This book has further convinced me that I like very specific kinds of assholes in my books, and Cardan is one of them. This book fully embraces the idea that faeries are the worst, but it makes for great world building, I think. The book starts out very intense with two murders being committed in the first few pages. It was honestly, surprising. What was even more surprising to me is that the human world is separate from the faerie world and is set in modern day. I usually expect stories like this to be set in the middle ages or some time period in the past. In this case the human world is modern and exists in parallel to the faerie world. It was a unique take on what I'm used to. 

I also thought that Vivianne would be more central to the story, but Jude ends up being the true main character. Jude and Cardan are definitely my favorite characters in the book, which is nice because I like being able to like my lead characters. I'm sure a lot of people have issues with Cardan as a future love interest for Jude, but I really like him. He's not a good person by any means, but he has limits to the kind of cruelty he perpetuates, which many of the other characters don't have. As we find out later, which is something that even surprises Jude, Cardan may find enjoyment in inflicting pain on others, but he's no murderer. Jude makes many morally questionable decisions too, so I think the points of reference for morality we have in this world make Cardan out to be pretty tame. I don't romanticize him as a character. He is definitely cruel and has poor excuses for friends. I use the term friends very loosely here. He's prideful, arrogant, and irresponsible. Overall, a mess really. I still like him, though. I think he's an original lead character that is complicated and unpredictable in the way he makes decisions. That's what intrigues me about him really. I won't sit here and defend everything he did to Jude or his obvious prejudice against humans, but I think he is an excellent representation about how people aren't black and white. He has romantic feelings for Jude and he hates himself or it, which I found hilarious when I found out. The funniest part of the book pertaining to his conflicting romantic feelings is probably finding out that his way of coping was furiously writing Jude's on a paper and staining it with blood. It's reasonably clear that she also feels something for him, even if she prefers not to admit it. I'm very compelled to continue to follow their relationship and see how it develops. I don't expect him to change as a person or become better solely because he feels something for her, and I think that's also something I appreciate in this story. Yeah, Cardan cares about Jude, but that doesn't make him any less of a jerk. He's still more interested in his own needs and wants than anyone else's. He remains his own person despite his romantic attachment, which shows that he has a sense individuality. I hate stories where individual characters lose their identity because of a love interest.

As for Locke, I think it sucks that he's as bad as I thought he was going to be, but in a way I hadn't predicted. When he first started showing a romantic inclination towards Jude I thought that Cardan had put him up to the task of courting her. Since I had that suspicion from the beginning, I never trusted him. I expected him to try and embarrass Jude openly by cheating on her or something. Unfortunately, it was worse. Jude had to find out that her sister Taryn had been lying to her the whole time about being with him. I'm really curious to see if Taryn and Jude can salvage their relationship. It feels like Jude and Taryn are both trying to find their place in the faerie world and both are morally ambiguous on different levels. At least Jude tried as much as possible to not have her decisions affect her relationship with her sister. Taryn on the other hand, knew that her decision to be with Locke and hide it would directly affect her sister and did it anyway. I don't like her or Locke at the moment, but I'm curious to find out how Taryn even got involved with Locke. Locke is the literal representation of fairy lies, though. Half truths shrouded in mystery is what they are. 

This book was super enjoyable and I'm suffering as I wait for the sequel. I enjoy the complexity of all the relationships between the characters and I like that there isn't really a solid definition of who is "good" or "bad". Everyone just seems to be trying to get what they want and are using whatever means they need to in order to get there. Madoc's relationship with Taryn, Jude, and Vivianne is super complicated and I'm curious to see where they stand now after Jude and Vivianne's betrayal. He does love them in his own way, after all. I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants a dark fantasy and loves morally grey characters. I definitely plan on picking up more books by Holly Black after this!

I am convinced that Holly Black wants Taryn to be unlikeable to us as readers. As I read her perspective of the events that happened in The Cruel Prince, she comes off as more and more selfish as well as foolish. She believed all of Locke's lies and for some reason feels secure in their promise to marry. Locke shows himself to be a manipulative romantic partner that uses those around him for his political schemes. It's obvious that he's using Taryn and took advantage of Jude's ignorance of the situation. I think it's a shame that Taryn can do better and instead chose to enter a marriage arrangement that will very likely not end well. Locke suggests that he will not remain faithful to Taryn and that her feelings for him will not be reciprocated in the way she wants. I'm hoping that Taryn gets some kind of redemption arc because at the end of the day she is still Jude's twin sister and Jude really cares for her. It wouldn't surprise me if she's beyond redemption, though. Even the way this apology letter to Jude was written sounded like a list of excuses rather than an apology. A very poor excuse for an apology. However, this story did a good job of exposing Taryn's character more and showing a fuller picture of the events in the first book of the series. Can't wait for the sequel of this series. The wait is literally killing me.

I was initially interested in this book because I'm completely unfamiliar with the history for Korean colonization by the Japanese and I was hoping this book would encompass what it was like to live during that time period. I'm happy to say that reading this book was definitely eye opening. Usually when colonization is brought up in conversation, at least for me, it's always by default referring to European colonization. Obviously, colonization also happened in Asia, in large part by the Japanese. This book was great at showing that no matter who the colonizers are, the colonized always suffer the consequences of injustice and racism. We follow several generations of characters as they struggle with their own personal issues. The book is told in third person, but I still feel like I got to know the various aspects of the character's lives through generations. I highly disliked Yosef because even when he first met Soonja I felt like he was hiding something. Turns out he was married the whole time and wanted her to be his mistress. Over time I think his development over the years also shows that overall he isn't above being abusive to women he deems aren't worthy of respect, which is definitely horrible. 

Noah was probably one of my favorite characters because he embodied the feelings of inadequacy that racism often brings about. He was a very good depiction of the insecurities that come from having to hide your identity because the world you are in is prejudiced. I also appreciated how he contrasted with his brother in terms of his love of studying and what he wanted for his future. The qualm I really had in the book is that I didn't think he would commit suicide soon after reuniting with his mother. I did expect him to be stressed by her presence because anyone finding out he was actually Korean put this stability at risk. Overall, I did enjoy this book and think it captures the historical time periods it explores super well. I do recommend it for anyone interested in historical fiction ser in Asia.

I had heard there would be a love triangle in this book, and I'm usually not a fan of that because they are rarely done well. I do think the love triangle in this one was decent compared to what I've read before, but I'm just not a big fan of the trope. I do think this did help Lara Jean grow as a person because she had to deal first hand with her feelings of jealousy and letting go of her own insecurities. Peter is pretty oblivious to feelings sometimes, but that's something that was seen in the first book as well. He had good reasons for his actions in this book, but I do think he needs to learn to communicate better with Lara Jean. Based on what happened in the story, I'm sure he will from now on. I'm glad that the story also shows Margot and Josh moving on with their lives. The story's theme definitely focused on letting go of the past and being open to things changing in your life and people changing. I think the overall lesson in the book was nice, but again, I'm just not a huge fan of the trope used.

This was actually really interesting for a novella. I'm definitely going to read the series this is for after that. We get to meet two characters, Morrighan and Jafir, who are from enemy camps. I highly enjoyed how their encounters started off as just being rude banter between the two. Eventually they become friends and then lovers. Jafir came off as really grumpy at times and I thought it was funny whenever Morrighan was able to get a rise out of him because he was so calm and collected most of the time outside of that. Jafir's tribe has brutal leaders that definitely shape the hard decisions he makes. However, that doesn't change that he's still someone who is compassionate and strives to do what is right. I'm really glad Morrighan and him were able to kill the brutal leaders of the tribe in the end. Stefan was the worst of them to me simply because he suggested that he would be willing to force himself on Morrighan against her will. I'm glad that he died by Morrighan's hand, he definitely deserved it.

Probably another one of the best books I've read this year. The story follows Kestral, a Valorian of high status and what happens after she buys a male slave. The story does an amazing job at world building as well as developing the romance within the story gradually. There are lots of politics at play and the author makes it a point to show that Kestral is very intelligent and knows how to manage political strategies super well. A skill that unfortunately goes underappreciated for quite a bit. The story also addresses the circumstances of privilege for the ruling people in this world that has come about from the colonization and oppression of the Herrani by the Valorians. It was also refreshing to see a world where the members of the ruling class were considered the "savages" for once, and not the other way around. I feel like it's appropriate to say that there is a sexual assault that goes on in the book, so if that triggers you, I'd keep that in mind. It's nothing graphic or anything, but I'll mention it just in case. 

From the beginning of the book, Arin was definitely my favorite character. He was super straightforward and sharp tongued, which was super ballsy on his part considering he was in the position of a slave. Kestral obviously isn't a bad person, but I definitely think she needed someone like Arin to come into her life to have her check her position of privilege. She's grown up with slaves serving her all her life and you can tell that she doesn't completely understand that they're very much trapped in the position they are in. She obviously has good intentions, as in the story it is revealed that she freed a slave thinking she was doing them a favor. However, she failed to realize that the slave she freed didn't have the skills to live off on their own despite their newfound freedom. She argues a lot with Arin and they disagree on a lot of things throughout the book, but I think that made their relationship that much more organic. I see a lot of obstacles ahead for these two, but I'm all for the angst, so I'm ready to see what goes on. The ending to this book was great I think because it left me thirsting for more, which is always what I want in a book series. I highly recommend this book if you want a setting that addresses real world themes like colonization, oppression, and slavery, and also has very well developed and intelligent characters.

This was definitely an interesting read. The characters each have a separate set of problems that are explored to differing extents. I think this book definitely focused more on the dynamic between Gansey and Adam. I'm hoping that in future books we get into the other character's heads a bit more. The characters are interesting and I do want to know more about them, but I don't feel as connected as to them as I would have liked, which is what brought this down to a 3.7 star book for me. Ronan and Adam were probably my favorite characters despite this. Ronan is sheer stubbornness and rebellion if they were a person. Adam embodies someone who lives in a world full of privilege that he feels he doesn't belong in. He's super sensitive about it, more than I'd wish he'd be, but due to his circumstances it is understandable. Gansey is definitely the "dad" figure in their group of friends. He wants to use his resources to help the people he cares most about, and he definitely cares a whole lot. I still don't know where Blue's love life stands, even with the psychic readings. The beginning of the book obviously paints her love life as grim at best, so we'll see where that goes.

 As far as all the supernatural and psychic aspects of the book, I don't think it was explained super well, but I'm sure the author did that on purpose, so it didn't really bother me. However, it did make some things that were going on in the book hard to follow until something in the context of the story cleared up what was going on. There are definitely hints to certain things that happen later in the book, but you don't really see them along the way. For me that just means the author did their job well. What fun is it if you just know? Definitely continuing this series to find out what's up with this search the characters have going on. Also, the ramifications of the events of the end of the book can't all be good, so I want to see what's up with that too.

Wow, the end of that volume screwed me up, big time. We've been getting big hints that something is definitely wrong with Yuki. Obviously he has powers derived from Satan that seem to have laid dormant until now from what we've seen. I do like heroes turned villains to antihero stories, but I love the brotherly dynamic between Yuki and Rin so much that seeing this happen really hurts. I'm especially curious about what the hell Yuki saw on that USB Lewin gave him. It has him wanting to alienate himself from everyone and completely question his worldview, so it must be bad. I can already see how much Rin is going to suffer after this. He loves his brother and he's the only family he has left, so it will be hard to lose him. I hope Yuki gets some kind of redemption arc at some point in the series. I trust Kazue Kato to develop the story well for Yuki. I've already seen in the past how these stories can go wrong. (I'm talking to you Sasuke Uchiha!) I trust Kato to do a better job, though. I'm looking forward to find out more next volume.

**MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD**


There was so much political intrigue in this book that it's not even funny. Kestral is amazing art being able to manipulate her way to getting what she wants. It sucks that she cares so much about Arin, but he misinterprets all her actions. To be fair, from an outside perspective her actions look really bad. They do miss each other, though, and I'm hoping that after that ending he's able to understand what's really going on. Kestral really is alone at this point, though. Jess no longer speaks to her and Ronan is dead, so nothing can really be done about that. I didn't expect him to die so soon after enlisting. I thought that maybe he and Kestral would be able to be amicable with him in the future. I'm somehow not surprised her father betrayed her, though. He's super loyal to the laws he believes in and will uphold them even at the cost of his daughter's life. I'm going Kestral's wit will help her survive where she is going, she'll need it.

I'm not super into romances like this, but I thought this was all right. We get to know Ledi and what struggles she's had to face because she's been an orphan and also because of her race. As the book progresses I'm glad she eventually learns to value herself and stops letting others take advantage of her. The royal family stuff was more of a background because the story was mostly focused on the characters and their development, which I prefer. I do feel that at times the plot dragged a little bit for me, so I would have personally wanted this to be shorter, but it's an okay book overall.