66 pages • 2 hours read
The Cruel Prince
A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.
Summary and Study Guide
Overview
The Cruel Prince, originally published in 2018, is the first book in Holly Black’s young adult fantasy series The Folk of the Air. The novel follows the mortal, 17-year-old Jude Duarte as she becomes embroiled in the perilous political conspiracies of the immortal Faerie realm. As a coming-of-age story, The Cruel Prince explores themes of truth, power, and identity. The series, which also includes novels The Wicked King and The Queen of Nothing, is a New York Times bestseller, and the American author has written 37 fantasy books as of 2021.
This guide cites the 2018 Hachette Book Group hardcover edition.
Plot Summary
Jude and her identical twin sister Taryn are seven, and their older sister Vivi is nine, when a mysterious man named Madoc shows up at the door of their house in the American suburbs. Their mother has a tense encounter with Madoc, who claims not only that he is a faerie from a magical land called Faerie, but also that he is Vivi’s father. The girls’ mother, who was once married to Madoc, ran away from Faerie with another man, the twins’ father. Now, as Madoc has come to find her in her suburban home, he kills her and her husband to avenge the dishonor they brought him years ago.
Unlock all 66 pages of this Study Guide
Plus, gain access to 8,900+ more expert-written Study Guides.
Including features:
Related Titles
By Holly Black
