One of the most popular books of 2018 (according to Goodreads readers) was Holly Black’s book, The Cruel Prince. I had to wait forever for it to become available on my library’s waiting list, and it was so good, I ended up buying the hardcover during Amazon’s Black Friday sale anyway.
The book drew me in right from the beginning. The text was inviting, and the book starts with… a murder. From there, the story continues to stay interesting.
The story revolves around a set of sisters. The oldest, Vivi, was half faerie. The two younger twins, Jude and Taryn, are human. After their parents are murdered by Vivi’s biological father, they are taken to live in faerie.
Jude and Taryn don’t exactly fit in. The prince, Cardan, along with his friends, treat them cruelly. Despite this, Jude wants to be a warrior among the faerie. She has the temperament for it.
The king is expected to pass on his throne, and several of his children are conspiring to get it. As with a lot of transitions of power, this one might come with some surprises. Jude becomes involved in one conspiracy, only to find that her father is involved in some shady dealings of his own. You won’t want to put down this book as you find out what happens.
There were a lot of things that I loved about this book. First, the writing is great. It’s hard to explain why, I just could feel how it drew me in. Second, the setting and characters were great. I haven’t read too many books set in faerie, but that didn’t matter, reading this book. The characters weren’t flat good-guy or bad-guy types; they all had a little of both to them, just like real life. The plot was also great.
The Cruel Prince was one of my favorite books from 2018 for a reason. I’m looking forward to reading The Wicked King when it comes out as well.
I’m STILL on a waitlist. I’ll probably die from old age before I get to read this book. I’m glad it’s well-written and has great characters. I’m crossing my fingers that I get to read it eventually.
Aj @ Read All The Things! recently posted…The Sunday Post #180
I think I ended up waiting four months for the book at my library. And then I went and bought it on Black Friday anyway. I pre-ordered The Wicked King so I didn’t have to wait. But if I’m going to pay full price for a book, I generally don’t want to buy a book by an author I’ve never read before and am not sure how I’m going to feel about it.
One of my favorite things about The Cruel Prince was something you mentioned – there weren’t definitive good guys and bad guys. Jude is something of an anti-hero and so many of the characters are morally gray. I loved that! 🙂
Tanya @ Girl Plus Books recently posted…Top 10 of 2018: Books I’m Looking Forward to in 2019
People aren’t totally good in real life either. Probably why morally grey tends to work.
I heard wonderful things about this book so it’s on my TBR. Glad to see you enjoyed it. The best books are those hard to explain why you loved them 🙂 great writing, characters and conspiracies are usually to blame 😉
Daniela Ark recently posted…Goodbye 2018, Hello 2019! The BEST of the BEST!
Those are some things that are difficult to teach too. You just know it when you see it.
A murder, you say? Even with all the hype, I’ve been so on the fence. I think you’ve convinced me! Great review 🙂
Dani recently posted…Waiting on Wednesday: The Winter of the Witch by Katherine Arden
Oh good! That’s what we’re here for, to reinforce each other’s book addictions, right? 😉