Marine
What a disappointment.
Benedict was the biggest one of all. In the series he's this artsy, queer, romantic figure of the family, someone that I really was eager to read more about and yet in his own book I've found nothing of the sort. He's portrayed as someone who has an instant crush, and from since then all kind of revolve around this mysterious girl. If it was only that, it would be ok, but this crush made a jerk out of him? I won't spoil anything but he wasn't a good character in this book and I'm sad about it.
And Sophie... Well, at the end we don't know much about Sophie except the fact that she had a difficult life. Nothing about what drives her in life, her personality... That makes only but a very bland character. At the end she was just the trope of the victim who gets to be saved by the love of a wealthy man. I wish that I could sympathize more with her but she wasn't real enough for me to do that.
And finally, the both of them together felt flat as well. Like, I couldn't even say what brought them together. I struggle a bit with those instant crush tropes because sometimes they seem way too easy, like... It can't get out of nowhere. Instant crush doesn't mean that nothing can explain what drive the characters together, you need at least a basis of connection to make it genuine and believable.
Holy heck. What did I just read?
Victoria Schwab really has her ways to get us hooked in her stories. I'm not a huge fan of superhero stories, I like them but they're not my favorite, and the thing is I didn't even know it was a story about superheroes so I don't even know if I would've picked this one right now if I knew. But damn, I don't regret it.
“Plenty of humans were monstrous, and plenty of monsters knew how to play at being human.”
Wow. That was one hell of a ride in one single book. I wanted a book with a massive story so I could go out of my reading slump and what better than an ode to stories within stories within stories... I never read such a vibrant love letter to the wondrous complexity and beautiful act of reading books. Thank you for this reminder.
Update: after a few days, I think my overall feeling towards this book is closer to 4 than 5 stars. There's so many things that I love in this book and it's so beautifully written but I think I was too lost sometimes for it to be a perfect read. At first, I blamed my ADHD mind but comparing to my other reads it truly isn't the matter as much as I thought. You gotta be really conscious about how abstract this book can be and how it might be at the same time a good and a bad thing.
FIRST OF ALL LET ME SCREAM BECAUSE I STARTED THIS BOOK WITHOUT GIANT EXPECTATIONS YET HERE I AM, UGLY CRYING IN MY ROOM WITH NO DECENT SOUL ANYMORE hides in pillows
it's been a while since I haven't felt such a lack when I ended a book. Not a lack of something into the book, a lack of more of it. That wasn't enough. I need more. That was just too good.
yes, The Cruel Prince is the kind of book where the story is so captivating that you can't get enough of it, and you irredeemably find yourself in the biggest book hangover ever.
often enough it occurs that an overhyped book is actually disappointingly slow to start, and you may ask yourself at a random moment if the hype around it was really worth it. Sometimes it is, finally, because the last half of it catches up (almost) wholly, sometimes it doesn't at all.
here, we're gripped to the plot from the beginning to the end.
Holly Black has her own terribly efficient way to weave webs into her story so she can be the only one to know how to unravel it, especially when if comes to court connections and politics, and it's bloody billiant. I feel like I've just read my favourite book of the year only twenty days onto it, which is a premiere, even if I'm known to be an easy lover. It's just that I have those very special feels that I recognize easily. They usually comes when I read a very, very good book and could be explained by how invested i am in a story.
the characters are great in all their complexity, they all bring something special to the plot. Jude is the anti-heroine by excellence. Ruthless, ambitious, rough and attracted by power, she is the antithesis of the girl seeking to be good from every angle (Taeryn, her twin sister, is more likely to be). Jude is unapologetic, and I love her for that. I don't want to say a lot about Cardan, but his character development is the best out of the whole book.
i obviously ship Jude and Cardan so much, even if the epilogue broke my heart. Why. Why why why..
i've never been especially attached to the world of Faes, even when I read Sarah J. Maas's books. The best advice I can give you if you intend to start this book (if you don't, what you doin?!!!) is not to refer too much to these series, because that's brought up very differently.
anyway, The Cruel Prince is a book you'll remember for sure. This trilogy debuts is a beautiful stone spotted in the world of YA fantasy, and i can't wait to meet the two final pillars. 2019 never seemed so far right now.
