Author: Holly Black
Series: The Folk of the Air (Book 1)
Paperback: 370 pages
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers; 1st edition (January 2nd 2018)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0316310271
ISBN-13: 9780316310277
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 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.
As Jude becomes more deeply embroiled in palace intrigues and deceptions, she discovers her own capacity for trickery and bloodshed. But as betrayal 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.
What I thought: To be honest, I have a love / hate relationship with this book. I like Jude and I like her journey, but I can’t stand Cardan. I never understood the attraction is such huge assholes. There’s hardly a sliver of redemption in him and the second book didn’t make me think much different. Yet Holly has made these characters so three dimensional and the story so intriguing that of course I have to read the next one. While I have my dislike for Cardan, I applaud Holly’s writing for making him the type of character that I would feel such a strong emotion towards, even if it is dislike.
The Quote: Most of all, I hate you because I think of you often. It’s disgusting and I can’t stop.
Why I chose it: Unpopular opinion: I don’t like Cardan. I really don’t. I don’t get the appeal. I like me a good guy with a hint of naughtiness. I know you’re supposed to feel sympathy for him, blah blah blah, but it’s comments like these that I just can’t get on board with.
About the Author:
Holly Black is the author of bestselling contemporary fantasy books for kids and teens. Some of her titles include The Spiderwick Chronicles (with Tony DiTerlizzi), The Modern Faerie Tale series, the Curse Workers series, Doll Bones, The Coldest Girl in Coldtown, the Magisterium series (with Cassandra Clare), The Darkest Part of the Forest, and her new series which begins with The Cruel Prince in January 2018.
She has been a finalist for an Eisner Award, and the recipient of the Andre Norton Award, the Mythopoeic Award and a Newbery Honor. She currently lives in New England with her husband and son in a house with a secret door.
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