SPOILERS AHEAD
5/5 stars
Yeah, this is still a five star read for me the second time around. I think if you were to explain this book to be as a general concept I might not believe that it would be as good as it really is. A prince with a tail and weird creatures that can only be described as… kind of grotesque? Sort of YA vibes with a little kick? Real life things and references to modern times? Not something I would be into typically. But god do I love this book.
I love a enemies to lovers that is real, true, hateful enemies. He literally tried to kill her, or so she thought, but he did admit to wanting to hurt her . And I love that they never really get to the "lovers" stage in this book, more of a hesitant, forced ally stage than anything. The moment in the room when Jude kisses him and she asks why he hates her so much and he tells her that it's becuase he can never stop thinking about her and it drives him crazy absolutely eats. And then right back to being enemies again at the end. So much tension and angst and hate. So well done and so addicting it's all I can think about while I'm reading it and for days after.
This series is so fantastical in a twisted fairytale kind of way. The creatures throughout the book are so bizarre and the world they live in is so magical and strange. There's so much betrayal and backstabbing and trickery going on that it keeps you on your toes the whole time. It's been about a year or so since the first time I read this book, and I forgot how brutal it is - I completely forgot that there was basically a Red Wedding scene and Balekin just kills his whole family and Cardan only gets away because he's passed out drunk somewhere. I forgot that Jude literally murdered Valerian (he totally deserved it) and hid him under her bed until she could throw him over the balcony and bury him outside. I only vaguely remembered that Taryn totally betrayed Jude by being with Locke the whole time he and Jude had a thing going on, and how he basically swore to Madoc that he was going to cheat on Taryn because that's just what fairies do. And then Locke still flirting with Jude basically in front of Taryn when she walks into the coronation with Cardan? Insane. Taryn's betrayal hit harder for me this second time around, maybe because I listened to the audio so it really sank in deeper. But honestly, fuck Taryn, she's a shitty sister and Jude was way too forgiving of her literally lying to her face and watching Jude start falling for the guy that Taryn knew was going to turn around and stab her in the back to be with her. To her TWIN. Bye, that's unforgivable if you ask me.
I absolutely love the way Holly Black writes these extravagant, over the top parties and characters. It's so whimsical with such a bleak twist of reality that keeps you on a balance beam trying to decide what's going to happen next.
Jude is such a badass and I LOVE her growth throughout the story. She was strong and hard headed from the beginning, but once she became a spy for Dain she really took it to a whole new level. I feel like a lot of fmcs in these kinds of stories are wishy washy and end up getting on my nerves (looking at you Diem), but Jude knew who she was from the beginning even if she grew into it throughout the book. And the flip at the end of the book, using Cardan's oath to her to make him sit there while Oak crowns him king was so sneaky and diabolical. Love it, love her.
I also adore little Oak, maybe because I've read the rest of the series so I know what he's like as he grows up.
Anyways this book takes up all of my thoughts and will continue to do so for a while, and I'll probably end up re-reading it again in another year.
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