into the next ones

graves

finished this within 24 hours because it was such an easy read. the atmosphere and vibes were really cool, reminded me a lot of one dark window but this was more politics heavy. i saw a lot of the plot twists coming which isn’t a bad thing but it didn’t have the shock factor that might have been intended. the relationships between jude and the male characters felt a little shallow and instalove at first, but seeing how cardan (?) reverted back to his “asshole” ways is an interesting direction and i’m looking forward to seeing where the series goes :)

this is my second time reading this, so i can remember events for the next books. and honestly, i think the second read through was more enjoyable than the first. seeing the foreshadowing and actually being able to connect pieces together was nice.

the characters are interesting and fun, and although not always morally good, they are overall good characters. i don't think i could pick a favorite; possibly dain or jude, or maybe even madoc.  what can i say, i love characters who are a bit of a grey area.

mars

this is my second time reading this, so i can remember events for the next books. and honestly, i think the second read through was more enjoyable than the first. seeing the foreshadowing and actually being able to connect pieces together was nice.

the characters are interesting and fun, and although not always morally good, they are overall good characters. i don't think i could pick a favorite; possibly dain or jude, or maybe even madoc.  what can i say, i love characters who are a bit of a grey area.

love Cardan. like I'm taking that diva home with me.

Carolann croteau

Love this book! but not as much as love Cardan. like I'm taking that diva home with me.

interesting, very fairytale kind of book!

Lucy Williams

 i wish the 2nd half of this book felt more prevalent in the first half. Because though we see why jude is so power hungry in the first half we dont see it in action until she starts making deals with people. And most of the tike where we get these parts where she wants power its with her peers in school, because thats where the cruelties of this world was highlighted. Which yes i liked but i wish in addition to that we see atleast some ground work on how corrupt the courts and stuff are. I think thatd make the 2nd part of this story make more sense and blend better. I think another thing that shouldve been highlighted was jude training i think it also wouldve helped make the 2nd half believable. This all would make the power hungry part of her make more sense and kinda be justified and let that good intentions she has still shine through. And also her sister was actually the worst, since the beginning, and i wish we got more of that juxtaposition between the two and just more dynamics overall. There was a lot of good aspects of this book i just wish that they were more deeply written into the story as subtext rather than going from 0 to 100 when the story picks up.

melanie

, I can say that I liked the overall plot, but I didn’t really care for the author’s decision to have the sisters have different fathers — one with a faerie father and the other two with a mortal father. The story is set in the faerie realm and told through the eyes of one of the mortal sisters, while the faerie sister doesn’t play a major role or appear much in the narrative. I think I would have preferred the main character to also be a faerie, or at least for the story to be told from the faerie sister’s point of view.

Chulandon leanday Bradley 

After reading The Cruel Prince, I can say that I liked the overall plot, but I didn’t really care for the author’s decision to have the sisters have different fathers — one with a faerie father and the other two with a mortal father. The story is set in the faerie realm and told through the eyes of one of the mortal sisters, while the faerie sister doesn’t play a major role or appear much in the narrative. I think I would have preferred the main character to also be a faerie, or at least for the story to be told from the faerie sister’s point of view.

I’ve never really read a fantasy book before, and it wasn’t my favourite. However, I am intrigued to read the whole trilogy as It left me on a cliff hanger! But apart from this series I think i’ll keep off the fantasy novels.

gracie

Very easy read. I was skeptical about this book as I read there is little romance, but do not stop that reading this book. The faerie world took me in and the development of the FMC (jude) is so well written. Although there isn’t explicit romance scenes the tension between Cardan and Jude was great and made me want to discover more. The story overall is page turning! 

ovgun

An easy read, for most of the book you don’t really know where the plot is going but kind of enjoyed that.

Then towards the end it really ramps up, quite predictable but really good.

Ella Williams

Felt like reading a fairytale.

An easy read, for most of the book you don’t really know where the plot is going but kind of enjoyed that.

Then towards the end it really ramps up, quite predictable but really good.

while this book isn't the best thing i've ever read, i mostly enjoyed myself. the first 50% was pretty boring though, and i don't like how quickly jude and cardan's relationship dynamic changed. i would've liked a little more hatred and scorn before the kiss lol. but i'm intrigued enough to keep reading, so! hopefully it gets better from here.

kaii

I definitely think you should understand going into this book this isn’t a romantasy book. The romance portion is so low  that I don’t think you can even put it into that category and that’s totally fine! 

This book is clearly a set up for the rest of the series which is also fine, there are a lot of politics in the book so if that’s your thing you’ll love this one! 

Brittany Peterson

3-3.5 stars from me 

I definitely think you should understand going into this book this isn’t a romantasy book. The romance portion is so low  that I don’t think you can even put it into that category and that’s totally fine! 

This book is clearly a set up for the rest of the series which is also fine, there are a lot of politics in the book so if that’s your thing you’ll love this one! 

I loved this book so much! The only thing that irritated me was the mention of Vivi’s cat eyes over and over. Jude is such a girl boss‼️

molly louise

mica ♡

Jude was seven years old 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 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. From #1 New York Times bestselling author Holly Black comes the first book in a stunning new trilogy filled with twists and enchantment, as one girl learns the meaning of true power when she finds herself caught in a web of royal faerie intrigue. -- From dust jacket.

Not one of my favorite sagas for nothing, nothing like good conspiracies with a very slight touch of romance 

Axelle

Amazing book! It does have a few rude words in though. 🙂

Isla Smith

hana

When I think of a fantasy story , I'm looking for a few things: sharp writing, well-plotted story, compelling characters, and seamless worldbuilding. And if there's a dash of romance, I certainly love, this book has them all! There's so much packed into this one story: politics, family drama, revenge, power, and murder. There's even a bit of romantic intrigue disguised as mutual hate. I will say the world building was slow but halfway through I was turning pages as fast as I could.

The Cruel Prince The Folk of the Air #1