The Cruel Prince- Holly Black

To construe this articulate paragon, a SPOILER ALERT shall now be in effect.

“She dressed me in sapphire velvet. None of it disguises what I am."

"Human.”

Only fair, that I start with Holly Black’s audible use of poetic wool to weave a gravely intricate story.

Her character, Jude, a misfit, showed sacrificial power. Every line was lyrical, every plot point was a glossy discovery.

It’s written in paint, or with flowers. It’s written to expressively impress.

To give you context, there are two different worlds in this story, Faerieland and our good old mortal world where the existence of Walmart is primal to survival.

Two twin mortals, Jude and Taryn, end up in this amusing, discriminatory world as part of a High King’s General’s family where other mortals are considered useful only for slavery.

It’s a story of a broken family with heavy memories and that of a demand or yearning for pure power.

Which relationships did they end up sacrificing in order to achieve what they wished for? 

The plot was set in a separate world, with creatures that didn’t die, but yearned for royalties and killed for crowns. It bloomed with goblets and oaks and pixies and roaches, who bathed in power, yet surrendered to love. It screamed with novelties and glamor, dances and wine, yet with hate for indifference and love for war.

Faerie was so different. Yet, so much similar still.

“Some are good with pipes or paint. Some have skill in love. My talent is making war.”

Holly, quick question. When we say “The Cruel Prince” which one exactly are we talking about? XD

It’s a multiplex and diverse hub of complicated characters, this novel. So many names and appearances were thrown at the reader in a matter of seconds.

It was fifty shades of all the characters that I still can’t remember.

I couldn’t keep up with Faerieland. Call it my absolutely impaired imagination if you wish to but it was too much to follow with, too many courts to navigate in, and too many characters to absorb in.

I don’t think fantasy fiction is for me. I think my brain is powerless in that train.

“I didn't have nightmares. My dreams struggled to rival the horrors of my actual life.”

Jude Duarte, mortals lie. Their word doesn't mean horsecrap. Their problems however mould them into preposterous lying beasts. I think, just too much went on with your life for it to plainly make simple sense.

Jude screamed power.

Not evil, hellcat “Cersei Lannister” power, but “Malorie Hayes survival hungry” power.

And famously enough, knowledge is no more power than power is power.

This book made sure of that.

“I never knew how far I’d go. Now I believe I know the answer. I will go as far as there is to go.”

The anecdotes were repetitive for a very long time. The same incidents go on and on, twisting and turning on a roundabout, passing the same route, the same shops, the same people, talking the same talk.

It would be wrong of me to say it didn't pick up pace. It did. Too late though. Too untimely. Too jarring for my taste.

Essentially in the beginning and as a reader, I couldn't establish relatability or reliability since it was written in third person. Only in the beginning. But, the beginning is essential to me. The beginning is a prerequisite to a decision between whether or not I would want to unravel the book.

 Maybe the lyrical ambience in this book made me quiver and eager enough. 

“Love is a noble cause. How can anything be done in the service of a noble cause be wrong?”

Last but not the least, I was surprised. Absolutely. But was I baffled?

Like I said, I am dangerously handicapped, like a one-eyed freak. 

The novel peaked my interest towards the end, it wasn’t slow or gradual. It was stationary, repetitive and suddenly dark and heart throbbing. Sometimes there was too much going on in the novel and sometimes the same thing again and again. 

Overall, the book circles around a rating of 3/5.

I have to give tokens and tokens of jaw dropping astonishment to the author’s awfully descriptive imagination.

She has seriously done a great job of creating an entirely new world, with entirely new people, around an entirely new concept.

However, It lacked a good ol’ gripping effect. 

Would I continue the rest of the series and add pages and pages of more reviews? I’m not sure. 

I read it cautiously, the Faerie world may not have tingled my bones……. Yet ;)

“I do not yearn to be their equal. I yearn to best them.”

- Jude Duarte 

Holly, your word play is prodigious .

- SOUMYA BANSAL