66 pages 2 hours read

Holly Black

The Cruel Prince

Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 2018

A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.

Prologue-Chapter 5Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Prologue Summary

The Prologue tells the story of how Jude Duarte and her two sisters, Taryn and Vivienne (Vivi), came to live in the magical realm of Elfhame. One day when twins Jude and Taryn are seven and their older sister Vivi is nine, a strange man comes to the doorstep of their suburban American house. The girls’ mother is afraid when she sees the man, and dialogue between the two reveals that the man, a faerie named Madoc, was their mother’s first husband—and that Vivi is Madoc’s daughter. The girls’ mother, a mortal, left the magical immortal realm of Elfhame (also called “Faerie”), and she had Jude and Taryn with another mortal man. Saying he has come to reclaim his daughter, Madoc kills Jude’s parents and takes all three girls off to Elfhame.

Chapter 1 Summary

The story fast-forwards 10 years, and the narrative switches to a first-person perspective from Jude’s point of view. She has grown up in Faerie, where mortals can only join the Faerie King’s court if they marry a member or are granted permission to do so because of some skill or achievement valued by the King Eldred Greenbriar.

Related Titles

By Holly Black

SuperSummary Logo
Study Guide
Holly Black
Guide cover image
SuperSummary Logo
Study Guide
Holly Black
Guide cover image
SuperSummary Logo
Plot Summary
Holly Black
Guide cover placeholder
SuperSummary Logo
Study Guide
Tony DiTerlizzi, Holly Black
Guide cover image
SuperSummary Logo
Study Guide
Holly Black, Cassandra Clare
Guide cover image
SuperSummary Logo
Study Guide
Holly Black
Guide cover image
SuperSummary Logo
Study Guide
Holly Black
Guide cover image
SuperSummary Logo
Study Guide
Holly Black
Guide cover image