at the beginning i was so afraid you're not gonna like the cruel prince, then you said you're not fan of fae stories so i figured i was okay with you not liking it BUT then you liked it and i just... it's my comfort series and you're my comfort booktuber and my heart is content and im crying happy tears
Sammeeee i LOVE the cruel prince and its actually in my top favorite bookseries. I love how its actually true to the fae nature and as she said very refreshing that the “hero” is actually as cruel as the “villains” themself. All the chars are so grey and i love it!
@@saadaalsameen709 I have not read any of these books but I have seen people recommending thesebooks to cruel prince fans A curse so dark and lonely King of elphany Spinning silver
the folk of the air trilogy is my favourite enemies to lovers because they are still enemies for at least two out of the four(Including the novella) of the books in the series. when I read any other enemies to lovers books I get a little disappointed and underwhelmed as to why they are enemies and how fast the stop being enemies. Jude and Carden also carry so much tension. they want each other but hate to admit it. you can feel their intensity coming from the page.
@@thegothlibrarianyeah. I don’t think Cardan is even meant to be a good person, since all the characters are little shits, and yet I literally saw people saying “he’s the standard.” Like excuse me?? And it’s not an enemies to lovers, it’s a bully/victim dynamic. It changes once Jude gets control over him, then it’s actually kind to enemies to lovers. I didn’t really mind it that much in these books, maybe because everything is kind of dark and everything goes wrong and is bloody, so it fits in. But the beginning of the first book, Cardan is absolutely horrible. No excuses. (sorry for rambling)
Cardan is definitely NOT the standard, but Cardan and Jude are perfect for each other. I think the best part of their relationship is that they're both horrible people and they know it, they just don't care. It's what makes them so perfect.
Jude gets such a bad rep from what I've seen, but I *ADORE* her. I like Cardan too (though it took mostly to the end of the second book to feel that way). Really love that trilogy overall
@@BooksToAshes Jude is the BEST! And it taking so long to get to love Cardan, just like it would with a real human person with issues in life, was one of the greatest qualities of the story in my opinion. And the plot development NEVER let you down. I will read books with rubbish plots if I love the characters, but I will then rant for YEARS afterward about the plot holes and inconsistent development (same with TV shows; I have yet to get over Buffy the Vampire Slayer since watching it in lockdown). My logical brain cannot handle it! 😂😂😍
I love that you liked thr cruel prince amd thus Jude. The quote : "If I cannot be better than them, I will be become so much worse" Is a quote from the cruel prince, so yeah it suits Jude perfectly:)
I completely agree with you on Iron Widow. I didn't fall in love with the book but I liked it a lot. Mostly because of the feminist topic and the cool worldbuilding. Actually I HATE love triangles, but in this book it's finally a healthy one! And also it's really a love TRIANGLE because everyone is in love with everyone. Most love triangles are just love corners
@@maomi1852 The concept of the Chrysalises (the mechs) was very heavily inspired by Pacific Rim, and the patriarchy from The Handmaid’s Tale. This is something that Zhao admits. But the Chinese influences are very strong. Someone who is Chinese (my mother is from China) would recognize all of the little references. It’s unique. Not the best, but it stands out from other sci-if books, in my opinion.
@@JosephineSheesley Another inspiration, which the author also acknowledged, is the anime "Darling in the Franxx", from which she took the concept of boy-girl co-pilots of the mechs (and probably much more inspiration overall - different forms the mechs could take based on the compatibility of the pilots, and I believe it was the boys pilots in the anime that couldn´t survive co-piloting with one of the girls which the main boy hero this time get together). So this is probably even more important than Pacific Rim imho. ua-cam.com/video/f_gUrAyZezc/v-deo.htmlsi=G0iPTg2LGgnPj0BL
SAME although I'm saving the novellas and stolen heir, but I've just returned here to hear the part of the review after she finished the book. I wish I'd known before how much of the book is court intrigue and character driven with a great dose of action. I just judged it by it's cover (literally) and the title and art made me assume it was a romance mainly with a cliché evil prince who'll melt because of good person MC 😂
Your reaction after reading 70% of the cruel prince was honestly gold. I had no idea if you were going to rave about it or trash talk it haha. I loved the surprise!
6:29 i wouldn't say this is true, because I read Cruel Prince after years of not reading and had zero clue about fae world but it was very easy to understand. Holly Black doesn't make world building long and boring and I appreciate her for that.
I agree that it's not as bad as using premade worlds as she said but i agreed that the worldbuilding is a weakness because a lot of aspects of fairie and court life were unexplained, like economy and medicine for example illness doesn't seem to exist but poisons do and noone is there to make an antidote for the high king but a spy who has this as a secondary skill. I think overall it's just that the faerie world feels way too small. Even the map was a tiny part. Atleast in the third book we went to a different part of land but i don't think it really made much sense geographically in my head. Probably because thry travelled so much on ragwort horses when plot needed it but then there was normal horse riding/boat time taken to places like court of teeth. This is maybe because they aren't that big the books and not every book needs that much worldbuilding to tell a story (which the video addresses ig with the YA vs adult part) and anyway it might be better in the stolen heir duology which I haven't read yet if we get to go outside the isles.
I agree, I know a bit about fey but not enough to know what's going on without context and I never really felt lost reading her books. There isn't too much world building, but as she says later in the video, that's not technically a bad thing. Less world building doesn't make it a bad book. Sometimes I like it when the world in the book is a bit more simple
I actually wanted there to be more world-building. I also don't like that the whole island country of Elfhame is so small, like they walk all across it in several hours
I'm so glad you enjoyed the cruel prince, I had same issues with Sarah j mass's fae but omg does Holly Black write fae so fantastically in all its magical/mythological glory! And I freaking adore that part so much.
Even though I didn't particularly like The Queen of Nothing and felt a lot of story beats were rushed and anticlimactic, I read through The Folk Of Air really fast because Jude's narration was so captivating. The series is fast paced and fun, which is something I want to strive for in my writing.
I'm still on my "I think I won't like The Cruel Prince" phase but after watching this hmmm.... I think I won't like it because of the enemies thing. But now that you've mentioned that the hate and aggressiveness was mutual, that the heroine is selfish and cruel too not just the hero... I think I might enjoy the book if I just change the way I look at it. Also, I can totally relate with you because I was feeling that I've grown out of YA Fantasy recently.
I am in the exact situation. But now that I saw the entusiasm of Leo with "The cruel prince", I think I will give a try. Especially because I know now that the romance beteween the two characters is not the focus. And I didnt not read for so long the book, because I thought that book was all about the enemies to lovers. So good to know is more a political bulding and the two characters aggressive with each other.
okay so your just gonna have to take my word for it. I did not expect to like those books to the point where they sat on my TBR for months and months until about a week ago, when I was told that I absolutely had to read them by a close friend. I started the first one two days ago and I’m almost done with the second. Starts out slow, but everything is worth the wait. You will love it! Plus the female main character is a total badass so..! Do with this information what you will.
I love Iron Widow. I heard that it's getting a sequel. Someday when I visit London, I am going to visit Word on the Water. The idea of a floating bookstore sounds like heaven to me.
To me, cruel prince is so fun. Whether a book is entertaining or not is what matters most to me, and cruel prince made it very easy to overlook its flaws by being a really enjoyable book to read
saaaaame I'm so done with sjm version of fae that everyone is copying, I want them ruthless and smart to trick people who make deals with them, make them actually cruel since they think of humans as lesser beings. Not out of this world beautiful as main and only character trait, who just wants to bang this bland plain jane human girl. I loved the cruel prince I have yet to finish the series
I've been the exact same way! I binged SO much fantasy in 2020 and 2021, and now in 2022, I've been reading more literary and contemporary. You're right...fantasy is an escape from reality and general fiction is more reflective of the emotions we're currently feeling. Apparently this means I'm done with my two years of emotional denial and ready to accept things, haha.
When it comes to fantasy, I tend to either read Adult Fantasy or Children's Fantasy. I find YA often too immature and full of tropes that annoy me to fulfill my adult fantasy itch, while not really carrying the sense of magic, wonder and whimsy my favourite children's fantasy books bring. The only YA fantasy series I've read in the last couple of years was Power of Five, and that's mostly because of an audible sale plus the fact I'd read the first two books as a kid and was curious to see how it ended. I maintain the first book in that series is a great Halloween read, though.
@@penultimateh766 I'd argue you really haven't read much fantasy, then. While Tolkien was certainly a major influence on the genre that a lot of authors DID copy, there's a lot of fantasy that isn't anything like what he produced. Further, you realise Tolkien wasn't the first person ever to write fantasy, yes? Some of my favourite series and characters in the genre were first written _before_ LOTR. And many of those works have had arguably as sizable an impact. The settings of D&D, for example, take as much inspiration from the likes of Fritz Leiber, Robert E Howard and Edgar Rice Burroughs as it does from Tolkien.
This has been my experience too! No shade to those who do like YA, of course. I think for me the issue is that well-written YA that feels like YA...feels that way because it successfully captures the experience of being a teenager. Which is NOT an experience I particularly wanted to wallow in even when I WAS a teenager... Although I find I'm much more likely to enjoy manga that have a teenage main cast and target audience than I am regular English-language novels, and I really don't know why. Maybe because they embrace the melodrama but also tend to handle serious themes with surprising complexity? Or maybe it's just the pretty artwork - IDK.
@@PirateQueen1720 I just read something very relatable! I like manga written for the same demographics as ya but can't read the majority of the popular ya English books ( with the exception of some under rated ones but again as you have mentioned they are not as successful since they don't have a lot of what makes ya popular). Embracing the melodrama for manga definitely plays a role for me.
Leonie, a bit off topic but i never ever have been into vlog type of videos but i absolutely love this. The mix of having a topic theme and doing things in your life like the book conference is amazing. You might be the first person i would totally watch vlogs about :) Hope your day is lovely!
Oh my gosh I can not tell you how validating it felt to hear what you thought of The Cruel Prince. I have also been getting back into YA novels recently and The Cruel Prince was the first YA novel I've read in a long while. I had the EXACT same experience reading The Cruel Prince, xD I also ended up just buying the book set after reading the first book. But yes! It's definitely a fun and interesting book. While I could definitely tell it wasn't for everyone, I genuinely loved the book. Jude is probably one of my favorite protagonists in all of YA books, very close to Katniss. I've read both the first and second book and I am now on the third :)
nah the fact that you actually gave valid criticisms for the cruel prince instead of just saying it was overhyped like so many others! looooved this vlog :3
I like what you said about when you were 16 you were definitely not trying to justify why you liked the books that you liked. It’s interesting to me. I think now with tiktok, UA-cam and even instagram, where people are more vocal about the books they love or hate, we feel the need to over explain why we like certain types of books to people who might dislike them. It’s fascinating to me
If you're looking for good fae, try spinning silver by Naomi Novak. I had the same thing happen to me. I read a Sarah j. Maas book and then thought that I didn't like fae, only discover years later that I do.
I mostly agree with your take on the iron widow, but I still rated it high because I had SO much fun reading it! The setting was so interesting and I loved to see an unhinged woman main character. And I hate love triangles so this triangle turning into polyamory was great heh
It made me feel so happy to see you fangirling because I have LIVED that phase before. Its so much fun to randomly find a book you genuinely enjoy, especially when you went into it thinking that you probably weren't going to get much from it in the first place And if I could weigh into your contemporary V.S fantasy debate, I also used to read a lot of fantasy books, especially YA fantasy. Personally though I felt like I read so much that people and personalities and storylines began to blur together. It just felt like I was reading the same thing over and over again and I was really tired of it. So I started to move away to other things, fantasy will always hold a special place in my heart, even if its not my main genre anymore.
The Chaos Walking trilogy by Patrick Ness is a YA fantasy series that I just finished rereading and it also often deals with deaths, but death surrounding the main characters is dealt with quite extensively, it is not glossed over, the characters reflect on their actions and keep thinking about it. I highly recommend the series to anyone, it is very intruiging!
your reason on why people who started at YA books flock to contemporary romance after a while was accurate, based on what I’ve experienced. Right now, I’m at the same stage as you are. Rediscovering my love for fantasy has been nice.
Tbh I was pretty sure you were mostly talking about Jude and Cardan in your enemies-to-lovers video, so I was really surprised when I realized you hadn't read TCP, but I'm so happy you liked it!
I was exactly in your position in the beginning of quarantine in 2020. I was so fed up with ya fantasy and how every character was the same and every plot was boring but then I completely devoured the cruel prince series in like a week and it was such a great experience. The characters are fun and lowkey evil which is so fresh for ya fantasy. Also it does not take itself to seriously. Absolute BLAST of a series
youre soooo right about the midnight lie!! the concept is so cool, i loved the world and characters, but GODDD the plot did not move 😭😭😭 i was so sad i didnt love the book.....
omg it's actually a relief that you liked the cruel prince lol😅 I loved it so much and I'm always afraid people will hate on it based on their experiences or what they know about sjm books🤡
Reading the English translation of the Edelstein-Trilogie from Kerstin Gier right now. Its about a girl who inherits a time traveling gene and the secret society she becomes involved with. The first two books don't have a conclusion so I can’t wait to see if they nail the ending in the third. Yes there is romance and drama :P
I've grown out of ya books and don't really enjoy them anymore, but last year I wanted to give The Cruel Prince a try bc of the hype, and let me say... I enjoyed it so much lol! The first 100 pages were kind of generic and I was about to drop it, but when the plot & schemes started to unfold I was hooked! This series was so fun, I read all the books in a couple of days
Being 18, I sometimes love middlegrade books for the same reasons you love YA books. They're fun and it's pure enjoyment. I mean, I read The school for good and evil. From the title you can tell it's the most cliche thing ever. And I loved it. Also books for a younger audience tend to be more fast paced and easier to get through, I feel like. And sometimes a no brainer is really good for you.
I go in and out of the types of books I like. I just turned 30, and I'm battling with the "you're too old for YA" and it doesn't matter what you read. Because I do read adult fantasy, YA in all genres, romance, and Classics. I'm more of a mood reader. So it depends what type of story I'm in the mood for. 😆
ohmygodd You're the only one that gets me about the cruel prince cuz I read the first book in 2 days and the 2nd books in 12 hours during my exams and I was addicted😭😭
Leoni, as a writer of fantasy and science fiction you are one of the few booktubers I continue to watch. I rarely comment but when you said you had Covid I wanted to post a comment. Please be well and stay safe, always.
If you want adult fantasy with first person perspective, I would recommend Robin Hobb's fantasy books. The first one is Assassin's apprentice and it's the most wonderful fantasy books I've ever read! Robin Hobb is so good at first person perspective and her books are very slow burn, characther focused and very different from other adult fantasy books ☺️🙌
Ahh so excited for this i love YA when i just want a nice chill time and i love the cruel prince so id love to hear your opinions, i also want to read iron widow so hopefully this will help me! x♡x
I just like to leave out the whole Cardan tail thing tbh when I'm reading The Cruel Prince because it's just so weird, haha. So glad you had such a good time reading The Cruel Prince - reminded me of my own excitement reading it for the first time and becoming a bit obsessed.
I loved your commentary about why you have been gravitating towards General Fiction. I feel the exact same way but for some reason I never thought about that in that sense, so thank you girl!!
33:18 If you like to read about a main character who struggles to kill and it is almost impossible for him to do so read the series "chaos walking" the first book's name is "the knife of never letting go" Im pretty sure there are other books executing this trope but this was the one I read recently and actually made me think of how we as readers have read sooo many murders in books that we have forgotten how hard and traumatizing it is in reality. Other than that the story is fun I liked it a lot
I think my problem at the moment with fantasy is that there is nothing new? I only read fantasy for the first 10 years of my reading life. I am also not mad about this, I try more genres now and realise more what I like.
This has to be one of my favourite videos on your channel!! thank you SO much for the effort and the love you put on fimling these videos🤍 they’re so calming to watch
Leo, I think you and I have wildly different definitions of what extensive world building means if you think Morgenstern doesn't do extensive world building 😂What's usually barely there are her characters' personalities, but the world building for The Starless Sea and The Night Circus is extremely detailed
I love love love your channel. I found it like maybe four days ago and have binge watching all of your videos. there is nothing I love more than finding a booktuber I trust with their comments on books and recommendations that vibe with what I love. I love hearing you speak in (correct me if I am wrong) Dutch? It's so gorgeous to hear.
I was already thinking about starting (and buying) The Cruel Prince), but I was on the fence about it because it was a popular book. But watching your review about it made me want to have it even more. Sooo, will definitely buy it now (or this August since I already bought a lot of books this month).
Oh I had a very similar reaction to The Cruel Prince when I read it! I read the first two books in 3 days right at the beginning of the year and absolutely fell in love with the characters and the story! I didn't read the 3rd one right away because I didn't want the story to end but man, I was fanglirling so so much! That series was actually the reason why I got into reading again and I am so grateful for it, I love those books 🖤
I'm so afraid to go back and read some books I loved when I read younger. My new dream is to move abroad and play my saxophone outside my floating bookstore 😍
I read a very even blend of adult and young adult books, and I am trying to get more middlegrade too it is just the writing style for the most part doesn't work for me. And that is a very important thing for me, in fact it is what makes or breaks a book for me. If I dislike the writing style I am not going to enjoy the book. That being said, even though I read a blend of the categories, it is not on purpose. If I am interested in a premise of a book, then I am interested. The category, the genre, obviously is a part of the story, but I will never pick up a fantasy because it is a fantasy. So the whole genre and category divisions that make people decide on whether to read a book or not, for the most part doesn't exist for me. It is more about the individual book and what it in particular has to offer. That is why all this debate about categories and genres just confuses me? Like how are you going to write off an entire category like that? Also, mythological accurate fae is the type of fae I love. And this is a low-key unpopular and somewhat mean opinion so I apologise in advance, but people who say they love fae but then only read ones like the ones we see in SJM doesn't actually like fae. Because those books strip fae of everything that makes them fae, and with it all the interesting aspects that make them enjoyable to read about. If I am getting a fae book, I want tricksters, I want strangeness, I want a focus in nature and it to be a part of them, I want them to not look human, I want them to be fae. And finding recommendations to match these is not easy and it is a source of frustration for me.
When I explain the romance in the cruel prince I compare it to the romance in the show The Good Place because yes there’s romance but it’s very spread out and it’s not the main attraction
I loved the cruel prince series although I was sceptical in the beginning. And my reaction was very similar to yours. I totally hyped it and couldn't put it down 😂🙈
Im enjoying your videos so much because they all are so very well thought through and intelligent, whilst also being interesting and fun. Big congrats ❤
I would recommend Holly Black's Modern Faery books as well as The Darkest Part of the Forest. They are tied into the same world as the Folk of the Air series (in fact a handful of characters make appearances in the Folk of the Air trilogy) but the other books deal more with faeries in the human world, which I love.
Usually love triangles really get on my nerves and are less enjoyable in the story for me but Iron Widow coming in here and dropping this poly relationship on me instead was fantastic. I feel like that’s the only poly relationship I’ve read in a YA book so it was refreshing
Thank you (!!) for going into the difference between YA and adult fantasy. I tried (briefly) to get into reading again because I lived and breathed fantasy books as a kid and teenager. I didn't know why I failed to enjoy adult fantasy even though I'm 26 (supposedly an adult,?) and I just gave up with the notion that reading isn't my thing anymore. I can't be bothered to read a bunch of details around the world or follow and empathise with multiple people. Quite frankly I even hate it when chapters will go back and forth between the persepctives of two characters because I just want to "become" ONE character. I'll try "The Cruel Prince" - the MC and enemies-trope seem just my thing! PS. I just found your channel and I'm going through a bunch of your reviews. Love the setup and vibe of your videos - makes me want to stay and listen despite my short attention span.
I think the reason why people thought the enemies to lovers trope would have more importance is because the first two books are quite literally named after Cardan and the third book’s title, in turn is caused by him
i discovered your channel yesterday and i am kinda going through your videos in a random order. I saw you read The Stolen Heir for your ''reading hyped up new books video'' and talking about faeries and then at the start of this video i heard you say ''im not into fae stories'' and i found it so funny and said to myself ''oh she is in for a ride'' haha. for the record, i have not read these books im basing my knowledge solemnly on what ive seen in your videos :')
It´s so soothing and motivating and inspiring to watch your videos and listen to you... the way you comment on your reads seems so honest to me... I almost feel like reading everyting you read just to feel I´m in a kind of bookclub. :) And even whan that´s not the case, I love listening to you... and your reading vlogs and chill videos! :)
"We people pleaser Stan a selfish queen." Felt that lol
Me too! Haha people-pleasing is a curse
I feel attacked 😂😂😂
at the beginning i was so afraid you're not gonna like the cruel prince, then you said you're not fan of fae stories so i figured i was okay with you not liking it BUT then you liked it and i just... it's my comfort series and you're my comfort booktuber and my heart is content and im crying happy tears
Sammeeee i LOVE the cruel prince and its actually in my top favorite bookseries. I love how its actually true to the fae nature and as she said very refreshing that the “hero” is actually as cruel as the “villains” themself. All the chars are so grey and i love it!
@@Zoelletina I love the cruel prince , if anyone has any recommendations for books similar to that pls let me know 😭
Same, I was sooooo worried
@@saadaalsameen709 I have not read any of these books but I have seen people recommending thesebooks to cruel prince fans
A curse so dark and lonely
King of elphany
Spinning silver
I didn't like fae land in mortal instruments but fae land in cruel prince is my life
I am a believer that a book can be NOT a 5 star book, but that you can still love it a 5 star amount haha
IMO Ratings are totally subjective it can be 1 star to someone but 5 to someone else!
@@Lunaticdoodles Definitely!
The cosy bookshop on water seems like something out of a Ghibli film, especially with the saxophone player and the little dog.
the folk of the air trilogy is my favourite enemies to lovers because they are still enemies for at least two out of the four(Including the novella) of the books in the series. when I read any other enemies to lovers books I get a little disappointed and underwhelmed as to why they are enemies and how fast the stop being enemies. Jude and Carden also carry so much tension. they want each other but hate to admit it. you can feel their intensity coming from the page.
omg this has to be my sign to buy it🤭
@@thegothlibrarianyeah. I don’t think Cardan is even meant to be a good person, since all the characters are little shits, and yet I literally saw people saying “he’s the standard.” Like excuse me?? And it’s not an enemies to lovers, it’s a bully/victim dynamic. It changes once Jude gets control over him, then it’s actually kind to enemies to lovers. I didn’t really mind it that much in these books, maybe because everything is kind of dark and everything goes wrong and is bloody, so it fits in. But the beginning of the first book, Cardan is absolutely horrible. No excuses. (sorry for rambling)
Cardan is definitely NOT the standard, but Cardan and Jude are perfect for each other. I think the best part of their relationship is that they're both horrible people and they know it, they just don't care. It's what makes them so perfect.
@@thegothlibrarian nooo cardan is not supposed to be a good person thats the unique thing about this series...
loved to see your enjoyment of the folk of the air…. ITS SO ADDICTING!! jude is one of the best characters ever methinks.
Jude gets such a bad rep from what I've seen, but I *ADORE* her. I like Cardan too (though it took mostly to the end of the second book to feel that way). Really love that trilogy overall
@@BooksToAshes Jude is the BEST! And it taking so long to get to love Cardan, just like it would with a real human person with issues in life, was one of the greatest qualities of the story in my opinion. And the plot development NEVER let you down.
I will read books with rubbish plots if I love the characters, but I will then rant for YEARS afterward about the plot holes and inconsistent development (same with TV shows; I have yet to get over Buffy the Vampire Slayer since watching it in lockdown). My logical brain cannot handle it! 😂😂😍
I love that you liked thr cruel prince amd thus Jude.
The quote :
"If I cannot be better than them, I will be become so much worse"
Is a quote from the cruel prince, so yeah it suits Jude perfectly:)
I completely agree with you on Iron Widow. I didn't fall in love with the book but I liked it a lot. Mostly because of the feminist topic and the cool worldbuilding. Actually I HATE love triangles, but in this book it's finally a healthy one! And also it's really a love TRIANGLE because everyone is in love with everyone. Most love triangles are just love corners
I don’t agree a lot with Xiran Jay Zhao and Iron Widow is not my favorite book in a long shot, but the world is excellent. It’s very enjoyable.
I heard it has 0 world building?
@@maomi1852 The concept of the Chrysalises (the mechs) was very heavily inspired by Pacific Rim, and the patriarchy from The Handmaid’s Tale. This is something that Zhao admits. But the Chinese influences are very strong. Someone who is Chinese (my mother is from China) would recognize all of the little references. It’s unique. Not the best, but it stands out from other sci-if books, in my opinion.
@@JosephineSheesley Another inspiration, which the author also acknowledged, is the anime "Darling in the Franxx", from which she took the concept of boy-girl co-pilots of the mechs (and probably much more inspiration overall - different forms the mechs could take based on the compatibility of the pilots, and I believe it was the boys pilots in the anime that couldn´t survive co-piloting with one of the girls which the main boy hero this time get together). So this is probably even more important than Pacific Rim imho. ua-cam.com/video/f_gUrAyZezc/v-deo.htmlsi=G0iPTg2LGgnPj0BL
I started the folk of air series because of you and I literally finished the whole series in a week and now I’m CRAVING MORE
SAME although I'm saving the novellas and stolen heir, but I've just returned here to hear the part of the review after she finished the book. I wish I'd known before how much of the book is court intrigue and character driven with a great dose of action. I just judged it by it's cover (literally) and the title and art made me assume it was a romance mainly with a cliché evil prince who'll melt because of good person MC 😂
Gurl same! I read the main trilogy in like a weekend 2 years ago, and I still can't get over it!
Your reaction after reading 70% of the cruel prince was honestly gold. I had no idea if you were going to rave about it or trash talk it haha. I loved the surprise!
“I’m scared of not liking YA anymore”
She five minutes after fangirling
🤣🤣🤣 yeah. That’s really me
6:29 i wouldn't say this is true, because I read Cruel Prince after years of not reading and had zero clue about fae world but it was very easy to understand. Holly Black doesn't make world building long and boring and I appreciate her for that.
I agree that it's not as bad as using premade worlds as she said but i agreed that the worldbuilding is a weakness because a lot of aspects of fairie and court life were unexplained, like economy and medicine for example illness doesn't seem to exist but poisons do and noone is there to make an antidote for the high king but a spy who has this as a secondary skill. I think overall it's just that the faerie world feels way too small. Even the map was a tiny part. Atleast in the third book we went to a different part of land but i don't think it really made much sense geographically in my head. Probably because thry travelled so much on ragwort horses when plot needed it but then there was normal horse riding/boat time taken to places like court of teeth.
This is maybe because they aren't that big the books and not every book needs that much worldbuilding to tell a story (which the video addresses ig with the YA vs adult part) and anyway it might be better in the stolen heir duology which I haven't read yet if we get to go outside the isles.
I agree, I know a bit about fey but not enough to know what's going on without context and I never really felt lost reading her books. There isn't too much world building, but as she says later in the video, that's not technically a bad thing. Less world building doesn't make it a bad book. Sometimes I like it when the world in the book is a bit more simple
Tbh, after dune anything is better worldbuilding
I actually wanted there to be more world-building. I also don't like that the whole island country of Elfhame is so small, like they walk all across it in several hours
I'm so glad you enjoyed the cruel prince, I had same issues with Sarah j mass's fae but omg does Holly Black write fae so fantastically in all its magical/mythological glory! And I freaking adore that part so much.
Even though I didn't particularly like The Queen of Nothing and felt a lot of story beats were rushed and anticlimactic, I read through The Folk Of Air really fast because Jude's narration was so captivating. The series is fast paced and fun, which is something I want to strive for in my writing.
I'm still on my "I think I won't like The Cruel Prince" phase but after watching this hmmm....
I think I won't like it because of the enemies thing. But now that you've mentioned that the hate and aggressiveness was mutual, that the heroine is selfish and cruel too not just the hero... I think I might enjoy the book if I just change the way I look at it.
Also, I can totally relate with you because I was feeling that I've grown out of YA Fantasy recently.
I didn't want to read it for so long and did earlier this month and I read the entire series in a week I loved it
Lol that’s what i thought and devoured all three in a week 🙃 now its my fave
Dont be afraid, just read it.
I am in the exact situation. But now that I saw the entusiasm of Leo with "The cruel prince", I think I will give a try. Especially because I know now that the romance beteween the two characters is not the focus. And I didnt not read for so long the book, because I thought that book was all about the enemies to lovers. So good to know is more a political bulding and the two characters aggressive with each other.
okay so your just gonna have to take my word for it. I did not expect to like those books to the point where they sat on my TBR for months and months until about a week ago, when I was told that I absolutely had to read them by a close friend. I started the first one two days ago and I’m almost done with the second. Starts out slow, but everything is worth the wait. You will love it! Plus the female main character is a total badass so..! Do with this information what you will.
I love Iron Widow. I heard that it's getting a sequel. Someday when I visit London, I am going to visit Word on the Water. The idea of a floating bookstore sounds like heaven to me.
the scenes from london made me so jealous because it is basically my life's ambition to go bookshopping in london 😭 love you leonie
To me, cruel prince is so fun. Whether a book is entertaining or not is what matters most to me, and cruel prince made it very easy to overlook its flaws by being a really enjoyable book to read
I love the cruel prince series! I will try not to be offended because I actually thought cardan's tail was a quirky trait of his 😅
it's quirky but not everyone's cup of tea when you're in the business of shipping 😂
saaaaame I'm so done with sjm version of fae that everyone is copying, I want them ruthless and smart to trick people who make deals with them, make them actually cruel since they think of humans as lesser beings. Not out of this world beautiful as main and only character trait, who just wants to bang this bland plain jane human girl. I loved the cruel prince I have yet to finish the series
I've been the exact same way! I binged SO much fantasy in 2020 and 2021, and now in 2022, I've been reading more literary and contemporary. You're right...fantasy is an escape from reality and general fiction is more reflective of the emotions we're currently feeling. Apparently this means I'm done with my two years of emotional denial and ready to accept things, haha.
girl went into this acting all suspicious and dismissive and started fangirling 1 minute later 😭😭😭😭
When it comes to fantasy, I tend to either read Adult Fantasy or Children's Fantasy. I find YA often too immature and full of tropes that annoy me to fulfill my adult fantasy itch, while not really carrying the sense of magic, wonder and whimsy my favourite children's fantasy books bring.
The only YA fantasy series I've read in the last couple of years was Power of Five, and that's mostly because of an audible sale plus the fact I'd read the first two books as a kid and was curious to see how it ended. I maintain the first book in that series is a great Halloween read, though.
I don't see how any adult can read ANY fantasy written after Tolkien, because it's all just a pale ripoff.
@@penultimateh766 I'd argue you really haven't read much fantasy, then. While Tolkien was certainly a major influence on the genre that a lot of authors DID copy, there's a lot of fantasy that isn't anything like what he produced.
Further, you realise Tolkien wasn't the first person ever to write fantasy, yes? Some of my favourite series and characters in the genre were first written _before_ LOTR. And many of those works have had arguably as sizable an impact. The settings of D&D, for example, take as much inspiration from the likes of Fritz Leiber, Robert E Howard and Edgar Rice Burroughs as it does from Tolkien.
This has been my experience too! No shade to those who do like YA, of course. I think for me the issue is that well-written YA that feels like YA...feels that way because it successfully captures the experience of being a teenager. Which is NOT an experience I particularly wanted to wallow in even when I WAS a teenager...
Although I find I'm much more likely to enjoy manga that have a teenage main cast and target audience than I am regular English-language novels, and I really don't know why. Maybe because they embrace the melodrama but also tend to handle serious themes with surprising complexity? Or maybe it's just the pretty artwork - IDK.
@@PirateQueen1720 I just read something very relatable! I like manga written for the same demographics as ya but can't read the majority of the popular ya English books ( with the exception of some under rated ones but again as you have mentioned they are not as successful since they don't have a lot of what makes ya popular). Embracing the melodrama for manga definitely plays a role for me.
I hate both adult fantasy and children fantasy .both are immature for me
I swear the minute you said I probably won’t like the cruel prince I was like….she’s gonna love it
Leonie we love the length of this video it's like getting two in one✨️
Leonie, a bit off topic but i never ever have been into vlog type of videos but i absolutely love this. The mix of having a topic theme and doing things in your life like the book conference is amazing. You might be the first person i would totally watch vlogs about :)
Hope your day is lovely!
Your earring choices are always the best!
AHH I’m so glad you like the cruel prince!! It’s my favourite YA series!
Oh my gosh I can not tell you how validating it felt to hear what you thought of The Cruel Prince. I have also been getting back into YA novels recently and The Cruel Prince was the first YA novel I've read in a long while. I had the EXACT same experience reading The Cruel Prince, xD I also ended up just buying the book set after reading the first book. But yes! It's definitely a fun and interesting book. While I could definitely tell it wasn't for everyone, I genuinely loved the book. Jude is probably one of my favorite protagonists in all of YA books, very close to Katniss. I've read both the first and second book and I am now on the third :)
nah the fact that you actually gave valid criticisms for the cruel prince instead of just saying it was overhyped like so many others! looooved this vlog :3
I like what you said about when you were 16 you were definitely not trying to justify why you liked the books that you liked. It’s interesting to me. I think now with tiktok, UA-cam and even instagram, where people are more vocal about the books they love or hate, we feel the need to over explain why we like certain types of books to people who might dislike them. It’s fascinating to me
If you're looking for good fae, try spinning silver by Naomi Novak. I had the same thing happen to me. I read a Sarah j. Maas book and then thought that I didn't like fae, only discover years later that I do.
i loved spinning silver!
Same 😭
I mostly agree with your take on the iron widow, but I still rated it high because I had SO much fun reading it! The setting was so interesting and I loved to see an unhinged woman main character. And I hate love triangles so this triangle turning into polyamory was great heh
It made me feel so happy to see you fangirling because I have LIVED that phase before. Its so much fun to randomly find a book you genuinely enjoy, especially when you went into it thinking that you probably weren't going to get much from it in the first place
And if I could weigh into your contemporary V.S fantasy debate, I also used to read a lot of fantasy books, especially YA fantasy. Personally though I felt like I read so much that people and personalities and storylines began to blur together. It just felt like I was reading the same thing over and over again and I was really tired of it. So I started to move away to other things, fantasy will always hold a special place in my heart, even if its not my main genre anymore.
The Chaos Walking trilogy by Patrick Ness is a YA fantasy series that I just finished rereading and it also often deals with deaths, but death surrounding the main characters is dealt with quite extensively, it is not glossed over, the characters reflect on their actions and keep thinking about it. I highly recommend the series to anyone, it is very intruiging!
it is SO LOVELY to see someone go through the exact emotions I experienced reading cruel prince 🙏
OMG I JUST-
the cruel prince part of the video made me laugh
YOU'RE SO REAL FOR THAT
okay that’s it im putting back the cruel prince to my tbr .
your reason on why people who started at YA books flock to contemporary romance after a while was accurate, based on what I’ve experienced. Right now, I’m at the same stage as you are. Rediscovering my love for fantasy has been nice.
Tbh I was pretty sure you were mostly talking about Jude and Cardan in your enemies-to-lovers video, so I was really surprised when I realized you hadn't read TCP, but I'm so happy you liked it!
I just love the way she puts her hair behind her ears
I was exactly in your position in the beginning of quarantine in 2020. I was so fed up with ya fantasy and how every character was the same and every plot was boring but then I completely devoured the cruel prince series in like a week and it was such a great experience. The characters are fun and lowkey evil which is so fresh for ya fantasy. Also it does not take itself to seriously. Absolute BLAST of a series
youre soooo right about the midnight lie!! the concept is so cool, i loved the world and characters, but GODDD the plot did not move 😭😭😭 i was so sad i didnt love the book.....
I loooved to hear you, Sabine and Leora speak dutch, it was so pretty 🥰 Also your vlogs are always so amazing, I love them!!!
omg it's actually a relief that you liked the cruel prince lol😅 I loved it so much and I'm always afraid people will hate on it based on their experiences or what they know about sjm books🤡
Reading the English translation of the Edelstein-Trilogie from Kerstin Gier right now. Its about a girl who inherits a time traveling gene and the secret society she becomes involved with. The first two books don't have a conclusion so I can’t wait to see if they nail the ending in the third. Yes there is romance and drama :P
Im currently reading iron widow, and I AM LOVING IT
I've grown out of ya books and don't really enjoy them anymore, but last year I wanted to give The Cruel Prince a try bc of the hype, and let me say... I enjoyed it so much lol! The first 100 pages were kind of generic and I was about to drop it, but when the plot & schemes started to unfold I was hooked! This series was so fun, I read all the books in a couple of days
Being 18, I sometimes love middlegrade books for the same reasons you love YA books. They're fun and it's pure enjoyment. I mean, I read The school for good and evil. From the title you can tell it's the most cliche thing ever. And I loved it. Also books for a younger audience tend to be more fast paced and easier to get through, I feel like. And sometimes a no brainer is really good for you.
I go in and out of the types of books I like. I just turned 30, and I'm battling with the "you're too old for YA" and it doesn't matter what you read. Because I do read adult fantasy, YA in all genres, romance, and Classics. I'm more of a mood reader. So it depends what type of story I'm in the mood for. 😆
ohmygodd You're the only one that gets me about the cruel prince cuz I read the first book in 2 days and the 2nd books in 12 hours during my exams and I was addicted😭😭
i personally loved the midnight lie!! i was gripped and i really connected to the characters and loved it from start to finish!!
Leoni, as a writer of fantasy and science fiction you are one of the few booktubers I continue to watch. I rarely comment but when you said you had Covid I wanted to post a comment. Please be well and stay safe, always.
If you want adult fantasy with first person perspective, I would recommend Robin Hobb's fantasy books. The first one is Assassin's apprentice and it's the most wonderful fantasy books I've ever read! Robin Hobb is so good at first person perspective and her books are very slow burn, characther focused and very different from other adult fantasy books ☺️🙌
Ahh so excited for this i love YA when i just want a nice chill time and i love the cruel prince so id love to hear your opinions, i also want to read iron widow so hopefully this will help me! x♡x
This video has been edited so well and I love the topic :)
I just like to leave out the whole Cardan tail thing tbh when I'm reading The Cruel Prince because it's just so weird, haha. So glad you had such a good time reading The Cruel Prince - reminded me of my own excitement reading it for the first time and becoming a bit obsessed.
I loved your commentary about why you have been gravitating towards General Fiction. I feel the exact same way but for some reason I never thought about that in that sense, so thank you girl!!
33:18
If you like to read about a main character who struggles to kill and it is almost impossible for him to do so read the series "chaos walking" the first book's name is "the knife of never letting go" Im pretty sure there are other books executing this trope but this was the one I read recently and actually made me think of how we as readers have read sooo many murders in books that we have forgotten how hard and traumatizing it is in reality. Other than that the story is fun I liked it a lot
I think my problem at the moment with fantasy is that there is nothing new? I only read fantasy for the first 10 years of my reading life. I am also not mad about this, I try more genres now and realise more what I like.
I really enjoyed this video! It was so fun watching you change your mind about these books and the London vlog!! So fun.
This has to be one of my favourite videos on your channel!! thank you SO much for the effort and the love you put on fimling these videos🤍 they’re so calming to watch
When you pulled out Evermore it gave me serious nostalgia! I never made it past the fourth book though
I’ve seen the Cruel Prince a lot recently but you’ve now made me add it to my wish list! (Hope you are feeling better now btw) x
Leo, I think you and I have wildly different definitions of what extensive world building means if you think Morgenstern doesn't do extensive world building 😂What's usually barely there are her characters' personalities, but the world building for The Starless Sea and The Night Circus is extremely detailed
I love love love your channel. I found it like maybe four days ago and have binge watching all of your videos. there is nothing I love more than finding a booktuber I trust with their comments on books and recommendations that vibe with what I love. I love hearing you speak in (correct me if I am wrong) Dutch? It's so gorgeous to hear.
I was already thinking about starting (and buying) The Cruel Prince), but I was on the fence about it because it was a popular book. But watching your review about it made me want to have it even more. Sooo, will definitely buy it now (or this August since I already bought a lot of books this month).
Cruel prince is one of my favourite series of all time!! So excited to hear your thoughts!! :-)
Agree with your opinions on the Cruel Prince! I also had fun reading them.
i'm so thankful this video is longer to accompanied my day
I'm so glad you liked the cruel prince!!
Legit love these long videos. Really any of your videos are the best. 💕
Oh I had a very similar reaction to The Cruel Prince when I read it! I read the first two books in 3 days right at the beginning of the year and absolutely fell in love with the characters and the story! I didn't read the 3rd one right away because I didn't want the story to end but man, I was fanglirling so so much! That series was actually the reason why I got into reading again and I am so grateful for it, I love those books 🖤
ahh i missed your reading vlogs! please do more of these finding your favorite book videos!
very good to hear someone (you) enjoyed your reading; I, too, really enjoyed Count of Monte Cristo, which I'm finishing today.
I'm so afraid to go back and read some books I loved when I read younger.
My new dream is to move abroad and play my saxophone outside my floating bookstore 😍
I read a very even blend of adult and young adult books, and I am trying to get more middlegrade too it is just the writing style for the most part doesn't work for me. And that is a very important thing for me, in fact it is what makes or breaks a book for me. If I dislike the writing style I am not going to enjoy the book. That being said, even though I read a blend of the categories, it is not on purpose. If I am interested in a premise of a book, then I am interested. The category, the genre, obviously is a part of the story, but I will never pick up a fantasy because it is a fantasy. So the whole genre and category divisions that make people decide on whether to read a book or not, for the most part doesn't exist for me. It is more about the individual book and what it in particular has to offer. That is why all this debate about categories and genres just confuses me? Like how are you going to write off an entire category like that?
Also, mythological accurate fae is the type of fae I love. And this is a low-key unpopular and somewhat mean opinion so I apologise in advance, but people who say they love fae but then only read ones like the ones we see in SJM doesn't actually like fae. Because those books strip fae of everything that makes them fae, and with it all the interesting aspects that make them enjoyable to read about. If I am getting a fae book, I want tricksters, I want strangeness, I want a focus in nature and it to be a part of them, I want them to not look human, I want them to be fae. And finding recommendations to match these is not easy and it is a source of frustration for me.
"enemies with benefits" 😂I'm stealing this
Also I love hearing you speak Dutch for some reason
This was such a lovely video. Thank you so much for making it! I agreed with everything you said on the cruel prince which is nice and reassuring 😁
I would love a list of all the booktubers in your video! I love discovering new people to recommend books 😀
I wish THE CRUEL PRINCE will have an illustrated edition one day 💕
When I explain the romance in the cruel prince I compare it to the romance in the show The Good Place because yes there’s romance but it’s very spread out and it’s not the main attraction
oh my god thank you so much for this video, over 40 minutes!! this made my day so much better
I loved the cruel prince series although I was sceptical in the beginning. And my reaction was very similar to yours. I totally hyped it and couldn't put it down 😂🙈
Im enjoying your videos so much because they all are so very well thought through and intelligent, whilst also being interesting and fun. Big congrats ❤
The cruel Prince trilogy and Iron widow were such Reading Highlights for me
I would recommend Holly Black's Modern Faery books as well as The Darkest Part of the Forest. They are tied into the same world as the Folk of the Air series (in fact a handful of characters make appearances in the Folk of the Air trilogy) but the other books deal more with faeries in the human world, which I love.
Usually love triangles really get on my nerves and are less enjoyable in the story for me but Iron Widow coming in here and dropping this poly relationship on me instead was fantastic. I feel like that’s the only poly relationship I’ve read in a YA book so it was refreshing
Thank you (!!) for going into the difference between YA and adult fantasy. I tried (briefly) to get into reading again because I lived and breathed fantasy books as a kid and teenager. I didn't know why I failed to enjoy adult fantasy even though I'm 26 (supposedly an adult,?) and I just gave up with the notion that reading isn't my thing anymore. I can't be bothered to read a bunch of details around the world or follow and empathise with multiple people. Quite frankly I even hate it when chapters will go back and forth between the persepctives of two characters because I just want to "become" ONE character.
I'll try "The Cruel Prince" - the MC and enemies-trope seem just my thing!
PS. I just found your channel and I'm going through a bunch of your reviews. Love the setup and vibe of your videos - makes me want to stay and listen despite my short attention span.
justice for cardan’s tail
“ It’s just to carden here”I loved that so much
OKAY , you've convinced me to try Cruel Prince AGAIN
7:09 I also loved how morally grey she was. The intrigues were amazing. She was not a good person and she does not pretend to be.
The Cruel Prince sounds like exactly what I've always wanted to read. Actual enemies with benefits? I MUST read this book-
I think the reason why people thought the enemies to lovers trope would have more importance is because the first two books are quite literally named after Cardan and the third book’s title, in turn is caused by him
i discovered your channel yesterday and i am kinda going through your videos in a random order. I saw you read The Stolen Heir for your ''reading hyped up new books video'' and talking about faeries and then at the start of this video i heard you say ''im not into fae stories'' and i found it so funny and said to myself ''oh she is in for a ride'' haha. for the record, i have not read these books im basing my knowledge solemnly on what ive seen in your videos :')
It´s so soothing and motivating and inspiring to watch your videos and listen to you... the way you comment on your reads seems so honest to me... I almost feel like reading everyting you read just to feel I´m in a kind of bookclub. :) And even whan that´s not the case, I love listening to you... and your reading vlogs and chill videos! :)
So happy you enjoyed The Cruel Prince
So happy you like the cruel prince!!!! It’s my fave series ever!!!! Alsoooo, hi fellow dutchie:)
I enjoyed watching this video :)
I read The Cruel Prince a while ago and have been planning the sequel for a few weeks, now I'm even more curious.