In “The Cruel prince” By Holly Black, the first book in a trilogy. Holly Black tells us the story of a young woman named Jude Duarte. Jude was seven when her parents were murdered and she and her two sisters were stolen away to live in the treacherous High Court of Faerie. Ten years later Jude wants nothing more than to belong there- but many of the fey despise humans. Especially the wickedest son of the High king. To win a place at the court, Jude must defy him-and face the consequences.
“I want to win, I want to climb up and up and up. And then I want to reach down and tell everyone who’s ever doubted me that they were wrong. I don’t want to be a pawn in someone else’s game; I want to make my own moves. I want to be someone to fear. A blade to cut. A force to be reckoned with. I want power, and I am not ashamed of it.”
This quote captures Jude’s determination to forge her own path in a world that constantly underestimates her. She rejects the idea of being controlled and instead embraces her ambition for authority, it shows her development from being a vulnerable human girl that depends on the murderer of her parents for protection into a fierce woman with strategic force, showing us her search for power becoming the force of her purpose and challenges in the Faerie realm.