The Cruel Prince

Title: The Cruel Prince
Author: Holly Black
Genre: Fantasy, YA
Source: Hardcover: Library
Rating: 4 out of 5


When Jude was a young child, her parents were murdered in front of her.  To make it worse, the man who murdered them took Jude and her two sisters with him away to the realm of the Faeries.  Ten years later Jude wants nothing more than to simply belong, to have a place in their world beyond being the ward of a warrior.  Many of the fae despise humans and will do anything to torment the girls.  In order to win a place in the Court, Jude must defy the crown prince himself.  She accepts an offer from the prince's brother, an offer that may shows Jude she is capable of incredible things including bloodshed.  When a traitor threatens the royal line, Jude places herself in the line of danger to save herself, her sisters, and the fate of the Faerie kingdom.  Will she have the strength?  Will those she trust prove to be allies or enemies?

This was a book that I was excited about being published this year and couldn't wait to get my hands on it at the library. I have read The Darkest Part of the Forest before and I loved that book, so why wouldn't I love this one right?  I thought the plot and the story line were interesting though I have read other books with the similar idea of human girl in the faerie world.  But what Holly Black does with this novel is different from other books out there.  She takes this idea and puts a new twist to it and creates something truly remarkable.


I liked that throughout the novel you don't know the true motives of various characters.  You think one person is Jude's ally and then they betray her.  Everyone has their own reasons for doing what they do and you don't pick up on it until Jude finds out.  I love that about the book, it isn't as predictable as some other novels.  When you begin this novel you are hooked from the beginning.  You are connected to Jude and feel the emotions she feels.  You begin to hate the characters she hates and love the ones she loves, though I admit I liked Madoc's new wife (I admit I forget her name), while she seemed put off by the human girls, it seemed all she wanted to truly do was protect them from the dangers of the faerie world.  I also liked the Madoc was sometimes the bad guy but sometimes the good guy too.  He seemed to have some sort of love for the girls, but didn't know how to show it or it seemed misinterpreted especially when he denies Jude the honor of fighting with his colors/flag.


I have seen Holly Black referred to as the Queen of all things Fae, and after reading two of her books revolving around the fae...I think this is a correct moniker for her.  Her books, while the revolve around the same general theme of the Faerie World, they are vastly different, though there are rumors they take place in the same world.  Interesting.  Her writing style is very lyrical and beautiful.  There isn't the normal "fluff" or unnecessary information.  Everything in her book leads to something else, everything plays off of each other and that's what makes Holly Black such an amazing writer.  She has the ability to write a story that will linger with you until you pick up another one of her books and that adds to your addiction.  I look forward to reading more books by Holly Black and definitely recommend The Cruel Prince to anyone who loves fantasy and the world of faeries.


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Ever Shade

Title: Ever Shade (A Dark Faerie Tale #1) by Alexia Purdy
Media Source: Ebook: Nook

Rating: 3 out of 5

Recommendations: I would recommend this novel to anyone who enjoys young adult, and fantasy tales.

Every now and then I find a book on Bookbub that sparks my interest. This novel was one of them.  The cover I found to be pretty and drew me into wanting to know what the story was about, the cover did it's job.  After reading the synopsis, I decided to give it a shot and see what the story held.

Ever Shade is a fantasy novel revolving around a teenage girl named Shade.  She discovers she is not completely human, but part faerie, and the one faerie prophecies have spoken about.  Shade is thrown into a quest to obtain water from a magical fountain in order to help the Seelie faerie court fight against the Unseelie faerie court.  Will Shade be up for the task?  Can she handle everything thrown at her throughout the journey across the realm?

Shade is plagued with voices whispering in her head.  If she ignores them, they get ever more persistent.  On this day they are ever vigilant that she enter a creepy abandoned warehouse building. She finds her way in and follow the directions of the voice only to find herself the witness of a battle between a woman and a man.  To add to the creep factor, the man fights with lightening and the woman a sonic blast.  Shade is frozen in place as the woman flies out the window.  What is going on?  After she is discovered and she explains the voices brought her there.  Without a second thought the man (Jack) tells her to follow him to the "oracle."  She goes along with him through the forest as he explains there are faeries.  Once she is among the faerie court, she finds out that she is the one the prophecy speaks about.  The one who could help save them from war with another faerie court.
Shade and an entourage of faerie warriors embark on a quest through the lands to obtain water from a magic fountain.  Along the way Shade and her friends are thrown into trial after trial, attack after attack including an attack from another faerie race.  The result of the attack is Shade is bonded to another faerie: Dylan a warrior who took the punishment of his brother.  Meaning he must forever be at her side until the land decides the debt is paid. Shade must find the power and courage within to accomplish her goal.

Overall this was a well written story, but there were some things that seemed a little too far fetched.  I mean a young woman meeting a guy for the very first time and willingly follows him into the unknown without a second thoughts.  The adult in me yelled at her to be more cautious, but the young woman in me told the adult to hush and read the book.  So, I locked the adult woman away and just enjoyed the novel without being nitpicky.  That being said...wow. The idea of different species of faeries was interesting especially the Teleens who were comprised of electricity or fire.  It was unique from some of the other faeries seen in other novels.  There were some things that didn't make sense such as the faerie realm being able to make their own light and things such as that, but there were outlets in some of the rooms.  It seemed convenient that whenever Shade needed something it was magically there.

Slowly Shade develops from the scared girl to one with a little courage.  She still has fears, but she overcomes them with her friends and her own learning of the realm.   She goes from hating the outdoors to beginning to enjoy it.  Although again, any time she had to do anything outdoorsy, she suddenly has the ability to do so because of some event in her childhood like scouts or camping with her family.  I think those elements would have been better if she struggled with learning how to pitch a tent or tie a good knot.  Through this journey Shade is supposed to be learning magic and how to fight, but oddly no one thinks to show her any of this except the one occasion she learns to make a wytch stone and when Dylan starts to teach her sword fighting, but not enough to defend herself in an attack, and they were attacked an awful lot.

While there were elements that made readers questions things, it was a great story.  The plot, dialog, and descriptions help make up for all those things.  Characters develop as the story progresses, while Dylan began hating Shade, they soon grow to like each other, maybe a little more than friends.  There were some things that seemed closely related to other fairy tales such as the man made of bark Shade meets.  He shins a woman who curses him to look hideous until he is kissed by a "queen to be."  Sound familiar?  I enjoyed the character interaction and communications.  There was a great deal of elements relating to accepting one another and being tolerant of one's differences.

Overall the story was an interesting read, I was so engrossed in the story I couldn't put it down.  Some things were hard to overlook, but there were plenty of things to make up for it.  Check out Ever Shade (A Dark Faerie Tale #1)  if you enjoy a good fantasy novel.