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The Cruel Prince Spice Level and Content Notes

By Holly Black. Last checked .

Spice level

1/5

Fade to black

“Jude shares passionate embraces with two supporting characters.”

Source: Common Sense Media, checked Oct 12, 2026. We place that description on the FaeShelf 0 to 5 spice scale.

Book facts

Author
Holly Black
Series
Book 1 of The Folk of the Air
Publisher
Little, Brown Books for Young Readers (Hachette Book Group)
First published
Jan 2, 2018 (Goodreads)
US edition on sale
Jan 2, 2018, Little, Brown Books for Young Readers hardcover, ISBN 9780316310277 (publisher)
Pages
384, Hardcover, ISBN 9780316310277 (publisher)
Shelved as
Young adult (publisher)
Age rating
14+ (Common Sense Media)
Goodreads
4.00 from 1.88M ratings on Goodreads as of Oct 12, 2026

Content notes

  • Violence: Knife and sword fights, poisonings and magical spells in a handful of key scenes. Common Sense Media rates Violence & Scariness “a lot”. “They involve knife- and swordplay, poisonings, and magical spells.” (Common Sense Media)

A book missing from this list is not guaranteed to be free of that content.

Tropes and creatures

Only tags the publisher’s own description names, with its wording.

  • Fae“stolen away to live in the treacherous High Court of Faerie” (source)
  • Court intrigue“As Jude becomes more deeply embroiled in palace intrigues and deceptions” (source)

Read it or skip it

Read it if

  • You want kisses and tension, with scenes that fade to black (1/5 per Common Sense Media).
  • You want fae and court intrigue, as the publisher's description puts it.
  • You want to start a series: this is book 1 of The Folk of the Air.

Skip it if

  • You want sex scenes shown on the page (1/5 per Common Sense Media).
  • You want to avoid violence on the page (listed by Common Sense Media, which rates Violence & Scariness: "a lot").

The Cruel Prince FAQ

Is The Cruel Prince spicy?

It is 1/5 (fade to black) on the FaeShelf 0 to 5 scale, based on Common Sense Media: "Jude shares passionate embraces with two supporting characters."

Is The Cruel Prince YA or adult?

The publisher shelves it as young adult (Teen & Young Adult). Common Sense Media rates it 14+ (checked Oct 12, 2026).

Is The Cruel Prince part of a series?

Yes. It is book 1 of The Folk of the Air by Holly Black. The next book is The Wicked King.

When did The Cruel Prince come out?

Goodreads lists it as first published Jan 2, 2018. Hachette Book Group lists this edition on sale Jan 2, 2018: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers hardcover, ISBN 9780316310277.

What content notes does The Cruel Prince have?

Common Sense Media lists knife and sword fights, poisonings and magical spells in a handful of key scenes (Violence & Scariness: "a lot"). A book missing a note is not guaranteed to be free of that content.

Same series: The Folk of the Air

In our guides

How we checked this

This page draws on 3 source pages, each linked next to the fact it supports, last checked on Oct 12, 2026. Spice comes only from a named review or the author’s or publisher’s own content notes, quoted as published and placed on our 0 to 5 scale; reader shelves and fan sites are not used. Ratings change daily, so the Goodreads figure is a dated snapshot. Read more about our sources, or browse all books.