{"id":36758,"date":"2019-09-16T22:19:26","date_gmt":"2019-09-17T02:19:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/?p=36758"},"modified":"2019-09-16T22:19:26","modified_gmt":"2019-09-17T02:19:26","slug":"review-of-the-cruel-prince-by-holly-black","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/?p=36758","title":{"rendered":"Review of The Cruel Prince, by Holly Black"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>The Cruel Prince<\/em><\/p>\n

by Holly Black<\/p>\n

Little, Brown and Company, January 2018. 370 pages.
\nStarred Review
\nReview written in January 2018 from a library book.<\/p>\n

Wow. Before reading this book, I\u2019d read two children\u2019s books with very clunky writing. Then I picked up The Cruel Prince<\/em> at the library \u2013 the first published 2018 book I\u2019ve read (instead of an advance reader copy) \u2013 and I was entranced, enthralled and pulled into the world.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m writing this review in 2018, before I\u2019ve talked with anyone else about the book \u2013 so these opinions are entirely my own. I\u2019m also not sure how much Newbery consideration I should give to a book so clearly written for young adults. The Newbery criteria say we\u2019re looking at excellence in presentation for a child audience, and I\u2019d say this book isn\u2019t written for a child audience. But on the other hand, it then defines a \u201cchild\u201d as someone between the ages of 0 and 14, and there are certainly 14-year-olds who will enjoy this book. Anyway, that\u2019s something I\u2019m going to ask about when our committee meets in February. Once I\u2019ve gotten some more advice, I won\u2019t discuss it in reviews.<\/p>\n

Newbery consideration aside, one of the things that makes this book so wonderful to read is how completely Holly Black immerses the reader into the world of faerie. It\u2019s a dark, dangerous, and scary world, but we feel like we understand what it\u2019s like for Jude to live there.<\/p>\n

The book opens with a Prologue \u2013 in which seven-year-old Jude sees both her parents killed by a tall man who comes to their door.<\/p>\n

The man, Madoc, is a faerie. He tells her big sister Vivienne that he is her father. She was stolen from him, and he has come to take her to her true home, in Elfhame beneath the hill. He takes Jude and her twin sister Taryn as well. They are the children of his wife, so he takes responsibility for them. They are brought up in luxury \u2013 in Faerie.<\/p>\n

Ten years later, Jude reflects:<\/p>\n

The servants are overfond of telling me how fortunate I am, a bastard daughter of a faithless wife, a human without a drop of faerie blood, to be treated like a trueborn child of Faerie. They tell Taryn much the same thing.<\/p>\n

I know it\u2019s an honor to be raised alongside the Gentry\u2019s own children. A terrifying honor, of which I will never be worthy.<\/p>\n

It would be hard to forget it, with all the reminders I am given.<\/p>\n

\u201cYes,\u201d I say instead, because she is trying to be kind. \u201cIt\u2019s great.\u201d<\/p>\n

Faeries can\u2019t lie, so they tend to concentrate on words and ignore tone, especially if they haven\u2019t lived among humans. Tatterfell gives me an approving nod, her eyes like two wet beads of jet, neither pupil nor iris visible. \u201cPerhaps someone will ask for your hand and you\u2019ll be made a permanent member of the High Court.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to win my place,\u201d I tell her.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Jude wants to compete in the upcoming tournament and be chosen to be a knight. But the rivals in the tournament, faeries her own age, despise her for being mortal. And Madoc has other plans, forbidding her to become a knight.<\/p>\n

But then she gets an offer to be a spy for one of the princes of Elfhame.<\/p>\n

The High King has chosen to retire soon, and he has chosen Prince Dain to be his successor. But there are intrigues and plots unfolding around the succession, and Jude gets caught in the middle of it.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s the beginning \u2013 and my summary doesn\u2019t do the intricacies of the plot justice.<\/p>\n

This is the story of a teen girl coming of age and trying to make her way in a world where she is utterly foreign, seen as a different species. There\u2019s lots of danger and lots of on-stage death \u2013 but the look at the world of faerie \u2013 which Jude is accustomed to \u2013 is fascinating and exotic and intriguing. As the story develops, Jude must not only find a place and gain some power, but she also needs to stay alive.<\/p>\n

This is the first of a series, and the book ends at a frustrating point \u2013 but at a place where readers will be eager to read on as soon as they get the chance.<\/p>\n

The romance seems clich\u00e9d. I\u2019m sure she\u2019s going to end up with the person she hates most at the start of the book \u2013 for no good reason except that they hate each other at the start. But the author succeeds in making him very interesting by the end of the book \u2013 so I can at least understand that Jude would be interested as well.<\/p>\n

This book has an elaborately portrayed world. It has an intricate plot, with twists and surprises and dangers. The characters are complex. The theme of coming of age \u2013 even if you have to kill and lie to gain power \u2013 is the part that doesn\u2019t seem suitable for a child audience. But teens are going to love it.<\/p>\n

blackholly.com<\/a>
\nLBYR.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Buy from Amazon.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Find this review on Sonderbooks<\/a> at: www.sonderbooks.com\/Teens\/cruel_prince.html<\/a><\/p>\n

Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.<\/p>\n

Source: This review is based on a library book from Fairfax County Public Library.<\/p>\n

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but I maintain my website and blogs on my own time. The views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.<\/p>\n

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