From the Bookshelf of Ranters and Reviewers…

The Cruel Prince (The Folk of the Air, #1)

Holly Black

Start date: June 1, 2021

Finish date: June 30, 2021

Discussion: BOTM

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November 2021 Series BOTM Suggestions
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October 2021 Continuation BOTM: The Wicked King
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What Members Thought

Apr 16, 2018 Jessica Edwards rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: favourites, fantasy

5 STARS!!

Jude was only seven years old when her parents were tragically murdered. She and her two sisters were taken away to live in the treacherous High Court of Faerie.
Ten years later, Jude wants nothing more than to belong there, but many of the fey hate humans, especially one person in particular - the youngest and wickedest son of the High King, Prince Cardan.

This book for me was a page turner. Literally.
I still can't get over it...
This is probably my favourite book I've read in 2018 so ...more

200 likes · Like · see review

Apr 11, 2020 human rated it really liked it

Shelves: annoying-characters, ship-them-with-a-sliver-of-my-soul, read-in-2021, buddy-reads, paranormal, read-in-2020, the-hype-is-strong-with-this-one, swooooon

(after reread: 4/5)

Buddy-read with Layla! Go check out her review here !!

The sentiments I had after reading this the first time? They're upheld.

I still hate Locke and Taryn. So much. If anything, I hated them even more this time because I knew how horrible they are. Reading about Locke messing with Jude while also having his thing going on with Taryn while she just stood idly by and essentially enabled Cardan's circle to bully Jude made me want to put a knife through my screen.

Which, yes, I am a ...more

138 likes · Like · see review

Aug 15, 2019 krista ☽✧ rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: enemies-too-lovers, morally-grey-books

“Desire is an odd thing. As soon as it’s sated, it transmutes. If we receive golden thread, we desire the golden needle.”

“Nice things don’t happen in storybooks. Or when they do happen, something bad happens next. Because otherwise the story would be boring, and no one would read it.”

first read ;August 2019 , re-read ; May 2020 in order to prepare to read queen of nothing

OKAY SO YOU MUST READ THIS TRIOLOGY IF ;
- you want morally grey Charracters 👀
- you want enemies too lovers
- you want ...more

76 likes · Like · see review

Jan 10, 2021 ATheReader rated it it was amazing

Shelves: royal

4.5 stars
Whew, that was a rollercoaster. Jude, you are one morally gray character..
This review will have SPOILERS in it because I don't know how else to review this.

"cardan hates jude but not really
- the cruel prince in a sentence"
Credit: Sofia!

Characters:
The characters really pulled this book together. They make you angry and sad and they make you interested in what they are going to decide, or what is going to happen to them.

Jude:
I loved Jude. It was really interesting to see what she p ...more

60 likes · Like · see review

Jan 23, 2021 Briney rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: copy-kindle, fantasy, from-enemies-to-lovers, ya, series, fiction, underwhelming, i-blame-the-hype, please-spare-my-eyeballs, romance

I feel like I've been robbed, where was the story promised? The plot? Hello I signed up for a fun fantasy enemies to lovers? Instead I get 300+ of... nothing??

Definition of underwhelming. I dunno man, the first and last 10 pages were the most eventful in the entire book. (view spoiler) ...more

40 likes · Like · see review

Nov 16, 2018 Emma rated it it was ok

Shelves: unpopular-opinions, overated, no-thanks

y’all this book WEIRDS ME OUT. for context, almost a year ago, I read this book, rated it 4.5 stars, and then revisited it two weeks later only to be completely clueless as to why I rated it so high. because here’s the thing: I had forgotten EVERYTHING about this story.

mind you, but I pride myself on having a pretty excellent memory. I remember vivid details and memories of being a kid, and yet I can’t seem to think of anything that would caused me to care about the Cruel Prince. not a single d ...more

37 likes · Like · see review

Sep 06, 2018 Kaya Lynch rated it it was amazing

Shelves: endings-that-destroyed-me, favorites-2018, will-read-later

I think this is a 4.5 but excuse this small rant:

WHAT
THE
HECK
I am shook. I swear that sometimes certain scenes in books play like those epic snapshots of movies, the iconic ones that no one forgets. And Cruel Prince did that so perfectly I just can't even.

I will say the first half of the book is relatively slow but THAT SECOND HALF. And and Cardan and Jude are basically one of my new OTPS and I TOTALLY CALLED THAT ENDING. SORTA. Well I had my suspicions considering the titles of the next books ...more

36 likes · Like · see review

Jul 01, 2019 Salma19 (And I Darken stan) rated it liked it

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Update August 2020:
3 stars
* Lowering my rating to 3 stars because the abusive relationship in this trilogy ends up being completely romanticized instead of portrayed as harmful by the end of this series. Therefore, I feel uncomfortable to recommend the Folk of the Air trilogy to younger readers... I saw a lot of people considering Jurdan as “couple goals” and I feel a bit concerned... Bullies ain’t cute, abusers must be punished and banished and I don’t care about their daddy issues. 🤯😤

THE FAE Update August 2020:
3 stars
* Lowering my rating to 3 stars because the abusive relationship in this trilogy ends up being completely romanticized instead of portrayed as harmful by the end of this series. Therefore, I feel uncomfortable to recommend the Folk of the Air trilogy to younger readers... I saw a lot of people considering Jurdan as “couple goals” and I feel a bit concerned... Bullies ain’t cute, abusers must be punished and banished and I don’t care about their daddy issues. 🤯😤

THE FAE ARE EVIL IN THIS ONE
1-General thoughts

It was not that bad. Actually, I expected to hate it but I ended up liking it. I agree that there was'nt much of a plot but the political aspect and the royal fae drama captivated me enough to continue and the writing style is very fluid, which made me able to devoure this book in a few days)

2- The characters

I got what I expected from a dark fae story: immoral disturbed people dominated by anger and jealousy who are horrible with each other and do problematic stuff. I didn't like them except the main character and her older sister but I didn't mind it because it was kind of the point of the book to hate everyone.

3- The romance

Bad. The two love interests made me cringe hard and I hate them. For me, it was clear since the begenning that Locke was playing a vicious game with Jude. (And her sister also, but she chose her path alongside that douche. It's not our problem anymore tho )
Let's continue on with Cardan. He's the dark-haired-guy-with-a-disturbing-past-who-is-abusive-but-likes-the-main-character-but-rather-treats-her like-garbage-to-make-her-liking-him-back kind of asshole. I see characters like this in almost every YA book and it's the kind of unoriginal characters I absolutely dislike. I hope he doesn't become the love interest. Please.Please.Please. I despise the bully-victim romance trope so much. I want a story where the girl rises by herself in her world and not with a asshole. Really Jude should kill him by the end of the series. I was so angry when she kisses him in Chapter 25. It was so dumb. Girl, kissing is not threatening. Was she high or what during this scene ?

4- The writing/pacing

The writing has a whimsical vibe to it but in fluid way, which makes me reading the book very quickly. Some people said it was a fantasy book written like a contemporary. I see what they mean but it's a crossover between the real world and Faerie. It's kind of a mystical Fantasy. Most of this book is Jude plotting what she's gonna do to get power in Faerie and spying for the royals, which I found somehow entertaining. It's misleading because at first Jude is talking about how she wants to be the best knight. It's a little bit weird how this idea was thrown out of the window. It's a politic-driven book so most of the action happens during the meetings and parties but the fluid writing made the slow parts bearable and the book is only 371 pages. Overall the writing worked well with me despite some disorganizations with the story. ...more

33 likes · Like · see review

Dec 17, 2020 Caitlin ~WordsAreMyForte~ rated it really liked it

Shelves: ya

Imagine a story that's something of a cross between the A Court of Thorns and Roses series by Sarah J. Maas and An Enchantment of Ravens by Margaret Rogerson, with some extra political scheming and succession strife thrown in. That's what The Cruel Prince was for me.

Despite how childish and whimsical the illustrations and opening poems were, this book is not for the faint of heart. It is rich with morally grey characters impulsively stepping on the lives of others in the worst ways possible. The Imagine a story that's something of a cross between the A Court of Thorns and Roses series by Sarah J. Maas and An Enchantment of Ravens by Margaret Rogerson, with some extra political scheming and succession strife thrown in. That's what The Cruel Prince was for me.

Despite how childish and whimsical the illustrations and opening poems were, this book is not for the faint of heart. It is rich with morally grey characters impulsively stepping on the lives of others in the worst ways possible. The world of Faerie is, well, cruel, no surprise there.

As much as I enjoyed this romp around another version of Faerieland, it definitely wasn't a literary masterpiece to any degree, but no one was really asking for that in the first place. No doubt, the plot is intricate, and Jude's character development in particular was fantastic in how she grows concerned for and jaded by her own immoral actions. Although - and this might just be my personal favoritism for multiple POV stories speaking - remaining in Jude's head distanced the secondary characters quite a bit. Although, multiple POV doesn't exactly work for stories where secrets and intrigues run rampant...

I would have loved if we had gotten to see the story from Prince Cardan's perspective, (view spoiler) Much of the titular character's persona is left up in the air for most of the story; dual perspective definitely would have cleared up some things and added more development for our 'villain' characters. (view spoiler)

Writing reviews where I'm very much 'in the middle' with my opinion are the most difficult. I didn't hate or love The Cruel Prince, but I liked it well enough that I'll be picking up The Wicked King very soon. (view spoiler) As an aside, the pieces of fan art for this series are absolutely not to be missed. Not only are they simply beautiful and worthy of adoration, but they assisted me greatly in visualizing this extensive cast of characters ...more

16 likes · Like · see review

Dec 26, 2020 Andrea rated it liked it

Shelves: fantasy-crossworld

I don’t know what to make of this. Every possible rating has crossed my mind at some point while reading this book, so this could very well change but I'm settling for 3.5 stars.

The story starts when 7 year-old Jude opens the door of her house to a strange man, who kills both her parents and then claims to be her older sister’s father. Turns out he is no man at all, but Madoc, general to the High King of the Fae, and Jude’s older sister Vivi is indeed his heir. So after killing their parents, Ma ...more

16 likes · Like · see review

Mar 13, 2023 lookmairead rated it really liked it

TBH, your Book of Night reviews made me nervous to start reading Holly Black. So I dove in with very low expectations.

But I was pleasantly surprised. Give me a strong female main character with memorable world building and I’m interested.
Throw in sibling love layered with “reading between the lines” vibes and I’m intrigued.
Add an “it’s complicated” relationship with a moody Prince and I’m microwaving popcorn.

Could I argue the contemporary world isn’t needed? Yes. But that’s because I rarely ...more

10 likes · Like · see review

Dec 15, 2020 akacya ❦ rated it it was amazing

Shelves: genre-fantasy, format-audiobook, own, favorites, audience-young-adult

I LOVED THIS

5 likes · Like · see review

Nov 01, 2019 Eleanor Jones rated it did not like it

Shelves: young-adult, rant-worthy

Hated the first half of this book. It got a-lot better in the second half but I just couldn't get past the writing for the most part.

Order of decent characters
1) Jude (annoying and stupid at times)
2) Cardan (didn't make a whole lot of sense emotionally - like he felt different in the beginning then in the end like the author wasn't quite sure how to make him seem like "He was the same person all along" so she mashed two halves of the same person together and called it a day)
3) No other Character ...more

3 likes · Like · see review