Book 31/30.
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
My fiancé gifted me The Folk of the Air trilogy for my birthday last year and I was realllllllyyyyyy excited to dive in because Young Adult is my second favourite genre and after the Six of Crows duology I have Crazy, Stupid, Love for YA Fantasy 😍🤓
The Cruel Prince opens with a brutal murder that sets the stage for the book and trilogy. 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.
Right off the bat, it is clear that:
1. this is not your average YA Fantasy novel as it is quite dark. As Leigh Bardugo wrote in her blurb: Lush, dangerous, a dark jewel of a book.
2. every character in here is somewhat morally corrupt and there is not a single character that is entirely likeable. All are complex, more than a little flawed, and nobody can be trusted. Even Jude.
The worldbuilding is done well and it proceeds bit by bit so there is never any confusion, which is remarkable as Holly Black created an entirely unique world with this trilogy. There is so much packed into this one story: politics, family drama, revenge, power, and murder. There is even a bit of romantic intrigue disguised as mutual hate, which I obviously enjoyed. Everything builds up slowly, increasing in tension until we reach a turning point about halfway through. That is when the story really picked up hence book two was sooo much stronger than book one and if I were to base my review solely on that, I would dole out a 5 star rating.
** A guide to ratings **
1 star – did not like it
2 stars – it was okay
3 stars – liked it
4 stars – really liked it
5 stars – it was amazing
Lwile the Leo 