The Cruel Prince (The Folk of the Air) Review

First of all, holy crap. This book is the best new series I've picked up in a very long time. Sure, I've read good books recently (and some not so good ones, see: An Ember in the Ashes). But mostly I was just finishing up old series or dipping into some classic fiction (I recently finished The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath, but as it is a classic book and prone to its own deficiencies, I won't review that.) I have to admit Holly Black's reviews on her other books aren't exactly glowing, so I was a little worried when I started this book. But whoo boy, I was very wrong.

This book kept me guessing all the way through. Usually I don't like classical faerie style books with characters with thorns, horns, tails, weird skin colors, or ugly trolls. I know, I'm shallow, but when I read I try to idealize what I'm reading to the most part. To me, fae and faeries are beautiful. However, I felt like the use of classic faerie characterization just added to the world building and the rich culture of Faerie.

The story is told from Jude's point of view. She is strong, strategic, and smart, but also highly flawed. She is ambitious, power hungry, and can be quick to react and slow to think. She is bullied by her Faerie peers, such as the cruel Prince Cardan. Jude grows up with her parents' killer, Madoc and his new wife Oriana. Madoc is the High King's general and teaches Jude and Taryn swordplay and strategy. Vivi prefers to rebel, and runs off to the mortal world as often as she can since she is the only one with magic. As the story progresses, Jude becomes Prince Dain's spy, and he is favored it inherit the king's crown. However, not everything is as it seems, and as things spiral out of control, Jude finds herself allying with the one person she hates: Prince Cardan.

I really liked the names in this series. It's a weird thing to nitpick, I know, but sometimes fantasy authors can go nuts with the names. I see far too many names like "Camalyn" or "Taryina" or something like that and it just confuses readers and makes you look stupid. The main character's name is Jude, who has a twin sister named Taryn and an elder sister named Vivienne (she goes by Vivi). Their little brother is Oak, which isn't all that odd, considering that he is a Faerie with horns. Oriana and Madoc are some of the weirder ones, but still easily pronounced.

This book kept me on my toes the entire time. I truly could not see the plot twists coming until just before they happened or as they were happening. My heart raced enough that it probably could be considered cardio. The characters were flawed enough to be realistic, but not enough where I hated most of them.

*some spoilers ahead!*

Some things I didn't like was the final showdown between Taryn and Jude. Taryn had always been used as a pawn against Jude in the beginning when Jude's mouth got in the way of her good sense (something I find highly relatable). Of course Taryn would be angry and resentful. She had every right to step back and let Jude ruin her own life. What I didn't like was that Taryn just let her betrothed play Jude and her and was just fine with it. She knew he was kissing Jude and flirting and being coupley with her, and yet Taryn still wanted to marry him even though hes a POS. They even dueled over him and totally ruined their relationship with each other. That seems really stupid to me, as they should've been fighting him for playing them and being a horrible person.

I also didn't like the final plot twist a lot, albeit I must admit I didn't see it coming and I had to reread it several times in shock. It's not that I hated it, I just think that it created unnecessary strife between Jude and Cardan when they could've figured things out together while their relationship grew (cause they still hate each other!). I don't want to spoil the twist, so I won't say anything more.

I definitely highly recommend this book. I'm definitely going to be reading the next two books!

Peace, love, and good books,

Lexi

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