The Cruel Prince cover art

The Cruel Prince

The Folk of the Air, Book 1

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The Cruel Prince

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

The start of a thrilling new fantasy series from best-selling author Holly Black about a mortal girl who finds herself caught in a dangerous 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.

One terrible morning, Jude and her sisters see their parents murdered in front of them. The terrifying assassin abducts all three girls to the world of Faerie, where Jude is installed in the royal court but mocked and tormented by the Faerie royalty for being mortal. As Jude grows older, she realises that she will need to take part in the dangerous deceptions of the fey to ever truly belong. But the stairway to power is fraught with shadows and betrayal. And looming over all is the infuriating, arrogant and charismatic Prince Cardan.

Dramatic and thrilling fantasy blends seamlessly with enthralling storytelling to create a fully realised and seductive world, brim-full of magic and romance.

©2018 Holly Black (P)2018 Bolinda Publishing Pty Ltd
Epic Fantasy Fantasy Fiction Royalty Science Fiction & Fantasy Young Adult

What listeners say about The Cruel Prince

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good

was good but the music annoyed me during the prologue and epilog and at the beginning of book 2

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6 people found this helpful

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love it

absolutely loved it can't wait for the second one to come out. Def's team Jude

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  • Overall
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I loved it

The world, the story. It's all so immersive. The narrative is amazing too. she does an amazing job at the inside of Jude's head. Although there were plot points I picked out, I still thoroughly enjoyed this book.

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Going onto book 2

I love a story with a strong female lead. This one did feel a little slow & maybe little teen but I do like the story and will definitely be going onto book 2.

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PERFECTION

I LOVE this story so much and the narration was absolute BLISS! Highly recommend to everyone who loves stabby FMCs and romantic tension with plotting.

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YA novel does politics

it starts a little slow, Saw the ending coming. It was unique in the story. Not sure if it captured me enough to read the rest of the series. The character's perspective was very young, hard to believe she pulled everything off. If I was a bit younger maybe.

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I like the relationship between Jude and her family

It started real slow but in the end it got there, i liked it i will definitely read the other books.

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Wow, that was awesome 🙌

I didn’t expect this story to be so gripping. I also didn’t expect to be finishing it at 3 am the very next morning after I started listening to it! Whoops! 😅

The MC was not a conventional heroin, so that was refreshing. And the were a lovely amount of plot twists as the story progressed.
Great intrigue. And one part had me nearly shedding a tear.
The narrator was easy to listen to, though the characters voices weren’t very varied.

All in all, I really enjoined this story, even though there was no smut. Great job Miss Author.

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***Exceptional***

A fascinating take on faeries and it's court, this a point if view of a mortal girl who is forced to grew up in faery kingdom and it's politics. The world and character building is brilliant and as for the narrative is excellent.

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Fae, magic, and...a surprising lack of teenage drama

For a story about teenagers, albeit in a magical land, there was a refreshing lack of typical teenage drama. Everything felt edged with danger, and I enjoyed how thorough and entertaining Holly Black’s fae lore was. I loved this book and anyone who enjoys fantasy likely will too! It has good pacing and interesting characters, and approaches an old mythos in a new way.

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