The Cruel Prince

Black, Holly.  The Cruel Prince.  2018.  Little, Brown Books for Young Readers.

Jude is an ordinary girl growing up in suburbia with her parents and sisters when her world is unexpectedly turned upside down.

A mysterious stranger appears at her parents door one day.  He confronts her mother, and slaughters both of her parents before she has a chance to scream.  He explains that he is from the Faerie Kingdom, and is one of the folk.  Their mother had been his wife, and their oldest sister was his child.  He then takes all three of the children back to Faerie to raise as his own. It turns out that her new father is the General to the High King.

Jude is a mortal who finds herself swept into the strange world of Faerie, with all of the political intrigue and anger that accompany her when The Folk are forced to treat Jude and her sister as equals.



The intrigue deepens when the High King of Faerie is to step down and appoint one of his children as the next High King.  As Jude attempts to remain alive when it seems all about her are trying to kill her, she finds herself swept into the intrigue of the high court.  It turns out that not all is as it seems, and that not everything is as clear cut and straight forward as she thought.  There are plots within plots within plots.



Can Jude survive the transition?  Will she continue to have a place in court?  Who is the mysterious suitor that will be asking for her sister's hand in marriage?  What part does her little brother Oak have to play in this drama?



Plots within plots within plots will keep you on the edge of your seat until the very last twisty, turny end of the book.


Find this book in a library near you: https://www.worldcat.org/title/cruel-prince/oclc/1039680704&referer=brief_results