The Stolen Heir by Holly Black

So this is no Cruel Prince, but I still really enjoyed this book and will be reading number two when I get my hands on it.

We jump back into the land of Elfhame, but instead of following Cardan and Jude, we are met with Oak and Wren.  

Oak is all grown up and engaging in his own world of plotting and schemes. Although he is no Jude, he was raised in a family of conniving minds and brutal swordsmanship.

Wren is a child of trauma and abuse who finally found a semblance of escape before being dragged back into this world of cruelty. Forced to face her past head on and learn to trust someone other than herself. 

The book is missing a bit of the ooph of The Cruel Prince, but is still quite good.  I think the main characters resemble Jude and Cardan a bit too much to fully detach from comparison, however they fall a bit short when set side by side.  A better move in my opinion would have been to differentiate them a bit more to avoid the comparisons altogether.

I am glad I waited a while after finishing TCP to pick this up, because it does make separating the stories easier. 

Can't wait to get my hands on the next book and dive even deeper into Elfhame.