Can you make your ears wiggle? Stupid question I know. I can to a certain extent. But I always end up moving my eyebrow a bit. If you are reading this you are probably wondering why I am talking about ears…I did a buddy read of The Cruel Prince by Holly Black this last week and ears are mentioned quite a bit. As a matter of fact I did see Black at the Tucson Festival of Books this last weekend and her ears did come up in conversation.
Summary: A mortal girl who was raised in Elfhame tries to win her place within the fae court.
What I liked: I genuinely liked the story. The characters were well thought out and three dimensional. The pacing was really good throughout the story. Black’s portrayal of the Fae as being mischievous/not very nice to humans is more in line with what I knew about fairies growing up. Black’s world building was really well done and in line with what I would have expected with the descriptions of places and different types of characters/creatures. I think that Black set the stage very well for the second book.
What I didn’t like: There was not anything in particular that stood out. I was not a big fan of Taryn but I think I expected that as she is pretty much the ying to Jude’s yang. I would have liked more about the other kingdoms. But as there is a second book to be released I am sure there will be more about this.
Star Rating: 4.5
My thoughts: I don’t read much YA fantasy, actually this month is probably the most I have read in a few years. I think that Black is a excellent writer and the story she crafted was very enjoyable. She was right on with her pacing as I would have expected during world building. All in all I would recommend The Cruel Prince.
I’ve been craving YA fantasy lately, and I really want to read this one! Great, well-rounded review 🙂
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Hi Kaila…This is a really good book. I would recommend it. It is a pretty quick read and the story is good. Thanks I do try to present the good and the bad of each book I review.
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