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The Cruel Prince (The Folk of the Air, #1)

Holly Black

Start date: March 16, 2022

Finish date: April 16, 2022

Discussion: Buddy Reads 2022

Why we're reading this: March Buddy Read
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Buddy Reads 2022

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What Members Thought

Jan 13, 2018 Vanessa Gayle ⚔️ Fangirl Faction rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorites, fantasy, reread, fae-and-fair-folk, tortured-hero-or-heroine, book-boyfriends, side-characters-giving-me-life, bully-romance, slow-burn, book-girlfriends

This review MAY contain spoilers. Read at your own risk.
04/27/2024: Reread. (Audiobook.)
12/16/2022: Reread! (Audiobook.)
07/13/2021: Reread! (Audiobook.)
10/30/2020: Reread! (Audiobook.)
09/08/2020: Reread! (Audiobook.)
01/13/2019: Read for the third time.
01/07/2019: Read for the second time.
My god, rereading this book only solidifies my utter obsession with this series in stone. Maybe steel or diamond? Whatever the strongest material on Earth is, only it could compare to the strength of my adoratio ...more

55 likes · Like · see review

Apr 02, 2020 Meera rated it really liked it

Shelves: bookmarks-magazine, fantasy, 5000-books, topamazon

I wanted an easy mindless read and this was perfect. It was better than I thought it would be and I did not want to put it down. I am not sure that I actually like Jude but she is definitely interesting as tries to survive and do her best for her family in a Faerie world.

5 likes · Like · see review

Feb 19, 2018 Susan rated it it was amazing

If I could this would be 10 out of 10 stars. I was really in the mood for a fantasy and this book did not disappoint. It had everything I love in it. It was all about the Fea and the Princes (some good and some not to good)

(view spoiler) ...more

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Mar 28, 2018 Trisha rated it it was ok

“You remind me that I am a mere mortal and you are a prince of Faerie. Well, let me remind you that means you have much to lose and I have nothing.”

I hate that I did not love this. I wanted to devour every page, but I found Jude to be a very hard character to read. She just didn't seem all that interesting. No, that's not right - it's just that she's so miserable. I don't blame her, her misery is true and her world is awful. The things she goes through in just a few short chapters is bad - but ...more

4 likes · Like · see review

Dec 07, 2019 Vanessa Gayle ⚔️ Fangirl Faction rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites, fantasy, romance, own-physical-read, reviewed, short-stories, young-adult

This short story absolutely delighted me. I loved seeing more of Kaye and Lord Roiben together. They are such a darling, albeit a strange, couple. I can only hope that Holly Black will write more about them in the future. I really liked Kaye's perspective about Cardan and their conversation was enlightening. I also loved the gift that she sent to him. Just perfect. ...more

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Dec 09, 2018 Keri rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: owned, series-in-progress

4.5 stars, this book was great! Part of me is mad at myself for waiting so long to get to this one, but I think a bigger part of me is happy because I have so much less time to wait for the second book!
I love Jude so much. I loved how she was tough but also very unsure of herself, afraid and brave at the same time. She was good and worth rooting for, but also sometimes morally gray. She is a mortal, but a product of growing up in the cruel world of Faerie and what that turned her into. "If I 4.5 stars, this book was great! Part of me is mad at myself for waiting so long to get to this one, but I think a bigger part of me is happy because I have so much less time to wait for the second book!
I love Jude so much. I loved how she was tough but also very unsure of herself, afraid and brave at the same time. She was good and worth rooting for, but also sometimes morally gray. She is a mortal, but a product of growing up in the cruel world of Faerie and what that turned her into. "If I cannot be better than them, I will become so much worse." So many of the characters in this story are not who/what they at first seem to be. Some of the good ones turned into characters I hated and felt betrayed by, and some that seemed to have no room for redemption have grown on me. I love those types of stories. I felt so invested in Jude's story and the way the characters and plot were written really pulled me in, even in the slower first section of the story.
And the plot twists were great, I loved them, even when I hated them for how mad I got at some characters! There were also so many great quotable lines and foreshadowing earlier in the book that came into play later. I loved the politics and court intrigue, and very much loved how minimal the love interests and romances were to the main plot. I really dislike when the love interests and romance take over the plot, especially unnecessarily and that did not happen here! I could not have been happier. The slower build of anything like that makes me care so much more about relationships, and the focus on the main plot just makes slower and more minimal to the storyline romances shine so much more. Thank you Holly Black for that among a genre that falls so often victim to the instalove and the worn out love triangle takes over whole book!!!
" 'I am going to keep on defying you. I am going to shame you with my defiance. You remind me that I am a mere mortal and you are a prince of Faerie. Well, let me remind you that means you have much to lose and I have nothing. You may win in the end, you may ensorcell me and hurt me and humiliate me, but I will make sure you lose everything I can take from you on the way down. I promise you this'--I throw his own words back at him--'this is the least of what I can do.' "
I love the combative conversations between Jude and Cardan, so many perfect lines! I did feel we don't know much about Cardan himself and his motivations, but I kind of like that at this point-him more of a mystery/unknown agenda-and hope he gets more character development in the next book.
I cannot wait to read The Wicked King and have already pre-ordered it! ...more

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