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The Cruel Prince

The Folk of the Air, Book 1

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The Cruel Prince

Written by: Holly Black
Narrated by: Caitlin Kelly
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About this listen

By number-one New York Times best-selling author Holly Black, the first book in a stunning new series about a mortal girl who finds herself caught in a web of royal faerie intrigue.

Of course I want to be like them. They're beautiful as blades forged in some divine fire. They will live forever.

And Cardan is even more beautiful than the rest. I hate him more than all the others. I hate him so much that sometimes when I look at him, I can hardly breathe.

Jude was seven years old when her parents were murdered and she and her two sisters were stolen away to live in the treacherous High Court of Faerie. Ten years later, Jude wants nothing more than to belong there, despite her mortality. But many of the fey despise humans. Especially Prince Cardan, the youngest and wickedest son of the High King.

To win a place at the Court, she must defy him - and face the consequences.

In doing so, she becomes embroiled in palace intrigues and deceptions, discovering her own capacity for bloodshed. But as civil war threatens to drown the Courts of Faerie in violence, Jude will need to risk her life in a dangerous alliance to save her sisters, and Faerie itself.

©2018 Holly Black (P)2018 Hachette Audio
Fantasy Fiction Romance Royalty Science Fiction & Fantasy Young Adult Paranormal
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What listeners say about The Cruel Prince

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  • Overall
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    4 out of 5 stars

Couldn't find the flow

The story went quickly but I didn't get drawn in like I have with others. Lots of plotting and intrigue. Don't think I'll continue with the series

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

This book is my new guilty pleasure!

Abuse ain't cute! however this book almost makes me believe it is. So I understand how this maybe controversial for some people. But if you like exploring complex emotions in a political world, where the chosen one trope is done amazingly. The main character has no business messing in Fey politics and it is because of this that this book is so amazing.

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2 people found this helpful

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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

great read

really good storytelling and honestly loved all of the characters and the attention to detail when describing the Faye was amazing

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Worth the read!

This is the first fantasy book I listened to and was concerned with the world building however this was not the case! The combination of writing and performance was terrific. No the story isn’t perfect, but there were many twists, turns, & loveable moments.
Holly Black merges our world with the fairy one resulting in treason, treachery, and overcoming discrimination.
The listening experience really made this book enjoyable, the second book cannot come sooner.
#Audible1

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wow

twists and turns and crazy stories. very entertaining and good. can't wait for the next book.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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thrilling and fun

The reader is pretty good, her man voices are even good. Story was addictive and a good paced thrill. Brutal court intrigue and beautiful settings and characters. Highly recommended

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Loved it!

The book was amazing from start to finish. I love how each character, including the narrator, were not these cookie cutter good or bad characters. Everyone was both good and bad, and I found that made the story so much more interesting. The story and plot was great, interesting,gripping and, easy to follow, and the narrator for this one was wonderful! I got through the whole thing quite quickly, it was hard to put this down! I was so sad for it to end, but I cannot wait till the next book in the series to release!

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4 people found this helpful

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The end was great.

I thought I was going to DNF this book when I was about 7h in, but I am happy I didn't.

the ending was super fun and though there were some predictable moments, and tropes that I really didn't like, it was solid. am I going to listen to this again? no. am I going to listen to the next one in the series? yes. yes I am.

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1 person found this helpful

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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Interesting characters

I really like the narration and the moral ambiguity of all the characters. It was refreshing to read about a deeply flawed and resilient female lead. She is kind of a steamroller which differentiates her from most other YA female leads.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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So good????

I like fantasy and I like enemies to lovers drama so i went in with low expectations expecting it to check the boxes and nothing more but it has such cool world building, I got friends into it and I loved seeing them getting heated, it has great charecters and this book got me started with methodically reading everything holly black ever wrote

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