Exciting Fantasy Story with Problematic Romances

Overall I think this is a really great audiobook: Holly Black did such an amazing job building the Faery world, that it was easy to get immersed. The plot was interesting, exciting, and full of twists. The narration was excellent. But the romance elements were problematic for me. I don't want to veer into spoiler territory, so I'll just say that the whole "boy is mean/abusive to girl, but only because he really likes her," is an outdated cliché, and that the young adult readers that this book is marketed towards deserve better.

7 people found this helpful

Decent book filler

This is a decent filler book, I didn't love it because it lacks what I love most (steamy/romance/magic). It is ultimately a love story with a twist but this book doesn't show any of it, there is no romance what so ever, I'll give it that there was one kiss but it wasnt legendary in any way, I loved the prince character, I understand the cruelty and where it comes from, I root for his sarcastic smile to be a shield for his feelings, and I definetly love a dark romance but while there is some good character development from the main protagonist, the love story seems a little forced or non existent. The magic doesn't get much attention, it is mentioned yes, but the most powerful magic shown is glamour... compulsion, there are other books that are better at that and more entertaining.

I didn't hate the book, but it wasnt memorable overall, as the title I gave it, I find it a good filler in between other great book finds.... The best characteristic it has, is the politics scheming.

3 people found this helpful

Not a fantastic story.

A bit childish to my taste. Maybe it was overrated, maybe I had too high expectations. Bad romance all over the place. The performance was good though ! She has a nice voice making it easy to listen to this audiobook.

1 person found this helpful

Enjoyable addictive listen

I’ve never heard of Holly Black before, but I picked this book up on a whim. At the beginning I really wasn’t sure what I was going to think as it starts off with a bang. But the world was described so well, the narration done so well, that it grew and grew on me. As the chapters wore on, the drama and action escalated, and I found myself needing to listen even when I wasn’t driving or doing something else. I just had to find out what happened.
It was compelling throughout, and I’m looking forward to the next installment.

2 people found this helpful

Overall a great story!

Really enjoyed this book and I’m glad that I’ve finally read it. I do wish there was a bit more world building but other than that it’s great! I love the enemies to lovers trope so it did not disappoint.

Hooked by page 2

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.

I was quite leery about this series when I first began. I don't particularly like stories about fairy but by page two I was hooked. I am a fan of Kim Harrison and Patricia Briggs and this book/series reminded me of their work. I was swept in the story of Seelie and Unseelie courts, all the unusual fae and the dark tales woven by Holly Black.

This story includes not only Jude, but also her sisters, Vivienne and Taryn. Vivienne is the typical rebellious half human, half fae older sister. Taryn is Jude's twin and they are both fully human. The story begins in the mortal world where the sisters and their mortal mother and step-father are killed by their mothers fey husband, Madoc after he finds out his "dead" wife is in fact alive. Madoc takes his revenge and kill his faithless wife and her new husband. Madoc is then honor bound to take the sisters back to fairy.

Jude has an absolutely horrible life in fairy. Being mortal and weak, when compared to the powerful fae, leads Jude to train harder to become strategically proficient and ruthless warrior with the goal of becoming a knight. Her twin sister, Taryn, goes in a different direction, her dream is to become a bride of the faerie court. As the only faerie child, Vivienne is the rebel. She views her father as a killer and is determined to do the opposite of what her father, Madoc, ask of her. Her dream is to use her time in faerie to make her father and stepmother's life a living hell until she can escape back to the mortal world.

Jude life does not get any better when she draws the attention of Prince Cardan who is the youngest son of the High King. Cardan is a guy you hate so much that you start to really like him. He and his morally repugnant friends make it their lives ambition to torture Taryn and Jude. There is a lot of school playground soapiness in the interactions between Team Cardan and Team Jude which is extremely childish but relatable especially if you were a victim of that kind of bullying.

Overall I loved the darkness of this story. I was pleasantly surprised at how the narrator, Caitlin Kelly, brought these characters to life. Caitlin did an amazing job with Cardan. It is never easy for a female narrator to bring a male voice to life but she succeeded in every way possible. Her work made the story come to life and I appreciated that.

Holly Black conjured a world of dark and beautiful fey and the humans that live among them. Her words are like a paint brush on canvas until the picture of a beautifully dark world comes to life. You will clearly understand how dangerous it is to be human living in a strange world where customs and fey abilities are in in stark contrast.

Overall, I highly recommend this book. Why? It is not a typical love story where a human girl falls in love with the handsome cruel prince. It is a complex story about family and the very real ups and downs of the blended family. It is a story about the need to fit in a world where fitting in doesn't come easy. It is a story about how far are you willing to go to fit in. I will also admit that there were some eye rolling in some area's of the book, but that didn't detract on this page turner.

good story

I really enjoy books read by this narrator. She has really great voicing skills!
Good story with interesting plot.

disappointing

I read such good reviews on this book and Im left disappointed. The world building seemed juvenile and unimaginative. I'm left completely uninterested in the male lead and a bit annoyed with his attitude and behaviour. It gets a bit more interesting at the end but not much. I've heard book 2 is better, here's hoping.

This was quite to story

The level of stress this gave me! But it was really good. Despite how mad it made me hahaha

Mediocre, but entertaining

I decided to give this book a try after learning that many readers of Sarah J. Maas (who I HIGHLY recommend) also enjoy this author. I think the story and writing are good, and if you like SJM then I agree that you'll probably like this book as well, but don't expect it to be nearly as good as SJM. Not in writing or in plot. Though the general themes are very similar.

The overall plot is quite good. Plenty of unexpected plot twists I think. The romantic relationships in the book are problematic and at first I really didn't like that. But, I realized they are is SUPPOSED to be problematic because of the inherent cruel nature of the world and people of Faerie. So it makes sense in that regard. Just don't read this expecting beautiful romantic love stories, or you will be sorely disappointed. The writing style is decent, but I find there a lot to be desired. The author skips over certain scenes that make minor plot details somewhat jumpy and lacking continuity at times. It's a bit annoying but not enough for me to give up on it.

The story does take a while to get sucked into and the mediocre writing makes it somewhat difficult to want to stick it out, but I'm glad I did and I like it enough to want to read the second book. The first books in SJM's ACOTAR and TOG series' were also fairly mediocre in my opinion as well, but they got SOOOO much better with each subsequent book. So maybe this author will be the same. *fingers crossed*