If You Liked The Cruel Prince: 10 Books to Read Next
Bookdot Team • •
#books like The Cruel Prince#Holly Black#fae romance#enemies to lovers#fantasy readalikes#The Folk of the Air#BookTok
If you finished The Cruel Prince and want the same itch scratched, this list has 10 books, each matched to one thing Holly Black did well: a human girl in a fae court, a hateful boy you shouldn’t want, a heroine who wins by thinking rather than fighting, or the cold glamour of Faerie itself. I haven’t put a spice rating on these because the draw here is tension, not heat, but I flag where a book gets steamier.
The Cruel Prince (2018) opens The Folk of the Air. Jude is a mortal girl raised in the High Court of Faerie after her parents are murdered, and she wants a place in a world that despises her. Prince Cardan is the worst of her tormentors. That setup carries four things readers go looking for afterwards, so each pick below says which one it shares.
What Made The Cruel Prince Hard to Put Down
Before the list, it helps to name what you are actually chasing, because readers who loved this book usually loved different parts of it.
The outsider’s position. Jude is mortal in a court of immortals who see humans as pets or prey. Every scene carries the pressure of someone who has to be better, quicker and more careful than everyone around her just to stay alive. If that is what hooked you, look for heroines who are underestimated and use it.
The hate that turns into something else. Cardan is cruel, and the book never pretends otherwise. The romance works because the cruelty has a cost and a reason, and because Jude refuses to forgive him cheaply. Readers who want this beat should look for enemies-to-lovers where the hostility is earned on both sides, not a misunderstanding that one conversation could fix.
The politics. Succession, oaths, bargains and betrayals drive the plot more than battles do. This is a book where a clever sentence is a weapon, and fae courts are the natural setting because fae cannot lie but can mislead endlessly.
The atmosphere. Faerie here is lush and dangerous at once, with feasts, revels and glamour that hide rot. Some readers come back for the setting more than the plot, and for them a dark fairy-tale mood matters more than a matching romance.
Each pick below notes which of these four it delivers, so you can skip the ones that match the wrong thing.
For More Holly Black
The Darkest Part of the Forest by Holly Black
Same author, same instinct for fae danger. Hazel and her brother Ben grow up in a town where the fae live at the edge of the woods and a horned boy sleeps in a glass coffin. It is a standalone, so it is a safe first step if you don’t want another trilogy. Shared element: Black’s fae who are beautiful, bargain-minded and never safe. Heat: mild.
What you get here is the atmosphere and the folklore without the court-politics machinery. The town feels haunted by its own history, the siblings are bound by loyalty and secrets, and the fae are treated as something to be bargained with rather than trusted. It reads faster than the trilogy and makes a good palate cleanser between longer series.
For the Fae Court and Faerie Politics
A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas
The book most readers reach for first, and for good reason. Feyre is dragged into a fae realm and has to work out who holds the power in it. The tone is more romantic and, later in the series, much steamier than Black. Shared element: a human among immortals, and courts with dangerous rules.
The key difference is emphasis. Black writes politics first and romance as a consequence of it; Maas puts the romance in front and lets the political plot build around it. If you finished The Cruel Prince wishing Jude and Cardan had more time on the page together, this is the closer fit. If the maneuvering was your favorite part, read it knowing the balance shifts, especially in later books. If this is your lane, our ACOTAR readalike list goes deeper, and the fae court reading list collects more of the aesthetic.
Wintersong by S. Jae-Jones
A quieter, stranger choice. Liesl is drawn into the world of the Goblin King, and the book leans on music, sacrifice and gothic atmosphere. It is slower than Black and more lyrical. Shared element: an underworld court with its own cruel logic and a bargain that costs the heroine something real.
Expect a different pace. Where Black snaps from scene to scene, Jae-Jones lingers on mood, family duty and a heroine who is quietly resentful of being overlooked. It will suit you if you loved the dread under the glamour more than the plotting.
Uprooted by Naomi Novik
Fairy-tale fantasy with a menacing forest and a wizard known as the Dragon. The romance is a slow burn and the magic is rooted in folklore. Shared element: a dangerous enchanted world and a prickly, powerful man who is not what he seems. It has no fae court, but the wood does the same job.
For the Enemies-to-Lovers You Shouldn’t Want
Serpent & Dove by Shelby Mahurin
Lou is a witch on the run and Reid is a witch hunter, and they are forced into marriage. The banter is sharp and the hate is real before the attraction wins. Shared element: two people on opposite sides who keep making it worse for each other. Heat: more open than Black.
The reason it works for Cruel Prince fans is that the enmity has stakes. Lou and Reid are not bickering for fun; each represents what the other has been taught to fear. The tone is more playful than Black’s, with more humor between the barbs, so it is a good pick if you want the dynamic with a lighter touch. For more of this trope, see our enemies-to-lovers list.
The Bridge Kingdom by Danielle L. Jensen
Lara is sent to marry a king she has been trained to destroy. Her mission and her feelings pull in opposite directions. Shared element: a heroine who is a weapon in someone else’s game and a love interest she is supposed to deceive. Heat: some on-page.
It is the best match here for readers who loved watching Jude play a long game. Lara’s secret hangs over every scene she shares with the king, and the tension comes from knowing how it will end up while not knowing how either of them will survive it.
Kingdom of the Wicked by Kerri Maniscalco
Emilia investigates her twin sister’s murder and bargains with a demon prince. It is darker and more gothic than Black. Shared element: a clever young woman dealing with a dangerous immortal who may be her best ally and her worst mistake.
The pairing is flirtatious and dangerous, and the heroine is stubborn in the way Jude is stubborn. It is spicier than Black, so read it if you wanted the romance to go further than the original did.
For the Scheming Heroine and Court Intrigue
Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas
Celaena Sardothien is an assassin pulled out of prison to compete as the king’s champion. It is a longer, more sprawling saga than Black, with a similar hunger for a heroine who doesn’t stay down. Shared element: ambition, rivalry, and a court full of people who want you dead.
Maas gives you the training-arc satisfaction of watching a heroine get better at the game, plus a love triangle that divides readers. It starts slower than the other picks, so give it a few chapters before judging. Our Throne of Glass readalikes cover where to go afterwards.
Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo
No fae, but the scheming is superb. A crew of young criminals attempts an impossible job, and every plan has a second plan under it. Shared element: Jude’s sharp political mind and the way both books treat trust as something expensive. See our Six of Crows readalikes for the next step.
For Dark Fairy-Tale Mood
The Hazel Wood by Melissa Albert
Alice’s grandmother wrote a cult book of dark fairy tales, and when her mother is taken, Alice follows the stories into a world she doesn’t understand. Shared element: a fairy tale that stops being charming and starts being dangerous. This one is light on romance, so choose it for atmosphere.
Reading Order and Pairings
If you want a plan instead of a pile, here are three ways to sequence these ten books.
The fae binge. The Darkest Part of the Forest, then A Court of Thorns and Roses, then Wintersong. You move from folklore-lite to romance-forward to gothic, and no two books feel the same.
The enemies-to-lovers run. Serpent & Dove, The Bridge Kingdom, then Kingdom of the Wicked. All three put hostility at the center and let the attraction arrive reluctantly. Space them out, since the beats can start to blur if you read them back to back.
The clever-heroine run. Six of Crows, Throne of Glass, then Uprooted. Different settings, but each rewards a reader who likes seeing the protagonist outthink the room.
A final tip: a few of these books are the first in a series, so check how many volumes you are signing up for. If you only have room for one long commitment, choose the series whose tone matches the part of Black’s book you loved best, not the one with the loudest hype. For a wider shelf of tropes, our guides to villain love interests and morally gray characters pull in more books built on the same kind of tension.
How to Pick
- Want more fae and more romance? A Court of Thorns and Roses.
- Want the same author in a single book? The Darkest Part of the Forest.
- Want a hateful hero? Serpent & Dove.
- Want scheming above all? Six of Crows or Throne of Glass.
- Want atmosphere over heat? Wintersong, Uprooted or The Hazel Wood.
Whichever you choose, add it to your list now. A shelf of half-remembered recommendations is how good books vanish.
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Frequently Asked Questions
- What should I read after The Cruel Prince?
- If you want more of Holly Black herself, try The Darkest Part of the Forest, a standalone fae story. For the same scheming heroine and enemies-to-lovers tension by a different author, start with A Court of Thorns and Roses or Serpent & Dove.
- Are there books like The Cruel Prince with less spice?
- Yes. The Darkest Part of the Forest, The Hazel Wood and Uprooted are far lighter on romance heat than the ACOTAR series, and The Cruel Prince itself stays mostly on the slow-burn, tension-heavy side.
- Which book is closest to Jude and Cardan's dynamic?
- Serpent & Dove and The Bridge Kingdom both build romance out of two people who start as enemies and have real reasons to distrust each other. Wintersong is the pick if you want the fae-court atmosphere with a more brooding, lyrical tone.