Reading a book about faeries was like eating my favorite cake. I kept wanting more. I read through this book fairly quickly and had trouble putting it down. This was book one out of a trilogy, and I greatly anticipate the next two. I plan to write about them at a later date.
This book was amazing. Holly Black created a vivid and believable world. One that seamlessly combined reality with faerie (is this a thing now calling fairies Fae?). Black uses words on paper like an accomplished artist uses the paintbrush on canvas. The words flow evenly over one another and while you read, your attention is captured. You’re mesmerized wondering what could happen next.
The Cruel Prince: The Beginning
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Let’s start at the beginning. After glancing through the other two books in the trilogy, I see that they all start similarly- in the third person. The unknown third person narrates the prologue and focuses on the main protagonist, Jude. After the prologue, the rest of the book shifts to a first-person point of view- Jude’s.
Jude’s character is an interesting one. She is not someone to be toyed with; that’s for certain. Jude cannot keep her head down and just do what she should. She is not exactly a troublemaker, but she doesn’t go out of her way to avoid trouble either.
Let’s start over again. The prologue retraces what happened to Jude and her sisters, Taryn, her twin, and Vivi, her older sister. The narrator makes a point that the sisters are very different from each other by their looks, which, as the author likely intended, draws a line between them. But it is a line that Jude and Taryn don’t notice. Children do not see race, but adults do, which is the author’s intended message.
The Cruel Prince: The Foster Father
Enter Madoc. We are at first confused as to who this person is, but we know that he’s not of this world. He is a fearsome being to reckon with, and he demands attention. As the reader continues, it becomes apparent that Jude, Taryn, and Vivi’s mother faked her death to get away from Madoc and marry someone else. They had Jude and Taryn from that marriage. Vivi is from the first marriage, but Jude, Taryn, and Vivi know nothing about this. Madoc kills their parents and takes the girls as their father when he is only Vivi’s true father.
As the twins grow up, Madoc teaches them swordplay and chess. This was his way of teaching them how to grow up and to think like him—ready to seize power and keep it. However, Jude outwits her foster dad and wins the battle. But, Jude now has to keep the power she has seized just like Madoc taught her. And as we see, keeping power is much harder than obtaining it.
The rest of the book goes over how Jude tries to make her place in the world of Faerie. Jude and her twin sister Taryn are the only mortals in Faerie land. So, they must strive harder than the rest to fit in. The rest of the book describes Jude’s struggle to fit in and survive. Jude becomes a spy for a prince who is due to be crowned the next king. As Madoc is the war general, Jude, Taryn, and Vivi live comfortably in Madoc’s house.
The Cruel Prince: Who is the Cruel Prince?
Throughout this novel, we see there is a conflict between Jude and most of Faerie, but it is mostly her faerie peers who consider her intolerable. One in particular is the youngest prince of the main High Royal Faerie, Prince Cardan. Cardan is a thorn in Jude’s side. Their relationship is complicated. While he hates her and she despises him, they are still drawn to each other. However, tumultuous their relationship is, they still have to work together to save the crown of faerie.
The author cleverly hid who was the cruel prince in the book the whole time. I had thought that Black intended for Cardan to be the one prince who was cruel the whole time. However, while Cardan is still cruel, he has a kindness that shows through and surprises Jude. She is so used to seeing him in one way and used to hate him for his actions and attitude.
However, the cruel prince could refer to two other princes as well. There was one, Balekin, who was the oldest prince, kills almost his entire family so he could be crowned king, who regularly beat his younger brother, Cardan.
But then there’s Prince Dain who Jude winds up swearing her loyalty to to find a place in Faerie and to not be enchanted. Dain puts an enchantment on Jude that she cannot be what is called “glamoured” by another. We see the kindness of Dain right away, but not the cruel side of him. Dain is the only one who can glamour Jude, and he makes Jude cut into her hand against her will to swear her loyalty.
After Dain’s death, Jude remains loyal to herself and does what she thinks is right for Faerie while coming out on top. Who is the cruel prince? All of them. But I believe Cardan is the one the author had in mind when Black penned the title.
My Concluding Thoughts
I loved this book thoroughly. It was a quicker read than I thought because of the flow of the writing style. It was an engaging read. Some characters are written in such a way that their actions are believable with the decisions this character has made throughout the book. In other books, their actions seemed far-fetched at best and out of character. Jude seemed to be in character the entire time, up to the plot climax. Jude came out on top in a way that suited her.
I can’t wait to crack open the second book of this trilogy and see what else happens to Jude and Cardan. There were shocking twists and surprises in this book also and I wonder how the next book will keep me guessing. Holly Black wrote a dark fairy tale lush with traitorous thoughts and behavior. You never know when someone will turn their back on the other.
If you are looking for a new type of book with a female heroin in it, then look no further. The Cruel Prince is a book that will keep you interested and engaged. In a day where female heroes are not so rare, we don’t need someone pretty and dainty who chooses to do “the right thing.” We need someone like Jude who will lead us on triumphantly to the next big fight. It doesn’t always take someone physically strong to win.
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