Thursday, August 8, 2019

The Cruel Prince & The Wicked King by Holly Black [a two-in-one review]

The Cruel Prince by Holly Black
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: January 2, 2018
Number of Pages: 370 pages
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy
Source: Library

Summary {via GoodReads}: Of course I want to be like them. They’re beautiful as blades forged in some divine fire. They will live forever.

And Cardan is even more beautiful than the rest. I hate him more than all the others. I hate him so much that sometimes when I look at him, I can hardly breathe.

Jude was seven 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.

As Jude becomes more deeply embroiled in palace intrigues and deceptions, she discovers her own capacity for trickery and bloodshed. But as betrayal 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.

She thinks: I was conflicted about reading this book. I actually checked it out twice from the library before I attempted to read it again, for a third time. Thank goodness for audiobooks!

I was driven to read it from all the fandom posts that kept popping up on my Instagram and Pinterest feeds...and I'm sooooooo glad I did.

Holy wow.

I was not expecting any of that. It's dark. It's real. It doesn't hold back. This is definitely not a fluffy little piece of lit. It's raw, and I liked it.

Jude and Cardan are the best. Their "Screw You/Screw Me" relationship is fantastically built. No insta-love here. And, the familial dynamic. And, the betrayals happening almost every time you turn the page. I just never knew what to expect. I thought I'd have it figured out, but then - BAM! Guess again, Cassie. Guess. Again.

I got about a third of the way through the book before I begged a friend of mine to read it because I seriously needed someone to talk with about my feelings (and, to fangirl with, too, obviously).






The Wicked King by Holly Black
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: January 8, 2019
Number of Pages: 322 pages
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy
Source: Library

Summary {via GoodReads, edited for spoilers}: You must be strong enough to strike and strike and strike again without tiring.

The first lesson is to make yourself strong.

After the jaw-dropping revelation about the heir to Faerie, Jude must keep her younger brother safe. To do so, she has bound the wicked king, Cardan, to her, and made herself the power behind the throne. Navigating the constantly shifting political alliances of Faerie would be difficult enough if Cardan were easy to control. But he does everything in his power to humiliate and undermine her even as his fascination with her remains undiminished.

When it becomes all too clear that someone close to Jude means to betray her, threatening her own life and the lives of everyone she loves, Jude must uncover the traitor and fight her own complicated feelings for Cardan to maintain control as a mortal in a Faerie world.

She thinks: Um...where's the next book?? I need it now. Like, now now. You can't just end it like that. I need to know what is going to happen with my babies, Jude and Cardan. I need to know who's going to be the one to cave. Gah! Gimme. Gimme. Gimme.

What I immensely love about these characters is that they are seriously flawed. They're not perfect. They don't act perfect. And, they don't pretend to be perfect. They trick each other. Betray each other. Deny each other. And, all in a Fae world where they, technically, can't tell a lie. Well, the Fae can't at least. Humans, that's another story.

So. much. drama.

My heart is just breaking as I remember all my favorite scenes from this book. To be fair, I'm also feeling indignant, too, because Jude needs to get with the program and figure her stuff out. Seriously. Remember who you are!

Suffice it to say, this is another collection I'll be adding to personal library as I definitely intend to reread them.

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