I loved the twists and turns in this book. I hope the trope where a guy is an asshole because he likes a girl will be addressed in the coming books. No girl should put up with that behavior or succumb to it. Meanwhile, I enjoyed the story and the unexpected elements. It was quite the blood bath!

I really enjoyed this book. The beginning grabs you right away and the pacing throughout is perfect. This isn't a typical happy story of children brought to fairyland. This story is filled with true fey who are immortal beings with no concern for the morals and ethics of humans. The story is narrated in a way that makes you feel like the main character is speaking to you as a friend, which makes you really empathize with her.

3.5 stars!
From the author of The Spiderwick Chronicles comes the first in a new trilogy about a young girl taken from her home in the human world to a fairy kingdom that exists in tandem with the human realm. Once there, Jude must deal with the complications of being a mortal girl living in a world that looks down on mortals as if they are nothing. Amidst her rising ambitions to become more than others take her to be, she becomes caught up on a plot that will change her life forever.
I really enjoyed this book. It echoes the elements of S.J. Maas' A Court of Thorns and Roses series that I loved so much, and I am very excited to see where this series is headed. Jude is a heroine to root for, and I think readers will not be able to help marvelling at her badassery a little bit, just as they did with Katniss or Feyre; she is a well developed and very compelling character. However, the book started a bit too slowly to grab my attention, and at times I felt like the fairy world was a little too thinly drawn. By the end of the novel, though, it really seems as if Black is hitting her stride within this world. The second half of the novel flew by and left me wanting more more more! I have high hopes for the next book in the trilogy.

ALSO-- JUST LOOK AT THAT COVER <3

Oh, darn, I am in need of the next installment! The Cruel Prince didn't much engage me in the first chapter, but then I found myself so immersed in the characters and plot, I couldn't put it down.

Jude, a seven-year-old mortal child, is taken with her two sisters to live in the High Court of Faery. Her feelings become divided and a love/hate dilemma twists through her emotions...but after ten years in Faery, Jude no longer feels that she belongs in the mortal world either.

Having endured bullying and disparagement from the Fey since her arrival, Jude lives in a kind of anxious fear. When she can no longer remain inconspicuous, her anger emerges, and she begins a dangerous campaign of her own as she fights back.

The Fey are beautiful, unpredictable, cruel, capricious, and immortal, and Jude finds herself both envying and despising them. Her goal to become a knight is foiled, but Jude continues to search for a way to gain some power and security. She moves from merely wanting a respected, secure position to something darker: "If I cannot be better than them, I will be so much worse."

Even in Faery, there are conspiracies. The Faery High King is ready to step down; he has chosen one of his six children as his successor. Prince Dain is generally accepted by most of the Fae as a worthy choice, but there are political intrigues at work and not everyone is pleased.

The Cruel Prince is a rather dark story suitable for a Faery Court: a protagonist who questions her position and her motives; schemes, spies, family dysfunction; betrayals; twists and turns. After a slow buildup, the plot is engrossing. In the past, I've not been a fan of Fae books, but Holly Black's complex characters and edgy narrative kept me in suspense the entire time.

Some elements of the plot are resolved, but there are so many questions about what happens next...and I hate having to wait.

Read in Oct.; blog review scheduled for Dec. 12, 2017.

NetGalley/Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

Fantasy/YA. Jan. 2, 2018. Print length: 384 pages.