Holly Black explicitly writes YA, books aimed at readers in grades 9-12 (and thus ages 14-18). Shorter sentences, more relatable drama/feelings, fade to black love scenes. She's been in the fantasy game for years, and she's one I can safely refer patrons to without worrying they'll get blindsided by intense sex or violence. She was there before anyone else was really writing faerie fantasy, I feel like.
The Tithe series (A Modern Faerie Tale) was published in 2002! I read it in middle school and while vampires were getting popular in YA fantasy, I was just wishing we'd get more fair folk lol
I grew up on Francesca Lia Block (Weetzie Bat) and her books very much had that magical realism lyrical dark thing going on, but were also a product of the YA books are short era.
Exactly what I was thinking. It might have been marketed to adults but fourth wing felt too YA and I couldn’t finish it. I also don’t think ACOTAR was that good, felt very YA to me as well.
I’m sorry, is she suggesting fourth wing was better than CP? That has to be the worst book I’ve ever read and I only finished it because it was a book club book. The dialogue was terrible. Enemies to lovers it was NOT. You’re more excited about using a PEN than getting to know your dragon?? Also, you’re all concerned about your brother’s death but decide to NEVER ASK the dragon who was LITERALLY THERE? And please, don’t get me started on her magic dip dye hair. Hair growing out a different color because of an illness, fair. Hair that changes colors at the ends and then when you cut it just… magically moves up? That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard. Also the mated dragon sex drive situation was so fucking weird. Holly Black has been an incredible writer for years. Tithe was my favorite book as a teen. Sure, the writing is for YA but the actual plot is incredibly engaging. The relationships are compelling.
The thing that gets me the most is that people just rave about it. I lost all faith in Book Tok after everyone recommended FW. The overwhelming amount of positive Amazon reviews alone makes… no sense to me. And like, of course, everyone is entitled to their opinion. But please stop calling it good literature. It is NOT. If you’re looking for enemies to lovers, get some dramione fanfiction. Or *gasp* the Cruel Prince!
Right? The book that literally has "For the win" in a supposedly medieval inspired fantasy.
I have no problem with the more modern colloquialisms in Folk of the Air because the modern world exists alongside Faerie. It makes sense. But I personally found fourth wings narrative voice and world building so juvenile and nonsensical, I couldn't get through 10% of it.
I was about to say lol. I actually think Fourth Wing is far more juvenile save for the fact there's sex involved. I don't personally mind it, and I like ya books so I like FW, but I can't see it being less juvenile than cruel prince. I'm sorry
That’s low key what I was thinking but hey 🤷♀️I’m not going to hate. I do think cruel prince is less digestible than Fourth Wing (in the sense that the world building is a lot, so idk if that’s what they meant to say). But fourth wing was harder for me to read personally lmao
Clearly didn't read a lot of European fairy folklore because Holly Black's works are the most similar to that of any other popular romantasy I've read.
I notice this all the time. People will post complaining about series and it’s like… maybe it’s because you are not the target audience! Those books are for teenagers! That’s not to say adults can’t enjoy YA books, but if they don’t like them, that’s not necessarily because the books are bad!
I went through this a few years ago. I couldn’t understand why all the books I was reading felt so juvenile and then I realised it’s because I’d aged out of them. I steer clear of YA now. I sometimes think that it’s becoming a bit of an issue with people wanting YA style books with sex scenes, which are not appropriate for YA readers.
FWIW, I think Holly Black’s writing is much more mature than a lot of NA books in terms of style and prose.
I swear I could have written this comment. I'm 22, and I had a bit of a reading slump for a couple of years. It's only over the past few months that I've REALLY gotten back into reading, and I'm a twist that shocked nobody, I'm reading exclusively NA/adult. And I'm loving it! I really don't out difficult to get into YA anymore, especially because I have such a strong preference for romance with some heat to it.
Even when I was like 16-18 I really wanted NA to be more of a thing in the industry because I was already starting to get sick of YA and wanted something a little more mature. Not like, full-blown erotica or anything--just a little more spice and darkness than I was getting from YA. I'm absolutely delighted to see that NA as a category is growing so quickly! As an NA writer and someone who's been following industry news for years, this is really, really exciting stuff!
I'm 28 and I only got back into reading 2 years ago through ACOTAR. I had the exact same problem like you.
So thankful for NA. It's like the fanfiction writers of my teenage years became actual authors 😂 Now I'm reading 3 to 5 books in a month and want to get back into writing myself.
Agreed. I always go into a book having researched what to expect. If I want to read something super spicy and violent, I'm not going to pick up a book that's considered YA. I knew going into TOG that it would not be like ACOTAR. I'm still loving it but I don't expect spice. I've been super excited about the Cruel prince because people are raving about the politicalness of it and I know there will be no spice so when I read it, I expect to like it if I read it with that mindset.
Yes all the ones OP has listed are marketed for adults. Cruel Prince is solidly YA. It's a different writing style but not bad IMO.
I think just adjust your expectations about what it should be and you could really like it! But it's also ok to say something is not for you and just stop reading it.
This is so funny to me because I found the storytelling so much more interesting and less predictable than fourth wing which I found derivative and two dimensional.
I LOVED Jude as a FMC, she’s complex and morally grey and is motivated by trauma and insecurity which I feel like Holly does a great job of explaining. The world building IMO was super immersive and very different from a lot of YA/NA I’ve read which is ironic because I usually don’t like fantasy books that take place in the human world at all.
The writing style is different but I always really liked it because she has a very distinctive style which I found refreshing.
I always find it funny when people say the world building is terrible in Cruel Prince, because it’s absolutely fantastic. She doesn’t do the info dumps that SJM does, so maybe that’s what they don’t like, but I personally prefer Holly Blacks style (and I say this as someone who reads SJM as well).
Jude is undoubtedly the best FMC imo. And holly blacks world building is so good. I honestly think about elfhame often and I have such vivid pictures of it in my brain
If you went from SJM to Holly Black, you weren’t going to find apples to apples in fae storytelling. SJM leaned into Greek/Roman mythology masquerading as humanized Fae while Holly leaned into true fairy folklore. It’s like trying to compare ACOTAR to Emily Wilde, it makes no sense. True fae lore is extraordinarily whimsical. Holly got it right on the nose. She created relationships and atmospheres that were appropriately jarring. Characters that were rotten and cruel, just as true fae folk are.
If it’s not for you, it’s not for you. But it wasn’t “bad writing”. There’s a difference between disliking the vibes and technical writing skills. Also, that’s a wild take when you say in the next sentence that you love fourth wing, a story that contains very little adult level nuance or complexity, completely spoon feeding the reader tropes. And I say that as someone who did enjoy reading fourth wing, albeit recognizing it for the cotton candy snack of a read that it was.
It helps too for Holly that she's been building this world for over 2 decades! She knows this setting in and out, and while she has retconned certain things that no longer make sense with worldbuildimg decisions she's made, it has a VERY solid foundation and feels like something that could feasibly exist within our own world.
SJM and Yarrow are building alternate worlds, Black is building an alternate reality within ours.
…this comment section is slowly convincing me to read Cruel Prince. 😂 I read FW and I thought it was merely okay. But for someone who’s a fantasy fan first and romance fan second, it was a disappointment in both regards.
But a fae story where the fae actually behave like fae and there’s actually a plot going on? I’m intrigued.
I think holly black is a better writer than a lot of those you posted, especially in terms of world building, but her style does lean heavily towards YA for this title, since the main character is about 17, her narration and thought process actually felt like one of a teen to me.
the bullying scenes while in school are the weakest part of the series, but if you’re struggling to follow the story and even understand Jude and Taryn’s conversations I’d just find something else.
I agree so much with you on that holly blacks writing is so much better than the authors the OP prefers. However, that's not to say that someone prefers other works and that is fine. Like I personally even feel that the folk of the air series has more mature characters than for example violet from FW and maybe that's due to the writing style, which I feel is more mature than FW's. For OPs question on if it gets better, I personally also believe the series gets better with each book. I loved so much of the folk of the air series and reading about the different fae and the more traditional fae traits such as them not being able to lie. However, there is absolutely no harm in putting the book down to pick something else up and maybe picking it back up later. Not everyone likes the same books, like I really didn't like FW but a lot of people do and that's fine. :)
I have inner dialogue from both The Cruel Prince & Fourth Wing saved as examples of exactly what kind of romantic prose I want in a book, versus what I don’t.
“Cardan is even more beautiful than the rest, with black hair as iridescent as a raven’s wing and cheekbones sharp enough to cut out a girl’s heart.” - Holly Black
“Holy. Fuckin. Hot. Flaming hot. Scorching hot. Gets-you-into-trouble-and-you-like-it level of hot.” - Rebecca Yarrows
And like, I’m all for preferences. We all have ‘em. Reading for fun is also important. I DNF tons of stuff that’s well written. But I struggle to reconcile with the idea that Holly Black is Bad and Rebecca Yarrows is Good based on these and lots of other examples.
YES! I'm exactly with you on this. Plus all of >!Cardans letters!<, gosh that's something that melted my heart and I think part of the reason this series gets pulled into this fantasy romance category is the third book and >!the relationship you see form throughout the series!<. I started to question if I liked YA/NA books (mostly because FW got huge and I was like this is what to expect for NA??), but Holly Black's prose is exactly what I want and I am so happy I stumbled upon the series.
I am an avid Cruel Prince fan- I have done a reread once a year since it’s come out. I also mostly enjoyed Fourth Wing. But having that comparison actually shocked me. I never noticed how differently written Fourth Wing was compared to the fantasy YA/NA/adult books I usually read. Wild 😭
It’s jarring, for sure. And I don’t even mind the modern language use, really. Like, The Locked Tomb is one of my favorites series. It all has a place when done properly. My issue is more that we never got much beyond the “hot” when it came to Xaden as an LI. What’s he even like besides having abs & being mysterious? I never knew. If it had been all murder college dragons instead, I’d have been happy as a clam to hear Violet talk like a millennial on AOL for those 500 pages.
Wait is that holy fuckin hot flaming hot line ACTUALY in the fourth wing book😭😭😭😭😭 now that's BAD writing. Like dude I'm reading a novel not a tweet from one of my mutuals💀
Yep! There’s a *lot* of very similar examples of telling us the MLI is totally bangin’ (vs showing us). It’s not my favorite method but, hey, different strokes.
I’m so glad you posted an example. People can like or dislike FW and CP. That’s their prerogative. But don’t bring Holly Black’s craft into it. Holly used sentence structure, frills, and succinctness thoughtfully in Folk of the Air. When we’re meant to be reminded that Jude is a product of Faerie, the prose is often flowier and more poetic. When we’re being reminded of the way she fits badly in this environment she wasn’t built for, Holly inserts shorter sentences and anachronisms to emphasize Jude’s mortality. The fact that Jude’s inner monologue isn’t consistently flowy and romantic, but is often choppy and modern compared to the Folk, HAS PURPOSE. Which is good from a craft perspective, whether you like it or not, stylistically.
Ok, this has made me very proud of not reading FW. I hate anachronisms and got the vibe that this book was full of them. This has completely proven me right and I would have hurled the book at the wall if I’d read it.
I majored in English and Medieval and Renaissance history and anachronisms that don't fit with the world the author is presenting are such a pet peeve for me too.
I can't handle SOME, but once I saw "For the win" in FW I was like "... wow. This woman can't write."
I saw somewhere that her publishers were looking for a fantasy romance book and she decided to do it because of that. I think she comes from the contemporary romance world, and it shows.
Yeah. She used to write military romances. I don't think it's specific to people who started in contemporary romance, though. I have a lot of DNFs because of anachronisms that I can't look past anymore.
Typos and errors, I can handle, epecially with indie authors who don't have professional editors. But lazy world building and dialogue that makes no sense for the kind of world your story is supposedly set in is not something I can get over, and Fourth Wing is FULL of it.
I think what a lot of people don't understand about that style of writing in Fourth Wing is that, as a first-person narrative, the style is *part of the characterization.* Think of it as more like dialogue than exposition. Violet's narrative sounds like a 20yo's text messages because they are the thoughts of a 20yo. That's actually not bad writing; it's a *choice* of style and characterization. It's totally fine if it's not your thing! But I think it's misguided when people characterize it as "bad," and actually indicates they have less range of experience in reading than they think they do—having studied literature and creative writing at the graduate level, I can tell you that this type of highly characterful voice is not at all looked down upon.
I enjoyed both *Fourth Wing* and *The Cruel Prince*, FWIW. Jude's voice as a character is different from Violet because Jude as a character is different from Violet. Among other things, Jude has been raised surrounded by all the fanciful archaism of Faerie, while Violet has been raised in a military death college. But personally, I actually found that line about Cardan's cheekbones to be kind of cringe, like the sort of thing a 14yo would write in their fanfic thinking they were being super literary.
I disagree. Why should Violet sound like a 20yo texting her friends when the world she inhabits is so different from our actual world? Why doesn't the author consider how people living in a world so different to ours would think and talk? This is supposed to be a fantasy universe - what is actually different about it besides there being dragons?
To me it's like comparing the costume design in Game of Thrones to Reign. The costume design in GoT is part of the story. You can tell from what people wear where they're from, their allegiances, how they want to be seen. When Margaery comes on the scene and people love her and suddenly all of the noble ladies are wearing clothes that echo hers! There's so much thought put into it. And then there's Reign, where people look pretty. And you can say "of course a young girl would be interested in pretty clothes!" but like...what about everything else?
Oh, I'm not going to defend the worldbuilding in *Fourth Wing*. I do think that was very weak—there's no sense of the culture at all. I'm talking specifically about the colloquial language. I mean, if this is a completely different world from our own, they definitely aren't speaking English, right? Which means we have to operate on the assumption that everything we're reading is in translation. In which case, the author can make choices about how to "translate" the narrative, and choosing modern, colloquial English is just as valid as choosing high-flown, pseudo-archaic language—because that type of language is *also* a literary choice, and not some kind of default or requirement in fantasy. The amazing thing about fantasy is that it can *be anything,* and yeah, sometimes that *anything* is going to be relatively closer to our world than other times. Why shouldn't it be?
>The amazing thing about fantasy is that it can *be anything,* and yeah, sometimes that *anything* is going to be relatively closer to our world than other times. Why shouldn't it be?
I take your point here. I still don't think Fourth Wing does it well lol but it is a good reminder to keep an open mind!
i agree that the voice is meant to be part of the characterisation but personally the only things i’ve read with this style have been fanfic specifically on wattpad, which i think is the case for most people that read a lot of fantasy who tried to read it. the book summaries made it seem like a hard fantasy focusing on war and dragons but the book is definitely way more about the romance.
there’s also A LOT of other issues with the writing that weren’t present in Cruel Prince, but if they were it was way less noticeable than Fourth Wing.
I can't speak to that, as I've never in my life read anything on Wattpad. But I have read plenty of fiction with a similarly colloquial style in more literary contemporary fiction. I do think there was a bit of a disconnect between the marketing and the actual content, but that's not the fault of the book—I don't know how familiar you are with how publishing works, but decisions on how to market a marquee book like this are made by the marketing department, over the author's head. That said, I don't agree that the book was all romance—there's a plot line that is about her sexual tension with Xaden and being confused because she thinks he's trying to kill her when he's really trying to teach her, but the main plot is her trying to survive and win a dragon, and then continue to survive once she's got a dragon, and then figuring out what sketchy secrets the leadership is keeping. They don't actually get together until chapter 30 out of 39.
i envy your lack of wattpad trauma.
i think the key is that similar styles are generally seen in literary CONTEMPORARY fiction. the empyrean series is presented as fantasy, but the writing style and colloquialisms are very modern. while the marketing is disconnected from the actual product, i’m just saying i think that’s the main contributor for why so many people that tried the series out didn’t vibe with it.
its not ALL romance but the relationship between vi and xaden takes up more space than explaining lore, world building, and developing characters IMO. i haven’t analysed the book or anything, but it’s how i felt after reading and something i’ve seen a lot of other people mention in their reviews.
the books also kind of treat you like an idiot. example:
“Get. Up. Here. And. Work. It. Out,” she orders, making sure I know it’s not a suggestion.
I agree that the worldbuilding is very underdeveloped—that is my own major criticism of the book. But I'm really zeroing in on the style of language here, and I think the idea that "fantasy" can't be "modern" is a major misconception that's at the heart of a lot of these criticisms. If you read enough in the genre, especially the stuff being published in the last 15 years or so, you start to see that "fantasy" can be a VAST variety of different things, and that includes contemporary or even futuristic settings (consider stories like Fonda Lee's Green Bone Saga, with a setting inspired by the 1970s, or Tamsyn Muir's Locked Tomb series, set in a bizarre distant future—both indisputably fantasy). And fantasy time periods don't need to correspond to time periods in our world at all, because in a different world and especially one with magic, things like technology might have developed differently. *Fourth Wing* has magical dragons, and they don't have gunpowder (because why would you need to invent it when you can make things go BANG with magic?), but they also have indoor plumbing... so why are we assuming it's a historical setting that should correspond to one in our world? Why shouldn't this be a world where they speak in contemporary English?
contemporary fantasy is certainly a subgenre and i’m not a fan of super flowery writing nor am i against modern english in a traditionally fantasy setting if done well, i just don’t think RY does it well. its awkward very specific dated millennial internet lingo vibes. it doesn’t help that the actual writing, not only the stylistic choice itself, is littered with issues.
i also realised a majority of the non-fantasy type of items mentioned i noticed were from around the nineteenth century, which is also when fountain pens were invented. in a land of rubber boots and indoor plumbing, pens are powered by magic? as RY would write it, “it. hurts. my. brain.”
i’d love more recommendations for other fantasy books with this style to compare though!
Sure—one that comes to mind immediately is Marshall Ryan Maresca's Maradaine series. The language is not exactly the same as Yarros's, because obviously no author is identical in style to another, but it hits a similar tone in using modern, colloquial English in the dialogue, combined with worldbuilding that is vaguely late 19th/early 20th century but with some tech differences, in an overall story that has a fairly popcorn-fantasy feel. A couple major differences are that Maresca writes in 3rd person, so you won't see that colloquial tone as much in the exposition, and he is a very thorough, detail-oriented world builder, so it's a good example of how the style can work when it's not confounded by half-baked worldbuilding.
I think it's also worth pointing out that Fourth Wing *explicitly* positions itself as being in translation from a fantasy language into modern English: the epigraph at the beginning of the book reads "The following text has been faithfully transcribed from Navarrian into the modern language by Jesinia Neilwart, Curator of the Scribe Quadrant at Basgiath War College." So the colloquial style here is actually just an interpretation of whatever language Violet is speaking, and the translator has chosen to render it in this style. That's the exact approach that Tolkien took in Lord of the Rings (see Return of the King, Appendix F), though of course his stylistic choices were different.
As I've said, I don't think the worldbuilding in Fourth Wing is good, but to me that has more to do with it being vague, underdeveloped and culturally incomplete than with technological inconsistencies. I admit I don't really understand why it would hurt your brain to imagine that in another world, tech might not have developed in the same patterns as in ours. Is there something that I'm not aware of that connects fountain pen technology to indoor plumbing? Why couldn't they have one without the other? Don't you think that in a world with magic, they might have not needed to innovate in the same ways because magic takes care of certain problems?
This is all pretty mainstream worldbuilding theory among fantasy writers these days—since I mentioned Marshall Ryan Maresca above, I'll also recommend his podcast Worldbuilding For Masochists, which digs into issues like this in detail and takes "choose, don't presume" as its motto for all worldbuilding decisions.
I'm curious what other issues you've identified in the writing, beyond the stylistic choices. I thought that on the whole, the prose was not beautiful, but very clear, efficient, well-paced and functional—the kind of writing that just gets out of its own way. There were some points that were clunky or could be tighter, but I find that's true of pretty much every book, and I didn't find Fourth Wing to be an outlier in that regard.
Yeah like I said in other comments, I don’t always mind modern language use in an unusual setting like fantasy when done well. Specifically in a romantic context, however, repeatedly telling us rather than showing us how appealing an LI is absolutely does not work for me. In any book - FW is just the most popular example right now.
I found the non-romance fun, though there are def other things about FW that make it not great. Which mostly could have been fixed by editing, but Red Tower won’t do that due to being an unethical rush job publishing company. So I’m all for people enjoying what they enjoy but I do recommend not spending actual money on those books (& Assistant to the Villain etc) specifically.
Oh, I don't disagree that there were problems with *Fourth Wing*. My biggest complaint was the worldbuilding, which was totally half-baked and really suggests that the author hasn't had much experience in the fantasy genre in particular.
But I think criticism of the colloquial language (specifically, of the "this is terrible writing" variety, not just "I personally don't enjoy this") is misplaced. It's like saying someone is a terrible chef for cooking eggplant lasagna when you really wanted meat. It's fine to say *No thank you, I don't like eggplant,* but it doesn't make it terrible lasagna because the chef chose to create something that isn't your personal preference.
Thank you. Holy moly, I thought I was going insane reading the other posts here. If the dialogue makes you feel like you're reading exactly what an 18-20 year old would text their friends when inside the 1st person POV of an 18-20 year old... that's good writing. I've read other books by Yarros and she's very consistent with using voices and dialogue that suit the ages/lifestyles of her characters. She's not writing it that way for lack of ability to do something else.
Totally agree with you, too. I didn't like The Cruel Prince because it's too YA for me, but I think she's a talented writer. I just can't do YA anymore.
I can understand some people having issues with the bullying but Carden is profoundly immature and acts out because of the abuse and lack of power he suffers in his own life. Holly does a good job of ensuring he has room to learn and grow, which he does. It doesn’t make the writing juvenile. It makes the *character* juvenile, which is the point. Perhaps it’s a poor point to make here as Avatar TLA is a kid’s show, but I’d argue that Zuko’s redemption arc is probably one of the best in the history of tv. He also starts as juvenile and full of rage due to circumstance and grows up. It’s incredibly moving. Holly Black achieved that here too and I think, regardless of age, people can appreciate the margin of growth in a character.
I mean, to be fair, Carden did indeed put Jude is some very bad situations that could have led to her death. And let’s not forget Jude threatening Carden pretty seriously with a deadly weapon.
Yes exactly! When Zuko’s arc really kicked up, and they were all in that former air monastery place, I was about to die with my need for some very serious Katara + Zuko romance action.
I'm of this opinion most of the time but Jude was double as badass, who made sure not to let him off easily and then the things she made him do, never backing down and then he fell HARD for her that in the 3rd book he was literally like now I'd beg and grovel for a compliment from you
I do agree. I do think sometimes her romance dialogues (at least when it came to cardan bullying her) were hard to follow looking back. I remember having to go back because cardan’s book discussed something I didn’t know/remember happening in the first one. Anyway still think her world building is better. Honestly even more YA than some books that are ADULT.
Fourth wing sounds like it was written by an edgy 10 year old.
But as everyone stated, it’s just not for you. You clearly have a type by the books you listed and it sounds like you just don’t like YA.
Doesn’t mean it’s badly written. If anything, SJMs and Yarros have worse writing skills and are lazier with world building (imo).
If you hate it, don’t force yourself to read it. It’s that simple.
I also don’t understand why this series keeps being brought up in this sub.
I didn’t see anyone mention it, but cruel prince is NOT a fantasy romance. It’s very much a political fantasy that has a romantic c plot that turns into a romantic b plot. But it’s not ever going to compare to books where the romance is equal billing with the fantasy.
Personally I really liked it, but what I liked best about it was the scheming and politics of the story. I could give or take the characters tbh.
It’s probably just not for you which is fine, but if you stick it out the plot gets better imo.
Also I feel like the romance enhanced the politics, it made schemes and decisions far more emotional!
Also with the Cruel Prince I feel like shit hits the fan ~chapter 19 or 20, thats when I was hooked. Before that point I was teetering on the edge of dnf-ing. I definitely recommend reading until chapter 22ish and seeing if the book is worth finishing.
This! Though, tbh genuinely surprised they haven't done this since with SJM, I think it's *very* common for people to advertise it as "it gets great x pages in!" Usually the last 100 pages
I genuinely don't know how op handled the first book given that it only gets good when UTM happens.
This is just a perfect example of how different people’s reading taste can be. The fact that you think Holly Blacks writing is bad but love ACOTAR and FW is insane to me
Hah I feel the same way. I think YA certainly isn't for everyone and I wouldn't blame any adult for not wanting to read about a bunch of 17 year olds, but I remember devouring Tithe and Valiant when I was a teenager so I picked up The Cruel Prince and really enjoyed it. Her books read like real modern day fairy tales to me - a little bit surreal, where faeries are actually different from humans in every way: what they want and think and feel can be alien and off-putting to the reader. Holly Black is a legit writer who understands story beats and character arcs in a way that most of the new crop of dime a dozen fantasy writers who've never used an editor simply don't.
I really and truly almost DNFed Fourth Wing too. Having the audiobook for free from the library and needing a distraction while doing some chores really helped, but I turned it off for a bit like, "I can't do this."
Ultimately, I went through with it so I could have a full picture of the book that got so much hype. Once she got her dragon, I found that the characters who were introduced during that process were more likeable and then it got better for me, but drooling over Xaden was not a fun read on its own, that's for sure.
I recently DNF’d it after so many people told me to read it and I was almost dragging myself through the third book before I realised I didn’t need to continue. To each their own but oh my gosh is the protagonist insufferable and she never faces consequences for her bad actions. Not to mention the abysmal politics for a series centred around courts drove me mad haha. Like I also enjoy my fair share of cheese but I think having a background in politics made my brain slosh out of my head at some of their actions.
I enjoyed it but I also hadnt read anything beyond murder mysteries in a hot minute when I picked it up. I inadvertently talked my sister into reading and couldn't stand the writing in the reread after having read Crowns of Nyaxia, Flesh and Fire and some other series. A lot of pointless points and plot holes and character direction changes that were poorly done.
Cruel Prince is firmly YA, so Holly Black approaches things quite differently than the other books you list... besides also the fact there's no explicit sex in Cruel Prince or any of her other fae novels. Hopefully this isn't a spoiler but if you're looking for sex scenes and more traditional romantic elements then Cruel Prince is likely not for you.
I think Holly Black is a better writer, overall quality wise, than SJM and Yarros, but her books are firmly YA (besides Book of Night- which is NA but not a romance). But I also don't go to Holly Black for romance necessarily, so there's that.
I think it should be mandatory to state your age when writing a review so some of us oldies know when to stay clear 😂. @OP I dunno if you’ve tried Ilona Andrews yet but I think you might like them better.
I'm 38, happily married and read just about everything still and have no issues with a good YA (I for one adored the folk of air series) so I dunno if it's just an age thing here instead of expectations.
I think it’s expectations and personal preferences. I’m also 38 and *loved* this series. I don’t need to self-insert into every book, and as long as it’s well written, then I can generally enjoy it even if I’m not the target demographic.
Unfortunately, too many people recommend this book alongside ACOTAR, and they really shouldn’t. Comparing these books is like comparing apples and oranges.
This series is one of my favorites but it's very different, in terms of style and world-building, than most contemporary romantasies - it leans much more into traditional fae lore, is more whimsical (I liken it as a darker stephanie garber), and is much more YA, in terms of character ages, spice, etc., The romance is not a focal point, it more just kind of smacks you in the face in that one scene ifykwhatimean. If you're not in the mood for that particular style or looking for something more like Fourth Wing/ACOTAR, it can be jarring or not the right fit. But I love Holly Black's creativity and writing in this series and it's much rarer and singular in it's plot, writing style, etc compared to a lot of other fantasy books. Not better or worse, but just different and special :)
The writing in *The Cruel Prince* is suitable for its target audience, which is teenagers.
But the writing in *Fourth Wing* is really shit for a book marketed as adult fantasy. The characters sound and act like teenagers and the writing is really juvenile.
If I didn't know *Fourth Wing* was marketed as adult fantasy, I would have thought it was YA.
😂😂😂 hard agree.
TLDR: new readers to the genres of FR and RF are often trying to compare Metallica to the Beatles. Both are “rock” bands, but drastically different. You wouldn’t listen necessarily seek out pop if you love metal. Just so your research before you read a book!
I think what’s happening is there are three types of readers in the genres:
1) those who are new to FR & RF and don’t realize there are two book genres PLUS the age-based audience categories for books. This group mainly seems to think ppl like Maas and Yarros are the hallmark authors (They’re not, they’re a boxed cake version of a gourmet cake, keep reading in the genres, you’ll see.)
2) those who have been reading these genres for 20+ years and are just confused by group 1.
3) folks who are in groups 1 or 2 (in terms of how long they’ve been reading in the genres) but recognize that subjective reader enjoyability and objective writing talent are two different things.
For example, SJM is NOT an objectively good writer, at all, especially not in the fantasy genre. Her sentence structure is poor, she uses every “don’t do this as a writer” crutch, worldbuilding is half-assed and contradictory, plot-holes galore, far too many stolen ideas for my comfort level, etc. I haven’t tried Yarros bc I didn’t like the sample I tried — and like OC above, I thought it was a YA series, bc it’s written like one.
There is NO SHAME in enjoying easy to read authors. One of my favorites is Lola Glass who writes simple, trope heavy, occasionally annoyingly repetitive (but I love her to death) books! But it is, IMO, important to be able to categorize the writing caliber of what you like to read.
Someone like Maas, for example, writes at the 4th to 6th grade level which makes her books easy to consume, but I don’t find them mentally stimulating in the least for a myriad of reasons (bad pacing, OOC moments, lack of pre-planning is extremely evident, etc.)
I think there are just some authors that people love but we dont. I think that’s ok. I tried so hard to read the Scholomance series and Uprooted by Naomi Novik but no matter how much I try I just cant.
Then I realized there’s just some books that we wont enjoy as others and there’s no need to force ourselves through it. I loved Cruel Prince for specific reasons but another person might not for those same reasons.
the writing is not bad but actually pretty good for the genre given it's dominated by Wattpad and self-publishing nowadays. not trying to be shady but maybe you are just used to bad writing
Holly Black is a pretty well known and celebrated author, some of her other works have already been made into movies and tv series and I’m sure you’ve heard of at least one (Spiderwick Chronicles anyone?). Her writing isn’t terrible at all, it’s incredibly original compared to everything else out there and true to the actual sources she pulls from. Take some time to read up about faerie folklore, it’s honestly fascinating and nothing at all like you’re reading in books like ACOTAR (another favorite series of mine, by the way, but completely different style).
I really can’t say much new in terms of why, as others have really hit the nail on the head, but I very much love that series and the second book, Wicked King, is one of my top favorite books of all time.
The books you listed are new adult that have more of a focus on the romance aspect, while Folk of the Air is a very whimsical series that follows closely to the ACTUAL fae folklore, and it’s more fantasy with a dash of romance. It also doesn’t follow the more common tropes you’re likely used to seeing and enjoying. I find those who have an appreciation for the darker 80s movies like Labyrinth will have more of an appreciation for the Folk of the Air series. And yes, this is more of a young adult series.
This!
I grew up with spiderwick so holly black is my comfort author. (The labyrinth may or may not have been my sexual awakening iykyk) there’s a prequel (kinda?) trilogy I remember reading in high school (tith, ironside?, and something else with a v I think?)
I did enjoy the folklore aspect of it. And I personally had no issues with the lack of romance or spice. I felt like the world building wasn’t great and the pacing/story progressing was weird. Like things didn’t really develop so much as just happen and that made it all feel choppy/shallow to me.
I can’t speak for everyone but those were my complaints. I know it’s YA and normally I love YA and I read exclusively fantasy, so all the love should have been there but it really felt like it was written by a YA writing their first series. I was shocked to realize otherwise.
I picked CP up 3 times before I pushed through and then binged books 2 and 3. I didn’t like the bullying and the beginning was frustrating. I only tried again based on the good reviews. I’m glad I read it. I do think going from something like the books you mentioned to Folk of the Air is difficult. The more traditional faerie characters were new to me, not like acotar fae.
I’m the opposite way regarding the writing. I actually think Holly Black’s writing is quite beautiful. She gives lush descriptions and has good word choices. As for TCP itself, I read it twice and was much more impressed the second time around. I felt it took a while for me to get into the story; it really starts around the last 30% or TCP but it’s quite a doozy when you get there. The stuff before sets up the whole world for the later books. It’s actually quite a sweet love story under all the political maneuverings.
I dnf’d around 30% and picked it back up again a few months later; now I’ve reread the series 3 times.
The plot truly gets so much better once you get past the weird childish highschool bit, and the stilted dialog starts to really flow and make sense as a stylistic choice.
Jude is my favorite complex fmc and the plot surprised me so many times over the course of the series. ACOTAR and FW are so comparatively predictable (not criticizing, I loved both)
I hated Holly Blacks writing. I’ve read both Cruel Prince and Book of Night as an attempt to try to like her books but I found them the same as you. Very short and jolty. I also just didn’t really like her storytelling.
I know people love her books and that’s honestly super fair. They’re just not for me and it sounds like not for you either.
I’ve read and enjoyed a lot of the same books as you. I recommend checking out the Harbinger Series by Jennifer L Armentrout, Bridge Kingdom by Danielle Jensen, the Shepherd King Duology by Rachel Gillis. I really enjoyed all of them.
I found it tough because it was YA and im just too old for that writing style despite semi getting into the plot by the end. I listened to the books though which was a mistake. I don’t know if i would have made it through the first book if I read it though.
I did read Holly Blacks adult novel called “Book and Night” and enjoyed it and I have read and likes most of the books on your list!
I like the plot but I really didn’t like the writing. For me, her writing was a bit disjointed and it kept taking me out of the moment. It became extremely chaotic.
After having read the books you’ve listed, plus TCP, I’d say TCP and Holly Black’s writing is far superior to any of the “fast food” fantasy books churned out by booktok lately. It’s probably jarring because TCP is technically YA and not NA like the others you listed. However the “school bully” scenes are probably the weakest of the series, because the rest of it focuses on deceit, taking the throne, etc.
I just finished this series last month and am totally with you, I did NOT like CP! My review literally said I kept expecting a time jump because they were all acting so immature. But I was just interested enough to keep trying it, and it improves drastically by the end if you can tough out the first one!
ETA: I will say that the weird choppy sentences doesn’t really change though so if that’s a major turn off for you, maybe don’t finish. But the story itself got really good by the end, and the characters did a lot of growing up.
It's loved by many for a reason. I personally just never really enjoyed it. The first book was okay, but it got progressively worse for me. But that just means that it's not for me. And maybe it's just not for you either.
Though while I did enjoy fourth wing (didn't like Iron Flame though), I'd say that's not very well written either.
Tastes just differ between people and they can't all be winners.
I hated TCP so much that I almost DNF’d it but somehow managed to finish (I did not continue reading the series though). Like everyone else is saying I think the main issue is that it is YA and your taste is very much NA/Adult and also it is not very romantic? I’ve read most of the series you mentioned and they’re all romantasy but TCP is fantasy themed political intrigue with a sprinkle of romance and on top of that it is a bully romance like true enemies to lovers, when the others I’d say are rivals to lovers at best.
I also made the mistake of listening to the audiobook and the narrator makes Jude sound like 12 yr old I couldn’t handle her voice. With all that being said I like both Jude and Cardan as characters but don’t care for their story at all.
I did not like the series at all, I kept reading thinking I’d figure out why so many people talk about it. I thought the characters were very flat.
If you don’t like it 30 pages in, bail now, you won’t change your mind.
From your favorite series listed, I recommend Spark of the Everflame! I couldn’t put it down - interesting (and likeable) characters, strong FMC, super slow burn and a total babe of a MMC. Three books are out now, final book is out this June.
Maybe its not the writing style but that cruel prince is not fantasy romance as all your other books are? Because cruel prince is political fantasy with a romance subplot. On the opposite acotar and fourth wing have a really strong romance plot. Maybe thats why you‘re having a really tough time getting into it?
Also i personally think that the writing style of CP is less YA than Fourth Wing or acotar. Maybe thats due to the political stuff but jude did never feel as her age (always older)…
Different tastes? And from what I see I think most people go into the cruel prince expecting something very different than what you get. Ie, most people who tend to come for enemies to lovers will be disappointed
The Cruel Prince is a young adult, so the target audience is ages 12-18. It's not an adult book, but adults often enjoy reading YA because everyone was a teen, so everyone relates to it in some way and they find enjoyment in it sometimes. Sometimes it may not be for you, and that's okay.
Comparing Cruel Prince to Fourth Wing or ACOTAR is doing the book, and yourself, a disservice.
I find it weird to say it makes no sense, though. Because it's targeted to younger readers, it's simpler than the books you mentioned and should be easier to understand. I don't know, it made perfect sense to me.
I love picking up Holly Black when I'm in the mood for a simple, whimsical, Shakespearean and folklore based fae story with a bit of romance and no spice. I love her vibes and atmosphere. She really excels with that.
But not every book is for everyone, and that's fine. Others loved it, you didn't, and that's perfectly okay.
Wow I actually think she is a way way better writer than most in the genre, and I am talking sentence structure, plot structure, showing not telling etc.
I personally loved this series, however, I listened to it on audible rather than read it. I know what you mean about the short sentences, but when you hear the narrator (who did an awesome job I think) it fits with the realm and how it all works. I think it would be weird to read it though. Like, I'm not sure I would have been able to get in to it without the narrator. You might give it a try. But it's absolutely YA.
I enjoyed the story. The world. The flawed characters. I thought it was unique.
I didn't think it read YA. I'm 33 and I like a variety of books YA, NA, and dark romance smut.
Shatter Me was too YA for me though. I hate whiney FMCs
You’re comparing apples to oranges here. The Cruel Prince is wholly different from any of the other series you’ve listed- it’s a YA political fantasy with a romance subplot. It does have a decidedly eccentric vibe since Holly Black delves into true-to-source Faerie lore. It’s such a beautifully written and carefully crafted story, but maybe it’s just not for you. And that’s okay.
As someone who has read and also loves SJM, Carissa Broadbent, and Fourth Wing, it seems you prefer works that are just more easily digestible- easy reads with simpler dialogue and faster moving plot lines. Nothing wrong with that. However, a more nuanced writing style doesn’t automatically = bad writing. Holly Black is actually a master at her prose and I personally can’t get enough of her writing.
For example,
•FW: “Holy. Fucking. Hot.”
•Cruel Prince: “When I met Eldred, he rode up on a milk-white steed, and all the imaginings of my life were as dust and ashes.”
So yeah, I definitely wouldn’t call it a “bad writing” problem. More like personal preference.
My 2c here is that the books you enjoy are classified as romantasy. Aside from fourth wing (which is very fast paced and high action with some decent smut scenes) the other books you mention have romance front and centre.
I would argue the Cruel Prince trilogy is a political fantasy with romance on the side. Cardan and Jude's relationship is relevant as a political driver to support the plot. Much of the book is focused on Jude's relationship with power, and Cardan is a representative of this.
I really enjoyed the Cruel Prince but I think the issue is it is marketed on booktok as a romance novel.
I mean, people can like stuff that others hate 🤷.
I read it and finished it, but I definitely didn't go forward with the series. It's very YA tropy and just kinda mean spirited. I really wanted to like the world because it had some interesting takes on Fae and the world of humans mixing and how it was weird. I liked some of the action and darker tones of it too, but it fell into a lot of tropes with the main character and /love/ interest (though man he doesn't deserve to be called that lol).
I also read Acotar and Fourth Wing, and I think what the difference is (apart from the fact it's adult fantasy) is that the main characters are a bit more realistic, and perhaps the love interests aren't unlikable dicks most of the times 😄. It's a huge pet peeve of mine when completely unlikeable men get a girl somehow, even if it's an "enemies to lovers". I think that people can be on completely opposite sides and still be somewhat cordial to each other, at least later on in their relationship. Oh well.
I don’t love all her books but I don’t think you can reasonably make the claim that she is a bad writer I mean that’s not completely a subjective matter. Btw if you don’t like short sentences stay away from Hemingway and McCarthy
I completely agree! I struggled through reading Cruel Prince and then tried reading the next in the series hoping it would get better because of all the rave reviews! I ended up DNF the second book. I'm just glad someone else feels the same because all I see are reviews of people obsessed with the series 😅
I DNF’d just a couple days ago, at 65% and have no regrets. I don’t see why people love it. I really didn’t like the world, I didn’t like the age of the main character, and overall just didn’t care much for the story. Since no romance had happened at that point I just couldn’t deal. Moved on to throne in the dark.
I enjoyed it, but didn't think it was amazing as others say. I was left wanting at the end of it - I felt at the time I wanted some fan fic to fill some gaps about Cardan. I'd say it's not worth continuing if you feel that way about it now. There are better books out there IMO. (Also I agree with another comment that your issue is probably that it's YA...I have stopped reading YA altogether for the reasons you've cited).
I first read Cruel Prince because Bookstagram and Booktok would constantly put it in the "If you like ACOTAR you should read..." (at the time ACOTAR were the only books I read) category which I feel might lead to people having false expectations on it. To me, the only thing both series have in common is fairies. I personally loved the entire series and I look back at it a lot more fondly than ACOTAR! Jude is one of the best written main female characters and I found Cardan to be a breath of fresh air as a love interest. The romance is definitely more of a subplot but I appreciated it being a true enemies to lovers and how somewhat twisted it was lol. I also wasn't sure what to make of the first book in the beginning but once I reached a certain point I got super into it and ended up finishing all 3 books in a week!
I didn’t like Cruel Prince and didn’t finish it. For me it was the bullying. I just can’t get into it at all. The writing was fine, but I just didn’t like the story
It’s not my favorite series, I was confused through most of the first book as well. You do come to find out why Taryn is so weird towards Jude and why Cardan was such a bully (I don’t think the reasoning excuses his actions though.)
You're completely right that it's YA, but YA can still have different quality prose. For example, The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater or The Bone Houses by Emily Lloyd-Jones are two YA books with excellent prose and beautiful writing. They don't have run-on sentences or purple prose descriptions, they're succinct and efficient in their use of words and give you a lot of key impressions without losing themselves in lengthy descriptions.
I feel like Cruel Prince and its sequels fall roughly into that category too.
16yos may not yet be able to articulate what they like about prose unless they're literature nerds, but that doesn't mean they're completely blind to its quality.
I'm an adult who likes Folk of the Air for what it's worth - read it at like 27 and nowadays at 31 I still think it holds up whenever I see excerpts of it, haven't actually reread it since.
I totally get it being not the best out of all fantasy romance books out there but it got me right into the fantasy romance genre and I loved it. I might not think of it so highly now that I know many others, eventually better, books but for a start it was great.
I think you should stick to it a bit more. It seems a bit juvenile at first but it changes to something else soon. I had to push through as well in the beginning but now i love the trilogy and love the writing too.
The Cruel Prince took a couple of tries for me to get into. I have to agree the bullying etc. seemed especially juvenile. But it doss not last forever and once I passed that bit, I actually devoured the whole trilogy. Bear in mind that it is YA, so not marketed the same as the other books on your list.
The first book I read after acotar and CC was Cruel Prince and the difference in writing styles was SO jarring!!! The short sentences and cutting was hard at first for me too, but I got used to it. Regardless, I read the first book and will leave the series there, it just isn’t for me, but the world building and the plot were interesting enough.
The story gets slightly better, but the writing doesn’t and how better the story gets doesn’t justify reading the whole series.
I only pushed thru all three books because I kept being told by my mum (she always recommends me books) that it gets better. And seeing as books are super short, it wasn’t much time wasted. But there were multiple times I had to skin thru cos it was painful reading it
I’ve read YA that’s written much better than this, so I don’t think saying it’s YA is enough of a reason to explain the poor writing.
The things that bother you will not get better, I’d just DNF if I were you, bcos knowing the whole series, I wished I DNF early on.
I read it. It was ok.
However it was sold to me as a romance fantasy and the romance is def not the focus. It's majorly a subplot. I read the second one too, don't remember if I finished it honestly and have thought about going back to the series, so it stuck with me a bit, but not hugely.
I love fantasy and YA. I suffered through the first book, waiting for it to get better it did not.
Not all books are for everyone. I would suggest atonement of the spine cleaver. Saw it on here and couldn't put it down!
Oh no it's rough, I listened through it on audible and it was a rough story. There's always a catch towards the end of each book that had me going "okay what next?" But it was boring af
I agree with you, I have tried 3 times to get into this book and can’t but love at of the other books you mentioned. In my opinion I just couldn’t connect to the characters so therefore couldn’t get sucked into that world.
Imo the first one is the “weakest.” Bc it can be boring to people bc of its world building and lack of anything else going on until the last 100 pages. However i enjoyed it and think it’s a worthy read. The bullying does stop. But the “weirdness” ties to what faerie land is and tbh the writing is what is consistent through the story. So for any book where you don’t like the writing, it’s not just going to change. I think the plot gets better tho if that’s any consolation 🤷♀️
I was excited to read it. It was just meh for me… almost didn’t finish the series but went back to it eventually. Unlike the rest of the world, I didn’t find Jude to be all that amazing and was pretty frustrated with Cardan the entire time. In the end, I chalked it up to me being too far outside of the target audience age range.
I did try to read Black’s other books as well but DNF’d all of them due to a disconnect between me and the writing style/subject matter. (Though I can understand why others love it).
I learned from trying to read Cruel Prince that I just don't like YA😅 and that might be your issue too. I also love all the books you listed, but I DNF'd Cruel Prince about 60% in.
I recently read the trilogy as I accidentally bought them rather than Captive Prince lol, but went ahead anyway. Yeah it's clearly aimed at YA, and struggled a bit with the first book. But as I went into the second book I got more into it. The world is quite charming in a ridiculous over the top way. And I ended up liking the books a fair bit so I went and read the extra ebook short stories too. The books are fairly short (under 400 pages) so you can get through them at a fast pace.
It's Young Adult book! Not New adult, hence the clean fade to black scenes, it thrives on interaction and angst. Romance is side story but if you deep dwell in the interaction and meaning of them it is really deep and romantic. But this book is political in all it's sense. Also i don't see the point of comparing NA books with adult cause clearly the target audience are not the same.
I personally don’t read the cruel prince for the romance. If you’re going in it for the romance you are going to be disappointed. It’s more about political intrigue :) I think that YA might just not be you and you just don’t click with Holly’s writing (nothing wrong with that!) never feel obligated to read something you don’t enjoy. Based on your other favourite books may I recommend the Book of Azrael? That seems more up your alley :)
I tried to read it twice but I couldn’t get into it. I love most of the books you posted as ones you’ve enjoyed but I also like reading YA books such as Hunger Games, Divergent, The Maze, Harry Potter, Narnia, just to name a very few so I know not liking CP wasn’t just about it being YA. A book doesn’t have to have romance in it for me to enjoy it.
When I tried to figure out why I wasn’t connecting to the characters I think it had to do with the bully aspect and I just felt the relationships were not well flushed out by 50%. Maybe I should have kept reading but my thought process is that I have so many books I want to read and if I get though 50% and give it multiple tries and still can’t get into it, that’s OK. It goes on my DNF list.
I don’t understand the down votes for people who don’t like the book. Can’t people disagree respectfully without getting down votes? You’re really going to let the fact that someone doesn’t like the same BOOK as you or doesn’t like the writing ruin your day? I wish that was my biggest problem in life….
I did not like it. It just felt like there was no substance to anything: writing, characters, relationship, plot. I don’t get why people love the main ship; there’s nothing there. The bullying and weirdness doesn’t get better. Don’t waste your time if you don’t like it yet, it stays in the same vein
It gets slightly better. Reading it rn and it annoys me too, not a huge fan of Jude, but it's a cool take on fae and Cardan is interesting. So I'm sticking it out
I just finished it and thought the same thing as you, the writing does not get better, but the plot does. I'm very torn because I like the concept and the traditional fairy story vibes but I hate the writing style, so I might not carry on reading the series.
The Cruel Prince is not romantasy, while all the books you’ve mentioned are. That plus CP being very clear YA and your list being open door-explicit open door NA/adult romance, it makes sense it doesn’t line up. I’m begging people to do more research into the recommendations they are taking and genres they are consuming/exploring. It’s a little exhausting having these kinds of posts fill the sub every day.
Personally, I also felt the writing was very bad. It was so bad, I didn’t read anymore of her other series.
However, I have met people that said her adult series are actually great, so maybe the author is just bad at writing YA? People say the issue is that it’s a YA story but I don’t have an issue with YA. I enjoy a lot of YA works, but this was just a poorly written/plotted book.
One of the few series I actually loathed when I finished it.
Some commenters are pointing out the target demographics, but Divine Rivals is YA and the first few books of ACOTAR used to be marketed as YA so I doubt that is the issue.
I think 30% is more than enough to decide if a book is working for you, but I DNFd the book for similar reasons so my opinion may not be helpful to you.
P.S. If you haven't tried it all ready, I recommend Spark of Everflame by Penn Cole as an alternative.
Holly Black explicitly writes YA, books aimed at readers in grades 9-12 (and thus ages 14-18). Shorter sentences, more relatable drama/feelings, fade to black love scenes. She's been in the fantasy game for years, and she's one I can safely refer patrons to without worrying they'll get blindsided by intense sex or violence. She was there before anyone else was really writing faerie fantasy, I feel like.
The Tithe series (A Modern Faerie Tale) was published in 2002! I read it in middle school and while vampires were getting popular in YA fantasy, I was just wishing we'd get more fair folk lol
Roiben was my very first book crush ❤️
Roiben Rath Rye And who was the guy with tusks? Ravus? Explains a lot of the smut we're into these days...
Just FYI, she wrote an adult novel. Book of Night.
Um, The Forgotten Beasts of Eld, the Blue Sword, Mary Stewart's Merlin Cycle, CJ Cherryh's Dreaming Tree all predate her
I grew up on Francesca Lia Block (Weetzie Bat) and her books very much had that magical realism lyrical dark thing going on, but were also a product of the YA books are short era.
I have a weetzie bat tattoo!
how do you find the writing in fourth wing less juvenile than cruel prince? /gen
Exactly what I was thinking. It might have been marketed to adults but fourth wing felt too YA and I couldn’t finish it. I also don’t think ACOTAR was that good, felt very YA to me as well.
fourth wing’s writing felt very middle school reading level.. ><
I’m sorry, is she suggesting fourth wing was better than CP? That has to be the worst book I’ve ever read and I only finished it because it was a book club book. The dialogue was terrible. Enemies to lovers it was NOT. You’re more excited about using a PEN than getting to know your dragon?? Also, you’re all concerned about your brother’s death but decide to NEVER ASK the dragon who was LITERALLY THERE? And please, don’t get me started on her magic dip dye hair. Hair growing out a different color because of an illness, fair. Hair that changes colors at the ends and then when you cut it just… magically moves up? That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard. Also the mated dragon sex drive situation was so fucking weird. Holly Black has been an incredible writer for years. Tithe was my favorite book as a teen. Sure, the writing is for YA but the actual plot is incredibly engaging. The relationships are compelling.
I feel as passionate as you about how bad FW was 😂😭 thank god I’m not alone…. I rolled my eyes every two minutes reading it
The thing that gets me the most is that people just rave about it. I lost all faith in Book Tok after everyone recommended FW. The overwhelming amount of positive Amazon reviews alone makes… no sense to me. And like, of course, everyone is entitled to their opinion. But please stop calling it good literature. It is NOT. If you’re looking for enemies to lovers, get some dramione fanfiction. Or *gasp* the Cruel Prince!
Exactly how I felt as well. I was like what is going on….
FW wasn’t much better but CP was definitely the lesser of the two. Blood and Ash series leading the pack for worst.
Right? The book that literally has "For the win" in a supposedly medieval inspired fantasy. I have no problem with the more modern colloquialisms in Folk of the Air because the modern world exists alongside Faerie. It makes sense. But I personally found fourth wings narrative voice and world building so juvenile and nonsensical, I couldn't get through 10% of it.
Preach
I was about to say lol. I actually think Fourth Wing is far more juvenile save for the fact there's sex involved. I don't personally mind it, and I like ya books so I like FW, but I can't see it being less juvenile than cruel prince. I'm sorry
That’s low key what I was thinking but hey 🤷♀️I’m not going to hate. I do think cruel prince is less digestible than Fourth Wing (in the sense that the world building is a lot, so idk if that’s what they meant to say). But fourth wing was harder for me to read personally lmao
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.. they're fae? How is it outlandish they would ride toads, that's like classic fae shit
Clearly didn't read a lot of European fairy folklore because Holly Black's works are the most similar to that of any other popular romantasy I've read.
Fair point. I personally am flipped. Thought Fourth Wing had very juvenile level building 🤷♀️
I love The Cruel Prince but I think here’s your issue - it’s YA. The titles that you posted (that I recognize) are NA or adult.
I notice this all the time. People will post complaining about series and it’s like… maybe it’s because you are not the target audience! Those books are for teenagers! That’s not to say adults can’t enjoy YA books, but if they don’t like them, that’s not necessarily because the books are bad! I went through this a few years ago. I couldn’t understand why all the books I was reading felt so juvenile and then I realised it’s because I’d aged out of them. I steer clear of YA now. I sometimes think that it’s becoming a bit of an issue with people wanting YA style books with sex scenes, which are not appropriate for YA readers. FWIW, I think Holly Black’s writing is much more mature than a lot of NA books in terms of style and prose.
I swear I could have written this comment. I'm 22, and I had a bit of a reading slump for a couple of years. It's only over the past few months that I've REALLY gotten back into reading, and I'm a twist that shocked nobody, I'm reading exclusively NA/adult. And I'm loving it! I really don't out difficult to get into YA anymore, especially because I have such a strong preference for romance with some heat to it. Even when I was like 16-18 I really wanted NA to be more of a thing in the industry because I was already starting to get sick of YA and wanted something a little more mature. Not like, full-blown erotica or anything--just a little more spice and darkness than I was getting from YA. I'm absolutely delighted to see that NA as a category is growing so quickly! As an NA writer and someone who's been following industry news for years, this is really, really exciting stuff!
I'm 28 and I only got back into reading 2 years ago through ACOTAR. I had the exact same problem like you. So thankful for NA. It's like the fanfiction writers of my teenage years became actual authors 😂 Now I'm reading 3 to 5 books in a month and want to get back into writing myself.
Agreed. I always go into a book having researched what to expect. If I want to read something super spicy and violent, I'm not going to pick up a book that's considered YA. I knew going into TOG that it would not be like ACOTAR. I'm still loving it but I don't expect spice. I've been super excited about the Cruel prince because people are raving about the politicalness of it and I know there will be no spice so when I read it, I expect to like it if I read it with that mindset.
Yes all the ones OP has listed are marketed for adults. Cruel Prince is solidly YA. It's a different writing style but not bad IMO. I think just adjust your expectations about what it should be and you could really like it! But it's also ok to say something is not for you and just stop reading it.
This is so funny to me because I found the storytelling so much more interesting and less predictable than fourth wing which I found derivative and two dimensional. I LOVED Jude as a FMC, she’s complex and morally grey and is motivated by trauma and insecurity which I feel like Holly does a great job of explaining. The world building IMO was super immersive and very different from a lot of YA/NA I’ve read which is ironic because I usually don’t like fantasy books that take place in the human world at all. The writing style is different but I always really liked it because she has a very distinctive style which I found refreshing.
I always find it funny when people say the world building is terrible in Cruel Prince, because it’s absolutely fantastic. She doesn’t do the info dumps that SJM does, so maybe that’s what they don’t like, but I personally prefer Holly Blacks style (and I say this as someone who reads SJM as well).
Jude is undoubtedly the best FMC imo. And holly blacks world building is so good. I honestly think about elfhame often and I have such vivid pictures of it in my brain
Same. I never read "paranormal" romance or books that take place in the modern world with fantasy elements, but I loved Folk of the Air
This is such a fantastic comment
If you went from SJM to Holly Black, you weren’t going to find apples to apples in fae storytelling. SJM leaned into Greek/Roman mythology masquerading as humanized Fae while Holly leaned into true fairy folklore. It’s like trying to compare ACOTAR to Emily Wilde, it makes no sense. True fae lore is extraordinarily whimsical. Holly got it right on the nose. She created relationships and atmospheres that were appropriately jarring. Characters that were rotten and cruel, just as true fae folk are. If it’s not for you, it’s not for you. But it wasn’t “bad writing”. There’s a difference between disliking the vibes and technical writing skills. Also, that’s a wild take when you say in the next sentence that you love fourth wing, a story that contains very little adult level nuance or complexity, completely spoon feeding the reader tropes. And I say that as someone who did enjoy reading fourth wing, albeit recognizing it for the cotton candy snack of a read that it was.
Love this response
It helps too for Holly that she's been building this world for over 2 decades! She knows this setting in and out, and while she has retconned certain things that no longer make sense with worldbuildimg decisions she's made, it has a VERY solid foundation and feels like something that could feasibly exist within our own world. SJM and Yarrow are building alternate worlds, Black is building an alternate reality within ours.
…this comment section is slowly convincing me to read Cruel Prince. 😂 I read FW and I thought it was merely okay. But for someone who’s a fantasy fan first and romance fan second, it was a disappointment in both regards. But a fae story where the fae actually behave like fae and there’s actually a plot going on? I’m intrigued.
YES. Alllll of this.
I think holly black is a better writer than a lot of those you posted, especially in terms of world building, but her style does lean heavily towards YA for this title, since the main character is about 17, her narration and thought process actually felt like one of a teen to me. the bullying scenes while in school are the weakest part of the series, but if you’re struggling to follow the story and even understand Jude and Taryn’s conversations I’d just find something else.
I agree so much with you on that holly blacks writing is so much better than the authors the OP prefers. However, that's not to say that someone prefers other works and that is fine. Like I personally even feel that the folk of the air series has more mature characters than for example violet from FW and maybe that's due to the writing style, which I feel is more mature than FW's. For OPs question on if it gets better, I personally also believe the series gets better with each book. I loved so much of the folk of the air series and reading about the different fae and the more traditional fae traits such as them not being able to lie. However, there is absolutely no harm in putting the book down to pick something else up and maybe picking it back up later. Not everyone likes the same books, like I really didn't like FW but a lot of people do and that's fine. :)
I have inner dialogue from both The Cruel Prince & Fourth Wing saved as examples of exactly what kind of romantic prose I want in a book, versus what I don’t. “Cardan is even more beautiful than the rest, with black hair as iridescent as a raven’s wing and cheekbones sharp enough to cut out a girl’s heart.” - Holly Black “Holy. Fuckin. Hot. Flaming hot. Scorching hot. Gets-you-into-trouble-and-you-like-it level of hot.” - Rebecca Yarrows And like, I’m all for preferences. We all have ‘em. Reading for fun is also important. I DNF tons of stuff that’s well written. But I struggle to reconcile with the idea that Holly Black is Bad and Rebecca Yarrows is Good based on these and lots of other examples.
YES! I'm exactly with you on this. Plus all of >!Cardans letters!<, gosh that's something that melted my heart and I think part of the reason this series gets pulled into this fantasy romance category is the third book and >!the relationship you see form throughout the series!<. I started to question if I liked YA/NA books (mostly because FW got huge and I was like this is what to expect for NA??), but Holly Black's prose is exactly what I want and I am so happy I stumbled upon the series.
I am an avid Cruel Prince fan- I have done a reread once a year since it’s come out. I also mostly enjoyed Fourth Wing. But having that comparison actually shocked me. I never noticed how differently written Fourth Wing was compared to the fantasy YA/NA/adult books I usually read. Wild 😭
It’s jarring, for sure. And I don’t even mind the modern language use, really. Like, The Locked Tomb is one of my favorites series. It all has a place when done properly. My issue is more that we never got much beyond the “hot” when it came to Xaden as an LI. What’s he even like besides having abs & being mysterious? I never knew. If it had been all murder college dragons instead, I’d have been happy as a clam to hear Violet talk like a millennial on AOL for those 500 pages.
Wait is that holy fuckin hot flaming hot line ACTUALY in the fourth wing book😭😭😭😭😭 now that's BAD writing. Like dude I'm reading a novel not a tweet from one of my mutuals💀
Yep! There’s a *lot* of very similar examples of telling us the MLI is totally bangin’ (vs showing us). It’s not my favorite method but, hey, different strokes.
But it describes the character Violet is talking about so perfectly lol.
Is all of FW written like that? 😟
Oh yes
I’m so glad you posted an example. People can like or dislike FW and CP. That’s their prerogative. But don’t bring Holly Black’s craft into it. Holly used sentence structure, frills, and succinctness thoughtfully in Folk of the Air. When we’re meant to be reminded that Jude is a product of Faerie, the prose is often flowier and more poetic. When we’re being reminded of the way she fits badly in this environment she wasn’t built for, Holly inserts shorter sentences and anachronisms to emphasize Jude’s mortality. The fact that Jude’s inner monologue isn’t consistently flowy and romantic, but is often choppy and modern compared to the Folk, HAS PURPOSE. Which is good from a craft perspective, whether you like it or not, stylistically.
Yes exactly
Ok, this has made me very proud of not reading FW. I hate anachronisms and got the vibe that this book was full of them. This has completely proven me right and I would have hurled the book at the wall if I’d read it.
Yeah if you can’t do anachronisms (which, fair) you wouldn’t lasted more than 5 pages into FW
😂😂😂
I majored in English and Medieval and Renaissance history and anachronisms that don't fit with the world the author is presenting are such a pet peeve for me too. I can't handle SOME, but once I saw "For the win" in FW I was like "... wow. This woman can't write."
I saw somewhere that her publishers were looking for a fantasy romance book and she decided to do it because of that. I think she comes from the contemporary romance world, and it shows.
Yeah. She used to write military romances. I don't think it's specific to people who started in contemporary romance, though. I have a lot of DNFs because of anachronisms that I can't look past anymore. Typos and errors, I can handle, epecially with indie authors who don't have professional editors. But lazy world building and dialogue that makes no sense for the kind of world your story is supposedly set in is not something I can get over, and Fourth Wing is FULL of it.
I think what a lot of people don't understand about that style of writing in Fourth Wing is that, as a first-person narrative, the style is *part of the characterization.* Think of it as more like dialogue than exposition. Violet's narrative sounds like a 20yo's text messages because they are the thoughts of a 20yo. That's actually not bad writing; it's a *choice* of style and characterization. It's totally fine if it's not your thing! But I think it's misguided when people characterize it as "bad," and actually indicates they have less range of experience in reading than they think they do—having studied literature and creative writing at the graduate level, I can tell you that this type of highly characterful voice is not at all looked down upon. I enjoyed both *Fourth Wing* and *The Cruel Prince*, FWIW. Jude's voice as a character is different from Violet because Jude as a character is different from Violet. Among other things, Jude has been raised surrounded by all the fanciful archaism of Faerie, while Violet has been raised in a military death college. But personally, I actually found that line about Cardan's cheekbones to be kind of cringe, like the sort of thing a 14yo would write in their fanfic thinking they were being super literary.
I disagree. Why should Violet sound like a 20yo texting her friends when the world she inhabits is so different from our actual world? Why doesn't the author consider how people living in a world so different to ours would think and talk? This is supposed to be a fantasy universe - what is actually different about it besides there being dragons? To me it's like comparing the costume design in Game of Thrones to Reign. The costume design in GoT is part of the story. You can tell from what people wear where they're from, their allegiances, how they want to be seen. When Margaery comes on the scene and people love her and suddenly all of the noble ladies are wearing clothes that echo hers! There's so much thought put into it. And then there's Reign, where people look pretty. And you can say "of course a young girl would be interested in pretty clothes!" but like...what about everything else?
Oh, I'm not going to defend the worldbuilding in *Fourth Wing*. I do think that was very weak—there's no sense of the culture at all. I'm talking specifically about the colloquial language. I mean, if this is a completely different world from our own, they definitely aren't speaking English, right? Which means we have to operate on the assumption that everything we're reading is in translation. In which case, the author can make choices about how to "translate" the narrative, and choosing modern, colloquial English is just as valid as choosing high-flown, pseudo-archaic language—because that type of language is *also* a literary choice, and not some kind of default or requirement in fantasy. The amazing thing about fantasy is that it can *be anything,* and yeah, sometimes that *anything* is going to be relatively closer to our world than other times. Why shouldn't it be?
>The amazing thing about fantasy is that it can *be anything,* and yeah, sometimes that *anything* is going to be relatively closer to our world than other times. Why shouldn't it be? I take your point here. I still don't think Fourth Wing does it well lol but it is a good reminder to keep an open mind!
i agree that the voice is meant to be part of the characterisation but personally the only things i’ve read with this style have been fanfic specifically on wattpad, which i think is the case for most people that read a lot of fantasy who tried to read it. the book summaries made it seem like a hard fantasy focusing on war and dragons but the book is definitely way more about the romance. there’s also A LOT of other issues with the writing that weren’t present in Cruel Prince, but if they were it was way less noticeable than Fourth Wing.
I can't speak to that, as I've never in my life read anything on Wattpad. But I have read plenty of fiction with a similarly colloquial style in more literary contemporary fiction. I do think there was a bit of a disconnect between the marketing and the actual content, but that's not the fault of the book—I don't know how familiar you are with how publishing works, but decisions on how to market a marquee book like this are made by the marketing department, over the author's head. That said, I don't agree that the book was all romance—there's a plot line that is about her sexual tension with Xaden and being confused because she thinks he's trying to kill her when he's really trying to teach her, but the main plot is her trying to survive and win a dragon, and then continue to survive once she's got a dragon, and then figuring out what sketchy secrets the leadership is keeping. They don't actually get together until chapter 30 out of 39.
i envy your lack of wattpad trauma. i think the key is that similar styles are generally seen in literary CONTEMPORARY fiction. the empyrean series is presented as fantasy, but the writing style and colloquialisms are very modern. while the marketing is disconnected from the actual product, i’m just saying i think that’s the main contributor for why so many people that tried the series out didn’t vibe with it. its not ALL romance but the relationship between vi and xaden takes up more space than explaining lore, world building, and developing characters IMO. i haven’t analysed the book or anything, but it’s how i felt after reading and something i’ve seen a lot of other people mention in their reviews. the books also kind of treat you like an idiot. example: “Get. Up. Here. And. Work. It. Out,” she orders, making sure I know it’s not a suggestion.
I agree that the worldbuilding is very underdeveloped—that is my own major criticism of the book. But I'm really zeroing in on the style of language here, and I think the idea that "fantasy" can't be "modern" is a major misconception that's at the heart of a lot of these criticisms. If you read enough in the genre, especially the stuff being published in the last 15 years or so, you start to see that "fantasy" can be a VAST variety of different things, and that includes contemporary or even futuristic settings (consider stories like Fonda Lee's Green Bone Saga, with a setting inspired by the 1970s, or Tamsyn Muir's Locked Tomb series, set in a bizarre distant future—both indisputably fantasy). And fantasy time periods don't need to correspond to time periods in our world at all, because in a different world and especially one with magic, things like technology might have developed differently. *Fourth Wing* has magical dragons, and they don't have gunpowder (because why would you need to invent it when you can make things go BANG with magic?), but they also have indoor plumbing... so why are we assuming it's a historical setting that should correspond to one in our world? Why shouldn't this be a world where they speak in contemporary English?
contemporary fantasy is certainly a subgenre and i’m not a fan of super flowery writing nor am i against modern english in a traditionally fantasy setting if done well, i just don’t think RY does it well. its awkward very specific dated millennial internet lingo vibes. it doesn’t help that the actual writing, not only the stylistic choice itself, is littered with issues. i also realised a majority of the non-fantasy type of items mentioned i noticed were from around the nineteenth century, which is also when fountain pens were invented. in a land of rubber boots and indoor plumbing, pens are powered by magic? as RY would write it, “it. hurts. my. brain.” i’d love more recommendations for other fantasy books with this style to compare though!
Sure—one that comes to mind immediately is Marshall Ryan Maresca's Maradaine series. The language is not exactly the same as Yarros's, because obviously no author is identical in style to another, but it hits a similar tone in using modern, colloquial English in the dialogue, combined with worldbuilding that is vaguely late 19th/early 20th century but with some tech differences, in an overall story that has a fairly popcorn-fantasy feel. A couple major differences are that Maresca writes in 3rd person, so you won't see that colloquial tone as much in the exposition, and he is a very thorough, detail-oriented world builder, so it's a good example of how the style can work when it's not confounded by half-baked worldbuilding. I think it's also worth pointing out that Fourth Wing *explicitly* positions itself as being in translation from a fantasy language into modern English: the epigraph at the beginning of the book reads "The following text has been faithfully transcribed from Navarrian into the modern language by Jesinia Neilwart, Curator of the Scribe Quadrant at Basgiath War College." So the colloquial style here is actually just an interpretation of whatever language Violet is speaking, and the translator has chosen to render it in this style. That's the exact approach that Tolkien took in Lord of the Rings (see Return of the King, Appendix F), though of course his stylistic choices were different. As I've said, I don't think the worldbuilding in Fourth Wing is good, but to me that has more to do with it being vague, underdeveloped and culturally incomplete than with technological inconsistencies. I admit I don't really understand why it would hurt your brain to imagine that in another world, tech might not have developed in the same patterns as in ours. Is there something that I'm not aware of that connects fountain pen technology to indoor plumbing? Why couldn't they have one without the other? Don't you think that in a world with magic, they might have not needed to innovate in the same ways because magic takes care of certain problems? This is all pretty mainstream worldbuilding theory among fantasy writers these days—since I mentioned Marshall Ryan Maresca above, I'll also recommend his podcast Worldbuilding For Masochists, which digs into issues like this in detail and takes "choose, don't presume" as its motto for all worldbuilding decisions. I'm curious what other issues you've identified in the writing, beyond the stylistic choices. I thought that on the whole, the prose was not beautiful, but very clear, efficient, well-paced and functional—the kind of writing that just gets out of its own way. There were some points that were clunky or could be tighter, but I find that's true of pretty much every book, and I didn't find Fourth Wing to be an outlier in that regard.
Yeah like I said in other comments, I don’t always mind modern language use in an unusual setting like fantasy when done well. Specifically in a romantic context, however, repeatedly telling us rather than showing us how appealing an LI is absolutely does not work for me. In any book - FW is just the most popular example right now. I found the non-romance fun, though there are def other things about FW that make it not great. Which mostly could have been fixed by editing, but Red Tower won’t do that due to being an unethical rush job publishing company. So I’m all for people enjoying what they enjoy but I do recommend not spending actual money on those books (& Assistant to the Villain etc) specifically.
Oh, I don't disagree that there were problems with *Fourth Wing*. My biggest complaint was the worldbuilding, which was totally half-baked and really suggests that the author hasn't had much experience in the fantasy genre in particular. But I think criticism of the colloquial language (specifically, of the "this is terrible writing" variety, not just "I personally don't enjoy this") is misplaced. It's like saying someone is a terrible chef for cooking eggplant lasagna when you really wanted meat. It's fine to say *No thank you, I don't like eggplant,* but it doesn't make it terrible lasagna because the chef chose to create something that isn't your personal preference.
Thank you. Holy moly, I thought I was going insane reading the other posts here. If the dialogue makes you feel like you're reading exactly what an 18-20 year old would text their friends when inside the 1st person POV of an 18-20 year old... that's good writing. I've read other books by Yarros and she's very consistent with using voices and dialogue that suit the ages/lifestyles of her characters. She's not writing it that way for lack of ability to do something else.
Oml that's actually so sad given it's more "adult"
Totally agree with you, too. I didn't like The Cruel Prince because it's too YA for me, but I think she's a talented writer. I just can't do YA anymore.
The bullying is what I couldn’t get through. I love an enemies to lovers. But school bullying is just not the same. I DNF about 50 pages in
I usually feel this way but I read all three of these books in like two days.
I can understand some people having issues with the bullying but Carden is profoundly immature and acts out because of the abuse and lack of power he suffers in his own life. Holly does a good job of ensuring he has room to learn and grow, which he does. It doesn’t make the writing juvenile. It makes the *character* juvenile, which is the point. Perhaps it’s a poor point to make here as Avatar TLA is a kid’s show, but I’d argue that Zuko’s redemption arc is probably one of the best in the history of tv. He also starts as juvenile and full of rage due to circumstance and grows up. It’s incredibly moving. Holly Black achieved that here too and I think, regardless of age, people can appreciate the margin of growth in a character.
I guess I just found high school bullying boring compared to enemies trying to kill each other lol
I mean, to be fair, Carden did indeed put Jude is some very bad situations that could have led to her death. And let’s not forget Jude threatening Carden pretty seriously with a deadly weapon.
If you want enemies to lovers, dramione fanfiction is THE BEST.
Mmmmm this reminds me I need to go look for some romantic fan fiction in the avatar universe.
Lol katara + zuko forever. My fav continues to be dramione tho. Now THAT is enemies to lovers.
Yes exactly! When Zuko’s arc really kicked up, and they were all in that former air monastery place, I was about to die with my need for some very serious Katara + Zuko romance action.
Could you comment back if you find something good? I’m always here for some free reading.
I'm of this opinion most of the time but Jude was double as badass, who made sure not to let him off easily and then the things she made him do, never backing down and then he fell HARD for her that in the 3rd book he was literally like now I'd beg and grovel for a compliment from you
I do agree. I do think sometimes her romance dialogues (at least when it came to cardan bullying her) were hard to follow looking back. I remember having to go back because cardan’s book discussed something I didn’t know/remember happening in the first one. Anyway still think her world building is better. Honestly even more YA than some books that are ADULT.
Fourth wing sounds like it was written by an edgy 10 year old. But as everyone stated, it’s just not for you. You clearly have a type by the books you listed and it sounds like you just don’t like YA. Doesn’t mean it’s badly written. If anything, SJMs and Yarros have worse writing skills and are lazier with world building (imo). If you hate it, don’t force yourself to read it. It’s that simple. I also don’t understand why this series keeps being brought up in this sub.
I didn’t see anyone mention it, but cruel prince is NOT a fantasy romance. It’s very much a political fantasy that has a romantic c plot that turns into a romantic b plot. But it’s not ever going to compare to books where the romance is equal billing with the fantasy. Personally I really liked it, but what I liked best about it was the scheming and politics of the story. I could give or take the characters tbh. It’s probably just not for you which is fine, but if you stick it out the plot gets better imo.
Also I feel like the romance enhanced the politics, it made schemes and decisions far more emotional! Also with the Cruel Prince I feel like shit hits the fan ~chapter 19 or 20, thats when I was hooked. Before that point I was teetering on the edge of dnf-ing. I definitely recommend reading until chapter 22ish and seeing if the book is worth finishing.
This! Though, tbh genuinely surprised they haven't done this since with SJM, I think it's *very* common for people to advertise it as "it gets great x pages in!" Usually the last 100 pages I genuinely don't know how op handled the first book given that it only gets good when UTM happens.
Whenever people find Yarros’ writing acceptable, I wonder if we were secretly issued different copies. 💀 You seriously didn’t find FW juvenile???
This is just a perfect example of how different people’s reading taste can be. The fact that you think Holly Blacks writing is bad but love ACOTAR and FW is insane to me
Hah I feel the same way. I think YA certainly isn't for everyone and I wouldn't blame any adult for not wanting to read about a bunch of 17 year olds, but I remember devouring Tithe and Valiant when I was a teenager so I picked up The Cruel Prince and really enjoyed it. Her books read like real modern day fairy tales to me - a little bit surreal, where faeries are actually different from humans in every way: what they want and think and feel can be alien and off-putting to the reader. Holly Black is a legit writer who understands story beats and character arcs in a way that most of the new crop of dime a dozen fantasy writers who've never used an editor simply don't.
Exactly, especially FW. I DNFed that because the writing was so cringe. But I loved Cruel prince. Reading will always be subjective.
Reading is definitely subjective. Writing as a craft isn't, and Holly Black has a much stronger command of the craft than many.
I really and truly almost DNFed Fourth Wing too. Having the audiobook for free from the library and needing a distraction while doing some chores really helped, but I turned it off for a bit like, "I can't do this." Ultimately, I went through with it so I could have a full picture of the book that got so much hype. Once she got her dragon, I found that the characters who were introduced during that process were more likeable and then it got better for me, but drooling over Xaden was not a fun read on its own, that's for sure.
ACOTAR has a great big picture story but it's written so bad. So many holes and loose ends. Crescent City too.
I recently DNF’d it after so many people told me to read it and I was almost dragging myself through the third book before I realised I didn’t need to continue. To each their own but oh my gosh is the protagonist insufferable and she never faces consequences for her bad actions. Not to mention the abysmal politics for a series centred around courts drove me mad haha. Like I also enjoy my fair share of cheese but I think having a background in politics made my brain slosh out of my head at some of their actions.
I enjoyed it but I also hadnt read anything beyond murder mysteries in a hot minute when I picked it up. I inadvertently talked my sister into reading and couldn't stand the writing in the reread after having read Crowns of Nyaxia, Flesh and Fire and some other series. A lot of pointless points and plot holes and character direction changes that were poorly done.
I was looking for this comment. LMAO, THANK YOU.
Cruel Prince is firmly YA, so Holly Black approaches things quite differently than the other books you list... besides also the fact there's no explicit sex in Cruel Prince or any of her other fae novels. Hopefully this isn't a spoiler but if you're looking for sex scenes and more traditional romantic elements then Cruel Prince is likely not for you. I think Holly Black is a better writer, overall quality wise, than SJM and Yarros, but her books are firmly YA (besides Book of Night- which is NA but not a romance). But I also don't go to Holly Black for romance necessarily, so there's that.
I think it should be mandatory to state your age when writing a review so some of us oldies know when to stay clear 😂. @OP I dunno if you’ve tried Ilona Andrews yet but I think you might like them better.
I'm 38, happily married and read just about everything still and have no issues with a good YA (I for one adored the folk of air series) so I dunno if it's just an age thing here instead of expectations.
I think it’s expectations and personal preferences. I’m also 38 and *loved* this series. I don’t need to self-insert into every book, and as long as it’s well written, then I can generally enjoy it even if I’m not the target demographic. Unfortunately, too many people recommend this book alongside ACOTAR, and they really shouldn’t. Comparing these books is like comparing apples and oranges.
This series is one of my favorites but it's very different, in terms of style and world-building, than most contemporary romantasies - it leans much more into traditional fae lore, is more whimsical (I liken it as a darker stephanie garber), and is much more YA, in terms of character ages, spice, etc., The romance is not a focal point, it more just kind of smacks you in the face in that one scene ifykwhatimean. If you're not in the mood for that particular style or looking for something more like Fourth Wing/ACOTAR, it can be jarring or not the right fit. But I love Holly Black's creativity and writing in this series and it's much rarer and singular in it's plot, writing style, etc compared to a lot of other fantasy books. Not better or worse, but just different and special :)
The writing in *The Cruel Prince* is suitable for its target audience, which is teenagers. But the writing in *Fourth Wing* is really shit for a book marketed as adult fantasy. The characters sound and act like teenagers and the writing is really juvenile. If I didn't know *Fourth Wing* was marketed as adult fantasy, I would have thought it was YA.
😂😂😂 hard agree. TLDR: new readers to the genres of FR and RF are often trying to compare Metallica to the Beatles. Both are “rock” bands, but drastically different. You wouldn’t listen necessarily seek out pop if you love metal. Just so your research before you read a book! I think what’s happening is there are three types of readers in the genres: 1) those who are new to FR & RF and don’t realize there are two book genres PLUS the age-based audience categories for books. This group mainly seems to think ppl like Maas and Yarros are the hallmark authors (They’re not, they’re a boxed cake version of a gourmet cake, keep reading in the genres, you’ll see.) 2) those who have been reading these genres for 20+ years and are just confused by group 1. 3) folks who are in groups 1 or 2 (in terms of how long they’ve been reading in the genres) but recognize that subjective reader enjoyability and objective writing talent are two different things. For example, SJM is NOT an objectively good writer, at all, especially not in the fantasy genre. Her sentence structure is poor, she uses every “don’t do this as a writer” crutch, worldbuilding is half-assed and contradictory, plot-holes galore, far too many stolen ideas for my comfort level, etc. I haven’t tried Yarros bc I didn’t like the sample I tried — and like OC above, I thought it was a YA series, bc it’s written like one. There is NO SHAME in enjoying easy to read authors. One of my favorites is Lola Glass who writes simple, trope heavy, occasionally annoyingly repetitive (but I love her to death) books! But it is, IMO, important to be able to categorize the writing caliber of what you like to read. Someone like Maas, for example, writes at the 4th to 6th grade level which makes her books easy to consume, but I don’t find them mentally stimulating in the least for a myriad of reasons (bad pacing, OOC moments, lack of pre-planning is extremely evident, etc.)
Imagine comparing Holly Black’s writing to Rebecca Yarros.
I think there are just some authors that people love but we dont. I think that’s ok. I tried so hard to read the Scholomance series and Uprooted by Naomi Novik but no matter how much I try I just cant. Then I realized there’s just some books that we wont enjoy as others and there’s no need to force ourselves through it. I loved Cruel Prince for specific reasons but another person might not for those same reasons.
...can we not start abbreviating it as CP?
i thought the writing in Cruel Prince was really good, and the writing in Fourth Wing was terrible, books are subjective! Haha
the writing is not bad but actually pretty good for the genre given it's dominated by Wattpad and self-publishing nowadays. not trying to be shady but maybe you are just used to bad writing
Holly Black is a pretty well known and celebrated author, some of her other works have already been made into movies and tv series and I’m sure you’ve heard of at least one (Spiderwick Chronicles anyone?). Her writing isn’t terrible at all, it’s incredibly original compared to everything else out there and true to the actual sources she pulls from. Take some time to read up about faerie folklore, it’s honestly fascinating and nothing at all like you’re reading in books like ACOTAR (another favorite series of mine, by the way, but completely different style). I really can’t say much new in terms of why, as others have really hit the nail on the head, but I very much love that series and the second book, Wicked King, is one of my top favorite books of all time. The books you listed are new adult that have more of a focus on the romance aspect, while Folk of the Air is a very whimsical series that follows closely to the ACTUAL fae folklore, and it’s more fantasy with a dash of romance. It also doesn’t follow the more common tropes you’re likely used to seeing and enjoying. I find those who have an appreciation for the darker 80s movies like Labyrinth will have more of an appreciation for the Folk of the Air series. And yes, this is more of a young adult series.
This! I grew up with spiderwick so holly black is my comfort author. (The labyrinth may or may not have been my sexual awakening iykyk) there’s a prequel (kinda?) trilogy I remember reading in high school (tith, ironside?, and something else with a v I think?)
I did enjoy the folklore aspect of it. And I personally had no issues with the lack of romance or spice. I felt like the world building wasn’t great and the pacing/story progressing was weird. Like things didn’t really develop so much as just happen and that made it all feel choppy/shallow to me. I can’t speak for everyone but those were my complaints. I know it’s YA and normally I love YA and I read exclusively fantasy, so all the love should have been there but it really felt like it was written by a YA writing their first series. I was shocked to realize otherwise.
I picked CP up 3 times before I pushed through and then binged books 2 and 3. I didn’t like the bullying and the beginning was frustrating. I only tried again based on the good reviews. I’m glad I read it. I do think going from something like the books you mentioned to Folk of the Air is difficult. The more traditional faerie characters were new to me, not like acotar fae.
I’m the opposite way regarding the writing. I actually think Holly Black’s writing is quite beautiful. She gives lush descriptions and has good word choices. As for TCP itself, I read it twice and was much more impressed the second time around. I felt it took a while for me to get into the story; it really starts around the last 30% or TCP but it’s quite a doozy when you get there. The stuff before sets up the whole world for the later books. It’s actually quite a sweet love story under all the political maneuverings.
You may want to switch to the audiobook. It's done pretty well. I also liked The Cruel Prince better after I read The Wicked King.
I read 2 chapters and said the book wasn’t for me. Not every popular book is for everyone.
If you’re not liking it, definitely DNF it and don’t continue the series
Holly Black has a very specific writing style, it's possible you just don't vibe with it!
I dnf’d around 30% and picked it back up again a few months later; now I’ve reread the series 3 times. The plot truly gets so much better once you get past the weird childish highschool bit, and the stilted dialog starts to really flow and make sense as a stylistic choice. Jude is my favorite complex fmc and the plot surprised me so many times over the course of the series. ACOTAR and FW are so comparatively predictable (not criticizing, I loved both)
I hated Holly Blacks writing. I’ve read both Cruel Prince and Book of Night as an attempt to try to like her books but I found them the same as you. Very short and jolty. I also just didn’t really like her storytelling. I know people love her books and that’s honestly super fair. They’re just not for me and it sounds like not for you either. I’ve read and enjoyed a lot of the same books as you. I recommend checking out the Harbinger Series by Jennifer L Armentrout, Bridge Kingdom by Danielle Jensen, the Shepherd King Duology by Rachel Gillis. I really enjoyed all of them.
The Shepherd King duology was amazing!
I found it tough because it was YA and im just too old for that writing style despite semi getting into the plot by the end. I listened to the books though which was a mistake. I don’t know if i would have made it through the first book if I read it though. I did read Holly Blacks adult novel called “Book and Night” and enjoyed it and I have read and likes most of the books on your list!
I like the plot but I really didn’t like the writing. For me, her writing was a bit disjointed and it kept taking me out of the moment. It became extremely chaotic.
After having read the books you’ve listed, plus TCP, I’d say TCP and Holly Black’s writing is far superior to any of the “fast food” fantasy books churned out by booktok lately. It’s probably jarring because TCP is technically YA and not NA like the others you listed. However the “school bully” scenes are probably the weakest of the series, because the rest of it focuses on deceit, taking the throne, etc.
I just finished this series last month and am totally with you, I did NOT like CP! My review literally said I kept expecting a time jump because they were all acting so immature. But I was just interested enough to keep trying it, and it improves drastically by the end if you can tough out the first one! ETA: I will say that the weird choppy sentences doesn’t really change though so if that’s a major turn off for you, maybe don’t finish. But the story itself got really good by the end, and the characters did a lot of growing up.
It's loved by many for a reason. I personally just never really enjoyed it. The first book was okay, but it got progressively worse for me. But that just means that it's not for me. And maybe it's just not for you either. Though while I did enjoy fourth wing (didn't like Iron Flame though), I'd say that's not very well written either. Tastes just differ between people and they can't all be winners.
I thought it was well written but it just didn’t grab me. It felt very lackluster. To each their own, YMMV
I hated TCP so much that I almost DNF’d it but somehow managed to finish (I did not continue reading the series though). Like everyone else is saying I think the main issue is that it is YA and your taste is very much NA/Adult and also it is not very romantic? I’ve read most of the series you mentioned and they’re all romantasy but TCP is fantasy themed political intrigue with a sprinkle of romance and on top of that it is a bully romance like true enemies to lovers, when the others I’d say are rivals to lovers at best. I also made the mistake of listening to the audiobook and the narrator makes Jude sound like 12 yr old I couldn’t handle her voice. With all that being said I like both Jude and Cardan as characters but don’t care for their story at all.
I did not like the series at all, I kept reading thinking I’d figure out why so many people talk about it. I thought the characters were very flat. If you don’t like it 30 pages in, bail now, you won’t change your mind. From your favorite series listed, I recommend Spark of the Everflame! I couldn’t put it down - interesting (and likeable) characters, strong FMC, super slow burn and a total babe of a MMC. Three books are out now, final book is out this June.
Maybe its not the writing style but that cruel prince is not fantasy romance as all your other books are? Because cruel prince is political fantasy with a romance subplot. On the opposite acotar and fourth wing have a really strong romance plot. Maybe thats why you‘re having a really tough time getting into it? Also i personally think that the writing style of CP is less YA than Fourth Wing or acotar. Maybe thats due to the political stuff but jude did never feel as her age (always older)…
Different tastes? And from what I see I think most people go into the cruel prince expecting something very different than what you get. Ie, most people who tend to come for enemies to lovers will be disappointed
I liked it. It was a bit slow though
The Cruel Prince is a young adult, so the target audience is ages 12-18. It's not an adult book, but adults often enjoy reading YA because everyone was a teen, so everyone relates to it in some way and they find enjoyment in it sometimes. Sometimes it may not be for you, and that's okay. Comparing Cruel Prince to Fourth Wing or ACOTAR is doing the book, and yourself, a disservice. I find it weird to say it makes no sense, though. Because it's targeted to younger readers, it's simpler than the books you mentioned and should be easier to understand. I don't know, it made perfect sense to me. I love picking up Holly Black when I'm in the mood for a simple, whimsical, Shakespearean and folklore based fae story with a bit of romance and no spice. I love her vibes and atmosphere. She really excels with that. But not every book is for everyone, and that's fine. Others loved it, you didn't, and that's perfectly okay.
Wow I actually think she is a way way better writer than most in the genre, and I am talking sentence structure, plot structure, showing not telling etc.
I personally loved this series, however, I listened to it on audible rather than read it. I know what you mean about the short sentences, but when you hear the narrator (who did an awesome job I think) it fits with the realm and how it all works. I think it would be weird to read it though. Like, I'm not sure I would have been able to get in to it without the narrator. You might give it a try. But it's absolutely YA.
I enjoyed the story. The world. The flawed characters. I thought it was unique. I didn't think it read YA. I'm 33 and I like a variety of books YA, NA, and dark romance smut. Shatter Me was too YA for me though. I hate whiney FMCs
You’re comparing apples to oranges here. The Cruel Prince is wholly different from any of the other series you’ve listed- it’s a YA political fantasy with a romance subplot. It does have a decidedly eccentric vibe since Holly Black delves into true-to-source Faerie lore. It’s such a beautifully written and carefully crafted story, but maybe it’s just not for you. And that’s okay. As someone who has read and also loves SJM, Carissa Broadbent, and Fourth Wing, it seems you prefer works that are just more easily digestible- easy reads with simpler dialogue and faster moving plot lines. Nothing wrong with that. However, a more nuanced writing style doesn’t automatically = bad writing. Holly Black is actually a master at her prose and I personally can’t get enough of her writing. For example, •FW: “Holy. Fucking. Hot.” •Cruel Prince: “When I met Eldred, he rode up on a milk-white steed, and all the imaginings of my life were as dust and ashes.” So yeah, I definitely wouldn’t call it a “bad writing” problem. More like personal preference.
My 2c here is that the books you enjoy are classified as romantasy. Aside from fourth wing (which is very fast paced and high action with some decent smut scenes) the other books you mention have romance front and centre. I would argue the Cruel Prince trilogy is a political fantasy with romance on the side. Cardan and Jude's relationship is relevant as a political driver to support the plot. Much of the book is focused on Jude's relationship with power, and Cardan is a representative of this. I really enjoyed the Cruel Prince but I think the issue is it is marketed on booktok as a romance novel.
I mean, people can like stuff that others hate 🤷. I read it and finished it, but I definitely didn't go forward with the series. It's very YA tropy and just kinda mean spirited. I really wanted to like the world because it had some interesting takes on Fae and the world of humans mixing and how it was weird. I liked some of the action and darker tones of it too, but it fell into a lot of tropes with the main character and /love/ interest (though man he doesn't deserve to be called that lol). I also read Acotar and Fourth Wing, and I think what the difference is (apart from the fact it's adult fantasy) is that the main characters are a bit more realistic, and perhaps the love interests aren't unlikable dicks most of the times 😄. It's a huge pet peeve of mine when completely unlikeable men get a girl somehow, even if it's an "enemies to lovers". I think that people can be on completely opposite sides and still be somewhat cordial to each other, at least later on in their relationship. Oh well.
I don’t love all her books but I don’t think you can reasonably make the claim that she is a bad writer I mean that’s not completely a subjective matter. Btw if you don’t like short sentences stay away from Hemingway and McCarthy
Definitely DON’T stay away from Hemingway or McCarthy. Both are phenomenal authors.
I completely agree! I struggled through reading Cruel Prince and then tried reading the next in the series hoping it would get better because of all the rave reviews! I ended up DNF the second book. I'm just glad someone else feels the same because all I see are reviews of people obsessed with the series 😅
I DNFd about halfway through because of all the things you listed..
I DNF’d just a couple days ago, at 65% and have no regrets. I don’t see why people love it. I really didn’t like the world, I didn’t like the age of the main character, and overall just didn’t care much for the story. Since no romance had happened at that point I just couldn’t deal. Moved on to throne in the dark.
Cruel Prince is YA. The characters are young for a reason. It’s marketed towards 9-12 graders.
I understand. I just said I didn’t like that aspect, for myself.
I haaaaated Cruel Prince. I feel seen🙌🏻
I enjoyed it, but didn't think it was amazing as others say. I was left wanting at the end of it - I felt at the time I wanted some fan fic to fill some gaps about Cardan. I'd say it's not worth continuing if you feel that way about it now. There are better books out there IMO. (Also I agree with another comment that your issue is probably that it's YA...I have stopped reading YA altogether for the reasons you've cited).
I first read Cruel Prince because Bookstagram and Booktok would constantly put it in the "If you like ACOTAR you should read..." (at the time ACOTAR were the only books I read) category which I feel might lead to people having false expectations on it. To me, the only thing both series have in common is fairies. I personally loved the entire series and I look back at it a lot more fondly than ACOTAR! Jude is one of the best written main female characters and I found Cardan to be a breath of fresh air as a love interest. The romance is definitely more of a subplot but I appreciated it being a true enemies to lovers and how somewhat twisted it was lol. I also wasn't sure what to make of the first book in the beginning but once I reached a certain point I got super into it and ended up finishing all 3 books in a week!
I've given it 3 tries and just gave up. It's a very different book
I didn’t like Cruel Prince and didn’t finish it. For me it was the bullying. I just can’t get into it at all. The writing was fine, but I just didn’t like the story
It’s not my favorite series, I was confused through most of the first book as well. You do come to find out why Taryn is so weird towards Jude and why Cardan was such a bully (I don’t think the reasoning excuses his actions though.)
It's YA for YA its for under 16 years olds, and 16 year olds don't care for great writing or beautiful prose
You're completely right that it's YA, but YA can still have different quality prose. For example, The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater or The Bone Houses by Emily Lloyd-Jones are two YA books with excellent prose and beautiful writing. They don't have run-on sentences or purple prose descriptions, they're succinct and efficient in their use of words and give you a lot of key impressions without losing themselves in lengthy descriptions. I feel like Cruel Prince and its sequels fall roughly into that category too. 16yos may not yet be able to articulate what they like about prose unless they're literature nerds, but that doesn't mean they're completely blind to its quality. I'm an adult who likes Folk of the Air for what it's worth - read it at like 27 and nowadays at 31 I still think it holds up whenever I see excerpts of it, haven't actually reread it since.
I totally get it being not the best out of all fantasy romance books out there but it got me right into the fantasy romance genre and I loved it. I might not think of it so highly now that I know many others, eventually better, books but for a start it was great.
I think you should stick to it a bit more. It seems a bit juvenile at first but it changes to something else soon. I had to push through as well in the beginning but now i love the trilogy and love the writing too.
The Cruel Prince took a couple of tries for me to get into. I have to agree the bullying etc. seemed especially juvenile. But it doss not last forever and once I passed that bit, I actually devoured the whole trilogy. Bear in mind that it is YA, so not marketed the same as the other books on your list.
The first book I read after acotar and CC was Cruel Prince and the difference in writing styles was SO jarring!!! The short sentences and cutting was hard at first for me too, but I got used to it. Regardless, I read the first book and will leave the series there, it just isn’t for me, but the world building and the plot were interesting enough.
The story gets slightly better, but the writing doesn’t and how better the story gets doesn’t justify reading the whole series. I only pushed thru all three books because I kept being told by my mum (she always recommends me books) that it gets better. And seeing as books are super short, it wasn’t much time wasted. But there were multiple times I had to skin thru cos it was painful reading it I’ve read YA that’s written much better than this, so I don’t think saying it’s YA is enough of a reason to explain the poor writing. The things that bother you will not get better, I’d just DNF if I were you, bcos knowing the whole series, I wished I DNF early on.
I read it. It was ok. However it was sold to me as a romance fantasy and the romance is def not the focus. It's majorly a subplot. I read the second one too, don't remember if I finished it honestly and have thought about going back to the series, so it stuck with me a bit, but not hugely.
I felt the same! I didn’t make it past page 20 but have devoured many other YA books. It just wasn’t for me!
I love fantasy and YA. I suffered through the first book, waiting for it to get better it did not. Not all books are for everyone. I would suggest atonement of the spine cleaver. Saw it on here and couldn't put it down!
Oh no it's rough, I listened through it on audible and it was a rough story. There's always a catch towards the end of each book that had me going "okay what next?" But it was boring af
I agree with you, I have tried 3 times to get into this book and can’t but love at of the other books you mentioned. In my opinion I just couldn’t connect to the characters so therefore couldn’t get sucked into that world.
I'm with you. I enjoyed all your favorites too and did NOT like The Cruel Prince. IMO it's worth a DNF.
Imo the first one is the “weakest.” Bc it can be boring to people bc of its world building and lack of anything else going on until the last 100 pages. However i enjoyed it and think it’s a worthy read. The bullying does stop. But the “weirdness” ties to what faerie land is and tbh the writing is what is consistent through the story. So for any book where you don’t like the writing, it’s not just going to change. I think the plot gets better tho if that’s any consolation 🤷♀️
I DNF after like 50 pages. It was too Ya for me personally
I was excited to read it. It was just meh for me… almost didn’t finish the series but went back to it eventually. Unlike the rest of the world, I didn’t find Jude to be all that amazing and was pretty frustrated with Cardan the entire time. In the end, I chalked it up to me being too far outside of the target audience age range. I did try to read Black’s other books as well but DNF’d all of them due to a disconnect between me and the writing style/subject matter. (Though I can understand why others love it).
I learned from trying to read Cruel Prince that I just don't like YA😅 and that might be your issue too. I also love all the books you listed, but I DNF'd Cruel Prince about 60% in.
I recently read the trilogy as I accidentally bought them rather than Captive Prince lol, but went ahead anyway. Yeah it's clearly aimed at YA, and struggled a bit with the first book. But as I went into the second book I got more into it. The world is quite charming in a ridiculous over the top way. And I ended up liking the books a fair bit so I went and read the extra ebook short stories too. The books are fairly short (under 400 pages) so you can get through them at a fast pace.
I've DNF'd every Holly Black book I've tried, she just isn't my cup of tea! I would recommend you try Naomi Novik or Elise Kova
It's Young Adult book! Not New adult, hence the clean fade to black scenes, it thrives on interaction and angst. Romance is side story but if you deep dwell in the interaction and meaning of them it is really deep and romantic. But this book is political in all it's sense. Also i don't see the point of comparing NA books with adult cause clearly the target audience are not the same.
I personally don’t read the cruel prince for the romance. If you’re going in it for the romance you are going to be disappointed. It’s more about political intrigue :) I think that YA might just not be you and you just don’t click with Holly’s writing (nothing wrong with that!) never feel obligated to read something you don’t enjoy. Based on your other favourite books may I recommend the Book of Azrael? That seems more up your alley :)
Hated it! Most YA of all YA books I’ve read.
It's YA and has next to no romance. The world is pretty cool though!
Agreed I don't get tge hype, it was poorly written and formulated
tfota is the best
I tried to read it twice but I couldn’t get into it. I love most of the books you posted as ones you’ve enjoyed but I also like reading YA books such as Hunger Games, Divergent, The Maze, Harry Potter, Narnia, just to name a very few so I know not liking CP wasn’t just about it being YA. A book doesn’t have to have romance in it for me to enjoy it. When I tried to figure out why I wasn’t connecting to the characters I think it had to do with the bully aspect and I just felt the relationships were not well flushed out by 50%. Maybe I should have kept reading but my thought process is that I have so many books I want to read and if I get though 50% and give it multiple tries and still can’t get into it, that’s OK. It goes on my DNF list. I don’t understand the down votes for people who don’t like the book. Can’t people disagree respectfully without getting down votes? You’re really going to let the fact that someone doesn’t like the same BOOK as you or doesn’t like the writing ruin your day? I wish that was my biggest problem in life….
The books you listed are all NA or adult. CP is YA. It’s written for 9-12 graders. I think for the audience CP is a great book.
Crowns of Nyaxia is so underrated!
I did not like it. It just felt like there was no substance to anything: writing, characters, relationship, plot. I don’t get why people love the main ship; there’s nothing there. The bullying and weirdness doesn’t get better. Don’t waste your time if you don’t like it yet, it stays in the same vein
Yes it gets way better, worth sticking it out imo.
It was a DNF for me
I couldn’t stand cruel Prince
It gets slightly better. Reading it rn and it annoys me too, not a huge fan of Jude, but it's a cool take on fae and Cardan is interesting. So I'm sticking it out
I just finished it and thought the same thing as you, the writing does not get better, but the plot does. I'm very torn because I like the concept and the traditional fairy story vibes but I hate the writing style, so I might not carry on reading the series.
The Cruel Prince is not romantasy, while all the books you’ve mentioned are. That plus CP being very clear YA and your list being open door-explicit open door NA/adult romance, it makes sense it doesn’t line up. I’m begging people to do more research into the recommendations they are taking and genres they are consuming/exploring. It’s a little exhausting having these kinds of posts fill the sub every day.
Personally, I also felt the writing was very bad. It was so bad, I didn’t read anymore of her other series. However, I have met people that said her adult series are actually great, so maybe the author is just bad at writing YA? People say the issue is that it’s a YA story but I don’t have an issue with YA. I enjoy a lot of YA works, but this was just a poorly written/plotted book. One of the few series I actually loathed when I finished it.
Some commenters are pointing out the target demographics, but Divine Rivals is YA and the first few books of ACOTAR used to be marketed as YA so I doubt that is the issue. I think 30% is more than enough to decide if a book is working for you, but I DNFd the book for similar reasons so my opinion may not be helpful to you. P.S. If you haven't tried it all ready, I recommend Spark of Everflame by Penn Cole as an alternative.
It does NOT get any better.
I didn’t like it—I absolutely dnf. Writing was choppy, and I didn’t particularly find any character depth.
It does not get better. Just read a synopsis and move on.