Thursday, March 7, 2019

The Cruel Prince by Holly Black

Author: Holly Black
Original title: The Cruel Prince
Pages: 480
Edition Language: Russian
Series: The Folk of the Air #1
Format: Paperback 
Genres: Fantasy 
Goodreads

Blurb:     
      Jude was seven when her parents were murdered and she and her two sisters were stolen away to live in the treacherous High Court of Faerie. Ten years later, Jude wants nothing more than to belong there, despite her mortality. But many of the fey despise humans. Especially Prince Cardan, the youngest and wickedest son of the High King.
      As Jude becomes more deeply embroiled in palace intrigues and deceptions, she discovers her own capacity for trickery and bloodshed. But as betrayal threatens to drown the Courts of Faerie in violence, Jude will need to risk her life in a dangerous alliance to save her sisters, and Faerie itself.



My thoughts: 
     I was caught in the hype about the book, so many were gushing about it, so I thought: why not? I have read the book within a day or two - it is fast, easy and mostly predictable. It has some catchy points: the scene during the coronation, and some of the plot twists, but altogether rather forgettable and unimpressive. I actually forgot about the plot after a week and have to check what the books is about before writing this post. 
    Looking back, I guess the plot is not that bad, some kind of Game of Throne for YA, but I did not get what makes this book so forgettable. Maybe the characters - none of them are prominent enough, though the author really tried. And they are not disgustingly bad as well, they can impress the reader. 
    Thought I read the book fast, I cannot say I enjoyed it and, of course, there will be no continuation of the series for me.

Rating: 
    2/5 

4 comments:

  1. wow, I can read a few languages, but not yet Russian, though I can read the alphabet. I wish I had more time to do that, I had started with duolingo, and then stopped. Would you have recommendations/tools/sites to actually learn Russian for reading purposes?

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    1. Sorry Emma, I am a native speaker of Russian, and I do not have tips for learning it, but I guess duo-lingo books is the best in this case.

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  2. If I'm going to read a 400+ YA novel it needs to be better than not bad. ;D

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    1. True, but the hype usually promises that it is better))

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