2 stars (it was okay).
I knew this book was something different from the very beginning. For starters, every single character in it–except maybe one or two–was a terrible person. Black wasn’t even shy about portraying them as such. It’s there in the title. It’s there in the first chapter, which begins with a brutal murder and kidnapping of three girls. The fae in The Cruel Prince are not the ones in many fae-human romances. These fae are cruel for sport, deeply dangerous, and ambitious. And Jude, the half-human, half-fae protagonist, plays their cruel political games just as well as any full fae.
The romance that develops is messed up but compelling in the way that a massive explosion is. I read all the way through but, as I’ve mentioned before, I don’t particularly enjoy books that revel in darkness, suffering, and cruelty. The ending worked for the book that was written, and this book is unbelievably well reviewed. And I have to admit—considering what Black was trying to accomplish with this book, she knocked it out of the park.
