***** (5 out of 5) · Books · Fantasy · Uncategorized · Young Adult

The Cruel Prince

PerfectlyTolerable

The Cruel Prince

by Holly Black

***** (5 out of 5)

Cruel2

Amazon|Goodreads
Disclaimer: All Amazon Links are affiliate links. If you purchase any of these books through one of my links I will get a small commission! All the thoughts/opinions in this post are mine and in no way influenced by Amazon.

I have never been one to pay much attention to future book releases.  For starters, before blogging, the only way I knew about an upcoming release was if I was waiting for the next book in a series. But, I am also super impatient, so unless the release date was coming soon or the series was really really REALLY good, I would forget about the release date and move on to other books.

This January while blog hopping, I started to notice a ton of posts and giveaway questions revolving around the most anticipated books of 2018.  It was eye opening.  I realized that people actually pay attention to future book releases.  And not just the next book in the series, but standalones and series starters.

I noticed almost every single list I looked at contained The Cruel Prince.  There probably were other books that overlapped the lists, but The Cruel Prince kept catching my eye.  I still don’t know how a new book can be so popular before it is even released?!?! As far as I can tell its a mix of the author already being popular, good marketing, and ARCs?

Anyway, I was intrigued.  I read the synopsis and it didn’t really sound like a book I would like.  It seemed dark and depressing and I didn’t want to read another story about a girl falling in love with an a$$hole who treats her like shit.  I wrote it off as a no-go and forgot about it.  But then Owl Crate sent it out in their box.  I don’t have owl crate, but it piqued my interest again.  (Fairy Loot also included it with their box, but I didn’t know that at the time)

Finally, I was at Barnes and Noble searching for Geekerella when I spotted The Cruel Prince on the shelf.  It was not in the new releases or any of the featured tables in the main isle.  It was just on the normal shelves.  The book was turned sideways to display the cover, but there was no other fanfare.  After the huge amount of recognition it received from the blogging community, it seemed odd that Barnes and Noble didn’t try to capitalize on it.

After all the hype, it seemed like a sign, finding it among all the other books, so on a whim I bought it.  I am glad that I did.  I LOVED it!  And it feels good to be able to talk about it on blogs, because at this point almost everyone has read it.  I feel so much a part of the community of book bloggers and its been super fun to read a totally hyped up book, and its even better because I loved the book.

Alright, I know that is the longest intro ever! Sorry about that, but it just feels so cool with the whole hype and community surrounding this book!  Before I get into the actual review here are some really good Bookstagram pics that fellow bloggers have taken that are absolutely amazing and I wish I could do even half as well (Hopefully everyone is ok with me using their pictures! I made sure to credit where I found it! If you have an issue please let me know and I can remove it!)

Prince01

Source: Beware of the Reader

Prince02

Source: The Well-Thumbed Reader

Prince03

Source: Book Dragon Lair

Prince04

Source: Confessions of a YA Reader

Prince05

Source: Bookidote

Prince06

Source: The Wanderlust Reader

Prince07

Source: Thrice Read

Prince08

Source: Lair of Books

Prince09

Source: The World of Celia McMahon

Prince10

Source: All Booked

Prince11

Source: Mousai Books

Processed with VSCO with f2 preset

Source: Duo Penotti

Prince 13

Source: Verb Vixen

Alright, this is turning out to be a waaaay longer post than I intended so I will make my actual review short and sweet! maybe

I LOVED this book!

It was dark and twisted but yet it was artful and tasteful at the same time.  I hate books where girls fawn over the super hot abusive man and overlook his meanness because they love him so much.  Or worse they pretend his meanness is normal or not important.  I thought this was going to be one of those books, but it wasn’t.  The needless violence doesn’t sit well with Jude and she calls it out when she can.

Jude isn’t perfectly good.  You fall in love with her, and she is such a strong character, but there is evil in her.  With how she is raised you can’t blame her, and you love her more for it.  She fights for what she believes in, even if she has to stoop to the levels of her adversaries.

All of the characters are so detailed (except for oak, I wish we learned more about him)  The relationships between the sisters are so realistic.  They fight and hate and love each other so passionately.  They might not always agree but they will help each other when it really matters.

I could go on and on and on about how amazing I thought this book was, but I promised to try and keep my review short! I would definitely recommend this book!!

Have you read it? If so did you like it?  If not, do you want to read it?

 

 

34 thoughts on “The Cruel Prince”

  3. Awww thanks for featuring my pic!! 🙂🙂 I read it and wrote a suppppeeer long review about it as well 😂 but yes you’re right I’m so glad even with the huge hype, I still LOVED it. I thought it had very complex themes for YA, but still dressed in the usual YA tropes with a twist. Thanks for sharing your review!!!

    Liked by 1 person

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    1. Your very welcome!! Its an awesome pic! 🙂

      I will head over and read your review now! I didn’t read it before because I don’t like reading reviews until after I have finished writing mine. I like my reviews to be completely my own thoughts. But I love reading reviews and seeing what other people thought!

      I am glad you loved it 🙂 It did have super complex themes and that is part of what made it awesome, it twisted everything around!

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  4. Thanks for featuring my picture Brittany! Feel free to do so as long as you give credit like you did I don’t mind at all 😉 Second I love your intro and how the book being all unassuming at B&N was seen like a sign. Third I love your review! I hope you are now a fan of Holly Black 😉

    Liked by 1 person

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    1. First, You are very welcome, your picture was amazing 🙂 and thank you I appreciate that!

      Second, haha I have no idea why that felt like a sign, but after everything else that had happened I just felt like it was meant to be 😀

      Third, Thanks! And I will definitely be picking up some of her other books! I don’t know if I can truly be a fan yet since I have only read the one book, but I am on my way!

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  7. Like you the hype has turned my head with this book. I’ve requested it at my local library, so I’m just waiting for it to be available for me to pick up. It doesn’t sound like something I would usually read, but so many readers can’t be wrong!

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    1. Haha famous last words… I have seen a few reviews where the people didn’t like it, so its not fool proof. I love fantasy novels so this had that going for it! I just thought it was going to be too dark. I really hope you like it too!!

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  8. I have read a lot of positive reviews for this book. I always worry about being disappointed when there is so much hype, but one of my groups on Goodreads is reading this one so I will give it a go.

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  9. I really relate to what you’re saying about how you didn’t use to pay attention to future releases- I was the same in the past, even for authors I liked I only paid attention if it was part of a series. I have been especially looking forward to this though, cos I’ve enjoyed the other Black books I’ve read and I’m *so* excited to hear how much you loved it 😀 Those are gorgeous instagram pics- thanks for collating them, cos they make great eye candy 😉 And gosh I like the sound of how complex Jude’s character is. And the sister relationship! Amazing review- you’ve made me look forward to this book even more 😀

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  10. Glad you liked the book. I still need to read it to see if I’ll enjoy it, but I’m hesitant. 99% of the book interweb can’t be wrong though, right?

    Thanks for visiting Shell’s Stories!

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  11. Yes, I’ve read it and I’ll share with you in the love – this was great, I loved it too. It’s not my first Black book. She wrote a fae series that (I think) started with a book called Tithe. This was the first fae series that really explored dark themes and I loved them so couldn’t wait to read this. I also have The Darkest Park of the Forest – which I think is set in the same world but is an individual story so I’m looking forward to that one too.
    Lynn 😀

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. You are very welcome! Your picture is awesome! I love how the purple cover pops against the contrast of the white covers. Its very creative 🙂 I don’t have the time/patience/skills/props to take cool pictures like that, but I love to look at everyone elses’

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  13. Great post! I know exactly what you mean about hyped books – I try to tune it out because so often I end up disappointed and I don’t understand how some books, including debut authors, get SO MUCH traction?

    I finished this recently though and loved it! I am super keen to continue this series which doesn’t happen all that often to me. But the politics and fight-for-the-throne won me over.

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  14. I’ve been hearing a lot about this as well which is why it peaked my interest as well. Before blogging I never knew of upcoming releases, but now that’s ALL I CAN THINK OF!! Funny how blogging can change your perspective on things. Great review!

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