She has anxiety and a knife. He has trauma and a crown. Together, they'll make every possible mistake

The Cruel Prince by Holly Black

Enchanted Chapters Art

The Plot

Jude Duarte is a mortal girl, raised in the High Court of Faerie after her parents were murdered by the very man who became her guardian. Ten years later, she isn’t content to simply survive in the world that hates her—she wants to belong in it. Even if it means outplaying the fae on their own wicked terms. And that includes dealing with Prince Cardan, the beautiful, arrogant youngest son of the High King, who hates her. Maybe.

What follows is a dark, twisty, political slow burn of a story, filled with court manipulation, double-crosses, betrayals, and a heroine who doesn’t stop pushing.

My Breakdown

This book gave me:
👑 A heroine who’s done being underestimated
🖤 A morally gray love interest with a secret soft side
🕊 Court politics with knives under every smile
💢 Enemies to lovers that actually earns it

I only recently read this after DNFing it a while back. I struggled with it. Maybe because of the bullying trope, which I don’t tend to enjoy, maybe because the pace is slow in the beginning, or maybe because the number of characters and the depth of the world were overwhelming.

But I’m SO GLAD I came back to it, because this is one of the best reads romantasy and fantasy have to offer. And from the second part of the first book, I devoured the rest of the trilogy at a totally unhealthy pace.

Jude is my favorite heroine of all time (at the moment 😊). She is so perfectly fucked up. She’s terrified, and it makes her angry as hell. She never gives up her desire to be seen and feared in a world that wants her hide. Her humanity is her weakness, but also her weapon.

I want to win. I do not want to be their equal. In my heart, I yearn to best them.

One of the novel’s strengths lies in its exploration of power dynamics and the desire for acceptance. Jude’s journey from a powerless mortal to a cunning player in faerie politics is both compelling and unsettling. Her morally grey decisions reflect the complexities of survival in a world where cruelty is commonplace.

Cardan is pure fae chaos—vain, cruel, emotionally damaged, and somehow still magnetic. Their dynamic is slow-burning tension filled with animosity and reluctant attraction, embodying the enemies-to-lovers trope as it was intended to be.

Most of all, I hate you because I think of you. Often. It’s disgusting and I can’t stop.

This isn’t a cozy fae world. The fae here are terrifying and seductive. They trick, lie and kill. And the politics? Game of Thrones-level complex. There are crowns, blades, and secrets in every corner of Elfhame.

Holly Black’s writing is absolutely beautiful. It is lush and sharp. The magic feels real, the beauty tinged with horror. It’s YA, but very dark. So I’m not sure I'd recommend my teenage to read it.

The Cruel Prince is the first in The Folk of the Air trilogy, and you can find in on Holly Black’s website*. Check out the beautiful fan art for this tribology on my Pinterest - there is so many of it.

*My links are unaffiliated—I just really like to support writers.

Question for you: Did you fall for Cardan… or still want to stab him ?