Review: The Cruel Prince by Holly Black

Title: The Cruel Prince
Author: Holly Black
Series: The Folk of the Air #1
Source/Format: Borrowed from the Library; Hardcover
More Details: Young Adult; Fantasy
Publisher/Publication Date: Little Brown Books for Young Readers; January 2, 2018

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Synopsis from 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 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.

I have been a fan of Holly Black’s writing for a number of years. I've always particularly enjoyed her books about fairies including The Spiderwick Chronicles (which I read as a kid), the Modern Faerie Tales, and The Darkest Part of the Forest. So, you can imagine how excited I was for The Cruel Prince.

I enjoyed this book. The plot had me hooked from the very first page. One thing I particularly enjoyed about The Cruel Prince was how it expanded the world already established in other books—like Tithe—and some familiar faces appeared briefly in the story.

The Cruel Prince didn’t necessarily offer anything new in terms of fairies—especially if you’ve read books by this author before. It read like Black’s usual take on fey lore with the fairies being cruel tricksters, and their society dark and atmospheric full of magic, danger, and politics. But that’s what I was expecting and it was done so well. What I didn’t expect was how much I liked the majority of Jude’s perspective. For the most part she was okay. I didn’t necessarily like all the decisions she made, and parts of her personality reminded me a little of Hazel from The Darkest Part of the Forest. At some parts, their goals were kind of similar, particularly in the beginning of The Cruel Prince. That being said, their stories were vastly different. It was also interesting to see the courts from the viewpoint of a human forced to live among the nobility of the fey and what daily life would be like for Jude and her twin.

The prince implied in the title, well…I didn’t like his character for about 50% of the book. The title says it all: he was intentionally cruel to Jude to the point of endangering her life. And that crossed the line. However, the twists with his character were unexpected, and he went through some much needed development in book 2 (part 2). I wasn't exactly sympathetic to his character, but he was tolerable.

Overall, The Cruel Prince was everything I was hoping it would be. The last few chapters were amazing, and I look forward to what Holly Black has in-store for this story.

Music Monday (37): TLC & Olivia Newton-John

   Rules:

• Music Monday is a weekly meme hosted by Lauren Stoolfire at Always Me that asks you to share one or two songs that you've recently enjoyed. For the rules, visit the page HERE 

Breana: Lately, I’ve been in a mood where all I want to listen to is older music. As such, my first pick is Physical by Olivia Newton-John. The one I’m talking about today is her live performance at the Sydney Opera House. It’s a gorgeous version of the song; although, if you haven’t heard the original then I recommend giving it a listen too.

My second pick is No Scrubs by TLC. I cannot accurately describe how much I love this song. Also, the esthetic of the music video is still one of my all-time favorites.

Of course, I’ve been listening to more than just the above mentioned songs including music by Samantha Fox, Pretty Poison, and SOS Band, among many others. What are you listening to this week?

The Friday 56 (124) & Book Beginnings: The Universe of Us by Lang Leav

The Friday 56 is a weekly meme hosted by Freda's Voice where every Friday you pick a book and turn to page 56 or 56%, and select a sentence or a few, as long as it's not a spoiler. For the full rules, visit the the page HERE

Book Beginnings is a weekly meme hosted by Rose City Reader that asks you to share the first sentence (or so) of the book you're reading.

Synopsis from Goodreads...

Lang Leav presents a completely new collection of poetry with a celestial theme in The Universe of Us...

Planets, stars, and constellations feature prominently in this beautiful, original poetry collection from Lang Leav. Inspired by the wonders of the universe, the best-selling poetess writes about love and loss, hope and hurt, being lost and found. Lang's poetry encompasses the breadth of emotions we all experience and evokes universal feelings with her skillfully crafted words...

Beginning: "I believe we think more deeply about the universe when we're falling in love. I think the mysterious pull draws you to another person is identical to the one that moves our eyes upward to the stars."

56: "I heard it began snowing in the Sahara and I wanted to tell you that I've changed."

Comments: My first poetry read of 2018, and I enjoyed it. The beginning is from the introduction by Lang Leav. And my 56 is part of a poem named Sahrah, and the irony behind it is that recently it actually did snow in the Sahara Desert. And The Universe of Us was released on October 4, 2016. 

What are you reading this week?

January Poetry Roundup

After I made my goal to read more poetry in 2018, I came across the problem of trying to figure out how I wanted to talk about them on the blog. And in the end, I decided that rather than doing a full review post for poetry books—many of them are short—that I would do a single monthly roundup of what I’ve been reading.

The Universe of Us by Lang Leav—

• The first poetry book I tackled in January was The Universe of Us by Lang Leav. Prior to this book, I’d never read anything by Leav but have heard a lot of good things about her work. Suffice it to say, I was interested. I’m not the best judge of what’s good or bad poetry—I haven’t read enough of it—but I enjoyed this collection. There were many poems about love and hurt, among other things. Many of them were relatable, such as Ode to Writers on page 93, which was so true that it almost hurt. Among my other favorites were Your Life, Today, the beautiful simplicity of Shooting Stars, and the truths that loudly resonated in Conversations. All-in-all, The Universe of Us wasn’t a bad one to start with....

The Portable Nineteenth-Century African American Women Writers edited by Hollis Robins and Henry Louise Gates Jr.—

• Moving on, my second read was this collection edited by Hollis Robins and Henry Louise Gates Jr.. The basics: This book includes everything from poetry to fiction, essays, speeches, and personal accounts, among other things. It's a thought provoking and poignant collection that's an essential must read that also inspires further reading. It's history. And it dealt with accounts of slavery, discrimination after the Civil War, and hope and empowerment through religion and education from the viewpoint of African American women. There was work by writers such as Mary Prince, Pauline Hopkins, Julia Collins, and many others. I also enjoyed the fiction and poetry included in this book like the excerpt from Sarah E. Farro’s 1891 novel, True Love, and Mary E. Ash Lee’s poem, Afmerica (1885). As for the the poetry featured in this book, it's best described as intense. These poems often dealt with subjects that directly correlated with African American Women of the time, and acutely reflected their worries, observations, and hope for a better future—subjects that were reflected throughout the entire collection. As such, The Portable Nineteenth-Century African American Women Writers was one of my favorite reads from January....

Comments + Looking ahead…

In January, I only got to two poetry books. It was a pretty good start on my goal; although, I hope to get to more than two in February. The good news is that more of  my library holds have come in, and I've compiled a list of which ones to read next....

Do you have any poetry recommendations?

The Friday 56 (123) & Book Beginnings: The Cruel Prince by Holly Black

The Friday 56 is a weekly meme hosted by Freda's Voice where every Friday you pick a book and turn to page 56 or 56%, and select a sentence or a few, as long as it's not a spoiler. For the full rules, visit the the page HERE

Book Beginnings is a weekly meme hosted by Rose City Reader that asks you to share the first sentence (or so) of the book you're reading.

Synopsis from 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 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.

Beginning: "On a drowsy Sunday afternoon, a man in a long dark coat hesitated in front of a house on a tree-lined street."

56: "There is always a moment when it begins to move that I can't help grinning. There is something about the sheer impossibility of it, the magnificence of the woods streaking by and the way the ragwort hooves kick up gravel as they leap up into the air, that gives me an electric rush of pure adrenaline."

Comments: I had high hopes for The Cruel Prince and wasn't disappointed. What are you reading this week?