4.5 stars, review to come.

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I have to admit, I am still waffling between 4 and 4.5 stars for this one. This was my FIRST Holly Black Book, and it took me a good third to really get into the story. For the first part, I didn't find that much happened beyond a bunch of schoolyard bullying... which, if I'm reading about a fairy world, shouldn't there be more interesting things going on??

HOWEVER, things do heat up, and when the proverbial s**t hits the fan... damn. This book gets dark and bloody FAST. (I questioned a few times whether this should really be considered YA? Some scenes truly are not for the squeamish... but I loved it hahaha).

Once things started to speed up, I couldn't put the book down. I became wrapped up in the mystery, and what was to become of Jude. Speaking of Jude, I loved her as the heroine(?)... if you could call her that. Many of the choices and actions she takes definitely put her in a morally gray realm. But it was really refreshing to see a female lead like that in a YA novel. There is kind of a romance in here, but I'm not sure yet how I feel about it. We'll see where book two takes us.

Another thing I must mention loving THROUGHOUT this book was the atmosphere. I felt like I should be hiding away in a secret bramble while reading this. But seriously - the smells, the place, the tastes; just the way Black describes things put you right in this magical forested realm.

All in all, I definitely plan to read book two, and might check out some more Holly Black books when I can. ( )

For the first time this year, I found myself struggling to get into a book (which is unfortunate, because this book was more enjoyable than others). I am not sure if it was the book itself or I got a little book burnout.

The Cruel Prince was not a bad book, but it was not one that captured me right away. I felt as though I had to get through about 300 pages to really become invested in what was happening. Naturally, it would be the last 70 pages, and now I want to get the second book, so in that aspect, the book did a good job.

I can not point to anything I truly dislike about the book, I just felt like much of it took a long time to get going, and it was almost a constant repeat of events. That being said, at the conclusion of the book, I can see how most of it was helpful for context once things got going.

I plan on picking up the next book, and hoping that it picks up where this one left off. Maybe if much of the background was covered, The Wicked King can focus more on events. ( )

Full review: https://wanderinglectiophile.wordpress.com/2018/07/11/review-the-cruel-prince-by...

I seriously enjoyed this book and am beyond ready for the next book in the series. My full review in at the link above. I mean check it out if you think I'm cool or at least interesting or something. ( )

Good! Wasn’t a fan of how the characters were described, so I just imagined them like ACOTAR and TOG characters… no spice but I loved the tension between Jude and Carden. I’m a bit nervous for how this whole king thing plays out! ( )

I loved this. I loved this so much. When does the next book come out? ( )