Holly Black’s “The Cruel Prince” is very good.

Okay, I had low expectations about this book (because the less you expect, the more you can get) and I did not expect that I would like the book very much.

In the world of the book, next to the human world, there is a fairy world hidden by fog. All sorts of magical creatures live in it. Some of them differ from people only in their ears, and some only remotely (or even not at all similar).

I liked the world of this book. He is so magical, like in fairy tales, but at the same time so cruel (magic that allows you to control people's minds scares me in general). The author explains how that magic, or a magic item works very well.

In the story, Jude and her two sisters (one of whom is a fairy) live in a fairy world. The heroine wants to become a knight and performs in a tournament in front of the royals so that they accept her as a knight. One of them, Dain (the prince who is about to become king) secretly makes her his spy (because she knows how to lie, and fairies can't do that) and now she has to keep an eye on his brother Balekin, because it seems to him that he is planning to kill him.

The book is divided into two parts: "Book 1" and "Book 2". And the plot focuses on Jude's life. About her conflicts with Cardan and his friends, about the relationship between her sisters and foster parents, and about her work as a spy. And it's done well. I couldn't tear myself away from the book because I was wondering what would happen next. The palace intrigues are done very well, and Chekhov's guns are firing.

About the characters. I like that most of them are not absolutely positive or negative characters. First, you root for this character, and then, learning something about him, you are ready to kill him, to put it mildly (It's about you Locke) or vice versa.

Jude is smart, strong, stubborn, but at the same time she is impulsive, which is why she can commit an act after which she will regret having done it.

Cardan (cruel prince) begins to play the main role only in "Book 2", but even so, he is not an interesting character. He's violent, but it's too much for him to kill someone.

My favorite character is Madoc, Jude's stepfather. On the one hand, he is a cruel fairy who is known for the fact that war is the best entertainment for him, his military clothes have turned red, if not black with blood. Damn, the book starts with him killing Jude and Taryn's parents. But it is also clear that he is capable of love. He loves his daughters and son sincerely. He took care of them, taught them. But he is inherently cruel, no matter how much he loves someone.

The author's writing style is good. It was easy to read and I like that when writing a book on behalf of Jude, the author does not often use the pronoun "I". Because of this, the book is more pleasant to read (at least for me it was). The descriptions are detailed and beautiful, especially the dresses.

As a result, I liked the book. I can describe it as: "A fairy tale for teenagers," because that's how it feels, a fairy tale. It has a good plot, characters, and writing style. This was the first book where I was interested in reading descriptions of dresses. I will read the sequels, because I wonder how the author will reveal the Cardan.