Life of Bry

“What could I become if I stopped worrying about death, about pain, about anything? If I stopped trying to belong? Instead of being afraid, I could become something to fear.”

Ok, here’s another very conflicted review for a book I really wanted to love but didn’t.

The Cruel Prince by Holly Black is the YA book I probably see the most between social media, book store displays and real life. It’s everywhere. I couldn’t escape it. So I feel like a lot of my opinions are rooted in the fact that so many people recommended it to me and told me it was their favorite book, and I’ve been bombarded by hype that this take on the fae court phenomenon is the best.

A brief synopsis: The Cruel Prince is the first book of The Folk of the Air series. Book No. 1 follows the story of Jude Duarte, a mortal girl taken in by her parents’ murderer who just happens to be the biological father of her older sister. Jude and her two sisters are raised in Elfhame among the fey, but the three don’t acclimate all the same. Jude wants to prove herself worthy in a world where she is seen as less, but a web of fae politics is being woven around her and she finds herself in the middle of it all … with a prince with a reputation of cruelty.

A non-spoilery review: I wish I could tear this book in half and only review the second part. The last 200 pages of The Cruel Prince are a perfect five stars. The first half … three … at best. The plot itself is great. Following Jude, a mortal with no blood connection to the fae, rather than Vivi, a child of a fae court general hidden away in the mortal world, was a fantastic twist on the usual faerie plot lines I’ve seen. I loved being submerged in the politics and morality of a world where the lines between right and wrong, good and evil aren’t as defined as in the mortal one — and to see Jude find a way to tiptoe across those lines and discover what she’s willing to do herself was incredible. However, the world-building was just info dumping, the pacing was all over the place, a lot of the characters felt like they were in the story as accessories rather than moving components to carry the plot, the “he’s pulling your pigtails because he likes you” trope gives me the ick, and all together I felt like I read this book before — the downfall of a certain trope or genre oversaturating the market. None of that is so this is a bad book. On the contrary, I really enjoyed reading it, and it’s very structurally sound. I’m going to wait to read book No. 2 before I fully commit to an opinion on the series, because I think the chess board Holly Black was setting is an intricate one. 

I’m going to wait until I read the whole series to do a full-blown analysis, but I’ll hit ya with some of my key bullet points on my thoughts after Book No. 1.

• When I mentioned above that I felt I read this book already, I’m not alone. When I explained the plot to my husband, he genuinely asked if this was a reread because it sounded familiar. Big oof.
• I’m a big fan of first-person narrators. It’s my favorite, and The Cruel Prince benefits from it because Jude delivering her own story makes it more intimate and the moral decisions she’s making need that intimacy to have an impact. However, the first-person POV does hinder the world-building, because Jude is already acclimated to Elfhame by the time the story really takes off. Readers don’t get to experience this take on Faerie first-hand, but rather Jude tells readers what she has learned. It’s ultimately a personal preference, but I’m not in favor of this strategy.
• Because I don’t live under a rock, I know Jude and Cardan end up together. I’m going to give it time before I jump to any conclusions, but I’m gritting my teeth. Cardan may not have wanted to kill Jude all these years, but he did consistently and intentionally put her in dangerous situations. Accidents happen and she’s mortal — something he knows quite well. His own personal insecurities due to his life of abuse and his inability to portray emotion is not an excuse to take it out on Jude. I wish that was explored more rather than just Cardan giving his speech and moving on, though I see them working toward it. Jude doesn’t seem like one to forgive so easily. But I still kind of get the ick from the whole situation, which is once again just a personal preference.
• Going along with that, I wish we saw a moment where the feud between Cardan and Jude started to build more of a connection with that tension. I’m thinking how well Chloe Gong created tension between Juliette and Roma because there was a history between them we saw. 
• I had a hard time warming up to Jude. I loved her toward the end, but I had to get over that hump of “she’s a teenager doing teenager things and having teenager feelings in a place where the idea of being a teenager doesn’t really exist.” 
• I feel so neutral about Cardan. Potential is there but right now I don’t feel one way or the other.
• Vivi and Taryn were very stagnant in the narrative despite being essential to Jude. They’re her sisters, and yet they weren’t developed enough to serve the purpose their role entailed. Vivi was essentially just a way to get Oak out of Elfhame (and Cardan on the throne) and Taryn was a way to bring Locke more into the story. While it’s smart to have characters carry the story, those characters need to have substance to hold the weight. 
• Madoc was my favorite character. I loved his duality. He’s this bloodthirsty general, but he also raises Jude and Taryn with so much love — and Vivi even though she’s not accepting his hospitality. He is “smitten” with them, and it’s kind of adorable … even though he’s done horrible things, including killing their parents. He also serves as a benchmark or a foil almost for Jude. He’s taught her everything she knows on being a force in this world both with a sword and with strategy. Her yearning for power is similar to Madoc’s, but for seemingly different reasons. I’m most interested in seeing how their dynamic changes moving forward.
• It was surprisingly difficult to figure out what order to read these books in. I went to buy the second book, and wasn’t sure which one came next. The B&N employee actually gave me Book No. 3 instead of 2, and I didn’t realize it until I picked it up to read. I ordered the right one though, so that should be here shortly and I can see if any of my opinions change after it 🙂