This review is for The Cruel Prince by Holly Black. I haven't read anything by Holly Black before but I've heard great things about her writing, so I was very excited when I was sent this book to review early by Readers First. Thank you, Readers First.
Let's get into this spoiler free review...
This is a YA fantasy book, the first in a new series, that combines the mortal world and the world of Faerie. Three sisters witness the murder of their parents and are whisked off into this new, magical world to be a part of the royal court. The thing is that most of the faerie folk do not like mortals and it's hard for the human girls to fit in.
Our main character is one of the sisters, Jude, who has an identical twin sister called Taryn and an older sister, Vivienne, also known as Vivi. While Taryn appears to be happy playing the role of a lady in the court, thinking of marriage as her priority, Jude wants to use her fighting skills and serve as a knight. We follow Jude through this first book as she learns what it really means to serve a Prince in the court and as she acts as a spy she uncovers hidden truths as well.
Jude is a raw and real character with heart and determination.
There are some really interesting additional characters too, such as Locke, Prince Cardan, Prince Dain and Madoc, but I won't tell you too much about them and the roles they play as I don't want to spoil anything.
The plot works well to set up this new fantasy world. I also love that there is a map included at the beginning of the book, detailing the Shifting Isles of Elfhame and showing differed estates and islands. It really helps to bring the story and imagery together. The actual storyline seems to be working mostly to set up the next book in the series, especially for the first half of the book. I know some people don't like it when a book spends too long getting the setting established and explaining how the world is, but I really like it. It allows me to really get a sense of where they are and how things appear.
It's a world that I could really immerse myself in.
There are a few twists and turns in this book and it certainly left me shocked in places. If anyone reading this has seen Game of Thrones and has watched the Red Wedding episode, then I had a similar experience reading this book as I did watching that. It just had the surprise factor for me and I didn't see it coming at all. I like that in a book and that's why I want to try reading more fantasy as it always seems to be these books that leaving me feeling this way.
I'd heard Holly Black's writing was great and I was not disappointed. It flows beautifully and the way that everything is described gives you enough to picture her vision for this place but also leaves enough room for your own imagination to take a hold on it. I read this book fairly quickly considering how busy I've been over the festive season because the story.
The writing just pulled me in.
Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book.
Holly Black clearly has a flare for writing faerie stories.
The characters are developed well for the first book, the setting is beautifully portrayed and the point at which this book ends leaves you wanting more.
A fantastic Faerie story that will leave you wanting more.
I can't wait for the next book!
The Cruel Prince by Holly Black will be released on 2nd January 2018. You can preorder it here.
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I want to read this book now!! I have also have never read a book by Holly Black before, but like you heard good things about her. I do like a bit of fantasy.
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