RELEASE DATE: July 26th 2018
AUTHOR: Holly Black
GENRE: Young-Adult, Fantasy, Fae, Magic, Adventure.
PUBLISHER: Hot Key Books
SUMMARY:
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.
If I cannot be better than them, I will become so much worse.”
I’m a great fan of Holly Black’s fae novels. I loved her Modern Faerie tales series. So I was very much excited for the cruel prince. It was one of my most anticipated books of 2018. I’ve wanted to read it just before the release of the wicked King so that I wouldn’t have to wait longer for the sequel. So did it meet my expectations? Not completely, but I did enjoyed the book and the characters. The faerie world was still wicked as before and I loved getting back into it after a very long time.
“Because you’re like a story that hasn’t happened yet. Because I want to see what you will do. I want to be part of the unfolding of the tale.”
Jude was only seven years old when her parents were killed by an angry fae lord. She and her two sisters Taryn and Vivi were whisked away to faerie. It’s been ten years since they had left the human world and all Jude wants is to belong in the Faerie along with the fae but most of the fae hate humans especially prince Cardan, the youngest son of High King. He always reminds her that she doesn’t belong there and tries to humiliate her at every chance he gets but Jude wouldn’t back down without a fight. When a civil war breaks out in the Faerie court, Jude makes an unlikely alliance to save the Faerie and her siblings.
“ If you hurt me, I wouldn’t cry. I would hurt you back.”
Jude was a strong protagonist! She was tough, stubborn, brave, cunning, and a total kick-ass character. Even though she wasn’t as strong as the other fae, she never gave up hope. She always wanted to prove herself to the fae. She’s willing to do anything to gain power over them. Prince Cardan was complex character. He was charming, arrogant, devious and cruel. He’s a total jerk towards Jude. I actually expected his character to be more darker but he wasn’t really as dark as darkling. Nonetheless, I really enjoyed his character. The romance isn’t the central focus of the book but I absolutely loved the clashes between Cardan and Jude 😁. I can’t wait to see how their relationship develops further in the next book. As for the secondary characters, I didn’t liked Jude’s twin sister Taryn. she was pretty annoying and my least favorite character in this book. I liked her elder sister Vivi who is half fae. I’ve mixed feelings about Madoc. I wanted him to be a good father figure to Jude but some of his actions made me like him less. I almost forgot to mention that there’s some interesting cameo appearances of main characters *cough* Roiben *cough* from the author’s other series which I really loved.
“He looks like a faerie lover stepped out of a ballad, the kind where no good comes to the girl who runs away with him.”
The plot was interesting and entertaining throughout but I think I loved the second half more than the first half. The pacing was good. The surprising twists are not bad but some of them were predictable for me. The writing was great and not too flowery. The book was written in Jude’s pov. I usually love first person pov but for this one, I would’ve preferred a third person pov. The world building was perfect. I absolutely enjoyed the Faerie, the magic, and the fae politics.
“Nice things don’t happen in storybooks. Or when they do happen, something bad happens next. Because otherwise the story would be boring, and no one would read it.”
Overall, I loved this book! If you didn’t enjoy it, I totally understand because there’re few aspects in this book some might find a bit problematic. The twist at the end was pretty good but honestly, I saw that one coming 😁. I’m excited to know what’s gonna happen next.
Recommend it?
I highly recommend this book if you’re into YA fantasy, fae novels, hate to love, and enemies to lovers trope.
MY RATING:
[4/5 Stars]
Great review Raven! I loved this one when I first read it. After a reread my feelings did change a bit sadly. I do hope that book 2 is one that will help get back in the fandom behind this series.
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Thank you, Kayla! I rarely re-read a book. I think my feelings would change too if re-read this one. I’m hoping to read wicked King next month! Let’s hope we both love it! 😊
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Between me rereading it and the hype for TWK, I’m just not excited to start it.
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Great review! I still need to read this.
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Thank you! I hope you enjoy it! 😊
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You’re welcome and thank you!
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YASS so happy you like this book!! 😊😊 TOTALLY reading Wicked King now 👑
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Ahaha😁 Hope you enjoy The Wicked King! Happy reading! 😊
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Great Review honey! I’m so glad you’ve read it. I also enjoyed the second part much more than the first one and I’m glad you liked Jude, she’s a great character. I can’t wait to read The Wicked King 😵💕😄
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Thank you, Sofii! Me too! I’m planning to read it next month! Let’s hope we both love it! 😊
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I did read it and I did not like it 😬 I’m not sure I’ll ever read the second one because it really didn’t do it for me! I, on the other hand, hope you enjoy the The wicked king ❤️
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I’m sorry it didn’t work out for you! Thank you!❤️ I hope you’re enjoying your current read! 😊
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I’m so glad to hear that you enjoyed this story! And thank you so much for letting me know that a character from her other series appears in this one! I was just texting Chelsea last night about the 4 of us Star-Crossed ladies buddy reading the final book next year and I’m going to binge the first two right before the 3rd releases. So I’ll try and fit in her other series before that too, if I have time. 🙂
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Oh, that’s really great! I hope you enjoy the modern faerie tale series. It was one of my fae series!
I haven’t read the second book the wicked king yet but I’m hoping to read it as soon as I get my copy. Happy reading! 😊
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This is a lovely review, Raven! I haven’t read this book at all – though I keep hearing SO much about it from everyone around the community, especially now that the wicked king is released, too haha 🙂 I’m so glad you enjoyed it so much and hope you’ll like the next book 😀
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Thank you, Marie! This book was pretty good but it might not be for everyone. I hope you give it a shot! I can’t wait to read the wicked king! I’m waiting for my copy to arrive! I hope I’ll like it too! 🤞
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Great honest review! So many people love this book. It’s made me curious about it and tempted to listen to it. It’s not normally my thing, so I’ve been hesitant. What you said about the pace has me more towards wanting to listen. That’s always something I’m worried about.
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Thank you! I really hope you enjoy the book! I would love to hear your thoughts on it! 😊
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Great review, Raven. Just finished this recently and I am dying for book two!!!!!
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Thank you! Ahaha Me too 😁! I can’t wait to read the wicked king!
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I have yet to read anything by Holly Black, if you can believe it! I often admire the cover and the concepts of her books, though. This does sound fascinating and I really do love the enemies to lovers trope, so I should get this one moved up on my TBR. I am glad that it was so enjoyable for you! 🙂
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Thank you, Olivia! I love Holly Black’s fae novels but my favorite was the mordern faerie tale series. I can’t wait for you to read the cruel Prince. If you like hate to love tropes then you’ll enjoy this book. 😊
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So you loved it! Even if it’s less than you expected but wait to read The Wicked King, it gets even better! And I wonder if you’ll predict the ending this time! Now the fanart is just gorgeous!
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Oh, I’m pretty excited to read The Wicked King! I really hope my copy arrives soon! 😊
This series has beautiful fan art especially the ones drawn by loweana!
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This series is on my list to try, but I think I need to wait until I’m in the right mood for it. Great review!
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Thank you! I hope you enjoy it when you finally get around to it! 😊
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I’m so glad you enjoyed it for the most part, Raven! I found it really hard to stomach at times, and dislikeable in general, but my least favourite part was definitely the romance. I can’t accept the falling-for-your-bully trope and no matter how Cardan eventually does or does not redeem himself, Jude and Taryn still suffered terribly at his and his cronies’ hands.
I liked the overall darkness surrounding the book and how Black didn’t sugarcoat anything. She was vicious and to the point and it really surprised me. However, I’ll have to read the second installment to see if I’ll enjoy the series more because the first book alone wasn’t my cup of tea.
Wonderful review! 🙂
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Yeah, I can understand why it didn’t work out for you! Cardan and his cronies were pretty much bullies and A-holes. I didn’t liked their actions either! I haven’t read the wicked king yet but I hope it works out for you!
Thank you! 😊
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Glad you enjoyed this overall, even if it didn’t completely meet your expectations. I loved Jude as a protagonist as well. And that’s really cool about the cameos! I didn’t know about that! And I also found it super entertaining 😀 And yeah I get why this wouldn’t be for everyone too. Awesome review!
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Thank you! I’m glad you enjoyed this book too! I loved Jude’s character! She was so fierce and amazing! I can’t wait to read the wicked king! I hope I’ll get to it this month! 😊
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I so wanted to read this… I love your review!!
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Thank you! I hope you enjoy it when you get to it! It was pretty good! You’ll like it if you’re into hate to love tropes.
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I love this book, I still need to read The WIcked King. One thing I really like about this book is that everyone is a bit unlikable. Jude is a badass antihero and I love how wicked she is. Great review.
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