Jude was seven years old when her older sister’s father murdered her parents and took her away to the High Courts of Faerie. While in those High Courts, she and her twin sister are treated as lesser citizens because they are human. They are constantly in fear of having their minds controlled by the Fae, and they know that if they ever lose their necklaces, they could be forced to do literally anything. Jude decides that she is not going to simply settle for this, and takes fate into her own hands. She ends up in the middle of a battle that could destroy Faerie, and what is left of her family.
I had heard good things about this book before I read it, and I’ll admit, I had my hopes up pretty high. The more I read this story, the more disappointed I became.
The beginning was addictive. I really became invested in Jude’s relationship with her stepfather, and how he would treat his two non-biological children. I was expecting for him to be abusive, but for the most part, he was pretty passive in general. The beginning skims over a few events in Jude’s childhood, from the birth of her younger brother to her losing the tip of her finger to a Fae man who hated humans. I was thinking…okay! This is getting interesting.
Then the other members of the Fae Jude’s age really join the story. Particularly, Cardan, the “Cruel Prince”. I spent the whole book looking like “Ok when is Cardan going to save her, when is he going to do something “cruel” that really saves her” and sure enough that happened. Not as often as I thought it would, but it happened once or twice. I was hoping to see their romance build up, but they seemed to just hate each other. It wasn’t even hate to love, it was just hate to hate to…I don’t even know. I just could not get behind their romance at all. Then, onto the rest of the story.
I felt that the story was personally confusing. Then the whole end plot started, and I got even more lost. Usually, I only get lost when I read books too fast, but I even took my time with this one AND had a physical copy. Nothing was working. I didn’t feel that much connection to Jude, even as she was acting as a spy. I also couldn’t get behind the whole thing of the Fae being unable to lie. I feel like if they can’t lie, why wasn’t half of this stuff avoided?
Overall, this wasn’t the worst fantasy book I have ever read, but the storyline was simply not appealing to me. I probably won’t continue with this series, but I do still want to read the Coldest Girl in Coldtown. I won’t give up on Holly Black entirely!
Overall Rating: 2.5/5
It’s a shame you didn’t like this one. Great review though!
Thank you! I tried to like it, I really did.
I quickly got this book from my library when the hype was so strong with it, but I wasn’t feeling it at all. I have seen so many glowing reviews of it that I kept asking myself, did i go wrong??? Sorry that it went terribly at the end, but I’m glad I didn’t continue with it since it sounded like a bit of a mess there. Wonderful review!
I felt the same way at first, but I had to go with my gut by the end and just trust that something about the story was wrong. I am glad to see someone else who was also iffy about it! Thank you!