Book Review- The Cruel Prince

Hello readers!

Today's review is for a book I've been wanting to read for a long time. It fit into my N.E.W.T.s read-a-thon so I finally had an excuse to make time to read it. I'm sure you've seen plenty of people raving about this book and I can totally see why. This is the first book I've read by Holly Black and I'm looking forward to pre-ordering The Wicked King that comes out next year.

I decided to change my format slightly to see if it's easier for me to get out my thoughts on each book without rambling too much. Without further delay, lets get to the review.

The Cruel Prince by Holly Black

♥♥♥♥♥

Title: The Cruel Prince

Author: Holly Black

Published: 2018

Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

Genre: Fiction, Young Adult, Fantasy

Plot:♥♥♥♥♥
Characters: ♥♥♥♥♥
World Building: ♥♥♥♥♥
Flow: ♥♥♥♥♥

Synopsis:

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.

Review*:

I've decided to break this out pretty simply, because for the most part that is how I judge a book. I don't like to bring in other systems because I think it takes away my actual feelings for the book by breaking it down. So for now, I'm going to pick out the Likes and Dislikes of The Cruel Prince. I'm starting with dislikes because most of those occur towards the beginning of the book.

Dislikes:

• Pacing/flow. I had a really hard time with the beginning of this book. I had employed the help of sticky notes to keep track of what jarred me so much while reading this. The first 50-70 pages were really hard for me to want to keep picking the book back up. It felt like there was a lot of added detail but also missing detail at the same time. For instance, Holly described only three of the kings children in more detail than the rest and not until the coronation were any of the others mentioned. The details she did mention weren't brought into the rest of the story when those characters were present.
• Tone. I understand that most of Holly's work has been for a younger audience, but the beginning of this book started much like a Middle Grade book. There weren't a lot of complex feelings or emotions, some things were explained rather simply. For example, when Madoc killed Jude's father, he told Jude's mother not to run and the line that follows is, 'But she did run.'
• Character development. I touched on this briefly before, and through the story the characters got better but I had a hard time with what I felt like were half explained characters. To bring it up again, King Eldred's children, we are only told in detail of 3 aside from Cardan. Physically passing over their more unique features, like horns or odd feet. These details aren't brought up again and you almost forget about them after the brief moment they are brought up. Also, that each of these children have courts, though what they are for isn't mentioned until Jude becomes a part of the Court of Shadows.
• Map. That map is hideous and I didn't find it very helpful. I loved the embellishments on the chapters and pages though.

Likes:

• Relationship complexity. 
• Madoc: Something I found very interesting through this book was that despite Madoc killing Jude's parents and whisking away all three children to Faerie, they still formed a father like relationship with him. I appreciated seeing that Madoc, despite his blood lust and need for killing, he also valued honor and family almost as fiercely. Despite being the reason that they were orphans, he did the honorable thing by bringing those girls into his home and raising them as if they were his own, even teaching Jude to fight. 
• Cardan: In case you didn't already know this, one of my favorite tropes is Enemies to lovers, or at least friends. As I'm sure I've mentioned in almost any book tag; the dark and broody characters are my favorite. So needless to say, I loved Cardan. What I love even more than just Cardan is Cardan and Jude. I can't tell you how happy I was to read all the pieces about the pair once the killing commenced at the coronation. I am also elated that this is setting up to be a slow burn romance because I am here for it. The betrayal that Cardan feels from Jude when assumes control over him and ultimately puts the crown on his head gives me butterflies I haven't felt in a long time. 10/10 trash for Judan. 
• Taryn: The twin's relationship isn't as complex as the previous two until you remember the fundamental part of their relationship.... they're twins. Now I'm not saying they should be able to read each others minds or have some sort of empathy powers but I also don't see any sibling camaraderie that I am familiar with and expected. Though Taryn may be the shy, timid sister, she is colder than Jude which is displayed when she chooses keeping Locke's favor over assisting her sister. She comes off far more selfish than Jude does, at least in my opinion, and that's before we even find out about their love triangle. 
• Unpredictability. The most redeeming part of this book and the reason why I gave it 5/5 stars is because the story twists at every moment. There aren't any clues to lead into what may happen next, leaving Jude to problem solve in the moment, which makes me love her even more. Although the internet did spoil me enough to know about Cardan and Jude prior to reading it, I was still thrown off by Locke showing interest, or Prince Dain employing Jude. Until Jude started to flesh out the plan of putting Oak on the throne, I couldn't predict what would happen next and even past that I wasn't 100% sure how Jude would mislead Cardan into being crowned. 
• Shift in character. I didn't like Jude at the beginning of the book. She seemed whiny, annoying, and like she wanted to complain more than do anything. She also was letting others dictate her destiny. Once Jude let her fear and drive control her, I started to like her more and more. Sometimes you just need to let go to gain control of your life, which is what she did and she became a badass from it.

  Overall, I would recommend this book, though I can't pinpoint a specific reason why. Once you get through the first few chapters, there is something enchanting in the characters and the world of Faerie. The entire world and the lore put in is gorgeous, just imagining the gowns and homes is wonderful. 

What did you guys think of this book? Did you like format I tried for reviewing? I think it made it a lot easier for me to get my opinions out and make it less of a wall of text that it secretly still is. Let me know in the comments below!

*There may be spoilers in this section of the review. If you do not wish to be spoiled, please stop reading.