Book Review: The Cruel Prince (The Folk of the Air #1) by Holly Black

Book: The Cruel Prince
Series: The Folk of the Air book 1
Author: Holly Black
Genres: YA, fantasy

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 years old 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. 

In doing so, she becomes embroiled in palace intrigues and deceptions, discovering her own capacity for bloodshed. But as civil war 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. - Quoted from Goodreads

My Rating: 4/5 STARS

My Review:
I enjoyed The Cruel Prince a lot.  Before reading I was interested in this book but the blurb made it sound like it was centred on a typical YA romance between a cold hearted boy and a girl who just can't seem to stay away and that the rest of the story was in the background and that made me feel a bit wary of it but I was pleasantly surprised that the political intrigue and twisted court life that is mentioned briefly in the blurb is what the book is mostly centred on instead, which is great.

I really enjoy reading books about the fae.  I find faeries so interesting to read about and I love to see how an author makes a unique spin on them.  I was really dragged into the story at the beginning with the opening scene of Jude's (the main character) parents being murdered and her being forced to go to faerie and the story continued to be interesting.  It was full of twists and turns and I loved how embroiled Jude became in all the political aspects of faerie.  I liked how she made her own choices and decisions.

I liked how complex all the characters were.  A lot of them were so fun to read about because they were very morally grey and unpredictable.  Jude was an alright character, I didn't really feel fully connected to her.  I found Madoc to be the most interesting character and was so intrigued by his relationship with Jude and her sisters.  I didn't really care for Jude's twin sister, Taryn.  I thought she was a very weak character and I didn't feel much of a bond between her and Jude which was a bit of a disappointment.  I didn't like Cardan either.  He's too much of a cliched tortured bad boy stereotype for me and he did a lot of bad things in this book that I don't think I can look past.  I did find the ending interesting and I'm excited to see where the story will go next.

Overall I enjoyed The Cruel Prince.  I liked how it centred on faerie politics and how twisted that became.  There were some typical YA cliches, mainly in the romantic aspects of the book, but apart from that I think it's a good read and the ending really makes me wonder what is in store for the next book. 

Book Review: Spellbook of the Lost and Found by Moïra Fowley-Doyle

Book: Spellbook of the Lost and Found
Author: Moïra Fowley-Doyle
Genres: YA, LGBT, Mystery, Magical Realism

One stormy Irish summer night, Olive and her best friend, Rose, begin to lose things. It starts with simple items like hairclips and jewelry, but soon it's clear that Rose has lost something much bigger, something she won't talk about, and Olive thinks her best friend is slipping away. 

Then seductive diary pages written by a girl named Laurel begin to appear all over town. And Olive meets three mysterious strangers: Ivy, Hazel, and her twin brother, Rowan, secretly squatting in an abandoned housing estate. The trio are wild and alluring, but they seem lost too—and like Rose, they're holding tight to painful secrets.

When they discover the spellbook, it changes everything. Damp, tattered and ancient, it's full of hand-inked charms to conjure back things that have been lost. And it just might be their chance to find what they each need to set everything back to rights.

Unless it's leading them toward things that were never meant to be found... ~ Quoted from Goodreads

My Rating: 5/5 STARS

My Review:
I didn't expect Spellbook of the Lost and Found to be as captivating to read as it was, I loved this book.  Spellbook of the Lost and Found is a hard book to describe without spoiling it.  It's told from three different points of view and it's centred on a mysterious spellbook that shows up suddenly.

The plot is very mysterious and really keeps you wondering and questioning throughout the book.  I liked the pace of the story, it starts off very simple but really builds up to become this complex entwined story.

I loved that the setting of this book is Ireland, which is where I live.  It made me feel so much more connected to the story and characters.

Since the book is told from three different points of view and each point of view introduced other characters, I thought I might get confused and have trouble differentiating between all the characters but I found it pretty easy to remember each one and I thought all the characters personalities really stood out.  

I loved the friendships in Spellbook of the Lost and Found, they felt real and I loved how friendship was one of the main themes of this book.

The writing of Spellbook of the Lost and Found was another thing I loved about it.  I really loved the poetic descriptiveness of it.  The writing has such a rich, magical quality to it that went really well with the overall story.  It's a writing style that leaves a lasting impression on you and makes you want to seek out more books by the same author.

Overall it's a beautiful book about losing and finding yourself, ever growing friendships and has a great plot that is so full of mystery that it makes you just want to keep reading and reading.  I thought Spellbook of the Lost and Found had great diverse characters and I would highly recommend reading it. 

January 2018 Reading Wrap Up

I can't believe January is over already! I'm very happy with my reading in January.  I read 7 books and I started the year off with reading a book that I'm sure will make it into my favourites list for this year.

Spellbook of the Lost and Found by Moïra Fowley-Doyle - 5/5 STARS

I loved this book! The writing, characters and story were all fantastic.  Spellbook of the Lost and Found is centred on a mysterious spellbook and how it affects the large cast of characters within this book.  I would really recommend reading this book and I'll be posting my full review of it here in the next few days.

Giant Days vol 2 by John Allison and Lissa Treiman - 3/5 STARS

I like the characters and the artwork of this series but I felt this volume wasn't as strong or exciting as the first volume.

Strange the Dreamer (Strange the Dreamer book 1) by Laini Taylor - 4/5 STARS

I liked this book and I liked how interesting and unique the story was.  The storytelling felt so rich and vivid. 

Dreamin' Sun vol 1 by Ichigo Takano - 4/5 STARS

I enjoyed this manga volume and I thought it was a nice, fun read.  

Dreamin' Sun vol 2 by Ichigo Takano - 3/5 STARS

I didn't enjoy this volume as much as the first because I felt most of the volume was about the main character pining after one of the guys in the series.  I expected there to be a bit more to the story than that.

The Loneliest Girl in the Universe by Lauren James - 2/5 STARS

The premise of this book was really interesting and the second half of the book was thrilling to read but during the book and even after finishing the book I found it hard to see the motivations behind everything that went on.  I felt there was no reason for most of what happened and therefore I didn't feel as connected to the book.

Fire Touched (Mercy Thompson book 9) by Patricia Briggs - 4/5 STARS

I haven't read a Mercy book in so long and it felt great to be sucked right back into the world.  I enjoyed this book and it had all the excitement and adventure a Mercy Thompson book usually has.

What books did you read in January?