The Cruel Prince
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.
AWARDS
The Cruel Prince was a finalist for the Lodestar Award, took second place in the Locus Awards, and won the Inky Award in 2019. It was nominated for a Goodreads Choice Award, won a New England Independent Booksellers Association Award, and a Phantastik Preis Award for SF/F works published in Germany. The Cruel Prince was a Junior Library Guild selection and has received starred reviews in Publishers Weekly, Booklist, and the School Library Journal.
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Praise
Black is back with another dark tale of Faerie, this one set in Faerie and launching a new trilogy…
This is a heady blend of Faerie lore, high fantasy, and high school drama, dripping with description that brings the dangerous but tempting world of Faerie to life.
Black is building a complex mythology; now is a great time to tune in.
—Kirkus Review
Black is a master at world-building, conveying integral details without that information ever seeming tedious or encyclopedic, whether you’re well versed in faerie or a newcomer to the genre….the experience of reading a novel like this is something like being surrounded by magic.
—New York Times Book Review
“Lush, dangerous, a dark jewel of a book. Black’s world is intoxicating, imbued with a relentless sense of peril that kept me riveted through every chapter of Jude’s journey. And Jude! She is a heroine to love–brave but pragmatic, utterly human. This delicious story will seduce you and leave you desperate for just one more page.”
—Leigh Bardugo, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Six of Crows and Crooked Kingdom
[S]pellbinding….Breathtaking set pieces, fully developed supporting characters, and a beguiling, tough-as-nails heroine enhance an intricate, intelligent plot that crescendos to a jaw-dropping third-act twist.
—Publishers Weekly, starred review
Another fantastic, deeply engaging, and all-consuming work from Black that belongs on all YA shelves.
—School Library Journal, starred review
Jude, who struggles with a world she both loves and hates and would rather be powerful and safe than good, is a compelling narrator. Whatever a reader is looking for–heart-in-throat action, deadly romance, double-crossing, moral complexity–this is one heck of a ride.
—Booklist, starred review