Sunday 31 December 2017

ARC Review: The Cruel Prince by Holly Black

I received this book from Netgalley in the form of an e-ARC for an honest review, so here it is!

I'd heard so much about this book before I requested it, and of course the cover also drew me in, but just the idea of a faerie world based book had me desperately hoping to be accepted, and I was.

I admit, I did a little happy dance when I saw the acceptance email. It took a little while to get to reading it, but over my holiday I devoured it and read it ridiculously quickly (even for me).

Here's the book:



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 . . . 

So, I don't know how to explain how amazing this book was. I absolutely loved it, as I have always loved Faerie related books, but I don't see as many as I would like, so this was a great addition to my faerie/fantasy collection.

I liked that in this book there were a lot of traditional superstitions about Faeries, and it was nice that while I was reading this I could compare all the different superstitions used and see which ones overlapped with other books I had read.

In fact, I loved how different this book was to other Faerie books I've read - it was dark and totally fascinating, letting you understand the more darker side to the Faerie world (which was exactly like I have always imagined the Faerie world to be - dark and slightly twisted if you aren't careful). The writing style of Holly Black is beautiful, it really had me feel like I was in the book seeing what she described, and I sometimes have trouble imagining things in books.

My favourite character was Jude, the main character in this book. She went from a young, inexperienced child to someone that could navigate her way through the Faerie world with ease, and I can't wait to see where her character goes in the next book.

So, all I can really say to sum up this book is that is is beautifully written and the writing style is amazing, and all I want to do is curl up and read it again. It's definitely reignited my interest in Faerie books, which I am definitely grateful for.

I give this book: 5 cats! (and I would give it more if I could!)


Have you read it or are planning to read it? This book is out the 2nd January, and I would definitely recommend it for those who love dark and twisted Faerie tales! Comment below with your opinions, I'd love to hear them!


1 comment:

  1. This sounds like such an interesting book, might just have to add it to my tbr list!

    ReplyDelete