REVIEW: THE CRUEL PRINCE BY HOLLY BLACK

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GUARD YOUR MORTAL HEART.

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 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.

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2.75

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The Cruel Prince by Holly Black was my one hope of salvaging what little desire I had to read fairy books that ACOTAR destroyed. Turns out it was beyond saving. Don't get me wrong, the books was bearable but I do wish I hadn't bothered. 

I'm noticing a trend with series lately that is really getting on my nerves:
Can we please stop publishing books of average length when nothing happens but build up for a big action scene and then end the book when everything has just begun? 

There was no reason The Cruel Prince could not have been a 600 page book with a fuller story but as it stands I am annoyed and quite frankly feel my time has been wasted. The place the book ended didn't leave me desperate to know if things work out. It left me feeling rushed. I don't understand the hype for this, but then I don't understand the hype for ACOTAR, and after pushing my way through the first two books of that series I should have known better than to force myself through this. 

I really don't have anything to say other than that. Nothing makes me want to continue a series less than being made to feel like it is trying to squeeze money out of me on multiple books when it need only be one, or a few. 

There has been one book series that I have found works as being one book split into multiple books and that is Miss Peregrine. It works. It has things happen and then it ends. It works. It doesn't lie. It doesn't pretend the story has wrapped up and will continue on. It quite literally stops in mid action and as a weird series anyway it works. It cuts off at the right point, when the story goes from one plot to another. No other series gets it right - they just decide to hastily wrap up the book whilst bringing up plot holes so the reader knows they'll get fixed and like... no??? Just tell me the story. Quite frankly I don't care what Heather thinks about this and I don't care what happens to Oak and oh what will Cardan do in a year?? Not my concern. I might have been if 90% of the build up wasn't focused on reminding me that Vivi has cat eyes and did u know madoc is a murderer?!1

I swear one day I'll write a review where I actually discuss things that happen but ugh. Today, I am going to read something else immediately before I slump. Most likely a stand alone...