The Cruel Prince

Holly Black

Jan 2018 · The Folk of the Air Book 1 · Hachette Audio · Narrated by Caitlin Kelly

About this audiobook

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.

Ratings and reviews

How can she hope to be a knight when she can't even stand up to a group of bullies. There are multiple descriptions of what she had for dinner, but zero exploration into the personality of the guy she's dating. I guess if you're into the fantasy of being in a role but don't want to acknowledge the reality of what it would mean to be the servivor of your parents murder compounded by being kidnapped and raised by their murderer, who is a general that encourages you to learn how to be a warrior and doesn't put up with excuses...then this is def the book for you. Because all that back story does not impact the main chacter in any way. She's still just a whiney insecure teenager that wants to make daddy proud, doesn't know how to kiss, and has no survival instincts. Just *so* relatable when you have zero life experience.

AudioBook Review: Stars: Overall 5 Narration 5 Story 5 As a child I wasn’t fascinated with the idea of fairies: many of the stories shared with me showed them as rather spiteful creatures, full of mischief but with a mean streak. Few authors I’ve read actually take that opinion and run with it, and Holly Black ran wild with the fae in this one; the court of Henry VIII would have been shocked at their behavior! Jude and Taryn are twins, and with their elder sister Viv have been whisked off to Fairie after the massacre of their parents at the hands of Viv’s father Madoc, a general of Fairie. Viv is his daughter, and despite his acts, he sees Jude and Taryn as his responsibility – ostensibly his remaining feelings for their mother stirs him into action. The three are very different in their reaction: Viv hates him and Fairie with the heat of a million suns, Taryn and Jude have come to see him as a protector and father-like figure. They are living in the midst of Fairie, alongside the royal children, accepted but not, with each group forming their own cliques, learning the ins and outs of court politics, developing their own networks of informants and spies. Unlike her sister Viv or Taryn, Jude loves being in Fairy and wants to become a knight – a position of power that will earn her some freedom and respect. That is important, as the sisters aren’t seen as ‘belonging’ and the put downs and cuts are constant – these really bother Jude. And then, we have the Geoffry-like prince Cardan. Cardan is the youngest prince: a bully, mean-spirited and determined to make life difficult for anyone he can pick on. Jude has taken his abuse – repeatedly, swallowing down the insults and building a hatred for Cardan that sees no end. But, she hasn’t reacted – not really, she’s not sure of just what her powers could do, and then she decides that enough is enough, and stops throttling her emotions. As Jude accepts her dark side: one far darker than even she expected, other doors open and she is recruited by the chosen prince, Dain, and soon she discovers that much is hidden beneath the surface: secrets lead to more secrets, and each one seems to have more depth and possible implications than anyone would ever have thought possible. With an upcoming coronation and plenty of secrets unraveling and danger increasing, Jude is learning to maneuver as she tries to watch out for herself and her sisters. But when Taryn shares a secret, but refuses to say more – the danger, and stakes increase. Black has developed these characters completely: good and bad, in ways that I’ve not seen in YA fiction. She doesn’t steer away from uncomfortable or impolite feelings, actions or even impulses, and seems to allow them each to develop and embrace traits and pathways that will allow them to be their fully realized selves. With lovely and lush descriptions of place and things, the land of Fairie is easy to visualize and feel, drawing you into this very atmospheric read. Narration for this story is provided by Caitlin Kelly, and she manages to present the words, and the underlying emotion with precision: you understand Viv’s anger, Jude’s frustrations and even Taryn’s secrecy in a visceral way, even before the issue or action is complete. This really is Jude’s story, and every moment of her uncertainty, and her joy in discovering her own power, and wielding that power for revenge against Cardan or in her investigations comes with a touch of ‘ooh’ for listeners – we feel Jude becoming more confident and capable as she demonstrates it in actions through the text. Dark, occasionally disturbing and full of many moments that people, in their efforts to be polite never let out for others to see: the story is transportative and engaging – keeping you on the edge of your seat until the last words are read. And OH – what last words – precise, beautiful and immersive with details and layers that have you desperate for the next part of the story!

This book was definitely one that snuck up on me while I had my back turned. I haven't read many of Black's books, and Tithe wasn't all that memorable to me, so when I went into this, I was aware of the hype but with low expectations. And for the first half, it was like I thought it would be - the story of a mortal girl in a fae court, who is regularly bullied, and who wants to earn her place in their society. Jude has been brought up like a warrior, and she doesn't yearn to return to the mortal world - she finds Faerie to be her home, for better or for worse, and even if she is being looked down upon by the youngest Prince of Elfhame, Cardan and his friends, one of whom wants to kill her and one who wants to, well, seduce her. So, I was like, okay, yeah, their constant fights and the building tension seem interesting enough but what about the coronation plot - why is that in the background? The rule passing on seems a much more intriguing one?! But then, in the second half, all that seeming languidness of the first half built up to a development that absolutely drove away any doubts I had regarding the hype. Jude grows from a mortal wanting to just find a respectable position of a glorified guard, to a kingmaker: from a pawn to a Queen. There are so many things I could discuss - the complicated relationships between the characters, specifically Jude with her adoptive father, Taryn and her aspirations in Faerie and the delicate truce between the sisters, the nature of the human servitude situation, the delightful turns of phrases that meld the charm of old-fashioned speaking with modern style sass, Cardan and the 'romance' that just seems unhealthy, all the scheming and political machinations, Jude's anxiety and her struggles never being glossed over and presenting Faerie in all its vicious beauty - but then this review would be too long. It definitely reminded me of the darkness of Tithe: A Modern Faerie Tale world, understandable as there are a couple of characters from there that make an appearance here, so it is a shared universe, but also the atmosphere of the plot calls to mind more of The Coldest Girl in Coldtown, with a heroine who is just exhausted with the world she is in, but is still doing her best to be kind while also keeping herself first. And that ending - what an exhilarating ending, that more than makes up for the slower first half! Jude delivers an A-level scheme and all the faeries better watch out in the next book!

About the author

Holly Black is the bestselling author of contemporary fantasy novels for teens and children, including Tithe: A Modern Faerie Tale and the #1 New York Times bestselling Spiderwick series. She has been a finalist for the Mythopoeic Award and the Eisner Award, and the recipient of the Andre Norton Award. Holly lives in Massachusetts with her husband, Theo, in a house with a secret library. Her website is www.blackholly.com.