Book Review: The Cruel Prince by Holly Black (My first five star read of the year and more!)

The Cruel Prince

By Holly Black

Rating: 5/5 stars 

Summary: 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.

Jude was seven years old 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.

In doing so, she becomes embroiled in palace intrigues and deceptions, discovering her own capacity for bloodshed. But as civil war threatens to drown the Courts of Faerie in violence, Jude will need to risk her life in a dangerous alliance to save her sisters, and Faerie itself.

 Oh my gosh... was this book a whirl wind or what? I have been holding off on giving my opinions about this book mostly because I just couldn’t find the time.... but also because this book was just so darn good there was no words to encapture its amazingness!!! My cover of this book was actual black in the background (maybe because it was a Barnes and Nobles special edition cover??) Anyhow this book managed to be my first five star reads because it was just so flat out fantastic!!!

“That’s what comes of hungering for something; you forget to check if it’s rotten before you gobble it down”

 First of all there was the world building. I personally have always been a HUGE fan of fairies and fantasies (they are my favorite genre after all) and I thought holly black added a whole new POV on what YA fantasy can be. I mean that element of darkness?!?! I absolutely loved it! From the magical kings who are plotting their siblings demise, to the twisted poisons and evil that lurked around each twisted crooked smile... there was just SO many things that made me fall heads over heel for the fairy world that consumed this book!!!

“So I am to sit here and feed you information,” Cardan says, leaning against a hickory tree. “And you’re to go charm royalty? That seems entirely backward.”
I fix him with a look. “I can be charming. I charmed you, didn’t I?” 
He rolls his eyes. “Do not expect others to share my depraved tastes.”

 But if I’m entirely honest Holly Black stole my heart with the incredible characters she created. I mean Jude was a sister after my own heart. I literally loved her SO much. She was fearless and blunt, and took risks as if her life was invincible even though no one ever let her forget she was human. I just love how driven she was the whole time. Even after her closet friends and even family turned their back on her she stuck to her own beliefs and followed her instinct and didn’t let others disappointment stop her, in fact it seemed almost like it encouraged her even more.

“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.”

 Although I did hate Tarlin!! In case you didn’t know Tarlin is Jude’s  twin sister who never seises to be there to annoy and warn against danger every two seconds. Its like we get it its dangerous to stand up to fairy but hello?? they were being enormous jerks and I have no patience for spineless hollow shells looking to fall in love. Only a fool would trust one of the devil fairies to fall in love with them and tarlin completely fit the bill of being a fool. And I almost could have gotten over the fact that she was an annoying airhead but then she goes and betrays the one person who would have stood by her through ANYTHING and that was the final straw. Like does this girl have no loyalty??

“If you hurt me, I wouldn't cry. I would hurt you back.” 

 This book also had one of my favorite tropes which is hate to love and AHHH Holly Black did this SO well I can’t tell you the amount of times I smiled uncontrollably or literally was screaming at the book in glee (I must have looked insane to anyone who saw me reading this book but hey if you’ve read it then you understand)

 PRINCE CARDAN EVERYBODY

 There a literally no words to describe how much I adore this character!!! His character development I have to say was the most surprising to me especially because I hated him so much in the beginning of the book I didn’t know if I could ever learn to like him let alone love him but hey here we are!!! (if it can happen with chuck bass it can happen with anyone) I just love how layered each character was and how not a single one was who I thought they were going to be, or who they appeared to be on the surface (expect maybe jude?)

“Most of all, I hate you because I think of you. Often. It's disgusting, and I can't stop.” 

 Overall this book was amazing!!! and completely restored my faith in the YA fantasy genre once again and I highly recommend this book to lovers of Sarah J. Maas, Leigh Bardugo, and Marissa Meyer!!!

 What about you? Have you read the Cruel prince? What did you think? If not READ IT IMEDIENTLY! (don't believe the negative hype it is nothing short of fabulous) Excited about any new releases this year? Let me know in the comments below!

-BubblyBooks