Children born of fairy stock (The Cruel Prince by Holly Black sync read post)
ikel89 and hopefully cyanshadow, and anyone else who wishes to join us, are embarking on a sync read of Holly Black's The Cruel Prince . Wicked fairies and larcenous teens (probably) and complicated family relationships (almost certainly) galore!
Come join, or if you've already read it, comment along as we progress through the book.
Come join, or if you've already read it, comment along as we progress through the book.
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Why not kill Balekin? Are they keeping him in reserve in case Cardan refuses to crown Oak?
No reason to keep him alive,unless they are now suddenly allergic to regicide. But I predict it's for Balekin seducing his abused brother into helping him out in the sequels by bombastically saying he tried to save him once (in numbers: 1 time) with his own hot bod.
- Jude/Cardan continues to be unusually fucked up in ever new dimensions -- "I am horrified by my own impulse to bend my knee to him, my own desire to let him touch my head with a ringed hand."
They seriously need that trip to the human world, and access to literature & supplies on dubcon. Learn safewords, idk, join a local клуб по интересам etc.
(Sarcasm aside, I don't mind their power balance being fucked up. I do, however, dislike the instant woobiefication of Cardigan, even though he is more likable when weak. Spinning Silver did the depraved princes so much better, and the father-daughter thing too, and a number of other things *long sigh*)
Random quibble: How would faerie- ( ... )
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There were a number of "plot twists" that surprised me in a "...but that's dumb" sort of way (or else, "...but what's the point then?", in the case of Locke) -- I think probably because I was reading almost until the end while giving the book the greatest possible benefit of the doubt. The only one that genuinely surprised me and that I thought was worth it was Sophie the glamoured mortal girl killing herself, because that one actually had some thematic resonance. (Did you see that one coming, btw?)
Oh btw, I thought "whelp I didn't realize Valentin, who always wanted to murder you and has a track record for gratuitous violence, was capable of murder" as a particularly stupid way to woobiefy Prince Cardin.LOL! Yeah, although I was also surprised that Valerian was dumb enough to piss off a redcap / general who's got an in with the next king by going to this extent. I mean, not super surprised, because everyone acts dumb, but there's slights one can ( ... )
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I felt like a lot of the instant-ness was Jude's obliviousness / punktik about him early on, BUT I would have still appreciated some balance because Cardan is still not a great person, even if everyone else around him is even worse. I think this is one place where the POV is really limiting, because Jude is clearly unable to be objective about him in any way, and we don't see him through anyone else's eyes.
Spinning Silver did the depraved princes so much better, and the father-daughter thing too, and a number of other things
Oooh! I was really impressed by the depraved prince in Uprooted, so I'm definitely eager to see another take on that from Novik. And father-daughter things. And it seems like I should move on to some fantasy, because Murderbot 3 is not bringing me any particular joy, and I think that might mean I'm burnt out on sci-fi after Hugo homework.
but there is definitely no rhyme or reason to what sentences Jude ( ... )
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I actually didn't have time to ponder this one, I was too busy going wtf at her putting her SLEUTHING and STEALTHING ABOUT in jeopardy by just stopping mid-mission to save a character that didn't even have a name for 3/4 of the book. Not like it was stupider than the rest of things she does on impulse, but I honestly missed the part where I would be surprised or not by eyerolling at this plot tangent. In retrospect, some substitution and consent leitmotifs were sure echoed, but like. Does it even matter in the context of teh rest of the book.
who literally derives his powers from doing laundry with the blood of slain enemies to murder his beloved daughterMadoc's laundry list :DDD Also, did he really derive power from this dyejob or he did it for aesthetics as well ( ... )
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That was definitely my initial reaction. And I do completely agree that it doesn't matter in the context of the book -- which I feel is kind of the book's problem and not that interlude's. But just as a twist, it was the only twist I actually liked, because I felt like it did jive with a theme the book was setting up in the beginning... and kind of lost track of around the 75% mark.
Also, did he really derive power from this dyejob or he did it for aesthetics as well?
In the beginning it said he needed the blood-laundry like mermaids need the salt spray -- so it sounds like he derives nourishment from it if not powers. But something more fundamental than aesthetics anyway.
Read the Silver and liveblog me everythiiiiing <3 <3 <3
I will for sure liveblog it when I do read it!
I kept thinking also that this book is sorely missing at least one ( ... )
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Yeah, I think I forgot to remark on that, but thought it was a nice touch.
I do agree that it dissolves into the backdrop of questionable/pointless narrative choices, and I doubt I would've remembered about it either if I wasn't doing a liveblog of the book. As it was, when I reread the comments I'd been making, I recollected it with a bit of surprise.
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