Have you ever bought a book twice? I've got so many on my bookshelf that you'd think I would do it often, but actually I look at them so often, I really know what's up there. Or so I thought...
I received an Owlcrate a few months back with a copy of The Cruel Prince by Holly Black. At the time I was reading 6 other books at once, so I put it in the TBR list (a list that resides solely in my head) and shelved it. Well, my Audible app recently suggested it to me, and I picked it up and have been listening to it on Audible before I discovered that I already had this gorgeous copy! #facepalm
Jude Duarte was kidnapped from her childhood home with her twin and her half sister, whose father came to the human world to take her back, and killed her parents. She should hate him. And she does. But she also loves him. He raised her and her sisters as his own, and she was so young when she was taken that she has adapted, taking this new life as her own. If only the fairies would treat her as one of them. But she is a mortal, beneath their notice, but not their wrath. Their entertainment. Their torture.
The youngest price of fairie, Cardan, is one of her torturers. Spoiled and proud, he usually pays no mind to mortals. Her sister can fade into the background, bow to them and just survive being beneath them. But Jude cannot. When she crosses Cardan, she declares political war. How far will they go to best each other? With the looming coronation, Jude has the chance to prove herself. Will she survive Cardan long enough to do so? Or will they both go down the rabbit hole so far that they end up tangled in a much larger web of deceit than either of them could have imagined?
All Jude wants is to be as good as them, equal to them. But if they will not let her, she will be worse than them. She will make them see that is the least of what she can do.
I love a multifaceted character. Jude loves her family, but doesn't respect her twin. She is strong and brave but cowardly sometimes too. Sometimes when I want her to feel a certain way, she feels the opposite. I should hate Cardan, Jude does, but somehow I find myself liking him. But it came on slowly, and I didn't realize it until I caught myself rooting for him.
This is my kind of book! I love magic, I love drama, I love fantasy. Holly Black delivers! I devoured it so quickly, and I can't wait to pick up the sequel, The Wicked King. I give it a 5/5, a must read!