The Cruel Prince by Holly Black Book Review

 The Cruel Prince 

(Elfhame #1, The Folk of the Air #1)

By Holly Black

Published Year: 2018

Page Count: 370 pages

Medium Used: Paperback 

Genre: High Fantasy, Suspense, Game for the Throne, Faeries, Cruelty, Princes, 2026-read.

Rating : 5/5 🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰

Jude and Taryn are twin sisters, spending a lazy, normal day with their parents who are busy doing household chores. They have an elder step sister Vivienne from their mother. A stranger pays an unexpected visit and murders the parents, whisks away the children from mortal world to his world of Faerie. Vivienne is his daughter and he feels obligated to not leave the offspring from his unfaithful wife behind. This stranger happens to be the war hungry and brutal military general of Faerie, Madoc. Ten years pass in Faerie, with the children developing into teenagers. While Vivienne doesn't like the world of Faerie, doesn't forgive her father Madoc for the murder of her mother and takes a girl friend from the human world, the twins like  Faerie and work to fit in.  As mortals in the world of horned, immortal and slightly cruel Faeries, Jude and Taryn often face bullying and feel a sense of outsiderliness. Taryn cries and goes her own way while Jude doesn't bend, talks back, fights back and retaliates. She has no larger nemesis than the sixth born prince of high king of Elfhame Eldred - Cardan. Cardan, with his friends Narcisa, Locke and Valerian often corner her and punish her for not bending her knee, despite being a filthy, born dead "mortal". 

Taryn yearns to marry a Faerie and set herself up for life. Jude wants  to become a knight and awaits the second tournament where she can showcase her skills at war and with the blessing support of Madoc, enter the fray/gaggle of Knights. Cardan and his crew try hard to avert her participation in the games through warnings, threats and cruel tricks. She doesn't back down and wins the games. Then, instead of becoming a knight, she gets an offer to become a spy for the next prospective high king. As a spy, she learns many secrets kept hidden among the gentry, learns to ingest poison regularly to beat its effects, learns to murder and hide efficiently. She outwins murder attempts on her. Then a major show off - most of the six children with the king and his consort get killed. There remains only Balekin, the eldest and human hating prince and Cardan, the cruel and languishing prince alive, who can claim the throne. Unknown to others, there is another claimant to the bloodline and hence the throne who come into the light at the end, with Jude's revelation. There is a curse on the crown that needs one member of the family to place it on the head of the other. So, how does Jude bring about major upheavals in the kingdom and make the most fitting person the king? She makes promises and oaths to the lords and queens from surrounding courts to fetch their support for whomever she deposits on the throne. She dallies and plots to blindside Madoc and Balekin while her schemes take effort. I loved the whole story - I loved Jude as a person. Her compassion, honesty, scheming, vulnerability - everything appealed to me. I highly recommend this book to all who love a good fantasy read !! 

A splendid read. An easy 5 pointer. Beautiful writing. Beautiful world building. Spectacular character development. Relatable main female character. And most importantly, no smut. The narrative doesn't steer away from the purposeful path Jude sets for herself. She, who hasn't had many aspirations beyond that of becoming a knight in the army, through fate and fortune, is placed in the position of a king maker. She pulls off her role in a totally believable and mind blowing way!