A review by ashley_mrose530
The Cruel Prince by Holly Black

adventurous dark tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

This one was okay. I had fun with it but there were definitely some issues. 
I liked the idea and plot of this book. I've always been fascinated by fae stories and especially what happens to the kids that are stolen to live in fairie. I like how this story gave me that and even showed me two different options for it.
I also just enjoyed the plot. I thought the political side of it - the coup and trying to stop the bad guy from succeeding in the coup - was really interesting and I'm looking forward to seeing how it moves along with the rest of the series.
There are quite a few things that set this book back for me though. The first thing is that there was very little world building. It relies heavily on the reader already knowing some lore about the fae and fairie instead of explaining things in context it didn't bother me too much because I do have a working knowledge of fae lore but for someone who doesn't know anything going into this book, I can see them being really confused.
I also didn't really like the main character Jude. She definitely had the air of thinking she knows everything and her decision-making was really lacking. But these characteristics seemed very on brand for a teenager so I let it go. But I really didn't understand why she wanted to stay in fairie so bad. I could understand why she wanted power, but the fae treated her so badly so I don't understand why she wouldn't have wanted to go back to the human world when her sister offered it. I don't know, I just thought it was weird and baffling.
Finally, this book was very predictable, like so easily too. It was obvious that
Lock was two-timing the twins, that the cruel prince Carden was unbearably attracted to Jude and might not actually be as terrible as he seems, and that their sudo-father was siding with the overthrower. The only thing that surprised me was that Oak was the long lost prince that was supposed to be dead. I even guessed that Carden would be the one to become the king at the end even if he didn't want to be.
So unfortunate none of the big reveals surprised me at all which then lessened my enjoyment of the book slightly overall.
Despite all of this, I still liked it and I do want to eventually read the rest of the series if only for the political intrigue and maybe see if that romance actually develops well.