HOW GOOD IS IT?

2/10

ABOUT THE BOOK

Author: Holly Black

Publisher: Little, Brown Young Readers

BASICALLY

A human girl named Jude is swept into the faerie world. Everyone is horrible to her here but she wants to become one of the faeries. One particular faerie prince hates her but he’s too attractive not to get involved with. There is court drama, everybody does what they want, no one actually thinks before they act. And… yes, that’s it.

Maybe disliking this book is an unpopular opinion, I’m not sure, I have seen both good and bad reviews.

SO

I decided to pick up this book due to three reasons:

One – Holly Black is the co-creator of The Spiderwick Chronicle, the enchanting children’s book series with trolls, hobgoblins, and sprites that we all love.

Two – the hype (guess I have learnt nothing from Twilight).

Three — Leigh Bardugo called this book “lush, dangerous” and “a dark jewel of a book”. And since Leigh Bardugo is responsible for the wonder that is Six of Crows, what could go wrong with a book she endorses?

The answer: a lot.

The Cruel Prince turns out to be one strangely convoluted story starting with its female protagonist.

There is not much I can say about the book without spoilers because there’s just no way to sum up Jude’s adventure, which is a jumble of fragments of drama that offers no development for any character, and no resolution except a hint that the drama will probably continue for the next two books in the series.

Jude, as the leading character, has an inconsistent personality. Most of the time, it is hard to tell what she wants and to understand the methods she comes up with to achieve whatever she’s trying to achieve.

To some extend, I understand that the writer meant to push across a female character who is dark, ruthless to herself, and partly corrupted due to her upbringing. But for the most part, Jude comes across as an insensible and emo girl who needs a real hobby more than anything else.

Now, to the other characters.

The “cruel” in the title indicates high school bullying done by a group of spoiled rich children with no redeeming qualities. Although, I can’t say I hate them for bullying Jude, because being bullied is everything that Jude’s life is about. So if she doesn’t get bullied… nothing will ever happen, I guess. And that would make for a ridiculously short book.

SOME OF THE THINGS WHICH – AFTER FINISHING THE BOOK, RE-EXAMINING THE SITUATIONS, AND READING OTHER PEOPLE’S REVIEWS – I STILL CANNOT COMPREHEND

SPOILERS AHEAD

Locke – a faerie who wants to marry Jude’s sister, Taryn, but seduces Jude and tells Taryn that this is a test to see if she (Taryn) is worthy of faerie love (or whatever it is). And Taryn agrees to this.

It’s all right if some people are just senseless beyond measures, but does it really need to be a part of this book?

Jude fights with a male faerie who bullies her at school. They do this at Jude’s house where Jude could have easily called for help. But for some reason, she decided not to and killed the guy instead. And then she weeps about how she is “not okay”.

Cardan exists to annoy and bully Jude, and this is pretty much all the personality he is given. This makes their romance the most unbelievable and childish relationship in the book.

All that physical/mental abuse and name-calling are supposed to be just the way Cardan expresses his strong feelings for Jude, because he doesn’t know how else to do it. Why? About one-third into the book, we are shown that Cardan is actually a sad and tortured soul who is beaten by his brother frequently as a form of mentorship. Okay… but why are we supposed to ship Cardan and Jude?

There are no court schemes – no schemes that are actually well thought-out, that is. In the end, I must say I root for Madoc to destroy the whole place because at least that would be entertaining.

A prince wants Jude to spy for him and he GOES TO HER HOUSE to recruit her. No wonder this guy has no idea his own demise is being successfully strategized right under his nose.

END OF SPOILERS

ALTHOUGH

There are a few things I appreciate about this book. The world-building, for instance. The faerie world is almost identical to that of The Spiderwick Chronicle’s, and that does render a little bit of magic.

Vivi, Jude’s oldest sister, actually has some common sense.

Madoc’s relationship with his daughters is interesting and, frankly, the most believable in the entire story.

BOTTOM LINE

This review is not to discourage anyone from reading The Cruel Prince. By all means, give it a try if you are interested in faerie fantasies. This book has favourable feedbacks on multiple platforms so it must have struck a chord somewhere with fantasy readers.

The good news is: it’s a fairy short book.