This book was one of my absolute favourites. A book I couldn't put down a lush, dangerous, a dark jewel of a book. Jude… is so great. She's seriously becoming one of my favorite fictional characters of all time, and I don't really know how? Her narrative voice is so strong, shaping and characterizing the world around her. The strength of her voice perfectly counteracts the desperation we see within her to cling to power, to not give up the few gains she has made. She's so delightfully unlikable and yet manages to gain audience sympathy at every moment.
The side characters here are particularly great. I particularly like the relationship between the Bomb & the Roach; the backstory we got for them here was excellent. Vivi is as fantastic as ever, but I actually love what was done with her character [I’ll talk about this later]. The Wicked King is also pushed up by a series of interesting villains; while I am emphatically not a Locke or Nicasia fan, Taryn is intriguing and I want more of her, and Madoc is always a delight. Oh, and then there’s Cardan, the Sort Of Love Interest, who I find both incredibly compelling and very dislikable.
I think what I’m most fascinated about with this book is how it plays with the dynamic of humans wresting whatever power they can. The idea of fairies not understanding the stakes of their own world on the level that human characters do. Vivi, as someone who grew up a fairy, does not understand how Jude was affected by her childhood - she was never charmed, or manipulated, or forced to play the games that Jude was. And the dynamic between Cardan and Jude is perfect; Jude clinging to the little power she has over Cardan, and Cardan being under someone’s thumb, just one more time.
I’m not sure how I felt about parts of the dynamic between Cardan and Jude; there’s a continuous lack of dictated consent in their interactions, which makes sense for the situation and is still bothersome. But also, I’m kind of obsessed with their relationship. They have so much sexual tension and it kills me. I cannot wait to see where it goes.
And also, guys, there were so many fucking plot twists I’m laughing. i have no idea how I even felt about the final twist but literally everything else was so fucking legit and I screamed about eight times reading this book.
Basically, that was everything I liked about The Cruel Prince, but like... more. Jude is seriously one of my favorite fictional characters ever and the plot twists killed me and I'm super into the romance. And in unrelated news I’m going into a coma now
The side characters here are particularly great. I particularly like the relationship between the Bomb & the Roach; the backstory we got for them here was excellent. Vivi is as fantastic as ever, but I actually love what was done with her character [I’ll talk about this later]. The Wicked King is also pushed up by a series of interesting villains; while I am emphatically not a Locke or Nicasia fan, Taryn is intriguing and I want more of her, and Madoc is always a delight. Oh, and then there’s Cardan, the Sort Of Love Interest, who I find both incredibly compelling and very dislikable.
I think what I’m most fascinated about with this book is how it plays with the dynamic of humans wresting whatever power they can. The idea of fairies not understanding the stakes of their own world on the level that human characters do. Vivi, as someone who grew up a fairy, does not understand how Jude was affected by her childhood - she was never charmed, or manipulated, or forced to play the games that Jude was. And the dynamic between Cardan and Jude is perfect; Jude clinging to the little power she has over Cardan, and Cardan being under someone’s thumb, just one more time.
I’m not sure how I felt about parts of the dynamic between Cardan and Jude; there’s a continuous lack of dictated consent in their interactions, which makes sense for the situation and is still bothersome. But also, I’m kind of obsessed with their relationship. They have so much sexual tension and it kills me. I cannot wait to see where it goes.
And also, guys, there were so many fucking plot twists I’m laughing. i have no idea how I even felt about the final twist but literally everything else was so fucking legit and I screamed about eight times reading this book.
Basically, that was everything I liked about The Cruel Prince, but like... more. Jude is seriously one of my favorite fictional characters ever and the plot twists killed me and I'm super into the romance. And in unrelated news I’m going into a coma now