The Cruel Prince
by Holly Black
A mortal girl raised in the faerie court schemes for power against the prince who torments her. Intriguing, cunning, and romantic. Read the full description
Best for: Teens and adults who like scheming heroines
The Cruel Prince is #61 on BookWard's Top 100 books for September 2026, with a BookWard Score of 61 out of 100.
The Cruel Prince: reading interest over the past 12 months
Sources: Open Library’s public reading-log and ratings data (dump of 2026-08-31), Wikipedia page views and Wikidata. Monthly counts are exact; they show relative interest among readers of these public sources, not total readership.
Ranked against the other books on this list, The Cruel Prince’s reading interest has run from #63 to #94 over these 12 months. Interest rank blends shelf adds, Wikipedia page views and rating activity, each compared with the other 99 books that month.
Shelf adds by month
The Cruel Prince was added to Open Library readers’ shelves 515 times in the past 12 months, peaking in October 2025 with 91 (112% above its monthly average of 43). Over the latest three months (Jun 2026 to Aug 2026) shelf adds were down 12% on the three months before. 87% of the adds were “want to read”, 8% “currently reading” and 5% “already read”.
Want to read Currently reading Already read
Wikipedia page views
Its Wikipedia article was viewed 81,268 times in the past 12 months, peaking in August 2026 with 9,175 views. The latest three months were up 14% on the three before.
Source: Wikimedia monthly page views for the article The Folk of the Air (series).
What the data says about The Cruel Prince
- Moderate swings. Monthly shelf adds averaged 43 with some ups and downs.
- Busiest and quietest months. October 2025 was its busiest month (91 adds), about 4.5 times its quietest, December 2025 (20).
- Attention and shelf adds move independently. Its Wikipedia views and its shelf adds did not rise and fall together over these 12 months (correlation -0.35).
- Against its genre. It had 48% fewer shelf adds than the average Fantasy book on this list.
- Share of the list. It accounts for 0.5% of all shelf adds recorded for the Top 100 over these 12 months, #71 of 100.
- Its age. First published in 2018 (8 years ago), it is older than 18% of the books on the list.
Each finding is computed from the public data above and shown only when the numbers support it.
The Cruel Prince on the Top 100: rank history
First charted in September 2026. The chart gains a point with every monthly update, so its peak, climbs and falls will show here as they happen.
| Month | Rank | Score |
|---|---|---|
| September 2026 | #61 | 61 |
Is The Cruel Prince rising or falling?
Holding steady Its weekly, monthly and yearly ranks are close together, so interest is steady rather than spiking.
On Open Library, The Cruel Prince ranks #56 this week, #97 this month, and #103 over the past year. A longer bar means a higher position. Comparing the three windows shows whether readers are arriving faster than the book's long-term pace. Readings as of 2026-09-30.
Why The Cruel Prince made the Top 100
The Cruel Prince made the list mainly on momentum (+25.4 points) and being read right now (+17.9 points). Its smallest contribution is rising (+0.2). The BookWard Score blends five public signals, each scored from 0 to 100 and weighted as shown.
The reading-now, rating and rank signals come from Open Library’s public data, not from BookWard’s own readers. The score measures reading interest, not quality or sales. How the score works.
Open Library reader stats for The Cruel Prince
Source: Open Library public reading logs, as of 2026-09-30. BookWard’s own monthly snapshots are added to the picture, and anonymous BookWard reader data will be layered in as the community grows.
More readers have The Cruel Prince open right now than 48% of the other books on this list. These counts come from one public source, so they show relative interest rather than total readership.
Where it sits among Fantasy books
It is #7 of the 10 Fantasy books on this month’s list.
About The Cruel Prince
A mortal girl raised in the faerie court schemes for power against the prince who torments her. Intriguing, cunning, and romantic.
Why it’s here: It is the standout for readers who like faerie fantasy with edge.
Best for: Teens and adults who like scheming heroines
At a glance
- First published
- 2018
- Genre
- Fantasy
- Also described as
- romantic fantasy
- Length
- about 370 pages (the median across its editions)
- Original language
- English
- Languages
- editions in 3 languages listed on Open Library
- Editions
- 18 on Open Library
From Open Library and Wikidata public records. Missing rows mean the records do not list that fact.
Themes
- Power struggles in a faerie court
- Belonging
- Revenge
What reading it is like
Dark, scheming young adult fantasy.
At about 370 pages it is a longer read: roughly 7 hours at an average reading pace (about 250 words a minute, 300 words a page). Audiobook and edition lengths vary.
Good to know
First of The Folk of the Air trilogy.
The premise
Jude, a mortal girl raised in the High Court of Faerie, is bullied by fae royalty. She schemes to gain power and finds herself entangled with the prince who torments her.
What you’ll get
- Scheming, morally gray heroine
- Faerie court politics
- A slow-burn, tension-filled story
You might skip it if you dislike cruelty in romance.
Pairs well with: A Court of Thorns and Roses · Fourth Wing
Keep exploring the chart
Also on the chart at #60 and #62
Questions about The Cruel Prince
What rank is The Cruel Prince on the Top 100 books?
The Cruel Prince is #61 on BookWard's Top 100 books for September 2026, with a BookWard Score of 61 out of 100.
Is The Cruel Prince rising or falling?
Holding steady. Its weekly, monthly and yearly ranks are close together, so interest is steady rather than spiking. On Open Library, The Cruel Prince ranks #56 this week, #97 this month, and #103 over the past year.
Why is The Cruel Prince on the Top 100?
The Cruel Prince made the list mainly on momentum (+25.4 points) and being read right now (+17.9 points). Its smallest contribution is rising (+0.2).
How many people are reading The Cruel Prince right now?
Open Library's reading logs show 280 readers currently reading The Cruel Prince, 5,176 who want to read it and 259 who have logged it as read (as of 2026-09-30). These are counts from one public source, not all readers.
How much interest has The Cruel Prince had over the past year?
515 Open Library shelf adds in the past 12 months (peak October 2025, 91); latest three months down 12% on the prior three; 81,268 Wikipedia views in the past 12 months (up 14% over the latest three months). Figures come from Open Library and Wikipedia public data.
Who is The Cruel Prince best for?
Teens and adults who like scheming heroines.
Ask a question about The Cruel Prince
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How we know
This page is built from public data: Open Library’s dated reading-log and ratings dumps, Wikipedia page views, Wikidata, and BookWard’s own monthly Top 100 snapshots. The interest rank blends shelf adds (45%), Wikipedia page views (30%), rating activity (10%) and, for months where a snapshot exists, BookWard’s own score (15%), each as a percentile among the Top 100 books. Every month shown is real data; nothing is estimated. Rankings reflect reading interest, not quality or sales, and can be affected by data gaps. Last updated September 2026. Read the full methodology.
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