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Cover of The Cruel Prince by Holly Black

The Cruel Prince

Book 1 of The Folk of the Air

  • 370 pages · about 6 hours
  • First published 2018
  • 18 editions

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1 About this book

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.

To win a place at the Court, she must defy him--and face the consequences. As Jude becomes more deeply embroiled in palace intrigues and deceptions, she discovers her own capacity for tricker 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.

From #1 New York Times bestselling author Holly Black comes the first book in a stunning new trilogy filled with twists and enchantment, as one girl learns the meaning of true power when she finds herself caught in a web of royal faerie intrigue. This description comes from the publisher.

  • Fantasy
  • Romance, paranormal
  • Romance
  • Young adult fiction, fantasy
  • Fairies
  • Sisters
  • Orphans
  • Princes

2 What to expect

A dark fantasy for teens: a human girl raised in the cruel High Court of Faerie schemes her way to power. Twisty politics, morally gray characters and enemies-to-lovers tension; violent at times.

Good for readers who want: fairies, court intrigue, and darker fantasy.

3 About Holly Black

Born 1971

Holly Black (née Riggenbach; born November 10, 1971) is an American writer and editor best known for her children's and young adult fiction. Her most recent work is the New York Times bestselling young adult Folk of the Air series.

Bio adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)

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