Hello everyone,
Thank you for your participation at our Book Club meeting held at the end of May. I think that we all had mixed reactions to The Cruel Prince but since none of us had finished reading it at the time, we could not pass a final judgement. Since our discussion, I have finished reading it and I have to admit that I did enjoy it more than I expected, especially from pages 238 onwards. It certainly had an action-packed opening chapter and I found the final chapters filled with intrigue, especially with Jude who kept me guessing as to what decisions she was going to make. I’m still not exactly sure who the ‘cruel prince’ was? As we discussed, there were a few contenders for this title (though most likely it was Cardan (?), given his role as a main character). I think that I will need to continue with The Wicked King to find out what happens next in this fey/mortal story.
The Cruel Prince by Holly Black- The Forgotten Book by Mechthild Glaser
- Cybele’s Secret by Juliet Marillier
You might be interested in reading these reviews about The Cruel Prince from CommonSense Media. I think this statement that The Cruel Prince is a “tricky fantasy [that] will keep readers guessing until the end” is quite true.
If you would like to try another fantasy fairy story after The Cruel Prince, you might like to read Julie Kagawa’s Iron Fey series. The first book in this series is The Iron King.
If you are interested in reading about fairies throughout history you might like to read these articles:
- Fairy Folklore (Britannica)
- Away with the fairies by Abigail Sparkes (History Today)
The other books we discussed included:
- Monster Blood Tattoo by D.M. Cornish (recommended by Rachel)
- Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor (highly recommended by Mrs Hanratty & Mrs Sylaprany)
- The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss (recommended by Ashley)
- King of Scars by Leigh Bardugo (recommended by Emma)
- Amulet series (recommended by Nitika)
- City of Bones (recommended by Nitika)
- Divergent series (to be read by Nitika)
- Hush, Hush series (recommended by Anjana)
As discussed, for our next book meeting, we will be reading books by Australian authors including:
- Lenny’s Book of Everything by Karen Foxlee
- Catching Teller Crow by Ambelin and Ezekial Kwaymullina
- Promise me happy by Robert Newton
- Jasper Jones by Craig Silvey
Looking forward to our next meeting,
Mrs Sylaprany, Mrs Hanratty & Mrs Ryan
References
Sparkes, A. (2018). Away with the Fairies. History Today, 68(12), 11–13. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=sso&db=khh&AN=132888131&site=hrc-live
The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. (2019). Fairy. Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved from https://www.britannica.com/art/fairy
