The Cruel Prince by Holly Black is a young adult fantasy fiction novel set in the world of the Fae. The story follows Jude Duarte, a human girl thrown into the world of Faerie after a tragic event as a child. She is accompanied by her twin sister Taryn and their older sister Vivi, who is part Fae. Jude and Taryn are ridiculed throughout the novel for their humanity, and Jude has a strong desire to prove her power and worth to the Faerie.
Jude watched as her parents were murdered at the young age of 7. She came to know of a land, one other than the typical mortal world, known as Faerie. In Faerie, bloodshed comes before family. Power comes before loyalty.
Holly Black’s The Cruel Prince features Jude Duarte, a girl who was stolen from the mortal world
alongside her twin and older sister, Taryn and Vivi, by a Redcap Fae named Madoc. Years later,
Jude and Taryn now attend school among the higher ranked fae, including Prince Cardan
Greenbriar, the cruel prince of Elfhame (get it?). He and his friends, Nicasia, Valerian, and
Locke, do whatever they can to make Jude and Taryn miserable for their human heritage. The
The Stolen Heir by Holly Black features Suren, a former Queen of the Court of Teeth of
Elfhame. After the events of The Folk of the Air series, Suren finds herself back in the mortal
world scavenging for food and secretly keeping an eye on her former foster family, longing to be
a part of them once more. She is constantly being hunted by a hag from her old court known as
Abriella has become a fae and survived what should have killed her - but at what cost?
The throne and the court is in ruins, her sister won’t speak to her, she’s bonded to someone she
can never trust again, and she has strange powers that she shouldn’t and that she can barely
control. Somehow, she and her band of misfits must travel to the Underworld and speak to the
legendary Queen Mab, who they hope will give them all the answers they seek. And at the
same time Abriella is trying to cope with her strange shadow self, who represents all that is evil
Abriella “Brie” Kincaid is a thief - though by necessity, of course. She steals from the
richest of the rich, counting on a cover of darkness to keep her hidden, but only to barely scrape
together enough money to meet her growing monthly payments to her aunt. It’s the only way
that she and her younger sister can survive in a world full of fae, self-interested nobles and
royalty. She only takes joy in seeing the mage’s apprentice next door: the handsome, kind
This book got me out of one of my worst reading slumps I’ve ever had. Filled with faeries, the
human world, ideas of patriarchy and power, and more, this book is more than anything I
could’ve asked for or even expected. An enemies to friends to maybe lovers, admiration from
afar, all of which are some of my favorite tropes personally. The two main characters, Jude, a
human living in the Faerie world, and Carden, the youngest son to the High King of Faerie.
They’re basically out to get each other throughout the whole book, but it’s deeper than simply
The Cruel Prince by Holly Black is a stunning fantasy novel - filled with every element a
good book should have: mystery, rivalries, magic, battle, and love. Jude is a human girl, whisked
away from the world she knew at age seven and thrust into that of the fae. Despite her mortality,
she wants to make it in this world of magic and war - which means gaining protection from the
cruel Prince Cardan, a classmate of hers and the most powerful and horrible member of the
Summary:
This story follows the life of Jude Duarte, an individual whose life took a very drastic turn of
events, very quickly. One minute she was living happily with her parents, twin sister, and elder
sister, the next, a strange man comes into their lives, kills her parents, and takes her and her
sisters away to a strange land, in which magic exists. Jude and her sister Taryn are humans, they
have little to do with this new land of Faerie apart from keep themselves safe from it, but
Jude Duarte is now seneschal, an advisor to the High King of Elfhame, who is Cardan
Greenbriar. She wants to keep Cardan and Elfhame in control until her brother, Oak, is finally of
age to become King. However, the Queen of the Undersea is threatening Cardan to marry her
daughter or else she will attack his kingdom, which makes Jude’s plans more difficult. So Jude is
trying to protect Oak, Cardan, and Elfhame, but unfortunately she gets captured by the Queen of
the Undersea. Surprisingly though, Cardan steps into the true role of King to save Jude and
