This review and others can be found on my blog SleepySamReads.

I've never read anything by Holly Black. (*Gasp* I know!) I didn't really know what to expect going into this. I've seen it everywhere on Goodreads and Twitter, so I decided to give it a chance. And damn am I glad I did. I absolutely loved it! 

Jude has been one of the best characters I've read in a really long time. She's flawed and she knows it. She's one of those morally gray characters that always seem to be my favorite. It was interesting to see how Jude felt about mortals while being one, but growing up like the Folk do. I also found Jude and Madoc's relationship really fascinating. 

I really liked Vivi and I'm hoping we get to see more of her in The Wicked King. I liked that she's bi and we got to meet her mortal girlfriend. 

Spoiler

I felt like I was holding my breath throughout the entire book, just waiting for the other shoe to drop. I had this extreme feeling of foreboding that played out in a way I totally did not see coming. I knew Balekin was awful and I knew he was planning something, but I definitely didn't see so much murder going down. I also figured pretty early on that Dain wasn't as nice as he was playing, but I didn't expect him to be taken out so early in the story.

I honestly didn't trust Locke from the very beginning. Something about him just rubbed me the wrong way. I also didn't love Taryn, especially after everything she did. I understand that she wanted to be apart of Faerie just as much as Jude did, but having to betray her sister that way didn't seem necessary to me. 

It'll probably come as a surprise to absolutely no one that I ended up loving Cardan. I'm always a sucker for bad boy characters. The kiss from Jude did seem to come out of nowhere, but I enjoyed it and I'm excited to see how their relationship plays out in the next book. 

I absolutely loved The Cruel Prince and cannot wait to read The Wicked King. If anyone is willing to share their ARC let me know 😉