“I am going to keep on defying you. I am going to shame you with my defiance. You remind me that I am a mere mortal and you are a prince of Faerie. Well, let me remind you that means you have much to lose and I have nothing. You may win in the end, you may ensorcell me and hurt me and humiliate me, but I will make sure you lose everything I can take from you on the way down. I promise you this is the least of what I can do.” Jude Duarte to Prince Cardan
The Cruel Prince is the first installment of In the Folk of Air by Holly Black, she creates a magnificent world of Fae who believes they are superior to mere mortals. Unfortunately for Jude Duarte, she suffers that cruelty when her parents were murdered in front of her eyes and her two sisters were stolen away to live in the treacherous High Court of Faerie. Ten years later, Jude wants to fit in but the fae despises humans.
The quote above is what made me love Jude, she is a fierce heroine. She is a strong character that made me love her immensely, she fights for her family especially her sisters because that is all she has left. But she also protects those who torment her, what I love the most of her is her fighting spirit. Jude and her twin sister Taryn is the only human out of the family, Vivienne is a fey. Growing up human in a fae world is hard especially when the fae hates her, they feel like she doesn’t belong here and bullies her daily. She doesn’t give in as easily her twin Taryn, she fights for her freedom and respect. From the beginning, all she wants is to be a knight but her stepfather Madoc doesn’t let her. The first three-quarters of the story describe Jude’s struggle to fit into the fae world, how she progresses from a nobody to learning skills to help herself survive. She learns how to be a spy and how to play the game of politics. Watching her grow throughout the book is such a joy for me, my anger was bubbling when the fae royals went to bully Jude. When Jude stood up for herself and said that quote to Prince Cardan I was clapping.
The side characters are one of the best development of Holly Black’s writing, she does a good job giving each of the side characters development and screentime. Vivienne, Jude elder sister is one of my favorite side characters. Vivienne is the elder sister and half fey, she hates Madoc because he murdered her parents and took her here to a place she doesn’t feel like she belongs. In the mortal world, she has a girlfriend named Heather. They are in love but Vivienne hides the secret that she is fey to her, their relationship is beautiful to watch it unfold. Readers don’t get to see much of Heather but from what I saw, she is smitten to Vivienne as she is to her. Vivienne is a great older sister, she has much sass but when Jude needs her she is always there. I have mixed feelings about Taryn, she has some strong moments but mostly she is a character with not too much developments.
Many people say a person has many layers and Prince Cardan is one of them. Prince Cardan is a complex person, he may seem to be the villain when the story begins. He is cruel and always support the cruel actions his friends are performing, but under the many layers of that cruelty, he is a victim of abuse from his own brother. His brother Balekin abuses him and uses words to hurt him, all his brother wants is power and to be king. He has a softer side but he rarely shows it. This antihero is intriguing I can’t wait to read about him next.
The parts that intrigued me the most is Jude’s court scenes, every detailed conversation, and the coup scene is well written. Every word is written off the book and transformed into action scenes in the reader’s head. The scene is mapped perfectly in front of our eyes and we can see the scene and feel the blood splatter across our faces. The Cruel King is such a heart-pounding, intense book I ever read and I can’t wait to read The Wicked King.
JessieClexaFlash 