Used. Paperback. Holly Black’s *The Cruel Prince* drops a mortal orphan into the treacherous, tooth-and-claw politics of the High Court of Faerie, where the local nobility treats humans with all the warmth of a frostbite. Ten years after witnessing her parents' murder, our fiercely ambitious protagonist Jude wants nothing more than to earn her place among the wicked, winged elite, even if it means trading verbal (and literal) blows with the crown's most insufferable prince. It is a delightfully dark YA fantasy that trades gossamer wings for razor-sharp ambition, proving that sometimes the best way to survive a realm of monsters is to become one yourself. Pick this one up if you like your fairy tales served with a heavy side of courtly betrayal and a protagonist who bites back.