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.
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 get away with, and then there's sneaking into the domain of a bloodthirsty badass who literally derives his powers from doing laundry with the blood of slain enemies to murder his beloved daughter.
I felt this confrontation was set up for the single line of "i am what you brought me up to be, father" or however it was worded, but at the same time they didn't do anything more than punch each other around :')
Yeah. In fairness, "punch stuff" seems to legitimately be both Madoc's and Jude's MO (I never stopped finding the idea of her being good at spycraft kind of laughable, but on the other hand, it's not like anyone else is particularly subtle... and Dain did not choose her for her cleverness, just for her ability to lie. But it was an awfully reductive and boring "climax" to the one relationship I actually found interesting and somewhat developed in this book, so it pissed me off more than almost anything else.
(I totally LOL'd at "literally anything besides poisoned punching" though XD)
1 year was clearly there to last through dubcon co-ruling only. ARBITRARY.
I mean, "a year and a day" is highly traditional and all! And it's clear what it's there for from a kink perspective. But I still can't wrap my head around why Jude would've thought it was a good idea unless she doesn't actually care about Oak coming into his own as a ruler, plans to Cleverly Poison Cardan before the year runs out, and puppet-king regent for her little brother instead...
Also, I cannot figure out Oak's mental age: he acts like a nonsensical toddler throughout, but then "seven years would suffice" and he speaks full, loaded sentences in the closing scene?
I think this is going with the idea that faeries mature at the same rate as humans (or only a little bit slower? IDK...) He's 7 at the end of the book, right? Stuff they're buying him suggests a kid around kindergarten age to me, which would be consistent with 4-year-old Oak not getting why making Jude hit herself was wrong -- maybe halve his age? But then, yeah... Jude starts out thinking of giving him 10 years, which would make him 17 at the time he takes the throne, but then she scales back to 7 years... Which, even if he matured at the mortal rate, a 14-year-old king sounds like NOT a recipe for good things. Possibly further evidence Jude is only after power for herself... or that this book makes no sense, alas.
saying he tried to save him once (in numbers: 1 time) with his own hot bod.
*snerk* True, that was a thing that happened XP
Learn safewords, idk, join a local клуб по интересам etc.
LOL, yes, these youngsters clearly need some guidance XP
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