THE CRUEL PRINCE

The cruel Prince is the first installment of the folks of air series, written by Holy Black, and my first encounter with this Author.

WHAT IS THE BOOK ABOUT?

The Cruel Prince introduces us to the world of Fairie, a magic land rule by "The high king." A world divided from the human by spells—a world full of trickery (as Fairies cannot lie), bargains, and debts to pay. A land where humans are despised and only used as servants and for procreation purposes.

This book entangles the fight for the crown as the High King decides it is the moment to step out of the throne and let one of his offspring rules. He has seven sons and daughters.

As expected, political games are being played in the background of the coronation, plots, and much more. A new ruler is expected to rise, and Prince Dain is the clear winner for that role. Nothing comes easy in the land of Fairies.

WHO ARE THE CHARACTERS OF THIS BOOK?

In the book, we are introduced (as expected) to our main Characters:

Jude Duarte is a 17 years old human who lives in Fairie because her sister's father murdered her parents. Then she and her sisters were adopted by the murderer out of duty.

Vivian is Judes' sister and Mavoc's legitimate daughter. She is the only one of the sisters who is a Fairy.

Tyran Duarte is Jude's twin sister.

Mavoc is Jude's parent's murderer, her stepfather, as he adopted her out of fairy duty cause she was the legitimate daughter of his wife (who he killed in front of Jude and her sisters). He is also the General of the kingdom army. A cruel assassin who is thirsty for blood.

Oak and Orianda are Jude's little stepbrother and Stepmother, respectively.

Then we are introduced to the royal family; there is the King and his seven daughters and sons (But I'll limit my description to the leading three players in this book):

Prince Cardian Greenbriar, the youngest son of the High King and the least likely to inherit the throne, due to a fatal prophesy assigned to him since birth.

Prince Balekin Greenbriar, the oldest brother of Prince Cardian and cruelest of the High King's heirs, and Cardians tutor.

Prince Dain, the most suitable of the sons to inherit the throne and the leader of a group of spies called The court of shadows.

Talking about the court of shadows also play an essential role in the book, so I'll mention them:

The roach is a goblin expert on tactics and how to blend with the crowd.

The bomb, as her name explains, she is an expert in explosives and potions (antidotes for poisons).

The ghost is an expert on disappearing in plain sight, moving without making noises, and a swift killer.

THE MAGICAL SISTEM:

I am a fantasy lover; therefore, a clear and consistent magical system is part of a good fantasy series; no one likes non-sensical things happening just for the plot.

The cruel Prince has a fascinating and straightforward magical system in which:

The blood crown can only be worn by one of the Queens' Elfame descendants, and another descendant can only crown that person.

The succession line is not based on the order of birth.; the current queen or King chooses who will be her/his successor (out of her/his bloodline).

If the King or Queen is killed, and there are no more descendants in Elfames' bloodline, then the crown will be lost, and Fairy will have no clear ruler.

Natives from Fairy cannot lie, so whatever they say is either a trick of words to deceive or it is the truth.

Humans can bargain with Fairies without knowing it and are obligated to repay those debts.

Fairies can enchant humans to act and behave as fairies order them to.

There are amulets humans can wear to avoid being enchanted.

Fairies are weakened by iron.

Humans can cross to Fairyland and not get older, but those years will catch with them as soon as they return to the human ground.

MY THOUGHTS ABOUT THE BOOK:

This book was three stars for me. I enjoyed it, but it needed some substance, that extra "Je ne sais quoi?" that made it formidable and unforgettable. It might have something to do with the fact that I'm more used to Adult fantasies than Young adults (so take my comments with a grain of salt).

First of all, I loved the magic system; I loved its clarity and consistency throughout this book.

Second, I enjoyed how clever the Author was to remove the main inconvenience humans have (their vulnerability to being enchanted by fairies) almost immediately from our main character. Hence, her decisions and the lack of influence from others made sense.

Third I was thrilled when I saw the variety of creatures that compose our main characters lists cause it allows the reader to have an overall idea of the different species within Fairy. By doing this, the Author generated a vast world idea without overdoing it with world-building.

What I disliked most was:

The lack of gruesomeness to describe the slaughter that happened during the coronation ceremony.

The none sensical letter from seven years ago conveniently appeared on Prince Balekin's desk.

The easiness whit which Jude put the pieces of the puzzle together. Like she is so clever to do it but makes the most stupid decisions throughout the book.

How does a 17 years old human who doesn't understand the vast history of Fairy, with no war experience, end up outsmarting the Kingdom army and General; and getting the biggest bargain ever with the new King of Fairies?

The downfall of this book to me was that it wasn't believable enough. I'll repeat that I am an Adult fantasy fan, not a YA one. It makes more sense to me when I read about mature heroes and heroines, not teenagers defying the rulers and outsmarting them, especially when they do not have the experience to back up their decisions.

It seems that Jude was more "Lucky" than bright in this book, which killed the five-star vibe.

I guess a lot of her decisions made sense if you remember she was 17 years old, desperate and "Untrained" on war fares, but I'll enjoy it more if she was more mature when the events of the book came to happen.