eARC Review: The Cruel Prince by Holly Black

Evening you guys and welcome to my very first review post of 2018! For today’s post, I figured I would review the first of three January releases I was approved for an eARC for and a book I think you guys should get your hands on as soon as possible too! So, let’s get right into it and not ramble on for too much longer.

In Holly Black’s The Cruel Prince, we follow Jude and her two sisters ten years after their parents were killed and they have been taken to Faerie to live there. Jude wants nothing more than to belong in Faerie and proof herself while her oldest sister Vivienne wants nothing more than to live a human life. To earn her place among the faeries, Jude has to best the High King’s youngest son, Prince Cardan who is nothing if not exactly what the title promises: cruel – and deal with the consequences afterward.

I feel like if you’ve been around the book community since the summer of 2017, you’ve probably heard so many people rave about this book. I know I kept seeing it all over the booktubers’ videos I subscribe to. Naturally, when I saw this book up for request on NetGalley, I had to jump at the chance and find out what exactly everyone was talking about – because isn’t that the story of my reading life? *shakes head* And while I didn’t end up loving this book as much as everyone else seems too, I still completely understand why people were so excited about this book!

Holly Black created a world of Faerie that is ruthless, cruel and dangerous and it’s so much fun to see all of that unfold over the course of the story! Unfortunately, I don’t have many Faerie books I can compare this too as far as the Fae’s behavior but if you’ve read the ACOTAR series and thought those Fae where horrible? You ain’t seen nothing yet. These Fae take it so much further and I love it.

Another aspect of this story I loved? The Cardan and Jude dynamic. I think it’s no secret that I love, love, love characters who hate each other when they first meet and then that relationship gradually develops and changes and I want to bet all of my money on this being exactly where this is going to go and if it’s not, I am going to be so disappointed.

Me, whenever Jude and Cardan are in the same scene.

These two are such an explosive dynamic and with how the story unfolds there are so many more explosions on the horizon and I am here for it. So, so here for it. I can’t believe I’ll have to wait at least another year to find out what happens next… Why do I continue to do this to myself?

I also want to have a word with Holly Black for the amount of sleep I lost while reading this book because I just couldn’t put it down? I would set myself a specific time for when I would go to bed and then ended up extending it by another hour. And another hour. Until it was suddenly 2AM.

Here’s a quick list of what to expect from this book: cruel Fae, characters willing to kill to survive, an explosive character dynamic and an addictive writing style that will keep you reading for hours on end!

Overall, while this book didn’t knock me off my feet completely, I still had a fantastic time reading it and would give it a 3.5 to a 4-star rating! I definitely highly recommend it because the reading experience was fantastic and I feel like the next book is going to be even more fun!

You guys need to get on this. As soon as possible. And since this book is out already (yes, I should have finished reading this before the release… I feel behind?) you can actually grab it already!

How about you guys? Have you read this book yet and if you did, what did you think? Are you aboard the hype train that has been surrounding this release? Why or why not? Let me know in the comments below!

And if any of you guys have any recommendations for fantastic Fae related books, please let me know too! I feel like I need to broaden my horizons when it comes to that particular corner of mythical creatures!

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